These slides deals with Teaching Vocabulary in Linguistics.. These slides also deals with How to teach meanings, Material demonstration technique..

2. Teaching English
Vocabulary
Vocabulary:
“Vocabulary is a glue that holds stories, ideas and content together
making comprehension accessible for children”
Vocabulary is all about words
A person‟s vocabulary is the set of words within a language that are
familiar to that person.
A vocabulary usually develops with age and serves as a usual and
fundamental tool for communication and acquiring knowledge.
Vocabulary is so important; it is of much more importance than grammar.
It is the key to communicate successfully with other people.
To have mastery over vocabulary is of much importance because the people
judge you by the words you use.
Secondly, having a better vocabulary really improves your ability to think.

3. English Language:
English is a rich language having more than 5,00,000 words.
Acquiring an extensive vocabulary is one of the largest
challenges in learning a second language.
To make children learn English language and its
vocabulary, teachers must set a pattern, for example to teach
2,500 to 3,000 words during a six year course.
Robert A .Heinlein Says:
“English is capable of defining sentiments that the
human nervous system is quite incapable of
experiencing.”

4. Selection of words
(Words are the currency of communication)
In order to teach English Vocabulary we need to select words which are
governed by following principles.
1. Word‟s Frequency
2. Word‟s Usefulness
3. Word‟s Structural Value
4. Word‟s range of Applicability
5. Word‟s Productivity
6. Word‟s Regional Value

5. word’s frequency:
Shows the popularity of a word in daily life i.e. the number of times
a word is used in normal reading.
For Example:
The, sometime, every, how, are and etc

6. word’s usefulness:
It depends on the mental level of a student like how suitable is it
for his mental condition to learn a specific word .
For Example:
A toddler know how to speak mama, papa and toys .
But grown ups like us cant survive with these words only.
word’s structural value:
Words are of two kinds
Structural words and Content words
word’s Regional Value:
Certain words are taught because they are needed in
a particular region for the adjustment.

7. Words Range of Applicability:
Deals with the application and usage of word, either it is
appropriate in a situation in which it is used.
word’s productivity:
The capability of a word to produce words from it like prefixes
and suffixes.
Prefix:
Over : Overflow, Overcharge
To: To-night, To-morrow
Suffix:
-ness : Darkness, Sweetness, Goodness, Boldness
-ship: Hardship, Friendship, Lordship
Words Power = Words Building

8. Gradation Of Vocabulary
Gradation:
Anything with a bunch of levels or stages.
The process of moving from freshman to senior year.
Your position in the series of steps.
For Example: The Military
The words selected for the school stage have to be taught
in five or six years.
PRINCIPLES:
There are four principles of gradation
1.Usefulness
2.Structural value
3.Teach ability
4.Simplicity

9. Usefulness
•Some words are more useful for the child at a
particular stage.
For Example: The first year of teaching
English.
The child uses words for things like Book, Pen
For Example:
Common relationships Father, Mother
Environmental areas like School, Home.
Everyday actions like Sit, Stand, Go
Certain qualities like Good, Bad.

10. Structural words
Structural words are graded.
The basic structural words taught earlier.
For Example:
Prepositions on and in are taught earlier than at.
teach ability
Some words are easier to teach than others.
The word, table is easier to teach than others.
For Example:
Teacher can show the word table but he will have to create
verbal situation to teach honest.
It is easier to teach „open‟ than to teach „kill‟.

11. Showing the meaning visually
Table
Watch
Window
Table
Watch
Window

12.  The simplicity of a word depends on its spelling and
pronunciation.
 E.g. Strange is simple than Mysterious.
 Only one meaning of a word be taught at a time.
 That meaning should be simple one.
(showing permanent possession). I have two hands.
(as helping verb). They have gone.
(followed by infinitive).They have to work.

13. • General and academic words.
• Those words that a man can use correctly in his own speech and writing.
• He fully understands the meaning of those words.
• Its also called working or functional vocabulary.
Active Vocabulary:
PASSIVE VOCABULARY
 Passive vocabulary consists on those words of a man which he
recognises when he meets them in prints or in the speech of others.
 He can make out the meanings of those words.
 It is also called recognition vocabulary.

14. “content and structural
words”
Words are of two kinds
Content Words
Structural Words

15. Content words are usually nouns, verbs, adjectives, and
sometimes adverbs.
Those are the words that help us form a picture in our head.
They give us the contents of our story and tell our listener
where to focus his or her attention.
We want our listener to be able to quickly grasp the main
content of our story, so we make the content words easier to
hear by bringing attention to them with added stress.

