How to use lexical games for introducing new vocabulary

Vocabulary learning is often perceived as boring by learners, especially for those who grew up in the digital age. In the next text we are going to read interesting ways that experts say we can use in order students learn new vocabulary.

  Vocabulary versus Lexis

   The reason for this is that lexis is increasingly seen as a playing a pivotal or central role in language. Before begin with this it is necessary first to introduce the concept of lexis and see how it differs from that of vocabulary. When we think of the term vocabulary we think of the words that people know (are able to use) or recognize. In the scale of language was can already see that vocabulary occupies a central position.

Sounds – Words – Sentences

   But the term vocabulary refers to words alone. Lexis relates to not just words but element both above and below the word level, smaller elements such as particles (up in the phrasal verb step up) including bound morphemes (un as in unconscious) in addition to larger elements such as fixed expressions (raise your hands, on the fence about). In addition to differences in size lexis also relates to linguistic units which tend to co-occur but are not necessarily fixed such as collocations (black coffee, hot day, wonderful time). Looking at this more closely we can see that while vocabulary items are seen as being prey to grammatical rules, lexis sees grammar as being achieved (at least in part) by the words themselves.

“Knowing a word involves knowing its spoken and written context of use; its patterns with words of related meaning as well as with its collocation partners; its syntactic, pragmatic and discourse patterns; its syntactic, pragmatic and discourse patterns. It means knowing it actively and productively as well as receptively.” (Carter – McCarthy 1991: 43).

Teacher can choose from several ways how to present vocabulary. He/she can either show the meaning in some way or he/she can use the language that students already know in order to clarify the meaning of a new lexical item. The third way is the least used technique when presenting vocabulary. Teacher can present meaning through sounds. It offers another approach to the problem of introducing difficult words. There are words, which are very easy to introduce, but there are also ones that are more difficult because they denote abstract notions. Many theoreticians attempted to exemplify what it means to know a word (see for example Harmer 1991). I am of the view that the following aspects need to be taken into account:  

• What it means
  It is inevitable to get across the meaning of the item clearly. Comprehension questions might be used in order to check students´ understanding of new vocabulary.
• The form
  Students need to identify the word class of a word and they need to be aware of potential conversion (e.g. ´water´ as a noun and ´water´ as a verb).
• How it is pronounced
  This can be particularly problematic for learners of English as there is no one-to-one correspondence between the form of a word and its phonetic representation. In many cases the distribution of stress can change the meaning of a word as well (the so-called suprasegmental features).
• How it is spelt
  Spelling needs to be carefully mastered form the very beginning. Remember to clarify the pronunciation before showing the written form.
• If it follows any unpredictable grammatical patterns
  For example, irregular plural form ´man-men´ / ´information´ (uncountable); prepositional phrases e.g. depend on.
• The connotations that the item may have
  ´Bachelor´ is a neutral/positive word whereas ´spinster´ conjures a more negative image.

The situation when the word is or is not used

Is it formal/neutral/informal? For example, die, pass away, kick the bucket.

How the word is related to others
For example, synonyms, antonyms, lexical sets.

• Collocations
  In English we speak about ´heavy rain´, not ´strong rain´ and in order to ask a question you 'raise your hand' you don't 'lift your hand'.
• What the affixes (the prefixes and suffixes) may indicate about the meaning

For example, prefix ´-re´ indicates repeated action (rewrite, re-evaluate, etc.).

Which of these areas you choose to highlight will depend on the item you are teaching and the proficiency level of your students. Now it is useful to analyse the ways in which we can get the intended meaning across.

However, before I start to present a new vocabulary, it is useful to implement some recommendations:

1.   Spoken language precedes written mode. When our students can pronounce words, we can introduce their written form. This can prevent them from trying to pronounce English words as if they were written in their own language.

