vocabulary tn tesol
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Vocabulary:
Current Theoryand PromisingPractices forthe ElementaryESL Classroom
Sheri Sather
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How much is enough?
6,000 to 8,000 word families to interactwith spoken text
8,000 to 9,000 word families to interactwith written text
(Nation, 2006)
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What does that mean in
elementary school?
A 4thgrade reading program contains84% of the vocabulary that a student willbe expected to master by the time he orshe finishes high school. (Zeno, et. al 1995)
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What that looked like for my
students in their classes
Students in 3rd grade and higher weregetting lists of vocabulary words to study.
These were words like coronation,impediment and minotaur.
However, my students did not know the
vocabulary from the definitions. (royalty,mythology, etc.)
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Were not talking about the
same thing!
Although both ESL teachers and regular
classroom teachers are teachingvocabulary, we mean vastly differentthings when we say the wordvocabulary.
I think that they are teaching aspirationalvocabulary, and I am teachingessential vocabulary.
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What is easier to learn?
Nouns are easiest.
Adverbs are most difficult. (Laufer, 1990)
In my research, teachers never chose anadverb as a word that a student mightnot understand. However, my students
have so much difficulty with words likeusually. This was a large perceptiongap.
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Using translations to learn
vocabulary
L1 is active in lexical processing, and
students think it is helpful, so we might aswell use it in teaching. (reported inSchmitt, 2009)
Using L1 glossaries in the margins of text orbi-lingual dictionaries is a good way toform initial word-meaning relationship.
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Teach form in addition to
meaning
The word-meaning relationship is not moreimportant than teaching the form of theword.
Spelling and pronunciation cause troublewith use of words, so they need to beexplicitly taught. (Laufer, 1988)
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A Frequency Dictionary ofContemporary American English
It includescollocates.
It also includesspecial lists such asthe most frequentlymentionedanimals, phrasalverbs or terms forfamily members.
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3 questions to ask to help choosewhat to teach in a particular text
#1 What unknown words might studentsbe able to associate with already known
words?
This is a good place to let students make L1connections, or the place to give short,
simple definitions using words they alreadyknow.
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Question #2
Which words in the text have derivativesthat are frequent in students reading and
writing?
For example, if students know the wordremember and the text includes words likememorial or remembrance, making thisconnection explicit is a good way toexpand their vocabulary.
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Question #3
Which words will students need supportwith because of multiple meanings?
(Hiebert, 2005)
For example, the phrase force of arms wasconfusing to 6thgraders who didnt know
arms as anything other than body parts.
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What does it take to acquire a
new word?
It takes from 7 to 12 instructionalencounters for a student to get real
ownership of a word (Stahl, 1988).
This includes instruction in not only what aword means, and how it is used but alsodeep encounters that require creativityand connection to prior knowledge(Nagy, 2005).
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What is rich exposure if a studentis not able to read extensively?
Young learners
Read alouds
Imaginative play
Storytelling
Older, non-proficient
readers
Classroomdiscussions
Read alouds
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Text Talk with read alouds
1. Explain the word.
2. Give an example or two of the
meaning.3. Give some instances than may or may
not be examples of the word. Studentsgive feedback.
4. Students give examples. Ask otherstudents to see if the example fits.
(McKeown & Beck, 2003)
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Generating rich connections
When teaching vocabulary, its important togo beyond simple definitions and
connections. Learners should createconnections between this new thing andwhat they already know.
Discussion is a powerful way to do this. Real
discussion (rather than teacher-led turntaking) is best for this if the environment isaccepting and open. (Stahl, 2005)
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A good program will
Teach individual words
Provide exposure to rich language
Support generative word knowledge(Nagy, 2005)
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Developing generative word
knowledge
Using vocabulary we know, and what weknow about vocabulary, to learn new
vocabulary
Understanding context and developingword consciousness
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80% of affixed words come from
These 11 prefixes
Un, re, in(im, il, for not),
dis, en (em),
non, in (im),
over, mis,
sub, pre
suffixes
-s (es),-ing, -ed,
-ly
-er, or (agent)
-ion (-tion, -ation, -ition)
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Easy (or lazy) solution
on Teachers Pay TeachersPoster setincludes definitions, examples in sentences.
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A spiraling process The more vocabulary students learn, the
better they will be able to read.
The better they read, the more they willread.
