Some techniques in teaching vocabulary at primary school

1 INTRODUCTION 1.1 The reasons for choosing the topic Nowadays, English plays an important role in our society In addition, the more developing society is, the more necessary English is Studying English has become an essential demand for everyone, it is one of the most popular, important international language, and it is most used not only all over the world but also in many fields such as in business, in international conferences, or to communicate with foreigners when they come to our country or when we go aboard English can help people master a language, they will own a great knowledge In order to carry out this, we have to learn vocabulary at first We imagine that without vocabulary, no language exists So vocabulary is a vital part in learning English How to help people in general and pupils at Primary School in particular learn and use vocabulary effectively is a difficult question At present, I am a teacher of Dong Tan Primary School I am teaching pupils of grade and Each class has different perception so I have to select the way of teaching vocabulary differently Techniques to teach English in primary school is usually traditional teaching methods and similar activities days by days which make students become fed up with learning English There fore, interesting techniques to teach English are necessary to help students learn English vocabulary better, they also attract students’ interest on English From above reasons, I have chosen the subject “Some techniques in teaching vocabulary at Dong Tan primary school” There are many studies relating to teaching and learning vocabulary in general However, my study is more specific It is my hope that students will be interested in learning English and the study will be more or less useful for those who are concerned 1.2 The aims of the research The main goal of my study is to provide some suggested techniques in teaching English vocabulary in primary school to make students more interested in the lesson as well as to master learned knowledge of that lesson in an effective way My study is aimed at: To study the theory related to vocabulary, psychology features of primary students and some techniques for teacher to apply To provide some suggested techniques to teach English vocabulary in primary schools in Dong Tan school to attract students’ interest and involvements in lessons 1.3 The object of the research In fact, there are a lot of techniques to teach English vocabulary for primary school It requires much of time and effort Furthermore, English vocabulary includes meaning, grammar, pronunciation, and spelling In my opinion It is impractical to study such a wide range, simultaneously resources and my knowledge is limited, and so this study can only focus on studying “Some techniques to teach vocabulary at Dong Tan primary school” 1.4 The methods of the research A lot of methods have been applied to complete this study: Collected references, books and website related to teaching English and document were analyzed in details to from the theoretical background of this paper A number of general research methods such as: observational methods, case-study methods, and survey methods 1.5 The new ideas of the research The study uses some new techniques in teaching and checking vocabulary MAIN CONTENT 2.1 The theoretical basis of the research [1] If you want your child to be a stellar student, don not limit learning to the walls of his classroom Although the skills he is learning there are crucial to his intellectual and social growth, your child needs your help to open up the world of ideas His renewed joy in discovery will transfer to his schoolwork, so you will boost his academic achievement too! Encourage him to express his opinion, talk about his feelings, and make choices He can pick out a side dish to go with dinner and select his own extracurricular activities Ask for his input on family decisions, and show that you value it Show enthusiasm for your child's interests and encourage her to explore subjects that fascinate her If she is a horse nut, offer her stories about riding or challenge her to find five facts about horses in the encyclopedia Provide him with play opportunities that support different kinds of learning styles - from listening and visual learning to sorting and sequencing Supplies that encourage open - ended play, such as blocks, will develop your child’s creative expression and problem-solving skills as he builds He'll need lots of unstructured play time to explore them Point out the new things you learn with enthusiasm Discuss the different ways you find new information, whether you're looking for gardening tips on the Internet or taking a night class Ask about what he's learning in school, not about his grades or test scores Have him teach you what he learned in school today - putting the lesson into his own words will help him retain what he learned Help your child organize her school papers and assignments so she feels in control of her work Check in with her regularly to make sure she's not feeling overloaded Celebrate achievements, no matter how small Completing a book report calls for a special treat; finishing a book allows your child an hour of video games You will offer positive reinforcement that will inspire him to keep learning and challenging himself Focus on