Journal 8

Teaching vocabulary in reading


Building an adequate vocabulary usually comes slowly. It requires a strong desire to build word power, wide reading, practice in mastering words and using the words in oral and written communication. Most important, it requires a systematic, deliberate attempt to develop word power on a daily basis. Every student should know his dictionary well and consider it his most important reference book. Our vocabulary work will be limited to commonly used words (from the text mainly) and to be specialized vocabulary of reading.

Distributed or spaced practice, even for a few minutes throughout the day, is a very effective and painless way of building a good vocabulary. Unless the students can readily learn from lists, the card method best serves frequent practice. This method also can be used as Pre-reading activity before reading texts.

Method 1 :::Using cards or paper:::

①Write the vocabulary word with its syllabic breakdown and diacritical markings on one side.
On the reverse side, write the meaning appropriate to the verbal context (phrase or sentence in which the word appears).

②Add other meanings as most words have multiple meanings.

③Write a phrase or sentence using the word.

Have students Keep a few of these cards with them and review them quickly while waiting throughout the day. Replace the learned words with new words throughout the week. This way students will really master words instead of just possibly doing well on the test but forgetting them in a few days. What a waste of time this would be!

Method 2 :::The most practical way to get at the meaning of a word while reading is:::

①Try to determine the meaning from the verbal context (this may extend beyond the immediate words to the paragraph or article).

②Analyze the word structurally:
-What does the root or base mean?
-the prefix(es)?
-suffix(es)?
-Put them together.
-This will give you a clue to the word's meaning.

③Have students Say the word. Sometimes pronouncing it will help them to recognize it. It may be a word students have heard many times but never saw in print.

④Unless the meaning of a word is absolutely central to understanding the idea discussed, it'd better ask students to put off the interruption of looking it up immediately. Instead, let students make a light pencil check in the margin. When they finish the article or chapter, ask them to look up all the words check and make cards. As most words have multiple meanings, have students consider the verbal context in which the words appear so that students will select the correct meaning. Have students keep in their minds that the first one mentioned in the dictionary may not be the appropriate meaning for the context.

HOW IS VOCABULARY IMPORTANT??

All models of reading recognize the importance of vocabulary, but the interactive model goes further. Not only is a large vocabulary important, it is a prerequisite to fluent reading skills. Since automatic word recognition is more important to fluent processing of text than context clues as a first strategy, large-scale development of recognition vocabulary is crucial. The importance of vocabulary is not only related to the number of words, but also to the number of times that these words are encountered and retrieved in texts.


:::Multiple exposures in multiple contexts:::
One principle of effective vocabulary learning is to provide multiple exposures to a word's meaning. There is great improvement in vocabulary when students encounter vocabulary words often. According to Stahl (2005), students probably have to see a word more than once to place it firmly in their long-term memories. "This does not mean mere repetition or drill of the word," but seeing the word in different and multiple contexts. In other words, it is important that vocabulary instruction provide students with opportunities to encounter words repeatedly and in more than one context.