DEVELOPING VOCABULARY

The amount of vocabulary needed to be familiar with all the words. For native speakers, this is not a problem, because very roughly, one year life they can add many vocabularies as they always use the word in daily. While for non-native speakers, with a much smaller second-language vocabulary is important. So that the teachers to make use material where vocabulary is controlled to ensure that learners get input at a level that suits level of proficiency.

According to McCarten (2007:18) learning vocabulary is a challenge for learners, partly because of the size of the task, and partly because of the variety of vocabulary types to be learned, including single words, phrases, collections, and strategic vocabulary, as well as grammatical patterning, idioms, and fixed expressions.

There is a lot to learn about vocabulary in terms of it range, the sheer number of words and phrases to learn, and the depth of knowledge students needs to know about each vocabulary items. Materials can help students in two broad areas: first, they need to present and practice in natural context. Second, materials should help students become better learners of vocabulary. McCarten (2007:20-25) Here the some key principles that help the students learn vocabulary.

1.      teaching vocabulary in class

§  Focus on vocabulary

Give vocabulary a high profile in the syllabus and the classroom so that students can see its importance and understand that learning a language isn’t just about learning grammar (O’Dell 1997). it may be worth teaching students an easier formulation of Wilkins’s (1972) view that “without grammar very little can be conveyed, without vocabulary nothing can be conveyed”.

Teachers can help learners get into the habit of noticing by making clear in classroom instruction and homework assignments: which items should be learned, what each item is (a single word, a phrase, a collocation, etc) and for what purpose.

§  Offer variety

Tomlinson (1998) suggests a number of principles for developing successful material. The first of these is that “Materials should achieve impact”. Teachers can use different ways to present vocabulary including pictures, sounds, and different text types with which students can identify: stories, conversations, web pages, questionnaires, news reports, etc. offering variety also means catering to different learning styles, and as Tomlinson notes, some students may use different learning styles for different types of language or in different learning situations.

§  Repeat and recycle

Learning vocabulary is largely about remembering, and students generally need to see, say, and write newly learned words many times before they can be said to have learned them. Researchers also agree that repeating words aloud helps students remember words better than repeating them silently. Review vocabulary as often as possible in activities that have students actively recall words and produce them rather than merely see or hear them.

§  Provide opportunities to organize vocabulary

Organizing vocabulary in meaningful ways makes it easier to learn (Schmitt 1997; Sökmen 1997). textbooks often present new vocabulary in thematic sets as an aid to memory, but there are other types of organization and these can be describe under three broad heading:

§  Real-world groups occur in the real world, such as the countries within each continent, parts of the body, the foods in each food types, activities that take place for a celebration, expressions people typically use in everyday situations. Students can draw on their general knowledge to group English vocabulary according to concepts with which they are already familiar.

§  language-based groups draw  on linguistic criteria as always of grouping, for example, the different parts of speech of a word family; words that have the same prefix or suffix, or the same sounds; verbs and dependent prepositions; collocation of different kinds.

§  Personalized groups use students’ own preferences and experiences as the basis for the groups. making vocabulary personal helps to make it more memorable.

§  Make vocabulary learning personal

The material should provide opportunities for students to use the vocabulary meaningfully, to say and write to things about themselves and their lives. Students should be encouraged to add vocabulary they want to learn, too.

§  Don’t overdo it!

Another important point is not to overload students-there are limits to how much vocabulary anyone can absorb for productive use in one lesson and this will be affected by how “difficult” the word are.

§  Use strategic vocabulary in class

Walsh (2006) divides into four “modes”:

o   Managerial mode refers to the way teachers organize the class and move between activities. In doing this, it’s possible to use a range of basic discourse makers for starting, concluding, and changing.

o   Materials mode refers to the talk that takes place when teachers and students are doing an activity in the materials. This includes eliciting answer from students, checking and explaining answer, and giving feedback on answer.

o   Skills and systems mode is the largely teacher-directed talk that goes on when the teacher is trying to get students to use particular language item or skill and will involve the teacher in giving feedback, explaining, and correcting.

o   Classroom context mode refers to the type of language learners use when they are talking about their personal experience or feelings- sometimes called “freer practice activities.”

2.      Helping students become independent learners in and out of class.

§  Vocabulary notebooks

Materials which gave space to personal learning logs, like vocabulary notebooks, encourage students to continue learning outside of class.

§  Research tools

Students now have access to vast resources such as the internet and the wealth of information in learners’ and online dictionaries.

§  Everyday usage

Materials can also provide students with ideas to activate and practice vocabulary in their everyday life, which is especially useful for students who live in non-English-speaking environments.

 REFERENCES

McCarten, Jeanne. 2007. Teaching Vocabulary Lesson from the Corpus, Lesson for The Classroom.  New York: Cambridge University Press