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童　君

Introduction

As is known to us all, vocabulary is very critical to English learners. For the students who have a very limited vocabulary, theyll find reading, writing and speaking very difficult and frustrating. As a result, many students lose interest in learning English and some even give it up. So as an English teacher, a very important thing he / she has to do is to enlarge the students vocabulary. But according to the students, the teacher does teach them a large number of words and they do try their best to memorize the words, but theyll forget them quite soon. Therefore, a more important thing for the teacher is to help the students to promptly consolidate the vocabulary they learn. To do this, we can have the aid of activities in the classroom.

There are many activities we can conduct to help the students to consolidate their vocabulary. This passage just gives some examples.

Main Body

1. Classifying the words

Studies have shown that when the words are in a related set, they are not easy to forget. So we can ask the students to group the words into semantically related sets, such as the family members: grandparents, father, mother, uncle, aunt, cousin, brother, sister, niece, nephew... and carnivore: tiger, lion, leopard, bear, dog, cat, snake, eagle, spider, frog... Ask them to put the words belonging to the same category together. They can construct their own charts or webs ofwords. We can also make the activity more interesting with the category game. One student stands in the front of the classroom, facing the others. The teacher gives him a list of words belonging to the same category. He reads aloud the words one by one. While he is reading, the others try to speak out the category. The first one who gets the right answer is the winner. He / she will get the choice to read another list of words.

2. Matching words with definitions

Traditionally, vocabulary instruction has focused on having students look up word meanings and memorize them. “This teaching approach, however, provides only superficial and short-term learning of words. Students who simply memorize word meanings frequently have trouble applying the information in definition and often make mistakes about meanings.” (Cynthia and Drew Johnson, 2000). So its very vital to make sure that the students get across the meaning of the item clearly. Matching words with definitions is a good way to checkwhether they have understood properly. We can organize this activity in different forms.

（1）Covering the right word

The teacher writes some words or phrases taught the day before on the blackboard inadvance. Divide the students into two teams. All the students of each team stand in a line. The teacher gives the definition of one of the words. The two students standing at the head of each line try to cover the right word with their palms. The first who gets the right word will win a point for his/her team. Then the next pair. The team which gets more points will win. If we regularly carry out this game, it will promote the students to review the newly-learned words in time. If they really repeat the new words regularly, theyll remember them forever.

（2）Half crossword puzzles

Ask the students to work in pairs. Each student is given a sheet with some words. Half of the words are complete, the other half are not. The complete words on Student As sheet are incomplete on Student Bs sheet. They work together to make all the words complete by asking and answering questions. They are not allowed to look at each others sheet. One asks, “Whats 1 down?” The other defines the word by giving its definition or giving an example or describing a situation. In addition, the part of speech of the word should also be told. Only when the two students really understand the words, can they complete the task. So this is an efficient way to make sure the students master the words. Whats more, this activity can train the students listening and speaking abilities. It also provides a chance for the students to learn from and help each other.

（3）Concentration

Small groups are given some cards. On half of the cards are words, and on the other half of the cards are the meanings of the words. They put the cards on a desk facing down and shuffle the cards thoroughly. Then they take turns to try to match the word and its definition. The one who succeeds in matching a pair will get another chance to pick two other cards. Whoever gets the most cards will win. This activity will refresh and enhance the students memory of the words.

In the activities above, when the teacher realizes the students are unsure about a word, he/she should give an extra explanation and give the students more typical example sentences to let them understand the word in different contexts.

3. Connecting the new words with what has been known

Simply repeating a new word isnt enough to help students grasp it. Try to connect the word to what the students have already known. In this way, theyll remember the word firmly.

For some words, we can ask the students to find their synonyms and antonyms( the words they have known). Although this is a very old activity, its very effective. The old words will help the students to memorize the new ones.

Theres another activity to make the new words connected to the old knowledge. Draw a grid on the blackboard and in each square write a word (taught recently). Divide the students into two groups. Each group takes turns to pick a word and create a sentence with the word. The sentence should be correct both in grammar and logic. The winner team is the first to get three words in a row, column, or diagonal.

Conclusion

There are many activities we can choose to help the students to consolidate vocabulary. Evidence has shown the activities talked about in this passage can really be both helpful and memorable.

Bibliography:

[1] Francie Alexander, “Teaching Vocabulary with Francie Alexander” Available at http://content.scholastic.com

[2] “Ideas for Teaching New Science Vocabulary” Available at http://www.teach-nology.com

[3] Johnson, C. D. “Why Teach Vocabulary” Available at http://www.espbooks.com

[4] Race, S.W.P. (1999) “500 Tips for TESOL K.P.L.&S.P.I”