presenting vocabulary to children

8/3/2019 Presenting Vocabulary to Children

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MASARYK UNIVERSITY

FACULTY OF EDUCATION

DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE

PRESENTING VOCABULARY TO CHILDREN

(Bachelor work)

Written by: Lucie Kristenová

Supervisor: Mgr. Světlana Hanušová, Ph.D.

Brno 2006



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I declare that I worked on the following thesis on my own and that I used all the

sources mentioned in the bibliography.



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Acknowledgments

I would like to thank Mrg. Světlana Hanušová, Ph.D. for her comments on my

work, for her kind help and valuable advice that she provided me.



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Content

Introduction

I. Theoretical Part

1. Vocabulary teaching

1. 1. What is vocabulary?……………………………………...…...……………………7

1. 2. The importance of vocabulary ..………………………………....…………...…….7

1. 3. The Lexical Approach …………………………………….….……….………...…7

1. 4. Principles in teaching vocabulary ……………………………...…...…………..….8

2. Presenting the meaning of the words ………………………………...……………….9

2. 1. Using translation …………………………………………………...….………….10

2. 2. Using realia ………………………………..…………..….………………………112. 3. Using pictures ……………………………………………………...…………..…11

2. 4. Using actions and gestures …………………………………….…....…..….…….12

2. 5. Using definitions and situations ……………………………………….…………13

2. 6. Guessing the meaning from the text ………………………….…….………….…13

3. Vocabulary within the classroom language ……………………………..…..………14

3. 1. Presenting new vocabulary within the classroom language …………..………….14

4. Teaching children …………………………………………………………………...154. 1. Motivation …………………………………………………………………..……15

4. 2. Teach children how to learn ………………………………………….....……..…15

4. 3. Change the activities ………………………………………………………….…..16

II. Practical Part …………………………………...…………………………..……….17

1. Using Translation

1. 1. 4 th form – topic Describing people ……………………………………...………..17

1. 2. 6

th

form – topic Collocations ………………………………………….…...……..181. 3. Evaluation …………………………………………………………...…...……….18

2. Using realia

2. 1. 4 th form – topic Toys …………………...……………………………………..….19

2. 2. 6 th form – topic Clothes ………………………………………………………..…20

2. 3. Evaluation …………………………………………………………...…………....21

3. Using pictures

3. 1. 4 th form – topic Rooms in the house …………………………………...…………21

3. 2. 6 th form – topic Fruit …………………………………..……………………...…..22

3. 3. Evaluation ……………………………………………..………………………….23



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4. Using actions and gestures

4. 1. 4 th form – topic Adjectives …………………….…………………………..……..23

4. 2. 6 th form – topic Body language ……………………………………………..……24

4. 3. Evaluation …………………………………………………...……………...…….25

5. Using definitions and situations

5. 1. 4 th form – topic Lucy’s room ……………………………………………...…...…26

5. 2. 6 th form – topic Places …………………………………………………...…….....26

5. 3. Evaluation ………………………………………………………………………...27

6. Guessing the meaning from the text

6. 1. 4 th form – Sport …………………………………………………...………………27

6. 2. 6 th form – Sports ………………………………………………..……………...…286. 3. Evaluation …………………………………………...…………………...……….28

Conclusion

Resumé

Bibliography

Appendices



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INTRODUCTION

There has been an increased focus on teaching vocabulary in recent years. But

there are still many teachers who do not teach vocabulary or who just introduce it to

pupils by repeating or reading it in the lesson. Such teachers think that dealing with

vocabulary takes a lot of time and it is something that pupils can learn on their own at

home.

The main goals of my work are to emphasize the importance of teaching

vocabulary and to introduce ways and techniques of presenting the meaning of the

words. There are many methodology books for language teachers in the bookshops andlibraries that contain many activities for practising, revising or testing vocabulary items.

But I want to introduce techniques how language teachers can present or explain the

meaning of the words. To present the meaning I will choose the most common

techniques: using translation, realia, pictures, actions and gestures, definitions and

situations and guessing from the text. I will try to show how to use these techniques in

an enjoyable and playful way.

Section one will contain the theoretical background in vocabulary teaching and

sets the principles for presenting vocabulary within the classroom.

Section two, the practical part, will offer a collection of activities for presenting

vocabulary based on the techniques identified in section one.



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THEORETICAL PART

1. Vocabulary teaching

1. 1. What is vocabulary?

According to the Macmillan English Dictionary, the word „vocabulary“ means

„all the words in a particular language“.

„ Vocabulary can be defined, roughly, as the words we teach in the foreign

language. However, a new item of vocabulary may be more than a single word: for

example, post office and mother-in-law, which are made up of two or three words but

express a single idea. A useful convention is to cover all such cases by talking about vocabulary „items“ rather than „words“. (Ur, 2003, p 60)

1. 2. The importance of vocabulary

„It is experience of most language teachers that the single, biggest component of

any language course is vocabulary. No matter how well the student learns grammar, no

matter how successfully the sounds of L2 are mastered, without words to express a widerange of meanings, communication in an L2 just cannot happen in any meaningful

way.“ ( McCarthy, 1990, p iix)

It is generally known that for communication, neither written or spoken, the vast

knowledge must be in grammar and vocabulary. These two areas of language

acquisition must go hand in hand in the teaching process. In spite of this, vocabulary is

the building stone in learning foreign language. One can communicate with a little

grammar, but it is almost impossible to communicate with a little vocabulary.

