How to make vocabulary teaching and learning effective
Vocabulary is generally a matter of remembering. Thornbury (2004) to be able to teach as effectively as possible, it is important to know, how words are remembered and stored in students’ minds and how long term memory is organized. Thornbury (2004: 25) advises to visualize a picture for a new word or to link an abstract word with some mental image. Images have drawn by students themselves have the best outcomes. Besides imaging, there are other mnemonics, such as making clues from associations with similarly sounding word and its meaning in the mother tongue.
Suggestion the Teaching of English to Young Learners
There are seven suggestions so that the teaching of English to young learners can function as expected Musthafa (2010).
- English is to be used all the time to ensure that children have relatively much exposure to English; Teachers of English model the acts of speaking, reading and writing by speaking, reading, and writing themselves while the children try to do so. This functional use of English during the instructional time should be carried out consistently to provide learners with opportunities so that they can see for themselves how English is being used for communicative purposes with their teachers.
- Print-rich environment in English should be created in and around the classroom; Provide the room with ample functional reading and writing materials in English such as brochures, leaflets, circulars, posters with captions written in English, comics, magazines, dictionaries and encyclopedias so that functionality of English is visible to the children in the classroom.
- Teachers of English for young learners should use activity-based teaching-learning techniques such as total physical response (TPR), games, and projects
- Teachers of English for young learners should use various techniques for short periods of time to maintain the interest level of the children in engaging the English lessons; Use various teaching techniques for short periods of time to avoid boredom on the part of learners. At the same time, keep focus on the teaching items from one instructional move to another so that children’s learning is ensured.
- Teachers of English for young learners should focus on functional English for vocabulary development , and for immediate fulfillment of communicative needs of the learners
- Teachers of English for young learners should reiterate often to ensure the acquisition of English expressions or vocabulary items; Reiterate useful vocabulary items and expressions as frequently as they are contextually appropriate. The more frequently they encounter words and expressions in the context of genuine communication, the easier they would find them to acquire. Do this activity consistently and you will learn how speedy your students pick up the language and use it in their talking and writing.
- Teachers of English for young learners should provide useful, acquisition-promoting routines; Create routine activities which are rich in language use such as reciting prayers in English together before getting started with English sessions, engaging students in small but authentic social talks as an ice-breaker before delivering into the topic of the day, and having children do “show and tell” on a weekly basis. Reading books aloud creates a rich language environment that stimulates children’s interaction with rare and useful vocabulary or more sophisticated language than is ordinarily found in mere conversational exchanges.
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