1. 1
Enhancing Effectiveness of Vocabulary Learning and Teaching at Secondary Level
November 2013
English Language Education Section
Curriculum Development Institute
Education Bureau

2. Objectives of today’s programme2
Objectives of today’s programme
To introduce the theoretical underpinnings of vocabulary learning and teaching
To explore effective strategies for developing vocabulary building skills
To provide suggestions on designing quality vocabulary learning materials and activities

3. How do students learn vocabulary in English lessons?3
How do students learn vocabulary in English lessons?
You are going to observe a short, live lesson about how a class of S3 students learn English vocabulary.
Lesson focus: students learn the names of various types of food to help students complete a vocabulary exercise – labeling the photos of food types
Note down how the students learn English vocabulary in the lesson.
After viewing, work in groups of 4 and discuss if the teaching is effective in addressing the difficulties encountered by students when learning English vocabulary.

4. Evaluation on the lesson4
Evaluation on the lesson
Learning mainly focusses on meaning (direct Chinese translation) and the pronunciation of the target vocabulary.
Should students learn mainly meaning and pronunciation of the vocabulary?
Reading aloud and learning the Chinese meaning of the vocabulary may not help students retain the vocabulary learnt and retrieve for use later.
How can students retain and retrieve the vocabulary learnt for use?
Does learning all vocabulary items from the textbook help students strengthen their vocabulary power?
How can students strengthen their vocabulary power?

5. 1. Vocabulary building skills5
1. Vocabulary building skills

6. How can students strengthen their vocabulary power?
Acquire various dimensions of vocabulary knowledge
Learn and use a variety of vocabulary building skills

7. Dimensions of vocabulary knowledge7
Dimensions of vocabulary knowledge
Spelling
Meaning
Pronunciation
Hyponymy
Lexical field
Style & Register
Homonymy
Connotation
Word combination
Word formation
Word families
Synonymy & Antonymy 7

8. Meaning of words Literal meanings (Denotative meanings)8
Meaning of words
Literal meanings (Denotative meanings)
Implicit meanings (Connotative meanings)
e.g.
“blue”
“heart”

9. Lexical field, Hyponymy9
Lexical field, Hyponymy
Semantic relations
e.g.
Food: vegetables, meat, fruits, drinks, dessert …
Vegetables: lettuce, broccoli, cauliflower, tomato…
Meat: pork, beef, lamb …
Fruits: banana, orange, apple, durian, grape …
Hyponyms (lexical members, sub-categories)

10. Word formation Affixation (e.g. disapprove, wonderful …)10
Word formation
Affixation (e.g. disapprove, wonderful …)
Blending (e.g. infotainment, …)
Clipping (e.g. ad, blog …)
Giving a new meaning to an existing word (e.g. mouse, traffic …)
Conversion (e.g. google, text …)

11. Word combination The patterns the words appear in11
Word combination
The patterns the words appear in
e.g. multi-word units (formulaic expressions, idioms): a piece of cake, give me a hand, get cold feet …
The ways words are used
e.g. word collocations: play badminton, go fishing, make my lunch, take up a post …

12. field families units Lexical Style and Size register of Synonyms and12
Size of
Vocabulary
Lexical
field
Synonyms
and
antonyms
Style and
register
Word
families
Collocation
Multi-
word
units
connotation
Hyponyms
Homonyms

13. 13
The Mental Lexicon
With proper use of vocabulary building skills, students can organise the words they learnt and build associative networks in their minds effectively.

14. Vocabulary Building Skills14 14
Vocabulary Building Skills
Surveys reveal that good learners use a variety of skills to successfully learn new vocabulary or deal with unknown words in a text. They have more skills at their command and also use them more widely and more consistently. (Brown & Perry 1991, Cohen & Aphek 1981, Lawson & Hogben 1996, Sanaoui 1995)
Implication:
Teachers should make students aware of
a variety of vocabulary building skills.