1. 3. The Lexical Approach

In 1993, Michael Lewis published book with new method called The Lexical

Approach and it was, and still is, a new method of language teaching. It is focused on

lexical items more than grammar. Lewis says that „language consists not of traditional

grammar and vocabulary but often of multi-word prefabricated chunks.“ (Lewis, 1997,

p 3) He also summarises the lexical approach as development of current thinking by

invalidating the grammar and vocabulary distinction and placing lexis in all its forms at

the centre of language presentation and practice.



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According to the lexical approach, learners should not be taught words alone and

then communicate through grammar rules. They should learn lexical chunks like

collocations, phrasal verbs, idioms, social formulae etc.

1. 4. Principles in teaching vocabulary

Each language teacher should bear in mind two basic principles:

1. adapt your presentation and choice of vocabulary to the level of the learners

2. teach new words in groups

When teaching new vocabulary items, each teacher should bear in mind the level

of his or her learners. Teaching beginners would be different than teaching advancedlearners and teaching nine year olds would require different ways of presentation and

aids than at fifteen year olds. These aspects are very important when choosing the

technique for the presentation. For instance, teaching the word „love“ should need quite

different ways for different level of the learners. When presenting this word to nine

years olds, the best way would be to draw two young people smiling at each other, or

kissing each other, and to put them in a heart. This technique can be used among fifteen

years olds but the appropriate definition can be used as well. Love is „a very strongemotional and sexual feeling for someone“ ( Macmillan English Dictionary, 2002, p

851).

If possible, new words should be taught in relations to each other. Vocabulary

items should be presented in topics, e.g. Family, Animals, Food etc. If words like a

mother, a father, a brother and a sister are presented in one lesson and words like a dog,

a cat, a hamster and a pig are presented in the other one it would be easier for thelearners to remember and recall them because they are associated with a certain topic.

Whereas teaching expressions like a mother, a dog, a tree and a school altogether in one

lesson would be quite difficult for learners to remember and later on to recall.

There are some other relationships in which vocabulary items could be taught:

a) „Synonyms. These are words with similar meaning. E.g. „Enormous“ means the

same as „very large“.



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b) Antonyms. These are words with opposite meaning. E.g. day-night, male-

female.

c) Complements. One word is defined by being not the other. E.g. „Single“ means

„not married“.

d) Converses. One word is the converse of the other. E.g. parent-child, buy-sell.

e) Hyponyms. These are words that belong to one superordinate. E.g. car, van, bus,

lorry are hyponyms of the superordinate word vehicle. (Lewis, Hil l, 1992)

2. Presenting the meaning of the words

Language teachers are responsible for creating conditions that encourage

vocabulary expansion, and a well-chosen way of presenting the meaning can help the

learners acquire new words better.

The teacher may introduce new words in two ways:

1. the meaning and then the word2. the word and then its meaning

Add 1. The way of introducing meaning and then the word is typical for pictures and

visual aids. Learners first see the meaning, e.g. a picture of an apple, and then they hear

the word, an apple. The attention is focused on meaning, then on the word itself.

Add 2. The way of introducing word and then the meaning is common for written texts.In the sentence „My dog plays in the garden.“, the word in the garden is presented first

and then the explanation follows. Learners should guess the meaning first and then the

picture or drawing or simple definition could be used. This time learners focus on the

word first and then they develop its meaning.

Both these ways are relevant to spoken and written form and it is up to the

teacher which way he or she chooses. The choice also depends whether the meaning is

being explained „on purpose“ as a part of presentation of new words or whether the



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meaning is being explained „by chance“ as an unknown word that has appeared during

the lesson.

2. 1. Using translation

Translation is traditional way of explaining the meaning of words. It could be

done by the teacher or with using a dictionary. The advantage of translating the word by

the teacher is that this method saves time. On the other hand, this is not very effective

way of acquiring new words because learners are just passive recipients.

Using bilingual dictionaries could be rather tricky. Before starting to use

bilingual dictionaries, learners should be taught how to use them. Most of younglearners have never worked with a dictionary and even do not know that the dictionary

is divided into two parts: English-Czech, Czech-English. The Czech alphabet is quite

similar to the English one but learners may forget that there is no letter CH in English

alphabet and so they must find words beginning with ch- at letter C. It has been already

mentioned that using bilingual dictionaries could be rather tricky. This means that

learners usually take the first meaning they find and do not look at the other meanings.

This could be misleading when they find an unknown word from a text.There are several kinds of learner dictionaries:

1. Dictionaries organised alphabetical.

2. Dictionaries organised according to meaning categories. These are classed as a

thesaurus. Each category includes only a limited number of words and their

definitions are provided in the learner’s mother tongue.

3. Picture dictionaries. These are organised either alphabetically or thematically.

4. Specialised dictionaries. These are, for example, dictionaries of idioms,collocations or phrasal verbs, business dictionaries, technical dictionaries etc.

(Thornbury, 2002)

Children may need dictionaries for the whole period of their language learning

and so teachers cannot leave the dictionaries work to children but they should teach

them useful strategies.

