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Body / kinesthetic - the ability to use
one’s body to express oneself and to solve
problems
Musical / rhythmic - an ability to recog-
nize tonal patterns and a sensitivity to rhythm,
pitch, melody
Interpersonal - the ability to understand
another person’s moods, feelings, motivations,
and intentions
Intrapersonal - the ability to understand
oneself and to practice self- discipline
Verbal / linguistic-the ability to use lan-
guage effectively and creatively.
While everyone might possess these
seven intelligences, they are not equally de-
veloped in any one individual. Some teachers
feel that they need to create activities that
draw on all seven, not only to facilitate lan-
guage acquisition among diverse students, but
also to help them realize their full potential
with all seven. One way of doing so is to think
about the activities that are frequently used in
the classroom and to categorize them accord-
ing to intelligence type. By being aware of
which type of intelligence is being tapped by a
particular activity, teachers can keep track of
which type they are emphasizing or neglecting
in the classroom and aim for a different repre-
sentation if they so choose. Christison (1996)
and Armstrong (1994) give us examples of
activities that fit each type of intelligence (1):
Logical/
mathematical-puzzles
and
games, logical, sequential presentations, clas-
sifications and categorizations
Visual/ spatial-charts and grids, videos,
drawing
Body/ kinesthetic-hands-on activities,
field trips, pantomime
Musical/ rhythmic-singing, playing mu-
sic, jazz chants
Interpersonal - pair work, project work,
group problem-solving
Intrapersonal - self-evaluation, journal
keeping, options for homework
Verbal/linguistic-note-taking,
story-
telling, debates.
The result of the learning process de-
pends also on the approach of planning the
lesson. There are 3 of them which are used in
the modern methodology.
1. The "Three Ps" approach to language
teaching is the most common modern method-
ology employed by professional schools
around the world. It is a strong feature of the
renowned CELTA certification and other
TEFL qualifications offered especially in the
United Kingdom (4). Presentation, Practice,
Production works through the progression of
three sequential stages. On the first stage the
teacher presents new words or structures,
gives examples, writes them on the board, etc.
On the second one students practice using
words or structures in a controlled way, e.g.
making sentences form prompts, asking and
answering questions, giving sentences based
on a picture. Practice can be oral or written.
On the third stage students use language they
have learnt to express themselves more freely,
e.g. to talk or write about their own lives and
interests, to express opinions, or imagine
themselves in different situations. Like prac-
tice, production can be oral or written (2).
The Test-Teach-Test (TTT) approach is
useful when the teacher is not sure whether the
learners are familiar with a particular item of
language (4). The structure is a PPP approach
the other way round and it basically reflects
the one of TBL, where students have to per-
form a task. For example, the class is asked to
work in pairs and arrange an appointment with
a doctor according to their diaries. The teacher
monitors students' work and only when the
activity is finished either gives a feedback or
asks students to report about their results.
The Exploration, Explanation, Expres-
sion approach (EEE) mainly used in teaching
grammar is a slightly modified form of PPP.
In Exploration stage students are given sen-
tences illustrating a certain grammar rule and
are asked to find the pattern, and with the help
of the teacher to formulate the rule. This stage
uses so called 'inductive learning' (8). The
other two stages are the same as Presentation
and Production stages in PPP approach.
When we take all the information from
previous description of famous approaches
into consideration, there is no perfect and only
method suitable for every student. Students are
individuals and as individuals they prefer
various approaches and methods. When teach-
ers take students’ interests and experiences
into account, students do not concentrate on
the method the teacher uses as long as it has
an effect on his/her level of English.
We could compare eight factors which
might have influence on teachers’ choice of
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methods and methods for lesson structure.
These are:
1) state or private language school;
2) native or non-native speaker;
3) years of teaching practice;
4) number of lessons taught a week;
5) age;
6) type of pedagogical education;
7) internet use;
8) attendance to seminars.
Among textbooks that teachers use as
their main teaching material are six textbooks
mentioned the most often. I will list them from
the most frequently used one to the least.
1. New English File
2. Cutting Edge
3. Expert (FCE and CAE)
4. Inside Out
5. Maturita Solutions
6. Face to Face
Other teaching materials stated are
Clockwise, New Headway, In Company, In-
stant PET, Objective PET and Straightfor-
ward. The most common additional material is
Grammar in Use series. Other materials are
resource packs of Reward, Cutting Edge, New
Headway and New English File, Vocabulary
in Use, Listening, Speaking, Reading and
Writing Extra and Way with Words.
