The phases of teaching vocabulary can be broken down into the three phases such as pre-activity, while-activity and post-activity:
| Phase | Activity |
| · Pre-activity | Exploring vocabulary forms (word derivation models) Exploring vocabulary meaning (synonyms, antonyms, polysemy) Exploring potential vocabulary use |
| · While-activity | Deriving words (e.g. creating the necessary form of the words) Using vocabulary (e.g. choose the right synonym) Communicating the message (e.g. describe the gadget using the technical jargon) |
| · Post activity | Reflecting on task fulfilment Focusing on vocabulary use Integrating vocabulary with teaching communicative skills (reading, listening, writing and speaking) |
Exploratory task 2.12
The “while-activity” task for the learners (see the table below) is to use the numbered words in order to derive the necessary word form and to fit it in the same numbered space in the text. Design the “pre-activity” and the “post-activity” phases to the above assignment of word formation.
| Phase | Activity |
| Pre-activity | |
| While-activity | Headaches can vary in 0… from a dull thudding in the temples to a 1…intense pain. Most people suffer from headaches 2… but they can usually get 3… from the symptoms by taking a couple of pain-killers. Headaches usually create 4… in the shoulder and neck muscles and are most often caused by stress or 5…. Other triggers include eye strain and lack of sleep or food. Migraines are far more 6… than headaches, and attack may last from four hours to three days. They are often confined to one side of the head and may be 7… by visual 8…. Light 9…, nausea and other symptoms 0 Severity. 1.Fright. 2.Period. 3.Relieve. 4.Tense. 5.Anxious. 6.Enable. 7.Company. 8.Disturb. 9.Tolerate (Adapted from O’Connell S. 1999. Focus on Advanced English. Longman. P.222) |
| Post-activity |
Micro-teaching task
Design a three-phase framework for teaching vocabulary to describe the interior of a supermarket. The while-activity task for the learners is: “Yesterday you were in the shop and lost your purse. You must have dropped it somewhere. Here is the picture of the shop (the picture is on the classroom board). The class will help you to remember where you might have lost your purse. They will make guesses such as “under the counter”, “by the cash-register”, “in the cereal isle”, “in the tea-and-coffee isle”, “on the freezer with ice-cream”, “at the entrance”, “in the exit”, “on a trolley”, “on the shelf with peanut butter”, “on the shelf with canned food” etc. When the class makes the right guess, you say “Thanks. Now I remember!” (Adapted from Scrivener J. 1994. Learning Teaching. Heinemann. P.85)
Use the format below to design a three-phase framework:
| Phase | Procedure | |
| Teacher | Learners | |
| Pre-activity While-activity Post-activity |
Integrated task
· Clarify your purpose of teaching the vocabulary
· Describe your teaching situation
· Give a theoretical rationale for teaching vocabulary in your situation
· Design a three-phase activity to teach the vocabulary
· Produce a transcript of how the activity went on in class or with your peers
· Reflect on the procedure
· Draw conclusions.