15. Some effective vocabulary building skills15
Some effective vocabulary building skills
Create associations by
Making use of lexical relations
Attending to word collocation (multi-word units)
Learn word formation (e.g. affixation, blending, clipping …)
Use graphic organisers
What can teachers do?
Create multiple exposure to words taught / learnt.

16. Creating Associations16
Creating Associations
Two Strands
Topic Strand
(associative networks)
Collocation Strand
(associative networks)
focus on size
(breadth)
focus on word combinations
(depth)
paradigmatic approach
syntagmatic approach
expand
the size of the vocabulary bank
understand the usage of the
vocabulary and apply the
words learnt appropriately

17. Paradigmatic approach17
Paradigmatic approach
Develops associative networks
Associations are based on semantic categories
Deliberate organisation of words into hierarchies
Associates with receptive vocabulary 17 17

18. Paradigmatic approach (cont.)18
Paradigmatic approach (cont.)
Hyper-ordinates
flat
bedroom
bathroom
kitchen
stove
sink
cupboard
tap
strainer
Sub-ordinates

19. Syntagmatic approach Develops associative networks19
Syntagmatic approach
Develops associative networks
Associations are based on collocations (word combinations)
Focuses on:
multi-word units (e.g. ‘See you later.’, ‘Have a good trip!’, ‘keep abreast of’ …)
collocations (e.g. ‘go shopping’, ‘have a shower’, ‘play football’ …)
Associates with productive vocabulary 19 19

20. Syntagmatic approach (cont.)
Topic: Jobs
E.g. Chefs cook meals in restaurants.
PEOPLE
ACTIONS
OBJECTS
PLACE
chef
cook
meals
restaurant
teacher
singer
pilot

21. Hands-on Activity 1 Procedures:
Read the leaflets about popular routes for heritage tours in HK
Locate information about one of the heritage sites
Identify and categorise/organise adjectives describing the heritage sites
Write a short description about a famous heritage site

22. Hands-on Activity 1 Learning objectives:
Learn adjectives to describe places and buildings
Use the paradigmatic approach to organise adjectives under hyper-ordinates
Use the syntagmatic approach to organise adjectives to describe places and buildings
Present information using a wider variety of vocabulary appropriately

23. How can students improve their writing through learning vocabulary?
What vocabulary building skills do the students use to finish the task?
How can students improve their writing through learning vocabulary?

24. Teaching Procedures of the Task
ODSACROM (Worksheet 2)
identify adjectives describing places and buildings and put them under appropriate categories
use the ‘ODSACROM’ table to give details about objects
Sample description (Worksheet 3)
identify the repeated words and guide them to replace them with synonyms or more specific words
expand the ideas and enrich the vocabulary through thinking of the different characteristics of the building
Paradigmatic approach
(making use of lexical relations)
– synonyms, hyponyms
Syntagmatic approach
(making use of word collocation)
lexical substitution
(paradigmatic approach)
lexical expansion
(syntagmatic approach)

25. 2. Vocabulary learning and reading25
2. Vocabulary learning and reading

26. Why do some students read better?26
Why do some students read better?
Students’ reading abilities depend on:
Vocabulary Knowledge
Their depth and breath of word knowledge (Mezynski, 1983)
Background Knowledge
Their understanding of the topic or concept. (Anderson & Freebody, 1981)
Metalinguistic Skills
Their ability to reflect on and manipulate language (Nagy & Scott, 2000)

27. Reading and Vocabulary27
Cycle of Vocabulary Building and Reading
Vocabulary knowledge and reading comprehension are correlated. (Hiebert and Kamil 2005, p.41)
Reading and Vocabulary
Vocabulary
Volume of Reading
Reading Comprehen-sion
William Ngay, 2005, p.41

28. Cycle of Reading and Vocabulary28
Cycle of Reading and Vocabulary
Students should be supported at each point in the reading and vocabulary cycle.
Teaching individual words
More exposure to the language
Introducing word knowledge
Vocabulary
More time to read
Higher Motivation
Matching kids with texts
Volume of Reading
Reading Comprehen-sion
Reading strategies
Building background knowledge
Metalinguistic skills
William Ngay, 2005, p.41

