1. Teaching vocabulary
By Salah Awwad

2. Introduction
"Vocabulary enables us to interpret and to express ourselves. If you have a limited vocabulary, you will have a limited vision and a limited future." -– Jim Rohn
Vocabulary knowledge plays an important role. It is the first important step in language acquisition. It is one element that links the four skills of speaking, listening, reading and writing all together. In order to communicate well in a foreign language, students should acquire an adequate number of words and should know how to use them correctly.

3. What is Vocabulary?

4. Definition:
- Vocabulary is defined as" All the words of a particular language either used or understood by a person or a group of people ." (From Webster dictionary)
-Vocabulary " refers to information stored in memory concerning the pronunciation and meanings of words. (Snow, Burns, & Griffin, 1998)
- Vocabulary is the knowledge of words and word meanings. ( Steven Stahl )

5. -Vocabulary " is the basic tool for communication and knowledge
-Vocabulary " is the basic tool for communication and knowledge. It enables us to send information to others, to interpret facts, opinions and views, and to express ourselves.( Jim Rohn)
-Vocabulary :can be defined as the words we teach in the foreign language .(Penny Ur 1996)

6. Why teaching vocabulary ?
What is The importance of teaching vocabulary?

7. "Without grammar very little can be conveyed; without vocabulary nothing can be conveyed." (Wilkins 1972)
"When students travel, they don't carry grammar books, they carry dictionaries." (Krashen in Lewis 1993)

8. English is considered as one of the international languages, which is used worldwide, and it is used in many fields of life such as education, politics, economics and social.
So it is needed by learners to deliver thought and interact in different situations.
Vocabulary is the body of words that make up a language,. Without a good knowledge of words and their meanings, both written and verbal communication will be poorly understood.

9. Some of the main criteria for teaching vocabulary

10. 1-Listening Carefully
Teacher should give the opportunity to the whole class to hear the word correctly
2-Pronouncing the Word
Pronouncing the word by the teacher then by students is essential , because it gives the students the opportunity to pronounce the words correctly.
3-Realizing the Meaning
The teacher should try to avoid translation to get the meaning, because translation will not give the exact meaning and will not provide the meaning of the word accurately.. Teachers should use the new words in their everyday lives so that they can fully grasp the meaning.

11. What needs to be taught ?

12. meaning
form
collocations
VOCABULARY
grammar
spelling
Pronunciation
Word
formation

13. 1- Form : pronunciation and spelling
The learner has to know what a word sound like (its pronunciation ) and what it Looks like (its spelling ) .
Its very important to make sure that both these aspects Are accurately and correctly learned.
For example : Paradigm\ write

14. 2- Grammar:
The grammar of new item should be learned if it not covered by general grammatical rules .
An item may have unpredictable change of form in certain grammatical contexts.
For example thing-thought / man –men .

15. 3-Collocation :
The way that the words occur together.
For example : you describe thing in (great details ) not in (big details) .
It is important to highlight this to students to prevent mistakes in usage later.

16. 4- Aspects of meaning :
Denotation
Connotation
Appropriateness

17. Denotation
The meaning of a word what it refers to in real world .or the literal meaning of a word .
For example , dog Denotes a kind of animal .

18. Connotation
Connotation on the other hand, refers to the associations that are connected to a certain word or the emotional suggestions related to that word. (less obvious meaning )
For example ,the word dog as understood by most British people has positive manning of friendly ,but in Arab world has negative manning of insult .

19. Appropriateness How to use items in appropriate context.
For example , the word weep is synonymous with cry ,but it is More formal ,tends to be used in writing more in speech and less common .

20. 2- meaning relationships :
how the meaning of one item relates to meaning of others .

21. Synonyms
Items that means the same,
for example , smart –intelligent
Antonyms
Items that means the opposite,
for example , rich –poor

22. Hyponyms Items that serve as specific examples of a general concept.
For example, dog , lion are hyponyms of animal.
Co –Hyponyms
Items that are the same kind of thing
For example, red , blue ,green are co-ordinates.

23. Translation Superordinates General concepts that cover specific items
For example, animal is the superordinates of dog ,lion .
Translation
Words or expression in the learners mother's tongue that are equivalent in meaning to the item being taught.

24. 6- Word formation:
Vocabulary items whether one word or multi word , can often be broken Down into their components ,and how these components put together would-be useful for learners to know .
For example ,prefix and suffix

25. Ways to teach
Vocabulary

26. Presenting new vocabulary
How to teach vocabulary ?
Strategies and Techniques for Teaching Vocabulary
Here are some suggested strategies for teaching vocabulary that may help the teacher to give nearly a perfect vocabulary lesson

27. concise definition, detail description , examples
Defining the new words
concise definition, detail description , examples
Defining the new words may be very useful if the word is expressed in words that are better known or can be easily guessed . A lot of new words are learned primarily by the explanation of other words.
This is a house: a building
in which people live.

28. Illustration using visual images Realia
means using real items found in everyday life as an aid to teaching English, using real objects in teaching the new vocabulary is very effective and it gives a full meaning. Example: a chair, a board, a pen, a ball, cup ,etc.

29. Pictures
are usually a big help for teachers anytime you can not take big objects or things to the classroom. Pictures can be board drawings, wall pictures, charts flashcards etc.