strengths, encouraging developing talents Even if she did not ace her math test, she may have written a good poem in English class Turn everyday events into learning opportunities Encouraging him to explore the world around him, asking questions and making connections 2.2 The real state of the problem At present, I am teaching English vocabulary at Dong Tan Primary School, so my goal is finding out how to teach English vocabulary to my pupils effectively I am conscious that teaching and learning vocabulary is one of the most important parts in English because there are many different ways to teach vocabulary Teaching vocabulary is a complex process and it, how to arrange vocabulary together to make sentences, conversations, they will feel confident and will develop speaking ability as well as their vocabulary In a book written by Mr Dang Ngoc Huong, it is assumed that when using a course book or any source of teaching materials, many teachers think that every new word has been selected carefully by the course designer or writers by certain principles One of the tasks of the teacher when teaching vocabulary is the selecting the right vocabulary the pupil need Therefore, vocabulary must be concerned in teaching English at Primary School * Students: English is still out of students’ own circle In order to be receptive to the knowledge and well- remembered, students have to have inspiration, excitement and love for the subject Specially, for English, besides remembering words with their meaning, form, pronunciation, students must remember structures, grammar and how to use in the real context This process of remembrance is quite difficult for primary students Moreover, there are only a few students to find a good way to learn the language the best The others have not formed the suitable method of learning English so learning English is very difficult for them Students are afraid of speaking English because they are afraid of making errors They also don not believe their language ability This thing makes difficulty for students to develop their language ability *Students’ parents: Almost students’ parents have conception that learning English from primary school is too early; it is not necessary for their children to spend time on this subject Only a few parents are very interested in English but they don not know English to teach and help their children to learn more at home Therefore, when students have difficulties in learning English, they don not receive a help in time * The general real state: Dong Tan primary school does not have enough physical facilities and teaching aids for English Three periods per a week are little Students need to practice more The number of students in one class compared with specific characteristics of the subject is too many * The result, effectiveness of the above real state: From the above real state I have said, it affects the quality of teaching and learning English in general and primary English particularly As for primary students, the quality of writing tests is not very good and students’ speaking and listening skill are not well- developed Over one hundred students (Grade and grade 4-Dong Tan primary school) are examined before I apply activities making learning inspiration ( at the first term) and the survey results are as follow: Table statistics survey results First semester 2019-2020 school year Grade Good Total pupil Number % 108 15 14 63 11 Quite Medium Number % Number % 45 42 41 38 35 55 15 24 Weak Number % 6 10 Students are not self- confident in communicating in English They don’t remember words and structures well The result of learning is not very high 2.3 The implementing organizational solution: [2] What is vocabulary? According to the authors of Methodology Handbook, “Vocabulary is defined as a word simple enough to begin learning on the first day of a class and they are powerful enough to encourage communication from the very beginning words are small pieces of language which carry bits of meaning” Vocabulary can be defined; it is simply understood as words in a language However, vocabulary may be a single word (cat, read) but it may be more than a single word, for example “father - in - law or mother-in-law”, which are made up of two or more words but express a single idea There are also multi - word idioms such as “bread and butcher” It means that the meaning of the phrase can not be inferred from component’s word In fact, it is extremely difficult to give an exact definition of vocabulary because there are many different definitions of vocabulary So, the definitions above are only general concepts in relation to vocabulary What vocabulary to teach? As you know, there are two types of vocabulary They are: Passive vocabulary and active vocabulary Passive vocabulary is words which a student can recognize but not necessarily use in speaking or writing If a student sees a word in their passive vocabulary, he/she will understand what it means Passive vocabulary words are especially useful for receptive skills of reading and listening Active vocabulary is words which students can both understand and use in communication Active vocabulary words are especially useful for the productive skills of speaking and writing The process of vocabulary expansion looks something like this: Unknown - > Passive vocabulary -> Active vocabulary A teacher should expect his/her