29. How can teachers improve students’ vocabulary and reading?
Focus on target vocabulary
Improve students vocabulary and background knowledge, as well as metalinguistic skills through learning activities

30. 1. Focus on Target Vocabulary30
1. Focus on Target Vocabulary
To improve their vocabulary, students should be given the opportunities to:
Target the key vocabulary that matches their language needs
Study the target vocabulary in greater depth

31. Pedagogies for learning target vocabulary
Provide multiple exposures to target words in reading texts and design vocabulary-focused activities and create opportunities for vocabulary use
Promote cognitive ‘elaboration’ of the form-meaning relationship through instructional intervention
Guide students in the development of vocabulary building skills

32. Guessing words from context32
Guessing words from context
The use of vocabulary building skills in guessing and inferring words and phrases in context
Linguistic clues (e.g. ‘Many parents are concerned about the inappropriate materials they children can access on the Internet.’)
Contextual clues (e.g. ‘Some people may abuse the Internet by spreading rumours of false information’.)
Knowledge of word formation (e.g. prefixes, suffixes and compound words)
Knowledge of lexical relations (e.g. collocation, sense relations such as synonym, antonym and hyponym)

33. Guessing words from context33
Guessing words from context
The use of contextual clues is a good reading strategy, but not very conducive to vocabulary growth:
Comprehensible input alone is not sufficient for students to master the vocabulary. (Swain, 1993)
Students are less likely to notice and learn the words if the words are not essential to understanding the passage. (Laufer, 1997)

34. Using a dictionary
With effective and judicious use of a dictionary, students can:
confirm their guesses about a word
learn new vocabulary
deepen their vocabulary knowledge
Students should learn to use a dictionary to:
find out the less frequent, unusual or rare meaning and special usage of words in a text
learn to use the words appropriately, e.g. using the correct part of speech
CDC-HKEAA English Language Curriculum and Assessment Guide (S4-6)

35. 2. Meaningful learning activities
Students should be given the opportunities to engage in meaningful learning activities to enrich their:
Vocabulary Knowledge
Background Knowledge
Metalinguistic Skills

36. Pedagogies to improve students’:
Vocabulary knowledge
provide both definitional and contextual information about a word
introduce important vocabulary words and provide ways for students to solidify their understanding of the words by seeing them and using them multiple times (Hiebert and Kamil, 2005)
Background knowledge
teach vocabulary in conjunction with concepts and content to enrich students’ knowledge of the topic
connect the target vocabulary items with students’ prior knowledge and experiences (Beck et all, 2002)
Metalinguistic Skills
cover vocabulary building and reading skills to enhance students’ ability to comprehend texts

37. How can students learn vocabulary to improve their reading?
How can students recognise and remember the words more easily?
How can students learn vocabulary to improve their reading?

38. Hands-on Activity 2 Procedures:
Complete the comics with the vocabulary items
Learn how the words are coined
Read the passage and answer the comprehension questions

39. Hands-on Activity 2 Learning objectives:
Learn coined words on information technology
Understand word formation
Understand and analyse a reading text with better vocabulary and background knowledge

40. Connecting Vocabulary Learning to Reading
Learning activities
Purpose
Focus on target
vocabulary
Students:
Complete the comics with target vocabulary
Learn how new words in the area of
information technology are coined
Read the passage and answer the comprehension questions
Learn more about
the topic
Develop vocabulary
building skills
Apply vocabulary
and background
knowledge as well as
metalinguistic skills
Repeated exposure to vocabulary

41. Vocabulary Learning and Reading
Teachers are always puzzled: Why do students fail to recognise words that have already been ‘taught’?
Students REMEMBER better if they:
have sufficient encounters with the target vocabulary
learn vocabulary in conjunction with (i) concepts and content (ii) learning strategies 41 41