As the most widely used approach to
teaching adults is CA and the most common
approach to lesson planning is PPP; it seems
nearly impossible not to see the connection
between these two approaches even though
Lindsay and Knight claim that PPP no longer
represents CA as the only teaching model.
Also the relative frequency of usage of GTM
supports the PPP system more than any other,
as it offers the opportunity for the teachers to
use the native language and to order their ac-
tivities from more controlled to less controlled
ones. This would hardly be possible while us-
ing the TBL system of lesson planning as
there is no space for those ‘fill-in’ or ‘trans-
late’ activities.
So, there are many factors which influ-
ence the teacher’s approach. The main task for
the teacher is to analyze the environment
around him/her and choose the most appropri-
ate one. I believe, there are no bad or good
methods, it is possible to put each method in
practice at different time in a different situa-
tion.
REFERENCES
1. Diane Larsen-Freeman «Techniques and
Principles in Language Teaching» Second
Edition, Oxford University Press. - 2000.
2. Doff, Adrian. Teach English. Glasgow:
Cambridge UP, 1988. Print.
3. Hanušová, Světlana. “The Task Based
Method”. Methodology lecture. Faculty of
Education, Brno. 23 Nov 2004.
4. Lindsay, Cora, and Paul Knight. Learning
and Teaching English. Oxford: Oxford UP,
2006. Print.
5. Ludescher, Franz. „The PPP Approach to
Communicative
Language
Teaching“.
Vobs. Web.16 Feb 2009.
6. Morea, Lucas. The Communicative Ap-
proach in English as a Foreign Language
Teaching. 1 Nov 2007. Monographias.
Web. 12 Feb 2009.
7. Richards, Jack C., and Theodore S. Rogers.
Approaches and Methods in Language
Teaching. 2nded. New York: Cambridge
UP, 2001.Print.
8. Sysoyev, Pavel V. “Integrative L2 Grammar
Teaching: Exploration, Explanation and
Expression.” The Internet TESL Jour-
nal.Vol.V., No.6 (June 1999). Web.14 Jan
2009.
9. Widdowson, H.G. Aspects of Language
Teaching. Oxford: Oxford UP, 1990. Print.
УДК 811.111: 336.717
APPROACHES TO TEACHING AND DEVELOPING VOCABULARY
Kulinka Y.S.
It seems almost impossible to overstate
the power of words; they literally have
changed and will continue to change the
course of world history. Perhaps the greatest
tools we can give students for succeeding, not
only in their education but more generally in
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life, is a large, rich vocabulary and the skills
for using those words. Our ability to function
in today’s complex social and economic
worlds is mightily affected by our language
skills and word knowledge. In addition to the
vital importance of vocabulary for success in
life, a large vocabulary is more specifically
predictive and reflective of high levels of read-
ing achievement. The Report of the National
Reading Panel, for example, concluded, “The
importance of vocabulary knowledge has long
been recognized in the development of reading
skills. As early as 1924, researchers noted that
growth in reading power relies on continuous
growth in word knowledge” [1].
Vocabulary Teaching is clearly more
than presenting new words. Of course, this
may have its place but there are other issues,
too. For example, students seeа lot of words in
the course of а week, some of them are used
often, others are not. Should we teach some
words and not teach other? Is there any way in
which we can encourage students successful to
really learn а word? Why are some students
successful at vocabulary learning but others
are not? If we know the answer to the ques-
tion, the work of teaching and learning а word
would be easy.
Vocabulary is the knowledgeоf words
and word meanings. As Steven Stahl puts it,
'Vocabulary knowledge is knowledge; the
knowledge of а word not only implies а defi-
nition, but also implies how that word fits into
the world'. According to Michael Graves,
there are four components of an effective vo-
cabulary program[2]:
- wide or extensive independent reading
to expand word knowledge
- instruction in specific words to en-
hance comprehension of texts containing those
words
- instruction in independent word-
learning strategies, and
- word consciousness and word-play ac-
tivities to motivate and enhance learning
According to the National Reading
Panel, explicit instruction of vocabulary is
highly effective.То develop vocabulary inten-
tionally, students should be explicitly taught
both specific words and word-learning strate-
gies. To deepen students' knowledge of word
meanings, specific word instruction should be
robust. Seeing vocabulary in rich contexts
provided by authentic texts, rather than in iso-
lated vocabulary drills, produces robust vo-
cabulary learning [3]. Such instruction often
does not begin with а definition, for the ability
to giveаdefinition is often the result of know-
ing what the word means. Rich and robust vo-
cabulary instruction goes beyond definitional
knowledge; it gets students actively engaged
in using and thinking about word meanings
and in creating relationships among words.