The more they read, the more vocabularythey learn.
(Nagy, 2005)
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However, knowing the words
is not enough
Students also need to be able to recognizewhere their understanding of reading breaksdown if they dont know a word.
Then they need to be able to use meta-cognitive strategies to fix the problem beforepicking up the meaning again.
So part of improving vocabulary is improvingskills in figuring out words in context sincestudents need to be learning as they read.
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And still not enough
Students need to have the backgroundknowledge to understand the text. Words
alone do not constitute backgroundknowledge.
Reading is especially helpful in
developing and enriching partially knownvocabulary (Schmitt, 2009)
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Combine cognitive and
meta-cognitive techniques
All the researchers that I read agreed that
there is no one best way to learn orteach vocabulary. Instead we need touse every good way.
They also agreed that students need to
learn both cognitive strategies and meta-cognitive strategies to be most successful.
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Effective cognitive strategies
Vocalizing
Collocations
Writing
Rehearsing
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Effective Meta-cognitive
strategies
Testing (using test prep stress)
Students setting goals for learning (such as
setting a number of new words to learn ina week)
Consciously linking new words to wordsthey know
Using mind trap tricks like writing silly, grossor funny stories using the words
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Dont do this Using lists of related words (think a list of all the
parts of an engine) helps to create confusion
in the word-meaning relationship and hurts astudents ability to retain vocabulary.
This includes teaching antonyms together.The suggestion is to teach the more commonone of the pair first, and add the oppositelater.
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What I learned
I need to provide explicit instruction incognitive and meta-cognitive strategies
to learn vocabulary, and understandvocabulary in context and also provideexplicit and systematic instruction onspecific vocabulary words that are
frequently used in academic texts.
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The information I gathered
I asked 6 teachers to give me copies of 2assignments that they would be doing withtheir class and to highlight the words theythought their ELLs would not know.
I took those and interviewed the students,asking them to define words in the work.
If they had some idea of what the word
meant, I counted it as knowing. If theycould explain the word using the context ofthe work, it also counted as knowing it.
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What I found
Every teacher overestimated thestudents knowledge.
In most of the papers, the students hadtrouble with 2 - 3x more words than theirteachers anticipated.
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Also
Students knew very few of theinstructional vocabulary (explain,
compare, describe, etc.), but no teacherchose any of those words as words thatwould be difficult for students.
This was true of kindergarteners and 5thand 6thgraders.
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Also The students all said they felt comfortable
asking their teachers questions, and theteachers felt like students were coming tothem with questions.
However, students also admitted that theydidnt want to ask too many questions orquestions that they felt would make them lookstupid.
The older students tended to ask fewerquestions overall.
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I have changed my
instruction
Ive been modeling and having studentspractice more active ways of asking for
vocabulary help.
Does xx mean xxx?
Could you tell me an example of xxx?
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Also Im including much, much more explicit
instruction in vocabulary for instructions.
For example, well read two paragraphs andread one set of instructions. Students need todecide which paragraph is following theinstructions.
(Compare character x and character ysmotive. Give examples for your ideas.)
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For the futureWhen I have a bit of time, I plan to make
a diagnostic that I can give to all students
at the beginning of the year for essentialacademic vocabulary. I want to give thisto the students teacher so they will betterunderstand the students needs.
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VocabularyLearningStrategies
LowerElementary
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Storybook Reading The most important element in storybook
reading in vocabulary development is the
interaction between the teacher and thestudents.
The book serves as a stimulus aroundwhich a high level conversation takes
place.(Biemiller, 2001)
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CAR Talk MethodC= competence questions
(Can you find the X in the picture? Who said
X?)A= abstract thinking
(What will happen next? What is thatcharacter thinking?)
R= relate talk(How is that character like you? Whatwould you do?)
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Supplying definitionsStopping a story to supply definitions is alsoeffective in teaching new vocabulary and is
much more effective than reading a storythrough without comment.
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Reuse those wordsWhole class or center activities such asretellings of the story, word or picture sorts,
word walls, etc. are helpful in getting to theneeded number of interactions.
All activities are more useful if they are used
systematically over the year.
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This book explicitlyexplains 440 ofthese. Thisincludes an indexby animal.