1. Look at the organisation of the dictionary.

2. Look at the list of abbreviations and entries.



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3. Each dictionary has written first and last word of the page above each page. If

we need, for example, find the word „sweep“ and we have opened the dictionary

at page with word „red“, we know that letter S is after R, so we have to browse

through the dictionary forwards.

4. Before looking for the unknown English word, think about its word class, e.g.

noun, verb, adjective etc.

5. After finding the word, check the word backwards. E.g. after finding the word

„odplatit“ – pay back, find in the English-Czech part „pay back“ and check if the

meaning is the same.

6. Go through the example sentences and expressions to learn about the usage of

the word.

2. 2. Using realia

Using realia, or real objects, is very effective way of presenting meaning of new

words. This is the way how learners learnt their mother tongue. They simply saw an

object, touched it and heard its name. A minor disadvantage is that as realia can be used

only concrete nouns. On the other hand, realia are everywhere. Lots of helpful objects,

e.g. door, windows, clock etc., are in the classroom and the teacher can just point tothem. Realia are not only this equipment, but also maps, postcards, souvenirs etc.

The best way of using realia is when learners can not only see them, but also

touch them or even taste them. It is excellent when the teacher speaks about, for

example, Christmas pudding and he or she brings a picture of it and describes how it

tastes, how it is being eaten, how it is prepared and all these things. But it is more worth

when the teacher makes the Christmas pudding and brings it into the classroom so that

everybody can see it, touch it and finally eat it.Realia should be used whenever possible. Firstly, it saves time when the teacher

just points to an object instead of drawing a picture or thinking of a suitable definition.

Secondly, the best way how to learn the foreign language is the way how we learnt our

mother tongue.

2. 3. Using pictures

Pictures are very worth materials for language teachers. There are lots and lots

of various pictures in magazines and newspapers that teachers can cut. Teachers can

also make his or her own pictures by drawing or he or she can just ask pupils to draw



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them. Using pictures in the language classroom as such, can be divided into two basic

areas:

1. pictures like magazines and newspapers cut-outs and drawing on the paper

2. drawings on the blackboard

Paper pictures are well worth because they can be easily stored and reused

whenever we will need them. The advantage of cut-outs from magazines is that they are

colourful. They look realistic and we can teach a various range of vocabulary on them.

E.g. colours, shapes, actions, seasons etc. On the other hand the black-and-white

pictures, either cut-outs from newspapers or paper drawings, can explore learners´

fantasy because they can simply imagine the colours.Drawings or sketches on the blackboard are usually used when there is no real

object or an appropriate picture at hand. The teacher does not have to be an artist to be

able to draw basic objects and learners, usually young ones, are able to recognize the

object after drawing few lines. While drawing, the teacher can describe what is he or

she drawing. When drawing, for example, a house, the teacher can say: „This is a door,

here are two windows, a roof and a chimney.“ Such drawings on the blackboard can

help the teacher quickly to show the meaning of a word. They are also very economicalbecause they are washed after the lesson is over.

2. 4. Using actions and gestures

As I have already mentioned, realia are limited in the choice of words that they

can express. These are concrete nouns. Actions are also limited as they can only express

verbs. Some can argue that mime belongs to the category of actions as well and through

mime we can also show a house or a ball. For purpose of explaining the meaning of anunknown word in foreign language teaching, however, there are much more better ways

to express concrete nouns than mime. Further, also gestures are limited in adjectives. I

have put actions altogether with gestures in one category because the teacher usually

uses just his or her body.

Total Physical Response

The main method that is used, when explaining the meaning through actions, is

Total Physical Response (TPR). „Total Physical Response Method was developed in

order to reduce the stress people feel when studying foreign languages.“ (Larsen-



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Freeman, 1986, p 116) The main principle of TPR is to reach learners to understand by

listening first and start speaking when they feel ready. TPR is aimed for commands. The

basic commands are, for example, Open your books! Sit down! Stand up! Don’t speak!

etc. Not only these commands used within the classroom language are taught through

TPR, but also those such as Play the piano, Kick a ball, Sleep, Smile etc. The teacher

says, for example, „Kick a ball“ and then shows its meaning by kicking an imaginary

ball. Learners then can kick also an imaginary ball after the teacher says to do it.

TPR is successful mainly within young learners because they have feeling they

are playing a game.

2. 5. Using definitions and situationsUsing definitions and situations to explain the meaning requires certain

knowledge of the language as well as general knowledge. Learners also have to have an

appropriate lexicon to be able to identify described word. To be able to understand

definition of the word „uncle“ – my mother’s or father’s brother – learners have to

know who this brother really is. They also have to have basic knowledge of

relationships within the family.

Situations do not just describe the target word but they use it in certain situation.E.g. „Yesterday, I got up at 3 o’clock. I went to Brno by train. I spent eight hours at

seminar and two hours shopping. The train was delayed so I had to wait for another one

in the rain. The travelling was very TIRING. I finally got home at half past eleven and I

was so TIRED that I immediately fell asleep.“ It is much more easier to learners to

remember a word when they have this word accompanied by some situation.

2. 6. Guessing the meaning from the textGuessing is a very useful way of learning phrases and structures. Learners will

always meet words that they will not understand but when they develop the skill in

guessing the meaning from the context their communication will be easier. Learners

may also learn a lot of grammar rules, as they will analyse the sentence.

