Strategies for Teaching Vocabulary

B. Anuthama

(SUMMARY)

Vocabulary is difficult to teach because of the complexity of its linguistic, semantic and psycho-cognitive aspects. So teachers should keep looking for ways to substitute rote repetition with more effective techniques. There are some of the innovative methods for teaching vocabulary. The first strategy discussed is called “The Ripple Effect.” According to this methodology the meanings of a word often radiates from the centre along several lines by focusing on different features of the original object. Another method in teaching vocabulary involves the use of color as colors have tremendous influence on human beings. “The Word Wall” was originally designed to develop vocabulary learning skills and to internalize new vocabulary items. These three methods yield fruitful results in vocabulary acquisition.

The Ripple Effect

The Ripple Effect can be tried very well with the tertiary level learners. The teacher can help learners understand that the majority of English words have more than one meaning. These meanings of a word are often related. There is almost always a core meaning with all the other meanings coming from it and with the help of imagination and association the meanings can be linked together. Teachers find the Ripple Effect strategy a powerful one in vocabulary comprehension, retention and production. Learners learn how to make associations and use their imagination in the learning process. It enables learners to understand a word better.

Teaching Vocabulary in Color

According to Gnoinska (1998) colors have a tremendous influence on human health and psyche. Color is also an important tool in visual thinking. It separates ideas so that they can be seen more clearly. Coloring words helps learners to concentrate on the task and extends the time and attention learners give to each word to be learnt. Underlining words or decorating them with colored pencils is an activity no student can get wrong and the feeling of success is extremely encouraging for all learners. Texts and exercises colored with pencils look more familiar or personal to learners and are much easier to work with, than clean texts while revising the material.

The Word Wall Approach

The Word Wall Approach accommodates the three principles of vocabulary learning mentioned above. The Word Wall provides opportunities for multiple exposures to lexical items. It encourages learners to make connections between new and known words. It can be used in response to meaningful contexts or to build relevant contexts around new words. Equally important, the Word Wall promotes active learner involvement, a key to effective learning in general. The Word Wall Approach (Green 1993) was originally designed to develop vocabulary learning skills and to internalize new vocabulary items. Green literally surrounded his learners with words using a set of word-filled wall panels, each with a different background color corresponding to a different curricular objective such as phonic elements, word form classes and grammatical forms and spelling patterns. The walls of words were not used as the only instructional tool for vocabulary development in his classroom. Learners consulted the Word Wall as a Thesaurus and spell-check during writing assignments. They used it as a resource during language development lessons. Specific lessons and competitive games were devised around the Word Wall to encourage the development of vocabulary learning strategies.