Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Series editors' preface
- Acknowledgements
- Introduction
- 1 The goals of vocabulary learning
- 2 Knowing a word
- 3 Teaching and explaining vocabulary
- 4 Vocabulary and listening and speaking
- 5 Vocabulary and reading and writing
- 6 Specialised uses of vocabulary
- 7 Vocabulary learning strategies and guessing from context
- 8 Word study strategies
- 9 Chunking and collocation
- 10 Testing vocabulary knowledge and use
- 11 Designing the vocabulary component of a language course Goals
- Appendixes
- References
- Subject index
- Author index
3 - Teaching and explaining vocabulary
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 October 2012
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Series editors' preface
- Acknowledgements
- Introduction
- 1 The goals of vocabulary learning
- 2 Knowing a word
- 3 Teaching and explaining vocabulary
- 4 Vocabulary and listening and speaking
- 5 Vocabulary and reading and writing
- 6 Specialised uses of vocabulary
- 7 Vocabulary learning strategies and guessing from context
- 8 Word study strategies
- 9 Chunking and collocation
- 10 Testing vocabulary knowledge and use
- 11 Designing the vocabulary component of a language course Goals
- Appendixes
- References
- Subject index
- Author index
Summary
This chapter looks at teaching and learning activities. It looks at the jobs that teaching activities need to perform, how teachers can communicate the meanings of words to learners and a wide range of activities for vocabulary teaching and learning.
Learning from teaching and learning activities
This section looks at the psychological conditions that need to occur in order for vocabulary learning to take place. It is organised around four questions that teachers should ask about any teaching or learning activity.
What is the learning goal of the activity?
What psychological conditions does the activity use to help reach the learning goal?
What are the observable signs that learning might occur?
What are the design features of the activity which set up the conditions for learning?
The section ends with a detailed look at repetition and vocabulary learning.
Let us first look at a vocabulary teaching technique to see how these questions might be used.
The ‘What is it?’ technique (Nation, 1978a) is a useful way of learning new vocabulary, in particular becoming familiar with the spoken form of the word and linking it to its meaning. The teacher gradually communicates the meaning of a word by using it in context. When the learners think they know what the word means, they raise their hands. After enough hands are raised, the teacher asks a learner for a translation or explanation of the meaning.
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- Learning Vocabulary in Another Language , pp. 60 - 113Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2001
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