Guessing is best done when the text or situation has a familiar topic and there are

logical relationships in the text. When reading the text, there appear lots of clues that

can help the learner guess the meaning. The two most important are general knowledge

and knowledge of the subject.



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3. Vocabulary within the classroom language

Classroom language is the language that is being used in the lessons. In English

lessons the English language should be used whenever possible. There are some

situations when the mother tongue is really needed but there are situations when the

mother tongue should not be used at all. These are for example instructions, commands,

assessments and comments.

3. 1. Presenting new vocabulary within the classroom language

Young learners have highly developed the ability to be able to understand what

is being said to them even they do not understand the individual words. Intonation,

gesture, facial expressions and actions all help to tell them what the message probablymean. By understanding the message in this way they learn new words, concepts,

expressions and they start to understand the language. This skill should be support and

developed through classroom language. We can do this by making sure we make full

use of intonation, gesture, actions, demonstration and facial expressions to convey

meaning parallel to what we are saying.

Even at beginner’s stage, if learners get used to hearing mostly English during

their lessons, they will very soon understand the words they have not directly beentaught. Learners are being taught many words and expressions unconsciously through

classroom language. This way of learning is called indirect method. We do not need to

teach words like a book, an exercise book, a pen, a pencil, open, close. When the

teacher says: „Open your books, please.“ And he or she takes his or her own book and

opens it, learners are able to understand what they are supposed to do.

I use lots of handouts in my lessons and pupils always stick them into their

exercise books. The first lesson I took glue and showed them that I wanted them to sticktheir handout. The other lesson I just said: „Please, take your glues and stick your

handouts into your exercise books.“ Few pupils did it and few of them did what they

saw doing their classmates. A few lessons later everybody knew what to do when I

asked them to take their glues and stick their handouts. They have learnt what words

like glue, stick and handout mean.

Classroom language is an important part of language teaching. Learners learn

many new words and expressions in a natural way. They also have the feeling of

success because they are able to understand what the teacher wants them to do.



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4. Teaching children

Teaching children is not the same as teaching teenagers or adults. Each age has

its own difficulties and specific needs. It is proclaimed that children learn better and

faster than adults but on the other hand children have the short-term memory. It means

that they are able to store the items of information for short period of time. We will now

focus on nine to ten and eleven to twelve year olds as these groups of age will be dealt

in the practical part with.

4. 1. Motivation

Children are motivated quite easily in their first years of language learning. In

addition, they are able very early to understand basic commands and expressions andthey can also respond to them. They feel immediate success and are eager to learn more

and more. Foreign language is new for them and they like trying new things, it is an

adventure for them.

4. 2. Teach children how to learn

When children come to the language classroom, they already have experience

with learning writing, reading or Maths. But as the language learning is new for them,they do not have any strategies how to learn vocabulary, how to learn to speak etc. The

teacher should tell children how to learn this and that and teach them and show them

some strategies or techniques. When learning, for example, vocabulary:

• Cut pieces of paper and write on one side the English word with pronunciation

and Czech equivalent(s) on the other side. When you will see the Czech word

„maminka“, you will say the English word aloud, turn the piece of paper over

and check it. You can practice Czech-English or vice versa.

• Keep vocabulary notebooks. Divide each page into three columns. In first

column write English word, in the middle one pronunciation and in the last one

Czech equivalent. Then cover the first column and as you see Czech word you

will say it in English. Again, you can practise Czech-English or vice versa.

• Record the vocabulary onto a CD or a cassette and listen to it as often as

possible.



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4. 3. Change the activities

Children need a variety of activities. They have short concentration span and

when they do one activity for a long time they get bored. It does not mean that the

teacher must not use the same activity more than once. „Children benefit from knowing

the rules and being familiar with the situation. Use familiar situations, familiar

activities.“ (Scott, Ytreberg, 1991, p 6) The teacher should use the same activities but

with little change. Children love playing Bingo. They could play it almost every lesson

but the teacher must change the topic. One lesson, for example, the items can be

numbers, but the other lesson they should be colours or clothes items but not numbers!

Children learn by doing things and they should be active and involved in the

learning process as much as possible. Teachers should not forget that children are alsophysically active. They like physical movements of any kind. Songs, chants and rhymes

can be used also altogether with movements, e.g. dancing, clapping hands etc.

Teachers also should not forget games. They are important part of a

child’s world and children love anything that makes fun. Many teachers regard games as

a waste of time or they use them just as fillers at the end of the lesson. But games

provide an opportunity for the real using of language while the mind is focused on the

„task“ of playing the game. Furthermore, they are also helpful because learners feel thatcertain words are important and necessary. There are lots and lots of games like Bingo

or Word football that do not take a lot of time and make children feel good in the

language classroom.

Children like learning foreign languages in general. They consider it exciting

and it is quite easy for them to acquire the pronunciation and new words. They live in

their own world where fantasy is endless and speaking foreign language is adventure forthem. Working with children is profit for the teacher, because they can lead the

activities their own way and they can surprise the teacher by their creativity almost

every time. Children are able to follow the set rules but the teacher should not be strict

every time and he or she should let children choose the technique they will deal the

problem with. They also feel responsible when they are directly involved in the learning

process and their results are better then.