30. Demonstration
Using Mime , gesture , facial expression and action
It is often to explain the meaning of words and grammar either through the use of realia or pictures. Actions like running, walking or smoking are easier to explain by acting the words.

31. Using words in context Story or sentence in which the item occur
Using the new words in context makes the situation clear, and this in turn makes the students understand the meaning; also it is a good way to clarify the meaning of the new word. “From the context we can guess the meaning of unfamiliar word”

32. showing lexical relations
Antonyms
are words that mean the opposite of the given words.. This helps the student to understand the different models of meanings of a word.

33. Synonyms
are words that mean the same as another word.. This will enrich student’s vocabulary bank and help them to understand the different forms of meaning.

34. translating the word into the students' native language
Translation
translating the word into the students' native language

35. Word association
The teacher says “animal”, and then the students write some words connected with animal.
Animal : cat , dog , camel , horse

36. Use active learning in teaching vocabulary
If students involved directly in learning vocabulary, they will learn better, and they will not forget what they have taught. Using the strategies of active learning will benefit students understanding and comprehending the new words

37. Using games in teaching vocabulary
We all know the positive result that we may get from using games in teaching in general, and it gives students high motivation to participate and learn.

38. Using dictionary.
It is a good idea that the teacher encourage the students to use some tools to learn more about words, using the dictionary for example. teacher can give them a text with difficult words and ask them to look them up in a dictionary

39. Do you explain every word in the same way?
Are there ways that particularly appropriate for
the presentation of certain types of words ?
Do you as a teacher find that you prefer some kind of ways And avoid others?

40. If you don’t use it……
you lose it !

42. Presenting the new vocabulary:
Produce: means to use simple materials to make new things.
Dangerous : not safe.
Speed : distance /time.
Bite / kick: show the meaning by demonstration.
Intelligent : = clever.
Male: boy, man, father, prince .these people are male people.
Female is the opposite of male
Adult: someone who is not too old and not too young.
Presenting the new vocabulary:
Ostrich: use a picture of an ostrich.
Amazing : = wonderful
Exciting : = very beautiful
Height: using a meter and try to measure the height of the door or the board.
The board is 2 meters high.
The height of the board is 2 meters.
Length: use a context.
How long is your English lesson?
Yes, the length of each lesson is 45 minutes.
Weigh and weight: use a weighing machine or scale.
We use this to measure weight.
These books weigh 100 gram.

43. Remembering vocabulary

44. There are various reasons why we remember some words better than others:
1-the nature of the words themselves .
2- the ways or methods of teaching these words
The following is an interesting way to examine theses reasons .
(memory experiment: involving the recall of as many items as possible On a learned list )

45. REMEMBERING VOCABULARY WORD LEARNING EXPERIMNT
ARM
LEG
PEG
PIG
TON
FOX
DOG
CAT
MAN
BOY
SON
MUM
DAD
BAD
SAS
WHO
DOT
ASH
LAR
OCT
FOR
AWE
ION
CAN
OWN
OBI
HUT
THE
THEM

46. Ideas for vocabulary work in the classroom
Or vocabulary activities

47. Brainstorming round an idea:
Write a single word in the center of the board , and ask students
Brainstorm all the words they can think of that are connected with .
For example :
flowers climb green
tree roots
Leaf
forest

48. Identifying words they know:
The students are given the text and asked to write item they
already Now. they then get together in pairs to compare :
a student Who knows something not known to his pair teaches it to him. they then try to know the other items .
Finally the teacher checking guess and teaching remaining items.

49. Testing vocabulary

50. There are many different types of vocabulary testing techniques:
1- multiple – choice :
Only the denotative is tested , the testee doesn’t need to know
The words, connotation , spelling ,pronunciation ,grammar, or how They would be used in context.
clear answers , very quick and easy to mark
tricky and time consuming to prepare
2- matching :
as in the previous type , only meaning is tested.
Matching items are quicker and easier to prepare than multiple choice
3- odd one out :
again ,only meaning is being tested

51. 4- writing sentences :
spelling and pronunciation of the items are not tested but most other aspects are .this is difficult to mark objectively But does check the testee's knowledge fairly well .
5- dictation :
dictations tests aural recognition and spelling only.
It is easy test to administer and check.
6- dictation- translation :
this check if students know meaning and spelling only .

52. 7-gap filling :
this tests meaning , to some extent grammar and
Collocation
8- translation:
translation can test all aspects of an item , but there
Is difficulty of finding exact equivalents across languages, and it may be tricky to mark .
9- sentence completion :
this tests denotative meaning only , but is interesting to do .

53. Conclusion
A successful teacher can use many efficient activities in teaching vocabulary to his class, it depends on the abilities and levels of his students, not all vocabulary are taught in the same way some are difficult, some have normal difficulty and some easy. We can not focus on one strategy or method and leave the rest to reinforce teaching vocabulary, there is no firm method to enhance vocabulary in a day or two. We are as teachers have to create the motivation for our students to learn, enrich their knowledge of vocabulary.

54. References:
Penny Ur , Accurse in language teaching ,practice and theory .
West, M., A General Service List of English Words. Longman, London.
Bander.R-American English Rhetoric-The Dryden Press- New York-1983.
English for Palestine , grade 7, student book.