42. 3. The use of vocabulary lists42
3. The use of vocabulary lists

43. Discussion: Do you / your students use vocabulary lists? Why or why not?

44. Problems of using the vocabulary lists
Students have a weak sense of the correct usage of vocabulary.
Vocabulary learning may become the rote learning of definitions of decontextualised lists of English words.
Writing may become a matter of word-for-word translation from Chinese into English with little attention to the collocational patterns of English.
Implication:
Learning vocabulary in context
Using more effective vocabulary organisers

45. Learning vocabulary in context
Learning vocabulary in context, students can:
Guess the meanings of new words
Learn how the words are used
Remember the new words better

46. Learning Vocabulary in Context
Passive vocabulary
Active vocabulary
Learning Tasks
Reading
Listening
Speaking
Writing
Functions
as input
as output
Skills involved
Understanding meaning of words in context
Recalling words and using them appropriately in context

47. Some examples and links of graphic organisers for recording vocabulary47
Using vocabulary organisers
Some examples and links of graphic organisers for recording vocabulary
Vocabulary Word Cluster
Word
Detective
Adjective
Organiser
Synonyms &
Antonyms

48. Using vocabulary organisers
Students can use vocabulary organisers to:
study how words are related
understand the usage of the words better
apply vocabulary building skills
retrieve the words for use more easily

49. Applying the vocabulary in learning activities
Opportunities should be provided for students to:
Organise the words for intentional learning
Apply the words in meaningful learning activities

50. Meaningful Learning Tasks / Activities50
Meaningful Learning Tasks / Activities
Students can learn and apply target vocabulary purposefully and meaningfully.
Purpose
of communication
The need
to learn what they do not know
The motivation
to learn

51. How can students better understand and apply the words with vocabulary organisers?

52. Hands-on Activity 3 Procedures: Read the restaurant review
Identify useful adjectives from the review
Organise the adjectives
Design a slogan

53. Hands-on Activity 3 Learning objectives:
Understand the word combination ‘adjective + noun’
Retain the target vocabulary by using rhyme and alliteration
Present information with enhanced
understanding of word combination
and usage

54. How can we plan the learning of adjectives?
Learn the adjectives
in a context (e.g. introduce the adjectives to describe food and environment of a restaurant using a restaurant review)
Understanding the vocabulary in a context
Introduce adjectives
Introduce lexical relations to help students categorise the words
Design a purposeful and meaningful task to allow students to apply / use the words learnt
Analysing and applying the vocabulary with the help of organisers

55. What is the difference between the two organisers?
Staff, Price, Environment, Food
– to facilitate word combination
Alphabetical order
Rhyme
– to facilitate word association

56. Vocabulary presented in a way that can facilitate its application
Organising the words
Teachers are always puzzled: How can vocabulary items be better organised?
Vocabulary items can be organised to facilitate their application.
REMEMBER: The arrangement of vocabulary items in a orgnaiser may help students use the words.
Vocabulary presented in a way that can facilitate its application 56 56

57. Suggested Wordlists for the English Language curriculum
Available in the Resource Package on ‘Enhancing English Vocabulary Learning and Teaching at Secondary Level’
Four stages: KS1, KS2, KS3, SS
Two categories: alphabetical and thematic
Aiming to help teachers locate relevant vocabulary

58. Suggested Wordlists for the English Language curriculum
Students should develop their vocabulary knowledge and skills through meaningful tasks and activities
Mechanical memorisation is not encouraged.
The actual words that learners encounter, acquire and use vary according to the context. It is, therefore, not advisable to prescribe a vocabulary list out of context.
(CDC English Language Curriculum Guide, 2004)

59. Suggested Wordlists in alphabetical order
Select the required key stage of words and click ‘Show Wordlist’.

60. Suggested Wordlists in alphabetical order
Click the letters to select words.
Words with different meanings are shown on the right column.

61. Suggested Wordlists in alphabetical order
Select the required category/ categories, key stage(s) and click ‘Show wordlist’.

62. Suggested Wordlists in alphabetical order
Words are shown by category.