students to understand words in reading and listening before they can use those same words in speaking and writing When teaching, it is best to first train students to recognize words Later the teacher will find the students can actively use those same words in communication The importance of vocabulary: Vocabulary represents one of most important skills necessary for teaching and learning a foreign language It is the basis for the development of all the other skills: reading comprehension, listening comprehension, speaking, writing, spelling and pronunciation Vocabulary is the main tool for the students in their attempt to use English effectively When confronted with a native English speaker, when watching a movie without subtitle or when listening to a favorite English song, when reading a text or when writing a letter to a friend, students will always need to operate with words In what follows, the focus of this introductory chapter will be on why vocabulary is important, on what makes words difficult, on the main reasons for which students often forget the words they learn and on some techniques which help them remember the vocabulary Why is vocabulary important? Talking about the importance of vocabulary, the linguist David Wilkins argued that: "without grammar little can be conveyed, without vocabulary nothing can be conveyed." Indeed, people need to use words in order to express themselves in any language Most learners, too, acknowledge the importance of vocabulary acquisition In my experience as a teacher, I noticed the fact that students usually find it difficult to speak English fluently They usually consider speaking and writing activities exhausting because they keep on using the same expressions and words and very soon their conversation is abruptly interrupted due to missing words And the main reason for such communication problems is the lack of vocabulary Other students are confronted with the problem of forgetting the words immediately after the teacher has elicited their meaning or after they have looked them in the dictionary, and this also a cause of the lack of vocabulary The more words students learn, the easier they memorize them The teacher has an essential role in helping students to improve their vocabulary Unfortunately, vocabulary teaching has not been enough responsive to such problems, and teachers have not recognized the tremendous importance of helping their students to develop an extensive vocabulary If we look back in the past, we discover that for a long time, English used teaching approaches such as Direct Method and Audio-visual method which emphasized the primary importance of teaching grammatical structures Since the accent was on grammar, few words were introduced in such courses and most often, they were limited and related to the grammar structures taught By the beginning of 1970s, there was a major change in teaching English The focus turned from the Direct Method and Audio-visual method to the Communicative Approach which emphasized the importance of teaching vocabulary Students were exposed to diverse vocabulary and speaking activities Many words began being introduced during such courses and students were encouraged to express themselves as much as possible Nowadays, there is more freedom in choosing the methods to be used during English classes The English syllabus is organized around both vocabulary and grammar structures Since there is a certain number of classes allotted for each item in the syllabus, teachers usually have the necessary time to insist on teaching and practicing vocabulary Vocabulary is no longer treated as an add-on and teachers become more aware of the importance of vocabulary and attention is paid to the grammar of words, to collocations and to word frequency Nevertheless, students still have difficulties in expressing themselves fluently and still consider speaking tasks exhausting In this part, I will introduce three issues such as: the concept of vocabulary’s information, the way of giving a new word and how to check pupils’ vocabulary The process of teaching vocabulary [1],[4], [5] There are steps of teaching vocabulary Step 1: Presenting vocabulary Step 2: Recording vocabulary Step 3: Checking vocabulary Step 1: Presenting vocabulary [3] Present pronunciation: By reading words in context, emphasize it by some receptions Present dictation: Write new words on the board and then helps students copy them in their notebooks Present the meanings of new words: There are techniques for communicating the meanings of words Using real objects.[2] This is the simplest way to achieve understanding Many new words which we explain may be difficult At that time, we should give real objects because real objects are better than others whenever we have them in the class There are many real windows, doors, walls, books, pencils in the classroom It is foolish not to use them in our teaching For example: I can point at the table in the classroom and say: This is a table if I want to teach the word “table” word Similarly, I can show the pupils a piece of chalk and say: “this is a ruler” My pupils will not have trouble in understanding what a table and a ruler is Flash cards or charts.[2] We can use flash cards or charts on which we have a picture on one side and words on the other side Example: Flash cards with animals on them Mine (gesture).