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PRACTICAL PART

In the practical part I will use activities for presenting vocabulary based on the

techniques identified in Theoretical part. I will deal with children aged 9-10, fourth

form, and 11-12, sixth form. I have been teaching both classes since September, 2005.

Some children from the 4 th form have been learning English for two years, some

have started in September, 2005. They have been learning according the textbook Start

with Click1 by Šádek and Karásková (Fraus, 2002). There are 11 pupils in the group.

One boy has dyslexia. All children like English and I have no problems with

motivation. I speak mostly English in the lessons and children are used to it. They also

speak mostly English.Children from the 6 th form have been learning English for three years. First two

years they learnt according to Chatterbox 1 and 2 by Strange (OUP, 1989) and since

September 2005 they have been using Project 1 by Tom Hutchinson (OUP, 1999).

There are 14 pupils in the group and four of them have dyslexia. I also try to use mostly

English language in the lessons but children are not used to it because their previous

teachers spoke only in Czech. The lessons are pretty demanding to me because most of

the children do not have any motivation and as they have been learning English forthree years they do not see any progress. In spite of the fact that they have been learning

English for three years, they are nearly at the same level as children in the 4 th form.

1. Using translation

1. 1. 4 th form – topic Describing people

Aim: to teach and practise using the bilingual dictionary

Aids: various kinds of dictionaries, an English-Czech, Czech-English dictionary foreach, the handout for each (Appendix I)

Activities: finding in the bilingual dictionary, finding out the odd words

Age: 9-10

Level of English: beginners

Adapted from: How to Teach Vocabulary, Thornbury (2004)

I introduced to children various kinds of dictionaries the way I described in

theoretical part. I told children to find out three vocabulary items to practise the finding.

Then I said words “mother, window, father” and I asked children which one is the odd



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one. They answered correctly so I distributed handouts (Appendix I). I told children to

find these words in the dictionary, translate them and circle the odd ones. I let them

work in pairs so each child was founding only two lines. Then we controlled the

exercise together. I said the English words, children translated and told me the odd ones.

As homework they had to think of three more lines, in Czech first and then they

translated them into English (Appendix II).

1. 2. 6 th form – topic Collocations

Aims: to teach and practised using the bil ingual dictionaries, to introduce collocations

Aids: various kinds of dictionaries, an English-Czech, Czech English dictionary for

each, the handout for each (Appendix III), blackboard, chalkActivities: finding in the bilingual dictionary, matching words that collocate

Age: 11-12

Level of English: elementary

Inspired by: Lexical Approach

I introduced to children various kinds of dictionaries the way I described in

theoretical part. We practised collocations on word table. Children found out table and Iasked them to find out “ubrus”. We practised two more words and then I distributed the

handouts (Appendix III). Children worked in pairs and each of them was finding first or

second half of the words. I wrote the left column on the blackboard. When most of

children were finished they started dictating to me which pair they had found out

altogether with the Czech equivalents. After all pairs were done, I read the collocations

and children repeated. The next lesson children worked in pairs and they wrote a short

paragraph where they had to use at least half of the collocations (Appendix IV).

1. 3. Evaluation

I must admit that I did not expect that teaching using the dictionaries would take

so much time. It was the first time for the children in the 4 th form, when they used

dictionaries but children in the 6 th form had already had some experience with

dictionaries. I thought that I would manage the follow up activities in the lesson but

final ly I had to set them as homework in the 4 th form and pairwork in next lesson in the

6 th form. I think that finding in dictionaries took so much time because children were

not so familiar with the alphabet.



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Children in the 4 th form understood the activity immediately but children in the

6 th form started translating each word separately, so I had to help them. Firstly, I was in

a bad mood that the activity did not work from the very beginning but then I was glad

because most children translated word “pine” as borovice and I could show them how

collocations work. I told them: “O.K. pine really means borovice and apple means

jablko. Find out word pine in your dictionaries and there is also written –apple. As you

can see pine plus apple mean ananas.” After this example children were more interested

in f inding and they understood the purpose of finding the pairs.

2. Using realia

2. 1. 4 th form – topic ToysAims: to teach toys items, to find out information by elic iting questions

Aids: toys

Activities: describing toys, asking questions

Age: 9-10


I asked children to bring their favourite toy the next lesson. I also brought myown toys. These were a doll, a ball, a train, a bus, an aeroplane, a soft toy, a car and a

bike. I had the toys in the bag and I told children that I wanted to show them my

favourite toys. When I took each toy out I said its name in English and gave it to one

children to looked at it and pass it around. While they were passing the toy around I was

describing it. „ This is a doll. She’s pink. I love her! This is my doll.“ After introducing

all of the toys I put them in a l ine and I pointed to them and said their names in English.

For the first time children just listened. Then I asked them to repeat after me. Wepractised this several times. I pointed to the toy, said it in English and children repeated

after me. We did it from right to left and vice versa and then I pointed to the toys by

chance and children said the English names. After that, children started introducing their

own toys. I let them say what they wanted and what they know, like colour of the toy,

its name, and its kind. For example: „This is my favourite toy. It’s a soft toy. It’s a dog.

He’s brown. His name’s Bobik.“

After this, children were divided into pairs and one of them was describing some

toy from the line and the other one was guessing.



