How to Teach Vocabulary to Young Learners

Why we should teach vocabulary to YL Vocabulary of a language is just like bricks of a high building. Despite quite small pieces, they are vital to the great structure (Innovative Techniques of Teaching Vocabulary at the Intermediate Level in the Second Language Classroom Prashant Subhash Mothe, Adarsh Senior College, Omerga Dist.Osmanabad (MS) India)  Good vocabulary range increasing reading comprehension, ability in technical subjects and written ability. According to Cameron (2001:73) “Vocabulary is about learning words, children are not only expected to know the word but also they have to know what the meaning of that word.”

How to Teach Vocabulary to YL 1. Make it interesting 2. Keep it relevance 3. Set achievable goals The words we are targeting - are they suitable for the students ability The amount of time we give students to learn them The number of words we set 4. Teach words in context (http://emmainindia.hubpages.com/hub/Teaching-Vocabulary-to-Young-Learners)

Techniques to teach vocabulary for YL Pointing Teacher can use flashcard or power point presentation to show the item that they want to teach. 2. Substitution There are two ways to substitute the words Synonyms : We substitute one word students are familiar with or another new one Example: When you call someone, do you sometimes have to wait? You have to hold. Antonym : We substitute one word they are familiar with for its opposite. Example : Is a Ferrari a cheap car? No it’s an expensive car.

3. Naming This technique is similar to substitution, but in this case, we set a scene or situation and then substitute it with a new word or phrase, thus effectively naming the scene Example : The steak I ordered last night was not cooked enough. It was undercooked/rare/bloody. The hotel accepted too many reservations. The hotel is overbooked.

4. Miming and TPR This technique works great with kinesthetic learners 4. Miming and TPR This technique works great with kinesthetic learners. TPR works well with parts of the body (I’m touching my nose! Touch your nose!), actions (I’m walking to the door), and the imperative commands (Sit down! Stand up!) 5. Realia The using of realia can motivate the YL to learn. It’s fun and sets a more natural learning environment

Kind of Activities to Teach Vocabulary to YL Sparkle Vocabulary Puzzle Kind of Activities to Teach Vocabulary to YL Spelling Bulls-eye Guess the Word Word Ladder http://emmainindia.hubpages.com/hub/Teaching-Vocabulary-to-Young-Learners

Sparkle Before we do this activity have all members of the class stand up Choose a spelling word and have each student say one letter to spell out the word. After the last letter has been said the next student say sparkle and the next student in line is out of the game For example: Word = Cat, Student 1 - 'C', Student 2 - 'A', Student 3 'T', Student 4 - ' Sparkle', Student 5 is out!

Spelling Bulls-eye Divide the class into 2 groups Each member of the group try to spell the target word one by one The winner is the group which can spell the word correctly and fast. The winner use a soft ball (or scrunched up paper) and throw it a bulls-eye (circular target) and make points for their team

Word Ladder Write the target words on large cards and place them on the floor in a line to make the ladder. Divide the students into 2 groups and ask them to stand up at the opposite of the ladder 1 student from each team start (at the same time), before they can go forward one step on the ladder they must tell us the meaning of the word If they get it right the step forward.

Do it until each member of the group meet in the middle of the ladder Do rock, scissor, paper to decide who can stay on the ladder The winner continues, the loser has to go to the back of their teams line, and a new team member starts from the beginning of the ladder. First team to the end of the ladder get a point.

Guess the Word Let the students sit in their chairs. Give each one a list of words, student A gives a definition or sentence but does not say the target word. Student B has to guess what the word is

Vocabulary Puzzle Write some words on a large cards and put it random Teacher give the definition of one word Students should find a word with the definition that the teacher already given