2. Try to present new words in context.

3. Revision is essential. We can blend new words into later practice.

Teacher can choose from several ways of presenting vocabulary and making clear its meaning. He can use these separately or in combination with each other. The way to present the meaning of many abstract words is through the creation of a context or a situation that is helpful when deducing the meaning of a word. When we want to present person’s feature as “innocent” it is very useful to create a character who is innocent (e.g. a figure taken from the history). If it is necessary we can accompany example by mime or drawing. Ur, in this connection, offers the following ways of presenting the meaning of new vocabulary items:

• concise definition (taken from dictionary, or invented by the teacher him/herself)
• detailed description (appearance, qualities)
• examples (hyponyms)
• illustration (picture, object)
• demonstration (acting, mime)
• context (story or sentence in which the item occurs)
• synonyms
• opposites (antonyms)
• translation
• associated ideas, collocations

Practical recommendations for vocabulary teaching

Apart from the above mentioned recommendations concerning vocabulary teaching, I would like to add more observations that can enhance the success of vocabulary learning.

Give your students a few vocabulary items. Tell them to find their meaning, pronunciation and ask them to write a sample sentence with the word in.

Prepare worksheets and ask your students to match words to definitions.

Ask students to classify a group of words into different categories (so-called semantic fields).

Ask students to find new vocabulary from reading their homework. They can teach each other in the class.

Review the vocabulary you teach through a game or activity and encourage your students to do the same at home.

Encourage autonomy in your learners. Tell them to read, watch films, listen to songs, etc. and point out useful words.

It is a good idea to teach/learn words with similar meanings together, but only in case of more advanced students.

Encourage your students to buy a good dictionary and use class time to highlight its benefits.

Teach your students grammatical names for the parts of speech and the phonemic script of words.

Always keep a good dictionary by your side in case a student asks a word you are not sure about.

If you have never heard of the word, tell the student you will check and get back to them. Do get back to them.

Bingo! (with irregular verbs)

The teacher prepares a 5x5 grid with 25 irregular verbs in the past tense in each square. Make enough variations of these grids so each student has one that is slightly (or very) different.
The teacher then calls out the verbs in their present tense form until a student gets five in a diagonal or horizontal row. Bingo!
While it may seem time-consuming to make the grids, they can be used over and over. This game is received very enthusiastically because often, students are already familiar with it. It is great as a warmup activity and can have many variations (past-participle, time of day, vocabulary)

Adverbial Charades

Each student is given a card with a familiar adverb on it--i.e. quickly, angrily, loudly, happily. Then the class tells the student to do something so they can guess what adverb is on the card. They can tell the student to do things in pantomime, like drink a bowl of soup, or really do it in class, like open a door or take a book from the teacher. (Can't recall where I read this idea, but it is fun and can be played in teams.).

Who am I?

You can use use this with any subject. Write the names of famous people (mixed nationalities) on small pieces of paper. Tape a name on the forehead of each student. The individual student should not see his or her paper, but the others should. Then, like with 20 questions, only yes or no questions should be asked. Perhaps start with yourself and ask "Am I am man?" If the answer is yes, I can ask again, but if the answer is no, it's the next person's turn. Play until everyone has guessed who he or she is! This can be played with nationalities, countries, household objects, anything and it's a gas, especially for adult students!      

            

What's the Word?

On an index card, write a word (example: school) and write 4 or 5 key words that cannot be used to describe that particular word. (Example: teachers, blackboards, students, desks, tests) Any other words can be used except for the words written on the index card. A sample card would look like this:

SCHOOL

teachers
blackboards
students
desks
tests

Mystery Box.

Place items that match key vocabulary in a mystery box. The student reads the vocabulary from a card, for example I am a …, then pulls an item out of the mystery box without looking. Items may be selected to bring humor and fun to reading. For example, a toothbrush might be one of the items. The student reads the vocabulary adding the name of the item, as in I am a toothbrush! Instead of objects, pictures may be placed in the mystery box. For the vocabulary I am and I like, pictures of famous people may be used. For example, Iam Queen Elizabeth, I like football, and so forth.

     Lexis involves more than only words; it changes all the time, so we should teach vocabulary that involves function, different meanings in real context, and so on. In this way students will learn a lot of new words.