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2. 2. 6 th form – topic Clothes

Aims: to teach items of clothes, to practise finding in dictionaries

Aids: clothes items, washing line, clothes pegs, box

Activities: finding new words in dictionaries, shopping game

Age: 11-12


I gave to each child one clothes item and asked them to take a dictionary and

find and learn their item. I gave them shorts, a skirt, a T-shirt, a shirt, a sweater, a

sweatshirt, a jacket, a cap, gloves, a watch, sunglasses and an umbrella. After children

found their words I told them what I was wearing and I pointed to these clothes: „ I amwearing sock, jeans and a sleeveless top.“ Then I told them that they were shop

assistants and I was a customer. I would tell them where I was going or why I needed

something and they had to sell their clothes to me. I also wrote them a construction

What about…on the blackboard.

T: It’s summer and it’s very hot.

Ch1: What about shorts?T: O.K. I’ll take shorts. (I put the shorts on and I told children again what I was

wearing.)

T: I want to go to the disco.

Ch2: What about a skirt?

T: Well, yes, I’ll take a skirt. (I put the skirt on and again told children what I was

wearing.)

We continued this way until nobody had a clothes item. I told children thatclothes were dirty and they needed washing. I sketched the washing machine on the

blackboard, put a box under it and I pulled the washing line. I took off the gloves and

said: „ The gloves need washing.“ I put the gloves into the box and I continued with the

rest of clothes the same way. After having all the clothes washed I started hanging them

out on the washing line and I said: „My new skirt is clean.“ Then I repeated all the

clothes items together with children the same way as in the 4th form and children then

described clothes they were wearing to their classmates.



21

2. 3. Evaluation

Children in the 4 th form were involved in an active way and highly motivated in

the learning process. As they were describing their favourite toy and showing it to the

others they felt that the new vocabulary item – the name of the toy, e.g. a soft toy – is

extremely important to them to be able to tell somebody something about themselves.

They really felt that they would need this particular vocabulary because they were

speaking about something they speak about in real life. They were happy because they

could introduce their favourite toy in foreign language.

The 6 th form enjoyed the activity as well. I personally think that the main reason

was that I, their teacher, was acting like a doll that they were dressing up. Children

firstly found and learnt the new word on their own and then introduced it to the others.This time it was not the teacher who introduced and taught something new as first but

children. They felt responsibility to find the right word in the dictionary and they

achieved success when they offered some item of clothes to me and I understood them.

When I was planning this activity I was afraid of children being bored after „selling“

their things but I was greatly surprised. If this had happened, I would not have repeated

all clothes I was wearing after dressing a new one.

3. Using pictures

3. 1. 4 th form – topic Rooms in the house

Aim: to teach rooms in the house

Aids: flashcards of rooms – kitchen, living room, dining room, bedroom, toilet, hall,

bathroom. Blackboard, blutack

Activity: write down the number of the one you hear

Age: 9-10Level of English: beginners

Adapted from: Teaching English in the Primary Classroom, Halliwel l (2004)

I showed children flashcards of the rooms saying: „A hall, a bedroom, a dining

room, etc.“ Children just listened. For the second time I let children repeat after me.

After that I again started showing flashcards, children repeated after me and I put the

flashcards on the blackboard. We practised two more times. I wrote numbers next to

each picture and asked children:



22

T: What’s number one?

Ch: It’s a kitchen.

T: Perfect! What’s number three?

Ch: It’s a living room.

We practised all numbers this way. Then I said „kitchen“ and I wrote 1 on the

other part of the blackboard. I said „living room“ and wrote 3. I did three more rooms

this way and then I asked children to open their exercise books and write numbers

according to the room they would hear. We did this activity two times and then I let

children practise in pairs. One of them dictated rooms to his or her neighbour but both

wrote the number of the room, so that they could control later.

3. 2 6 th form – topic Fruit

Aim: to teach fruit, simply descriptions and to revise colours

Aids: flashcards of fruit – an orange, an apple, a banana, a lemon, a pear, a cherry, a

strawberry, an apricot, a plum, a blueberry. Blackboard, blutack

Activity: memory game

Age: 11-12

Level of English: elementaryInspired by: Mrs NaděždaVojtková – methodology teacher in the English department

I showed children flashcards of fruit and said their English names. Children first

listened, then repeated after me. I told children that I was going to show them flashcards

and I would name them. If I would be right they would repeat after me, if not, they

would be silent.

T: (flashcard of a lemon) A lemon.

Ch: Lemon.

T: (flashcard of an apricot) A pear.

Ch: (silence)

We practised several times and I stuck the flashcards on the blackboard. I started

naming each fruit one after another and let children repeat. Before the next round I

turned one flashcard over but I continued naming the items of fruit with the one that

was turned over. I did this every time and finally there were then flashcards on the



24

expressions I’m bored, I’m scared, I’m asleep, I’m ill, I’m blind and I’m deaf. I did the

whole activity once more but I told children to do with me. Then I just said commands

and children made gestures. We practised several times until I was sure that everybody

was familiar with all expressions. Then I explained the Simon says game: „I will tell

you Simon says Stand up! and you wil l stand up. Simon says Sit down! and you will sit

down. BUT if I don’t say Simon says you mustn’t do anything. If you do, you’ll get a

point. A pupil with the less points is the winner.“ As I was explaining the rules I was

doing what I was saying. I first started with expressions such as Stand up! Sit down! etc.

and then I used the new ones.