[2] We can use body language or gestures in order to demonstrate the meaning of words Examples: a happy – sad b cold – hot c stand – sit Pictures.[3] I often use pictures, maps, posters when teaching vocabulary for my pupil I think this will attract the attention of the pupils To assist me in doing this, I have got a large collection of pictures, maps and posters… And I have to collect from various sources such as: newspapers, magazines, cartoon and so on With this, I can not only introduce new words lively but also describe words of emotion, action like “happy, smile, sleeping, fly” by showing pictures, posters For example: When teaching colors, I will give a picture which has many colors in order to introduce My pupil is seen directly It will make them observe and compare those colors If it is easy for us to teach vocabulary when using photographs or paintings we can indicate many kinds of words Examples: Photograph form newspapers, magazines Photographs about actions: Using vocabulary following topics.[2] It is quite easy for the teacher to teach vocabulary related to the topics If we this way, it will make the pupils learn more quickly and more memorized In addition, it helps the pupils compare the different words in a topic For example, I give my pupils a topic “wild animal” I will teach the pupils kinds of animals such as: bears, tigers, elephants, monkeys and so on They will feel the lesson more interesting Another example is, when teaching the days in a week, I should present a series of different days such as: Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday … Blackboard drawing.[2] When we run into difficult vocabulary to explain, we can draw a picture of some words on the blackboard that will quickly convey the meanings we so, pupils will understand the meaning of words quickly Examples: To express the weather phenomena such storm, flood, rain, sunny we use color chalk to draw these phenomenon’s Another example is body parts such as nose, mouth, and eye, leg……or prepositions of location such as under, beside, above Guessing from context [2] Have students guess the meanings by reading the whole sentence E.g 1: Bananas, apples, pears, grapes are fruit E.g Chicken, fish, rice, ice-cream are food E.g Tigers, elephants, lions, monkeys are wild animals Using synonyms and antonym.[2] When teaching vocabulary we may use synonyms and antonyms And it depends on each lesson Moreover, for the lecture to be more effective I use synonyms and antonyms to teach my pupils I feel that the pupil comprehend the lesson more quickly For example: a Synonyms: nice – beautiful, clever – intelligent, bookstore – bookshop, eraser – rubber, pants - trousers b Antonyms tall – short, thin – fat, pretty – ugly, young – old long – short, thin – thick, new – old, big - little However, we should be careful in using these synonyms and antonyms, since it is not always possible to find words of similar or opposite meanings Using facts to describe vocabulary[2] There are many new words which I can not express exactly by word So the most suitable is to use facts to describe vocabulary The pupils not only hear the teacher’s translation but also observe phenomena by facts For example, when talking about the weather of Vietnam, I can point out phenomena such as rain, sunny, sunshine, sunset…It help the pupil have chance to access to facts However, we should not use this way too much, we should encourage thought’s pupil in stead of using facts to describe vocabulary 10 Translation into Vietnamese.[2] For many words, specially the abstract ones, it is advisable for teacher to translate them into Vietnamese This technique should, however, not be abused Ex; Beautiful: xinh It is necessary that the teacher may give an example such as “They are very brave” 11 Using the dictionary[2] If we need to save time or run into really difficult words, using dictionary will be the best option Step2 Recording vocabulary on the board [1],[2],[4],[5] As a teacher, presenting new words is a very important step in teaching vocabulary but recording vocabulary is not less important The teacher has to guide the pupils in order to use symbols recording vocabulary However, my study discusses “teaching vocabulary to children at Primary School”, not at secondary or high school We can use many ways such as: symbols with synonym, antonyms, translations and pictures For example: Good = nice (synonym) Good # bad (antonym) - You can use the following symbols to show the stress or the linking sounds Example: Do you like it? - You can use the following words or abbreviations for the parts of a sentence Example: Adjectives (adj) - nice (adj) Adverbs (adv) quickly (adv) There are many others ways but I think the three ways I presented above are the most useful Because we always have to remember that the object is pupils at Primary School not pupils at secondary and high school So their thought and perception is limitation We can not ask too much from them There fore, we need to choose the way which is the most suitable Step3 Checking vocabulary: [1],[2],[4],[5] What to check? After teaching vocabulary, every teacher should check their students on vocabulary of pronunciation, dictation, using and meaning If their students give good feedbacks, it means they are successful in teaching vocabulary Therefore, vocabularies are needed to check It means pronunciation, dictation, using