16. Category Description Examples
nouns people, places, things, and ideas Patty, Washington, cars, happiness
main verbs verbs without auxiliaries ran, swim, thinks
adjectives words that describe nouns red, soft, careful
adverbs (except adverbs of
frequency)
words that describe verbs calmly, quickly, carefully
question words words that denote a question who, what, where, when, why
negatives words that negate not, never

17. Structural Words
Structural words are those which have little or no meaning in
themselves, but they bind together other words to make phrases, clauses and
sentences
They are also called functional words and are about 300 in number.
Words like the, a, it, and but are found in almost every text and are known
as Structural Words.
For Example:
All the pronouns: I, You, He, Her etc
All the prepositions: on, under, with, behind ,etc
All the auxiliary verb: do, does, did, shall, will , etc
All the conjunctions: and, but, or, lest, etc
All the relatives: whose, which, where, etc
Some structural adjectives: this, that, some, any, etc
Some structural adverbs: ago, again, even, more, etc

18. Meaning is the communication through the use of
language.
How to teach Meaning:
Some devices to
teach meaning
Picture
Association
Words
Association
Knowledge
of Prefixes
& suffixes
Use in
context

19.  The child learn the meaning of a word
very easily if it is associated with object
for which it stands.
For Example:
 Show various classroom objects.
 Take model of certain things.
 Take few things to the class.
 Demonstrated the Quantities.

20. CHAIR
BENCH
TABLE
BAG
BOOKS
PENCIL

21. FLOWERS
SOME
FRUITS
LEAVES

22. LONG
RIBBON
SMALL
RIBBON
A Big book , a
small book

23.  Student will learn the meanings easily if
they are shown the relevant picture.
For Example:
 Show some pictures.
 Chart of fruits.
 Draw some matchstick figures on the
blackboard.

24. Chart of
fruits
Chart of
vegetables
Chart of
birds

25. A tree
A hut
Boy
climbing up
the Tree

26.  Action words, that is verb.
 Verb is taught by performing action.
 Performing action in front of children
make clear the meaning of the word.

27. RUNNING
WRITTING
JUMPING

30. Use in context:
The best way to explain the meanings of a word is to explain it in
its appropriate context.
For Example:
(i) Afford:
He is a poor man . He earns only 300/- per month. He
cannot afford to buy a scooter
(ii) Late:
The school opened a t 8o‟clock. Rashid reached the school at
half past eight. He was late .

31. Words Associations
• Meaning of new words may be taught by
associating the new words with the words
already known to the students.
For Example:
Telling synonyms:
correct, right, accurate and exact.
Telling antonyms:
right, wrong
coward, brave.

32. • In senior classes when the students have got
sufficient defining vocabulary, meanings of
words may be explained in English itself e.g.
errand, essence
Errand = Short Journey to take or get
something.
Essence = That which makes a thing what it is :
the inner nature or most importantly quality
of a thing .
Definition and Explanations

33. • Knowledge of prefixes and suffixes help
students in enriching their vocabulary.
For Example:
A student knows that ir is
negative prefix, he knows the meaning of
regular and he can understand the meaning of
irregular.
A student knows that the suffix -ness
indicates a noun ,he knows the meaning of
kind and he can understand the meaning of
kindness.
Knowledge of Prefixes and Suffixes

34. • If the teacher finds that it is economical
to tell the meaning of a word in the
mother-tongue , he should not hesitate
to do so .
The teacher should give the mother
tongue equivalents for the word is it is
beneficial and help student to learn .
For Example:
Meanings of abstract nouns like
Joy, contentment, greed may be given in
the mother-tongue.
Mother tongue equivalents

35. Expansion of vocabulary
Ways of expanding vocabulary are as follows:
Expansion through reading
Expansion through families of words
Expansion through patterns of form
Expansion through word lists
Expansion through word groups
 Expansion through word games

36. Expansion through reading
• Reading is one of the best ways of expanding vocabulary.
• The teacher tells the students how they use the words in their
sentences.
• After reading the supplementary books the students are able to guess
their meaning from the context.
Expansion through families of words
• Students are asked to build several derived words from a
basic one by analogy, e.g.
• We can derived several words from word “care”.
• care
• Careful
• Carefully
• Carefulness
• Careless

37. • Vocabulary is increased by giving example
of a derivation pattern and asking the
students to build derived words by analogy.
Expansion through patterns of form
ForExample:
• Words
• Hope
• Care
• Faith
• Cheer
• Doubt
Adjective
Hopeful
Careful
Faithful
Cheerful
Doubtful

38. Expansion through word list:
These are the words grouped around a key word.
Example:
Key word=STATIOION
WORD LIST
booking Window coolies ticket-Check
waiting room tea stall guard
ticket hawkers
passengers train whistle
Expansion through word Groups:
Student may be asked to arrange word according to certain groups.
1 . Word groups with similar ideas like
end, finish and close.
2. Word group with opposite ideas like
Slow ,fast ; upper, lower.

39. Expansion through word Games:
Some word games may also be used to expand vocabulary
1 .MEMORY GAME.
In this game teacher show15 objects in the class room and the
teacher writes some words on the blackboard. The student see
these word for awhile and later on reproduce them on their
notebook.
2. COMPLITION GAME.
The class is divided into two groups. A student from first group
speaks a letter. A student from second group add letter to it. Then
another student from first group adds another letter to it and so on
till the word is completed.

40. Conclusion
Vocabulary building is of the utmost importance for
almost anybody who wishes to succeed in their career
and have a successful social life.
Listening, speaking, reading and writing are all
affected heavily by vocabulary.
Our communication in English is therefore dependent
on our word knowledge. The more words we know, the
easier it will be for us to communicate and express
ourselves.
This is why “Teaching English Vocabulary” is a key
role in developing your English vocabulary and leading
one‟s life to the heights of success.

41. Thank
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your
time
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