T: Simon says Stand up!Ch: (Stand up)

T: Simon says Sign!

Ch: (Were singing some melody)

T: Sit down!

Ch: (Did not do anything)

T: Simon says Be asleep!

Ch: (Started yawing)

The other lesson I asked for one volunteer to say sentences instead of me:

Ch: I’m sad.

Class: (Made sad faces)

Ch: I’m happy.

Class: (Made happy faces)

I changed the child saying expressions several times and then I asked the

volunteer to be Simon and we again played the game Simon says. I changed the

children after while so that everybody tried to give commands.

4. 2. 6 th form – topic Body language

Aims: to teach some new commands, to practice acting skills, to put together language

with movements

Aids: CD player, CD with the song, the handout for each child (Appendix V)

Activities: l isten to the song and acting



25

Age: 11-12


Adapted from: Project 2 – Student’s book

I invited one volunteer in front of the class and told her to do what I would say. I

started again with already known commands like Take a pencil! Open the window! Sit

down! Come here! etc. Then I told her new commands like Clap your hands! Nod your

hear! Wave your arms! Scratch your nose! Stamp your feet! When I said each of the

new commands I showed them for the first time as well, because the girl did not know

them. We practiced these commands twice and them I ask the whole class to act. When

I was sure that everybody had already acquired all the new commands I handed thehandouts (Appendix V) and we went through them. I pre-read each sentence and

children repeated. Then I played the tape and children just followed the text and listened

to get familiar with the melody. When I played the tape for the second time, some

children started sing. For the third time I told children to sing and for the fourth time

children sang and acted. We practiced several times, but I changed the technique.

Children took turns: first stanza sang boys, second girls, boys, girls etc.

4. 3. Evaluation

In the 4 th form, I used well-known commands as a warm-up. When I introduced

and practised new expressions I used only English language. I asked children at the very

end of the lesson about the Czech expressions just to check if they understood all the

expressions and they translated all of them correctly. Simon says activity put language

into actions. Children also learnt discipline because they have to pay attention to catch

the command. As they were competing, they were more active because each of themwanted to be the winner. At the end of the next lesson I asked children if they liked the

activities or not. They told me they liked them very much but the best one was when

they gave commands and the others had to do them.

Children in the 6 th form were not so involved in the process as children in the

fourth form did but they also had to put their English into actions. Their activity was not

so easy as in the fourth form because they had to sing and demonstrate what they were

singing. I firstly thought that some girls would consider the activity as embarrassing and

boring but they did not. Unfortunately, two boys did not like it and they did not

demonstrate the song at all.



26

5. Using definitions and situations

5. 1. 4 th form – topic Lucy’s room

Aims: to find out the meaning of unknown words by describing situations, to revise

colours, to practise prepositions of place

Aids: book with the picture (Hello Children!, Lacinová, 1994) or copy of the picture for

each (Appendix VI), the handout for each (Appendix VII)

Activities: reading, finding out the meaning of unknown words according to situations

in the picture, describing things

Age: 9-10


I told children that they were going to get a book with a picture and a piece of

paper with sentences. In each sentence there was an unknown word that was underlined.

Their task was to read the sentences and guess the meaning of the underlined words

according to the picture and write the Czech equivalents next to the words in the right

column. Then one child read one sentence and translated altogether with the underlined

word and the other checked. Then children described colours of the new words into

their exercise books (Appendix VIII).

5. 2. 6 th form – topic Places

Aims: to get children thinking, to learn to recognize words by definitions, to revise

spelling, to learn describing things

Aids: blackboard, chalk, the handout for the teacher (Appendix IX)

Activities: recognizing words by definitions, spell ing, describing things

Age: 11-12Level of English: elementary

I told children that I was going to describe seven places and their task was to

guess which place it was and write it down. As children did not know the English words

they were allowed to write in Czech. I read all the definitions and I let children to check

with their neighbours. Then I read each definition again and children told me their

suggestions. I did not say the English names this moment. After having read all

definitions I told children that I was going to tell them the English names of the places

but I would spell them. I spelt each word and then I wrote it on the blackboard for



27

children to control. Then I asked them to think out their own definitions. I let the

weaker children to work in pairs. Then each child read his or her own definition and the

other guessed (Appendix X). I always told children the English word and wrote it on the

blackboard.

1. 3. Evaluation

Instead of definitions I used situations in the 4 th form and children liked the

activity very much. They did this kind of activity for the first time but they did not have

any difficulties with understanding the task. Few children were not sure if the Building

set in the sentence was really the box on the carpet and one girl thought that the cake

was the present. I told her that we had already learnt present at Christmas and shecorrected herself.

Children in the 6 th form guessed all the described words correctly. The problem

was with definitions number two and five because four children did not know word

“legs”. I let children firstly check their results with neighbours so that the weaker ones

could correct some words and they did not feel embarrassed about not knowing any

definitions. Children enjoyed thinking out new definitions very much. Some of them

made more than two definitions. I did not correct mistakes in their definitions butsometimes I had to help them with pronunciation. I also helped the weaker children with

the definition. Children were very eager for guessing because everyone wanted to guess

the word first.