and meaning are needed to check Do you think those are all what to check vocabulary? When to check? In my opinion, after teaching vocabulary, we can check our students’ understanding vocabulary, or we can check in the end of the lesson as free stages But some teachers check vocabulary while students are practicing language skills In short, we can check vocabulary at any stages of the lesson, provided that our students can understand and use vocabulary to make sentences and practice language skills How to check? There are many ways of checking vocabulary They are considered as games such as: Noughts and crosses, slap the board, word-square, networks, hang man, shark attack, jumbled words, rub out and remember, what and where, matching…, teachers should use some of those games to check vocabulary With new text book series, if teachers use games to check vocabulary as well as other skills, they will not only get the best feedbacks from their students but also make classroom climate always merry * Some ways to check student’s vocabulary Bus stop.[2] This is a great game to revise vocabulary and you can use it with any age group and any level by changing the category headings It really gets students focused and working on tasks as a team and can be a saving to fill the last ten minutes of a class when you have run out of ideas! - Put the students into teams of three or four - Draw on the board a table like the ones below and get each team to copy it onto a piece of paper Students simply have to think of one item to go in each category beginning with the set letter Give an example line of answers for the first time you play with a new group The first team to finish shouts “Stop the Bus!” Check their answers and write up on the board and if they are all okay that team wins a point If there are any mistakes in their words, let the game continue for another few minutes - If it gets too difficult with certain letters (and you can’t think of one for each category) reduce the amount of words they have to get You can say “Ok For this round you can stop the Bus with columns” Examples: Subjects The Alphabet B C K R P Toys Animals Food Ball Car Kite Robot Puzzle Bear Cat Kangaroo Rabbit Panda Bread Cake Ketchup Rice Pizza What and Where [2] The teacher draws squares and writes it on the blackboard inside that circle The teacher lets the pupils read again Rub out phrases, words inside square betel Before rubbing out, the pupils read one more time And then point to empty square betel, pupil’s task is to read again Continue until the pupils remember all six phrases, words Require the pupils write six phrases, words on the right six square This checking technique is good for the pupils to memorize vocabulary and also good for revision of vocabulary Guess what I'm thinking.[2] Students take turns describing something, like a place: “I’m thinking of a place that is so huge it takes visitors hours to see all of it It has stunning works of art It is a breathtaking building, very old, but with a modern glass pyramid in the front.” Students choose to be as obvious or as cryptic as they like Even little ones can this with simple descriptions: “It's an animal It has a very long neck and big brown spots.” Or simply state a series of words: “Africa, black and white, stripes” It’s better to teach vocabulary in context, in other words, teach highly descriptive adjectives when the lesson is about traveling Never teach a list of words just because, or students will not have a chance to practice this new vocabulary Odd one out.[2] The teacher gives four words of which is different from the remaining words Pupils’ task is to find out the different word Matching.[2] Write new words in a list on the left hand side on the blackboard Write the definitions, translations or drawing picture on the right hand side of the blackboard Example: Connect the dots to match the animals and their names Jumble words.[2] This game will help students memorize spelling of words Because it is quite easy to do, children eagerly enjoy taking part in the order arrangement When choosing this game, primary teacher should select what use pictures to illustrate the content of game - Teacher divides class into two groups with the names, and then hands out the photo to students She offers them to work in group in minutes - Students must write the name of animals in underline Which groups write more accurately, nicely and quickly than others will be the winner Slap the board.[2] - The teacher writes new words or sticks the picture on the blackboard - Calling two groups to go to blackboard; each group has about four or five people - Requiring groups to stand far from the blackboard the same distance - The teacher will speak Vietnamese words aloud if those words are English and contrast - Each pupil of two groups comes to the blackboard and slap on words which are called - The one who slap the correct word first, they get mark - If the group get mark more, the group will win 8 Crossword.[2] To check the vocabulary of my children, I also often play crossword games: through the suggested image, they guess the words to find, if the team guesses the correct crossword will win I think those I have mentioned above are the most effective methodologies If we are to help students to be good learners of English, it is necessary to obey principles and steps for teaching vocabulary above Noughts and Crosses.