Vocabulary Learning Strategies
How to improve your way of learning new words
Aim of this presentation
Reflect about your own strategy use
Learn general strategies that assist memory
Understand more about memory and how to use this information to your advantage
How does the brain work?
Short-term memory working memory
(taking in new vocabulary) (encoding vocabulary)
long-term memory
(remember vocabulary)
Do you know how you learn?
You can only improve your learning if you know how you learn
Analyse your way of studying Keep a reflective learning journal
for a few weeks Ask your friends how they learn and
compare your ideas of learning
What are learning strategies?
Learning strategies are techniques that you can use to improve your learning
There are far more strategies than you might know
Maybe you already use many strategies without knowing it
Most strategies can be improved
Strategies which some of you already use
Repetition repetition repetition (Verbal/written)
Test yourself Use words in conversation Study the sound of a word
Strategies for vocabulary learning
Carry a small vocabulary notebook with you
Revise vocabulary whenever you have a few extra minutes (e.g. when waiting in a queue)
Get active / take responsibility for your learning
Strategies for vocabulary learning
Learn associated words together
Learn word families together Play – player – replay – playful – playing – played Employment, employer, employee, employable, unemployed, self-
employed
Use
Look for similarities
clothes
socks
trousers dress
shirt
Strategies for vocabulary learning
Think of a physical action or movement which could be related to the word
Be creative: Walking table wave
Give each word a certain sound and/or melody
Connect words to synonyms/antonymsSynonyms: Old: antique – mature – aged - elderly Antonyms: Old-new but also old-young
Strategies for vocabulary learning
Paraphrase the word’s meaning “An ambulance is a vehicle which takes ill people to the hospital”
Use index cards / flash cards
Use mnemonics (tricks to remember better)Acronyms/Abbreviations: pto=please turn over, FYI= for your informationFind a word with a similar sound in your own language: lundi/laundry “I
wash my laundry every “lundi”.
Spanish: gato French: gateau
image: cat eating cake
Strategies for vocabulary learning
Learn words with collocations (words that normally go together) home: “I went home”, “on the way home”, “I got home”, “I came home”
Look out for idioms and multi-word units“that sort of thing”, “more or less”, “now and again”, “out of the blue”
Strategies for vocabulary learning
Use diagrams, charts, pictures and cartoons whenever possible
Relate words to a personal experience
Strategies for vocabulary learning
Use the words in a story
The more unusual the easier to remember
Strategies for vocabulary learning
Take a mental picture of a word
Involve your feelings and emotions
Make it funny
What do you remember?
How does the brain work?Short-term memory working memory long-term memory
What are vocabulary learning strategies?
Which strategies do you already use? Which other strategies do you
remember? Which ones do you like best?
Thanks for listening
Now it’s your turn
Experiment with the strategies
Find out which ones work best for you
Personalise them
References Cottrell, S. (2003) The Study Skills Handbook (2nd ed.) Hampshire,
Palgrave Macmillan McCarthy, M. & O’Dell, F. (2001) English Vocabulary in Use – upper
intermediate Cambridge, CUP O’Malley, J. & Chamot, A. (1990) Learning Strategies in Second
Language Acquisition Cambridge, CUP Payne, E. Whittaker, L. (2000) Developing Essential Study Skills
Harlow, Pearson Education Ltd Scharle, A. & Szabó, A. (2000) Learner Autonomy - A guide to
developing learner responsibility Cambridge, CUP Schmitt, N. & McCarthy, M. (1997) Vocabulary - Description,
Acquisition and Pedagogy Cambridge, CUP Thornbury, S. (2002) How to Teach Vocabulary Harlow, Pearson
Education Ltd
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