Research shows that there are more
words to be learned than can be directly taught
in even the most ambitious program of vo-
cabulary instruction. Explicit instruction in
word-learning strategies gives students tools
for independently determining the meanings of
unfamiliar words that have not been explicitly
introduced in class. Since students encounter
so many unfamiliar words in their reading, any
help provided by such strategies can be useful
[4].
Word-learning strategies include dic-
tionary use, morphemic analysis, and contex-
tual analysis. For ELLs whose language shares
cognates with English, cognate awareness is
also an important strategy. Dictionary use
teaches students about multiple word mean-
ings, as well as the importance of choosing the
appropriate definition to fit the particular con-
text. Morphemic analysis is the process of de-
riving а word's meaning by analyzing its
meaningful parts, or morphemes. Such word
parts include root words, prefixes, and suf-
fixes. Contextual analysis involves inferring
the meaning of an unfamiliar word by scruti-
nizing the text surrounding it. Instruction in
contextual analysis generally involves teach-
ing students to employ both generic and spe-
cific types of context clues.
The amount of vocabulary that children
need to acquire each year is staggering in
scope, estimated to be about 3,000 words а
year. Therefore, а comprehensive approach
consisting of the following components needs
to be in place.
- Use "instructional" read-aloud events.
- Provide direct instruction in the mean-
ings of clusters of words and individual words.
- Systematically teach students the
meaning of prefixes, suffixes, and root words.
- Link spelling instruction to reading
and vocabulary instruction.
- Teach the effective, efficient, realistic
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use of dictionaries, thesauruses, and other ref-
erence works.
- Teach, model, and encourage the ap-
plication of а word-learning strategy.
- Encourage wide reading.
- Create а keen awareness of and а deep
interest in language and words.
Which words should be taught?
In deciding which words to teach we
have found it helpful to think about levels of
vocabulary[ 5].
Level I Words
These are words that are used over and
over in everyday speech. Since they are so
frequently used in а variety of contexts, virtu-
ally all children learn them. Some examples of
these words would be house, girl, cat, up, um-
brella, etc. Level 1 words are sometimes re-
ferred to as 'conversational speech'. Students
who are learning English as а second language
will sometimes make progress with this level
of vocabulary but have difficulty making pro-
gress with words at levels beyond this one.
Level II Words
These are words that are likely to be
learned only through reading or through in-
struction. They have been referred to as the
vocabulary of educated persons, as 'academic
vocabulary,' and as 'instructional vocabulary.'
They are words that are necessary for general
success in school. Words such as perspective,
generate, initiate, intermediate, calculation,
etc. are possible examples.
Level III Words
These are words associated with а par-
ticular field of study or profession. These
words make up the technical vocabulary or
jargon of а field. Examples of Level III words
from the field of reading instruction include
the terms digraph, diphthong, schwa, met
comprehension, etc. As one might expect,
some words such as calculation might be clas-
sified as either а Level II or Level III word or
both.
Level IV Words
These are words that are interesting but
so rare and esoteric that they are probably not
useful even in most educational environments,
and they are not associated with а field of
study or profession. Examples are words that
were but no longer are used: majuscule (а
capital letter), xan tho dont (one who has yel-
low teeth likeа rodent), noctuary (an account
of what happens in а night). Notice, however,
that some Level IV words are useful for teach-
ing morphological clues such as contemning
'night' and don’t or dent referring to teeth.
Level IV words are also helpful for creating an
interest in words and language. Just by their
definitions, it should be apparent that а major
responsibility of teachers is to expand the
Level II and Level III words of their students.
Teachers of content areas haveа special re-
sponsibility for teaching Level III words.
Words are labels for concepts and
teaching word meaning is essentially teaching
concepts for given words. There are several
suggestions for teaching concepts in Nation.
One of these concerns the presentation of mul-
tiple positive examples of the concept. Posi-
tive examples are instances to which а given
word truly applies. Among the positive exam-
ples of vehicle, for example, are cars, trucks,
vans, buses, trains, etc. Giving multiple posi-
tive examples is necessary because concept
learning requires the abstraction of the impor-
tant features of the concept and ignoring the
unimportant ones, and to do this the learner
has to see several examples and needs to iden-
tify what is common to them all and what is
different. The important (i.e. criterial) features
of being аperson, for example, is to beа human
being and usually to be an adult. On the other
hand, 'color of skin, color of hair, and age are
not criteria features of person. If multiple ex-
amples of person (e.g. pictures of individual
persons with different skin and hair соlоr and
from different age groups) are provided, learn-
ers will be able to work out the criteria fea-
tures and learn to ignore the noncriterial ones
in the concept оf person they formed.