Animal idioms are
everywhere, andthey can be SOconfusing.** index of animals and related idioms so that students canlook up items on their own
** simple definitionsFor example:
in two shakes of a lambs tail = quickly
Eager beaver= enthusiastic person
Busy beaver= busy person
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For younger studentsChoose an animal with several idioms.
(There are 12 cow and bull idioms, for
example.)A pair of students acts out the idiom and
the class guesses which one it is and classdiscusses the meaning of the idiom.
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For older students I keep the book in the reference section
because so many novels and even story
books use animal idioms.
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Teaching students to grade
readers for themselves
This technique comes from JudyFreemans workshops on childrens
literature: Scan a page of a book and hold up a
finger for each word you dont know. Ifyou run out of fingers before the end of
the page, you may want to put the bookback because you want to challengeyourself, not drive yourself crazy.
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Songs and Chants Jazz Chants by Carolyn Graham
(On her website, there is info on how to
write good chants
on your own!)
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Ella Jenkins The words are clearly
enunciated; the songs
tend to be veryrepetitive, so they
are easy for students
to master. Then we
can change it up with
different vocabulary.
(Follow the Leader is awesome
for teaching body parts and actions.)
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Using pictures to developdescriptive vocabulary and topractice making inferences
Students describethe picture in
detail. For ks theteacher can takedictation, but thedescriptions must
include color,texture, size, shape,brightness, etc.
Students need tobe able to make
inferences to readwell, so after theydescribe thepicture, they make
inferences about it.I think _____because __________.
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Focusing on formI HATED spelling activities as a student; Im aterrible speller still, so I take advantage of
games to enforce the spelling aspect ofvocabulary learning.
Spelling City is a site with free and paidapps. I put in 5 words for kindergarteners
and let them play games like hangman withthe words for a few minutes.
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VocabularyLearningStrategies
UpperElementary
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Provide opportunities for students toelaborate vocabulary knowledge(Schmitt, 2009)
Using the novel, Wonderstruckby Brian
Seltzer, got my students looking for newvocabulary and trying out new vocabularyin creative ways.
The novel has two stories; one is told indrawings; the other is written.
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Preparing to narrate Students search the pictures for
information and prepare by taking notes
on details they want to include. They can consult dictionaries, Wikimedia
or other resources to make sure they areclear.
Because other students are not looking at
the pictures, there is a lot of gooddiscussion.
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Tips on Teaching Vocabulary
(Schmitt, 2009)
Integrate new words with old
Provide numerous encounters with a word
Promote a deep level of processing
Make new words "real" by connectingthem to the student's world in some way
Provide opportunities for developing
fluency with known vocabulary
The WORD: _______________________________
Date I found the word: ______________________
Date when I KNEW the word:
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Definition:
Definition in my own
words:
Words that have similar
meanings:
Words that are opposites:
Sentence where I found the word:
This word is
academic/
conversational/
both.
This word has only
one meaning. It has
several meanings.
It has positive/
negative
connotations.
It is abstract/
concrete.
Youll often find this
word in these
phrases:
Personal Example
Sentence Personal Example Sentence
Date when I KNEW the word: ________________
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Using the worksheet The worksheet is completed over a
number of classes.
The student decides when the word isknown. After that, it can be tested atany time. The test is writing a short storyusing 2-4 words randomly chosen by theteacher. The sillier the story, the better!
Worksheets are also used for students toteach each other new words.
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Incorporating vocabulary
instruction with novel reading
For each chapter or set of chapters:
1. Give a list of words from the chapter that
they need to know. First, have eachindividual put a check by each wordthey know, an x by each word theythink they know.
2. Put them in pairs and have them help
each other out. Monitor because theyare frequently wrong.
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Quick and dirty glossary I give them a glossary for each chapter. I put
the words in order that they will encounterthem.
The definition is simple and hopefully shortand explains the word for the context.
If the word has multiple meanings or is used inan unusual way, I put an * on it so that theydont overgeneralize the meaning.
It sounds very time consuming, but I do it ashabit while Im reading the chapter now.
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Padlet This is web tool is completely free; the pages
are never deleted, and it is so easy to make apage!
I use it for anything, story book to novel, to getstudents acquainted with the vocabulary andcontext before we read.
Older students can take turns making thePadlet for a chapter as an assignment.
