What Is Vocabulary?

“Without grammar something can be conveyed, without vocabulary nothing can be conveyed.”

Broadly defined, vocabulary is knowledge of words and word meanings. However, vocabulary is more complex than this definition suggests. First, words come in two forms: oral and print. Oral vocabulary includes those words that we recognize and use in listening and speaking. Print vocabulary includes those words that we recognize and use in reading and writing. Second, word knowledge also comes in two forms, receptive and productive. Receptive vocabulary includes words that we recognize when we hear or see them. Productive vocabulary includes words that we use when we speak or write. Receptive vocabulary is typically larger than productive vocabulary, and may include many words to which we assign some meaning, even if we don’t know their full definitions and connotations – or ever use them ourselves as we speak and write.

A person's vocabulary is the set of words they are familiar with in a language. A vocabulary usually grows and evolves with age, and serves as a useful and fundamental tool for communication and acquiring knowledge.

Types of Vocabulary:

There are two types of vocabulary; Active vocabulary Passive vocabulary

Active vocabulary:Active vocabulary is vocabulary actually used.

Passive vocabulary:Passive vocabulary is vocabulary understood.

Vocabulary is further divided into five categories; i.e,

Single words Set phrases Variable phrases Phrasal verbs Idioms

Ways to make vocabulary learning interesting

Since students need to be motivated to learn vocabulary constantly, it is important that vocabulary review is as interesting as possible. Teachers can vary the types of exercises, strategies and activities. The visual element is equally important. Here are some of the activities we should use in teaching vocabulary. They are, by no means exhaustive.

Stage 1: Noticing the word: the visual element

Flashcards Pictures

Stage 2: Recognition

True/false Categorize the words Matching. (this category is huge with both open and

closed types of exercises)Matching the word to its definition, L1-L2, opposites, adjectives and nouns, verbs and adverbs, word to the picture, match two words that go together

Multiple choice Drawing the word Circle the word you hear

Stage 3: Production

Dictation Answering questions Picture description Miming

Final Words: Points to consider

Try to have as many success oriented activities that are geared to the age groups you teach.

Gradually progress from one stage to another but vary the activities within each stage.

Consider appealing to the various multiple intelligences. The visual element in learning is particular important – for all age groups but particularly important for younger children.

Instructions of teaching vocabulary:

Step 1

Choose a list of words to focus on that's an integral part of the students' existing curriculum. Include words that students find in their everyday lives. Provide vocabulary words that are age appropriate.

Step 2

Motivate students by creating rewards, games, puzzles and other fun activities. Mix a variety of activities centered on vocabulary to reach a broader range of students.

Step 3

Model proper use of vocabulary words. Use language creatively and with gusto. Have fun with your own vocabulary and students will want to have fun with theirs.

Step 4

Create a word wall where students write new and interesting vocabulary words. Refer to the wall often during class so students become familiar with it and its purpose.

Step 5

Quiz and test the students on their vocabulary words. Disguise the purpose, learning vocabulary, of the quiz. Explain that quizzes and tests only help the teacher know how well the students have been taught.

Step 6

Revisit old vocabulary words often. Bring them up casually in class and on quizzes. Tell students that learning does not end after the test. It is important for them to recall vocabulary words.

Sources of teaching Vocabulary:

PicturesThis is incredibly efficient for the reason that it facilitates the process of learning for children. You can teach them animals merely throughout showing them pictures of animals.

ContextThough challenging sometimes is in reality a good technique particularly when it comes to abstract words such as happiness or lucky or to go on a trip. Use the words in a real environment or context. Do not forget to help them find helpful strategies to memorize the words. Give them some appropriate exercises according to their capability of consolidating what they learn. At the same time, try to motivate them and stimulate their interest.

Mime and PantomimeIt may be done with the help of gestures and facial expressions and also through actions.

PlayingIf your beginners are kindergarten children, try to teach them throughout playing. Use numerous educational games popular today with children. Try to make your

lesson lively and interesting with the help of showing the children some pictures, telling them easy and interesting stories, and so on.

Start with Irregular VerbsMake your students memorize much needed words, starting with irregular verbs then nouns, adjectives and so on. Everyday learnt with them 3 to 5 words. When they had memorized enough words made a test. Remind and test them at every chance.

Last PagesSuggest that they use the last pages of their notebooks to create their own glossary, using just the words that are interesting for them or the ones that they actually want to include in their everyday vocabulary. It gives them autonomy to choose and to be more active in the process of learning.

Principles of teaching Vocabulary:

While teaching vocabulary to the students we should keep in mind some useful Principles which help teaching vocabulary.

Some of the principles are given below; Keep teaching simple and clear. No complicated

explanations. Relate the present teaching to past knowledge by

showing a pattern. Use both oral and written presentations. Write it on

the board while explaining. Give most attention to words that are already partly

known. Tell the learners if it is a high frequency word that they

should remember. Don’t bring in other unknown or little-known related

words (like synonyms or opposites.) Recycling:

New vocabulary must be regularly recycled/revised for students to remember it.

Motivation Evaluation and assessment Communication:

In order to communicate clearly and effectively a good range of vocabulary is needed.

Techniques:

Here some techniques are given which should be used in teaching vocabulary;

Say the word clearly and write it on the board. Get the class to repeat the word in chorus. Translate the word, or ask the students to translate. Draw a picture to show what the word means. Give an English example. Ask questions using the new word. Say an opposite word. Use visual aid.

Vocabulary Strategies:

3 effective ways for a student to learn vocabulary are;

Guessing unknown words from context. Learning the meanings of unknown words. Studying word parts and mnemonic devices.

Content and Structural words:

Words are of two kinds:

1 content words. 2 Structural words.