Answer Keys
Warming-up discussion 1.1
1 D 2T 3T 4T 5T 6F 7D
SAQ 1.1
A 4,5; B 1,2; C 3, 6,7
SAQ 1.2
1J, 2A, 3B, 4D, 5E, 6I, 7G, 8C, 9F, 10H
SAQ 2.1
1B 2C 3D 4C 5B 6A 7A
Exploratory task 1.2
hammer, food, door, poor, soup, table, car
Exploratory task 1.3
1 the entrance hall, 2 opposition, 3 meals three times a day or more, 4 on the ship, 5 departure time for the plane, 6 the lost weight, 7 the reduced price
Exploratory task 1.5
1 silly 2 stupid 3 crazy 4 lovely 5 cuddly
Exploratory task 1.6
A partially melted snow, B partially frozen rain, C the ratio of effective output and the time spent, D the food served and eaten in one sitting E any meat products roasted on the open fire for fun, recreation or entertainment
Exploratory task 1.8
1 b, 2 d, 3 a c e f g
Exploratory task 1.9
“handsome” only furniture, price and man; “charming” only woman, child, dress and voice; “lovely” all the words in the list but “man”
Exploratory task 1.10
1 overgrown garden, 2 overcrowded hospital 3 oversimplified explanation 4 well-balanced diet 5 well-paid job 6 hard-up 7 high-ranking 8 clear-cut 9 up-front 10 far-fetched 11 king-size 12 bed-ridden
Exploratory task 1.11
1 slab 2 slice 3 grain 4 speck 5 swab 6 fragment 7 scrap
Exploratory task 1.12
1 shell, 2 peal, mash, 3 shred, 4 dice, 5 beat, 6 whip up, 7 toss, 8 slice, 9 strain, 10 grate, 11 chop, 12 stir 13 sift, 14 knead
Exploratory task 1.13
1 advised, 2 yelled, 3 muttered, 4 gasped, 5 sighed, 6 shouted, 7 stammered, 8 murmured, 9 groaned
Exploratory task 1.14
1F 2E 3D 4C 5B 6A 7G
Exploratory task 1.15
cry with tears, weep with emotions, sob with noise, wail mournfully, being upset, after withholding emotions
Exploratory task 1.16
A 4, B 5, C 6, D 3, E 8, F 9, G7, H1 L2
Exploratory task 1.17
pain is in part of the body, ache is continuous, agony is intense, souring is on touch, sting is sudden, stiff is when moving
Exploratory task 2.2
List 1 is random. List 2 is made up of the computer-related words
Exploratory task 2.3
eve, new
Exploratory task 2.5
sick, tick, click, stick, thick, brick, kick, pick, quick, lick
Exploratory task 2.7
cut, sprained, fractured, concussion, burnt, bruise, twisted
Exploratory task 2.8
1A, 2B, 3B, 4A, 5B, 6A, 7B, 8B, 9A
Exploratory task 2.10
List of foods: lemon juice, honey, butter, peanuts, olives, bananas, ice cream, yoghurt, fish and chips, beer, Indian curry, grapefruit, peaches, coffee, vinegar, thick onion soup, almonds, sausages, crisps
Glossary
Activation of mental lexicon is arousing a chain reaction in the brain and making the words accessible for communication (usually a lot more words than necessary get activated in the brain)
Allusion is making an indirect reference
Circumlocution is a roundabout expression of meaning
Coinage of words is creation of non-existent words
Collocation is made of two or more words often placed together in oral or written speech
Comprehension of words is understanding the meaning of words
Co-ordinates are words with a meaningful relationship between them e.g. “red + blood”
Derivation is the process of producing words from a stem with the help of affixation and other word-building models (e.g. conversion from nouns to verbs)
Idiom is a figure of speech, the meaning of which cannot be drawn from its elements
Lexical cloze is filling the gaps in the meaningful text with the target words
Lexical competence is the knowledge of how to use vocabulary for communication
Lexical mind-map is a cluster of words that are associated with a central concept
Lexicon is vocabulary that is often specialised and related to a certain field
Mental lexicon is vocabulary in mind
Metaphor is a figure of speech, in which lexical meaning is shifted to a different object and a word is used to denote figuratively a dissimilar thing (often done to add more expression to speech)
Mnemonic exercises are used to facilitate memorisation of words
Phrasal verbs consist of a verb and a preposition/adverb making up an idiomatic expression
Polysemy is the property of many words to have more than one meaning
Register is the choice of vocabulary best suited for a communicative situation (e.g. talking to children requires a special register)
Retrieval of words is accessing the words in the long-term memory for the purposes of using them
Storage of words is keeping words in the long-term memory
Tip-of-the-tongue phenomenon is a situation when a person has accessed the meaning of the word but is failing to access the word form with many alternative “word candidates” revolving in mind
Vocabulary is the sum of words that have been acquired by a particular person
Word reinforcement is the process of making words stick in memory through meaning interpretation, drill and communicative use
Word-clusters are the words brought together by associations
Word-meaning interpretation is elicitation of lexical meaning for the purpose of comprehending the words
Word-pragmatics is the relationship between the words and intended/comprehended lexical meaning
