Does your current strategy for teaching vocabulary consist of working your way through a textbook? Are you bored by teaching vocabulary this way? And my last question: are you wondering how exactly you should be teaching vocabulary? I’ve got you! I want to make vocabulary teaching fun and engaging for students while also upping the levels of retention! This checklist helps you do this, but here is a full explanation:
Method for teaching vocabulary
My problem with our workbooks is that our students are provided with a list of English words they must learn and the Dutch translations of the words. Some of my colleagues are fine with asking students to simple learn that list, take a test, and then they feel the students have ‘learned’ these words. But I have noticed that this isn’t enough. 1) Quite often, students are not even familiar with the Dutch words that are given, so how are they expected to know what the word means in English. 2) Learning words without context will not help them stick in the longterm memory. So what should you do? Let’s get to the steps I take:
1. Brainstorm
Where do we begin with our strategy for teaching vocabulary? Brainstorm what words students already know. Activating prior knowledge helps students make connections between words they wouldn’t make without being prompted. Making a word web is a great way to do this, or simply a list will do as well. Maybe even ask them to draw pictures of things that come to mind.
2. Teaching vocabulary in context
Then show the words in context. It’s hard for students to remember words when there is no context to link them to. This goes for the context of the word, but also the prior knowledge they already have about other words in the same category. Get them to read a text or listen to a video or recording that features the words. This will give them a link to the words and real-life situations.
3. Pronunciation and spelling
Next, show students the words and pronounce them. Getting students to understand the spelling and pronunciation will help with word recognition. Get students to practice writing and saying the words a couple of times in the correct way for extra retention.
4. Using the word
After that, have students work with the word. Provide various exercises in which they must use the words in sentences or in matching situations, for example. Fill in exercises are great in the beginning. Later on, add exercises in which they must write a piece of text from scratch, like a story or a report, in which they use the words. Writing in a natural way using the words is a great activity for teaching vocabulary.
5. Review
Once you’ve done all that, review newly acquired vocabulary a few times. Games provide an excellent way of reviewing vocabulary in a fun and active way, and online word trainers work really well too. Check out this blog post about my personal top 5 online word trainers HERE.
Do you want an easy checklist to remember all this? Sign up and receive The Phenomenal Vocab Teaching Checklist to have on hand whenever you’re planning your vocabulary lessons!
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