Content words:Content words are those that stand for:

Things, ideas and entities. They are called nouns. Actions. They are called verbs. Qualities. They are called Adjectives and adverbs.

So content words comprise nouns, verbs, adjectives and adverbs.

Structural Words:Structural words are those which have little or no

meaning in themselves, but they bind together other words to make phrases, clauses and sentences.

The following is the list of structural words: All the pronouns: I, you, he, her, etc. All the prepositions: on, under, with, behind, etc. All the auxiliary verbs: do, does, did, shall, will,

etc. All the conjunctions: and, but, or, lest, etc. All the relatives: whose, which, where,

etc. Some structural adjectives: this, that, some,

any, etc. Some structural adverbs: ago, again, even,

more, etc.Structural words are also called function words as they

are so important for the functioning of the language.Structural words are about 300 in number; the rest of

the dictionary consists of content words.Structural words are more difficult to teach than

content words.

Gradation of Vocabulary:

The words selected for the school stage have to be taught in five, six years. So we have to grade them for the different years according to certain principles. The following are the principles of gradation:

Usefulness: some words are more useful for the child at a particular stage than others. For example, in first years of teaching English, the following vocabulary items are very useful.a)Words for the things the child uses, e.g., book, pen.b)Words for the common relationships e.g., father,

mother.c) Words for environmental areas, e.g., school, home.d)Words for everyday actions, e.g., sit, stand, go.e) Certain quality words, e.g., good, bad.

Structural value: Even the structural words are graded. For example, the prepositions on and in are taught earlier than at.

Teachability: Some words are easier to teach than others. For example, the word Table is easier to teach than Honesty. The teacher can show a table, but he will have to create a verbal situation to give the mother tongue equivalent to teach Honesty. For the same reason it is easier to teach Open than to Kill.

Simplicity: The simplicity of a word depends on its spelling and pronunciation. For example, Strange is simple than Mysterious.

It should be noted that only one meaning of a word be taught at a time. That meaning should be simple one.

Look at the following three meanings of the word Have. These meanings have to be taught in the order mentioned in accordance wit the principle of simplicity,

Have1) (showing permanent possession). I have

two hands.2) (as helping verb). They have gone.

3) (followed by infinitive).They have to work.

Active and Passive Vocabulary:

There are two kinds of vocabulary: Active Vocabulary Passive Vocabulary

Active Vocabulary: the active vocabulary of a person consists of those words that he can use correctly in his own speech and writing. He fully understands the meaning of those words.

Active vocabulary is also called working or functional vocabulary. Whatever words are taught to the students in the first three years should form a part of their active vocabulary. In other words the student should master those words at the productive level.

Passive Vocabulary: the passive vocabulary of a person consists of those words which he recognizes when he meets in print or in the speech of others. He can make out the meanings of those words, for example, while reading an editorial in the newspaper. But he has not sufficient mastery ever those words. So he cannot use them in his own speech or writings.

Passive vocabulary is also called recognition vocabulary. In senior classes students are required to learn certain words which form a part of their passive vocabulary only. It should be noted that a word which forms a part of a student’s passive vocabulary next year.

A person’s passive vocabulary is always larger than his active vocabulary because the former also includes the latter.

Structure versus content words

English words fall into two broad types: those that belong in the dictionary like ‘storm’ and ‘confabulate’, called content words, and

those that belong in the grammar like ‘of’ and ‘the’, called structure words

Here are some of the main differences between structure and content words:

Content Words Structure Words- are best explained and listed in the dictionary, like ‘book’, ‘teddy bear’ or ‘encapsulate’

- are best explained in the grammar, i.e. in terms of how they fit into sentences: ‘the’ is a definite article goes with nouns

- exist in large numbers, tens or hundreds of thousands, as seen in any dictionary

- are very limited in number, consisting of 220 or so in English

- vary in frequency from common words like ‘beer’ to very rare like ‘adduction’ (6 times in a 100 million words)

- are mostly very high frequency, for example all the top ten for English and 45% of the top 100 are structure words

- are used more in written language - are used more in spoken language- are more likely to be preceded by a pause in speech ‘I like … bananas’, perhaps because there are more to choose from

- are less likely to be preceded by a pause in speech ‘I hate …the referee’, perhaps because there are less of them to choose from

- consist of Nouns (‘glass’), Verbs (‘move’), Adjectives (‘glossy’) etc

- consist of Prepositions (‘to’), Articles (‘the’), Auxiliaries (‘can’) etc

- are always pronounced and spelled in essentially the same way; ‘tree’ is always said with the same consonants and vowels

 - vary in pronunciation for emphasis etc; ‘have’ can be said as /hQv/, as /h‚v/ with a change of vowel and as /v/ (‘ve)

- usually have a fixed stress or stresses; ‘theatre’ is always ‘theatre’ /'Ti‚t‚/) never ‘theatre’ /Ti‚'t‚:/

- are usually unstressed but given stress for emphasis etc; ‘I’ve done it/I have done it/I have done it’

- usually have more than two letters, as in ‘eye’, ‘two’, ‘inn’

- can consist of one or two letters, as in ‘I’, ‘to’, ‘in’

- starting in ‘th’ are pronounced with a voiceless ‘th’ /T/ ‘think’, ‘theme’

- starting in ‘th’ are pronounced with a voiced ‘th’ /D/ ‘this’, ‘them’, ‘there’

- can always be invented – I heard ‘vagueity’ on the radio this morning. Virtually all the new words coming into the language say ‘cyberpunk’, are content words.

- can never be invented, apart from changes over time. One attempt was ‘per’ for ‘he/she’, which has never caught on.