[2] Teacher puts a grid on the board with new words in it Student works in pairs One of the students copies the grid in his/her book One student is ‘noughts’ (‘O’) and the other is ‘Crosses’ (‘X’) One student starts He/She chooses a word and makes a sentence with it Ì the sentence is correct, he/she puts his/her mark (‘O’ or ‘X’) in that square The first student who gets three-in-a-row (a cross, down, or diagonally) is the winner 2.4 The results after applying the research After over one term I apply this research, I find that this experience is really effective The survey result of the middle-term two of students grade and grade at Dong Tan Primary school, school year 2019- 2020, is the following: Grade Good Total pupil Number % 108 30 28 Quite Number % 50 46 Medium Number % 23 21 Weak Number % 5 63 20 32 25 40 14 22 Through the survey result, I find the quality of teaching and learning is getting higher Good and rather good students are increasing, the number of medium students is decreased There are some weak students CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION 3.1 Conclusion: To sum up, there are many methodologies of teaching vocabulary, each teacher has her/his own methodology of teaching vocabulary but the characteristics of presenting vocabulary are the same in any language The final purpose of every teacher is to enlarge students’ vocabulary, to help them to be good listeners, speakers, readers, and writers in any language I think those I have mentioned above are the most effective methodologies If we are to help students to be good learners of English, it is necessary to obey principles and steps for teaching vocabulary above Thanks to the helps of my fellows and friends; and through the real teaching English process, I can finish my survey and complete this experience initiative I think that each teacher has to invest time, effort and intellect in order to gain the highest quality of teaching and learning English The teachers have to be aware of the knowledge in each lesson and each unit From that, they make plan, use suitable techniques or methods, design suitable activities for students to act as much as possible Students can get the knowledge exactly and excitedly If students have inspiration, excitement and curiosity about English, they will be eager to learn and get good results 3.2 Recommendation From the lessons learned through practical teaching, suggested the school should invest more in facilities for teaching as radio cassette, optional classroom, pictures, flash cards My solution to the problem will not avoid making mistakes Therefore, I would like to receive the other colleagues’ advice and comments in order to improve my ability Thank you very much CONFIRMATION OF HEADS OF UNIT Thanh Hoa, May 20th, 2020 (I assure that this is my writing assignment, not copying the contents of other people.) Written by Lê Thị Ngọc Thúy REFERENCES [1] English language Teaching Methodology- the Ministry of Education ,2003 [2] Allen.F.A, (1983), Techniques in teaching vocabulary, NewYork Oxford University Press [3] Wright, (1990) Pictures for Language Learning, Cambridge University Press, ISBN 0-521-35800-0 [4] Students’ and teacher’s English 3, Ministry of Education and Training, 2015 [5] Students’ and teacher’s English 4, Ministry of Education and Training, 2015 DANH MỤC CÁC ĐỀ TÀI SÁNG KIẾN KINH NGHIỆM ĐÃ ĐƯỢC HỘI ĐỒNG ĐÁNH GIÁ XẾP LOẠI CẤP PHÒNG GD VÀ ĐT, CẤP SỞ GD VÀ ĐT VÀ CÁC CẤP CAO HƠN XẾP LOAI TỪ LOẠI C TRỞ LÊN Họ tên tác giả: Lê Thị Ngọc Thúy Chức vụ: Giáo viên Đơn vị công tác: Trường TH Đơng Tân- T.P Thanh Hóa TT Tên đề tài SKKN Một vài thủ thuật dạy từ vựng Tiếng Anh cho học sinh trường THCS Thiệu Lý Cấp đánh giá Kết đánh giá xếp loại xếp loại Cấp huyện B Năm học đánh giá xếp loại 20072008 THE CONTENTS Page INTRODUCTION 1.1 The reasons for choosing the topic 1.2 The aims of the study 1.3 The object of the study 1.4 The methods of the study 1.5 The new ideas of the study CONTENT 2.1 The theoretical basic of the initiative 2.2 The real state of the problem 2.3 The implementing organizational solution The process of teaching vocabulary Step Presenting vocabulary Step Recording vocabulary on the board Step Checking vocabulary 2.4 The results after applying the research CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION 3.1 Conclusion 3.2 Recommendation 1 2 2 6 12 13 17 17 17 17 THANH HOA DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING THE CITY EDUCATION AND TRAINING DEPARTMENT AN EXPERIENCE INITIATIVE SOME TECHNIQUES IN TEACHING VOCABULARY AT DONG TAN PRIMARY SCHOOL The implementer: Lê Thị Ngọc Thúy Position: Teacher Work unit: Dong Tan primary school Experience initiative in the field of subject: English THANH HOA 2020 ... DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING THE CITY EDUCATION AND TRAINING DEPARTMENT AN EXPERIENCE INITIATIVE SOME TECHNIQUES IN TEACHING VOCABULARY AT DONG TAN PRIMARY SCHOOL The implementer: Lê Thị... process of teaching vocabulary [1],[4], [5] There are steps of teaching vocabulary Step 1: Presenting vocabulary Step 2: Recording vocabulary Step 3: Checking vocabulary Step 1: Presenting vocabulary. .. certain principles One of the tasks of the teacher when teaching vocabulary is the selecting the right vocabulary the pupil need Therefore, vocabulary must be concerned in teaching English at Primary