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References Dreyer, C., & Brits, J. (2013). Memory strategies and ESL
vocabulary acquisition. Per Linguam, 10(1).doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.5785/10-1-245
Zhang, W. (2009). Semantic prosody and ESL/EFL vocabularypedagogy. TESL Canada Journal,26(2), 1+. Retrieved fromhttp://go.galegroup.com.ezproxy.tntech.edu/ps/i.do?id=GALE%7CA219012095&v=2.1&u=tel_a_ttul&it=r&p=AONE&sw=w&asid=ac9da0821d4189d6d3f6787c8bfc7e23
Schmitt, N. (2009). Teaching vocabulary. ESL Magazine, (67),9+. Retrieved fromhttp://go.galegroup.com.ezproxy.tntech.edu/ps/i.do?id=GALE%7CA193178391&v=2.1&u=tel_a_ttul&it=r&p=AONE&sw=w&asid=edd0c3f1f2221e430924073cab0017f9
http://dx.doi.org/10.5785/10-1-245http://dx.doi.org/10.5785/10-1-245http://dx.doi.org/10.5785/10-1-245http://go.galegroup.com.ezproxy.tntech.edu/ps/i.do?id=GALE|A219012095&v=2.1&u=tel_a_ttul&it=r&p=AONE&sw=w&asid=ac9da0821d4189d6d3f6787c8bfc7e23http://go.galegroup.com.ezproxy.tntech.edu/ps/i.do?id=GALE|A219012095&v=2.1&u=tel_a_ttul&it=r&p=AONE&sw=w&asid=ac9da0821d4189d6d3f6787c8bfc7e23http://go.galegroup.com.ezproxy.tntech.edu/ps/i.do?id=GALE|A219012095&v=2.1&u=tel_a_ttul&it=r&p=AONE&sw=w&asid=ac9da0821d4189d6d3f6787c8bfc7e23http://go.galegroup.com.ezproxy.tntech.edu/ps/i.do?id=GALE|A219012095&v=2.1&u=tel_a_ttul&it=r&p=AONE&sw=w&asid=ac9da0821d4189d6d3f6787c8bfc7e23http://go.galegroup.com.ezproxy.tntech.edu/ps/i.do?id=GALE|A219012095&v=2.1&u=tel_a_ttul&it=r&p=AONE&sw=w&asid=ac9da0821d4189d6d3f6787c8bfc7e23http://go.galegroup.com.ezproxy.tntech.edu/ps/i.do?id=GALE|A219012095&v=2.1&u=tel_a_ttul&it=r&p=AONE&sw=w&asid=ac9da0821d4189d6d3f6787c8bfc7e23http://go.galegroup.com.ezproxy.tntech.edu/ps/i.do?id=GALE|A219012095&v=2.1&u=tel_a_ttul&it=r&p=AONE&sw=w&asid=ac9da0821d4189d6d3f6787c8bfc7e23http://go.galegroup.com.ezproxy.tntech.edu/ps/i.do?id=GALE|A219012095&v=2.1&u=tel_a_ttul&it=r&p=AONE&sw=w&asid=ac9da0821d4189d6d3f6787c8bfc7e23http://go.galegroup.com.ezproxy.tntech.edu/ps/i.do?id=GALE|A219012095&v=2.1&u=tel_a_ttul&it=r&p=AONE&sw=w&asid=ac9da0821d4189d6d3f6787c8bfc7e23http://go.galegroup.com.ezproxy.tntech.edu/ps/i.do?id=GALE|A219012095&v=2.1&u=tel_a_ttul&it=r&p=AONE&sw=w&asid=ac9da0821d4189d6d3f6787c8bfc7e23http://go.galegroup.com.ezproxy.tntech.edu/ps/i.do?id=GALE|A219012095&v=2.1&u=tel_a_ttul&it=r&p=AONE&sw=w&asid=ac9da0821d4189d6d3f6787c8bfc7e23http://go.galegroup.com.ezproxy.tntech.edu/ps/i.do?id=GALE|A219012095&v=2.1&u=tel_a_ttul&it=r&p=AONE&sw=w&asid=ac9da0821d4189d6d3f6787c8bfc7e23http://dx.doi.org/10.5785/10-1-245http://dx.doi.org/10.5785/10-1-245http://dx.doi.org/10.5785/10-1-245http://dx.doi.org/10.5785/10-1-245http://dx.doi.org/10.5785/10-1-245http://dx.doi.org/10.5785/10-1-245 -
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