Some concepts have constant reference
(i.e. refer to а single entity) like earth, sun, etc.
while others do not show much variance
among their referents (e.g. water, orange,
snow, etc.). All the examples that would be
given for these concepts will be inevitably
very similar to one another. It should be
tested, therefore, if multiple examples are still
better than one example for these words sim-
ply because they increase the exposure time. It
should be useful, though, to give multiple ex-
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amples in the case of words with abstract or
general meanings (e.g. person, adult, vehicle,
furniture, building, etc.). Nation's another rec-
ommendation is to use negative examples of а
concept in addition to the positive examples.
Negative examples are instances to which the
word does not apply. The negative examples
of person, for example, will include "things
that are not persons. However, for the negative
examples to be meaningful, they need to be
sufficiently similar to the positive examples.
Negative examples will be useful in showing
the boundaries of а concept and thus, helping
learners to distinguish the word fro mother
similar concepts. For example, the word desk
and table are semantically related in English.
Both concepts involveа flat surface resting
horizontally on vertical (usually four) axes.
The two words are distinguished in English
with respect to the use to which they are put.
А table is used for eating from and а desk is
used for study. Thus, an office desk or а home
desk might be used as negative examples for
the word table to help learners limit the mean-
ing of table and to prevent overgeneralization
to desks (e.g. referring to а home desk as а
table). However, some caution is necessary in
claiming that negative examples are good
since negative examples might be confusing
when the learner is still wrestling with basic
understanding of the core concept and has yet
а shaky understanding оf it. Thus, negative
examples are yet to be shown to be effective
[6].
The majority of English words have
been created through the combination of mor-
phemic elements, that is, prefixes and suffixes
with base words and word roots. If learners
understand how this combinatorial process
works, they possess one of the most powerful
understandings necessary for vocabulary
growth. In recent years research has suggested
some promising guidelines for teaching the
meanings of prefixes, suffixes, and word roots
as well as for the ways in which knowledge of
these meaningful word parts may be applied.
Word roots such as dict, spect, and structure
meaningful parts of words that remain after all
prefixes and suffixes have been removed but
that usually do not stand by themselves as
words: prediction, inspection, and contract. In
the primary grades students begin to explore
the effects of prefixes such as un-, re-, and dis-
on base words. In the intermediate grades stu-
dents continue to explore prefixes and an in-
creasing number of suffixes and their effects
on base words: govern (verb) + -ment = gov-
ernment (noun). Common Greek and Latin
roots begin to be explored, along with the ef-
fects of prefixes and suffixes that attach to
them. These include, for example, chron
('time,' as in chronology), tele ('distant, far' as
in television), and fract ('break,' as in
fracture).А large proportion of the vocabulary
of specific content areas is built on Greek and
Latin elements. As this morphological knowl-
edge develops, teachers can model how it may
be applied to determining the meanings of un-
familiar words encountered in print [7].
As noted earlier, written texts contain
richer vocabulary and, therefore, more oppor-
tunities for expansion of vocabulary through
reading as compared to the word challenge in
oral language. There is research that shows
that students can be taught strategic behaviors
to improve their ability to learn the meaning of
words. While skills such as application of
morphological clues, reference works, and
spelling clues to word meanings are all useful,
they become more powerful and functional
when combined with the use of context clues
in а deliberate strategy. These could be the
steps:
Step 1: Carefully look at the word; de-
cide how to pronounce it.
Carefully processing the letters or
chunks of letters of а word and thinking about
the sounds for them will leave а memory trace
for the word even if it is not а word that the
reader knows. At very least, it is likely that if
the reader encounters the word again in future
readings, there will be at least а modicum of
familiarity with it.
Step 2а: Look around the word for con-
text clues, including:
• Look within the sentence.
• Reread previous sentences.
• Read ahead for more context clues.
Step 2b: Look in the word for prefixes
and suffixes, base words, and root words that
might offer clues.
For а word with аcommon prefix such
as un-, morphological clues would likely be
used before the use of context clues. The
hallmark of а strategic reader is the flexible
application of strategies.
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