6. Guessing the meaning from the text

6. 1. 4 th form – topic Sport

Aims: to practise guessing the meaning from the text, to draw the picture according thedescription, to teach about tennis

Aids: the handout for each (Appendix XI)

Activities: reading, guessing the meaning from the text, drawing the picture

Age: 9-10


Inspired by: Young Learners, Phillips (1994)

I told children that they were going to read the text about my favourite sport.

The text would be in Czech but there were words in English that needed translation. I



28

distributed the handouts and children worked on their own. Then I read the words aloud

and children told me their suggestions. Then I asked children to take their exercise

books, draw all words used in the text and labelled them (Appendix XII).

6. 2. 6 th form – topic Sports

Aims: to practise the meaning from the text, to teach about sports, to practise finding in

dictionaries

Aids: the handout for each (Appendix XIII), dictionaries

Activities: reading, guessing the meaning from the text, finding in dictionaries,

describing sports

Age: 11-12Level of English: elementary

I told children that they were going to read about my favourite sport. There were

some unknown words in the text and their task was to guess their meaning and write

Czech equivalents. I distributed the handouts and children worked on their own. I let the

weaker ones work in pairs. When children were finished I read the English words and

they told me their suggestions. Then I divided children in groups of three or four andasked them to think of their favourite sport and write short text about it. Children took

dictionaries this time. At the end of the lesson each group read its text (Appendix XIV).

6. 3. Evaluation

Tennis is not so easy sport for description as it looks like. Children had to have

some knowledge in their mother tongue. In both classes there were problem with tennis

court. Children in the 4

th

form translated it as tenisové hřiště or tenisové místo but half of them knew that it was tenisový kurt. In the 6 th form there was only one boy who

knew that tennis was played on tenisový kurt. The others did not know it and two

children translated it as tennisový klub.

When children in the 4 th form were drawing the picture, they were very

interested and some of them did the headline or wanted to know more words, e.g. line.

When drawing the picture, children learnt about the sport – tennis and they immediately

used new words by labell ing the picture with them.



29

Children in the 6 th form did not learn only about tennis but also about other

sports. They had to be aware of the differences, e.g. the place where tennis is played is

called tennis court but football is played on pitch.



30

Conclusion

In my thesis I have looked at techniques of presentation vocabulary to children. I

have tried to prove that teaching vocabulary within the classroom is not wasting time

but a contribution to both, the teacher and learners. Through the presentation the teacher

does not teach only separate words but he or she teaches also listening, speaking,

reading and writing altogether with grammar and pronunciation. In any activity,

presented in the practical part, the teacher does not work only with vocabulary but also

all four skills mentioned above are involved.

In the Theoretical part I have mentioned the Lexical Approach. When teaching

vocabulary as well as foreign language on its own, lexical approach cannot be

neglected. It emphasize the importance of teaching language through lexical chunks, i.e.not teaching words and grammar rules separately but teaching chunks of language in

order to communicate. Children are nowadays taught foreign languages to be able to

communicate and lexical approach, altogether with combination of suitable technique, is

able to fulfi l this demand. The work is focused on presenting the meaning of the words.

I have introduced six basic techniques, i.e. using translation, realia, pictures,

actions/gestures, definitions and situations and guessing from the text. All these

techniques I have examined in the Practical part. All of them can be applied to the targetage group, 9-12 year olds, and all of them should be also used within these children.

The most suitable techniques for that age group are realia, pictures, actions and gestures.

Children fix meaning of the word better when they can „see or touch the word“. The

other techniques are more suitable for older learners but they can and should be used

within children as well. Children like change and it is good changing the presentation

from time to time.



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Resumé

Hlavním cí lem této práce je představit učitelům anglického jazyka na základních

školách výukové metody pro prezentování významu nových slovíček. K těmto metodám

patří překlad, reálie, obrázky, pohyb a gestikulace, definice a situace a hádání z textu.

V teoretické části jsou popsány tyto výukové metody a jsou zde zdůrazněny

hlavní důvody pro užití určité techniky. V praktické části jsou potom tyto výukové

metody vyzkoušeny formou zábavných aktivit přímo ve třídě. V praktické části jsem

vyzkoušela každou z výše uvedených metod na žácích čtvrtého a šestého ročníku.

Všechny metody je možno aplikovat na této věkové skupině, ale nejvhodnějšími jsou

reálie, obrázky, pohyb a gestikulace.



32

BIBLIOGRAPHY

ALLEN, Virginia French. Techniques in Teaching Vocabulary. Oxford: Oxford

University Press, 1983

GARDNER, Bryan; GARDNER, Felicity. Oxford basics: Classroom English. Oxford:

Oxford University Press, 2000

CARTER, Ronald; McCARTHY, Michael. Vocabulary and Language Teaching. Essex:

Longman, 1991

HALLIWELL, Susan. Teaching English in the Primary Classroom. Essex: Longman,

2004

HUTCHINSON, Tom. Project 2. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1999

LACINOVÁ, Eva. Hello Children! Havlíčkův Brod: FRAGMENT, 1994

LARSEN-FREEMAN, Diane. Techniques and Principles in Language Teaching.

Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1986

LEWIS, Michael. The Lexical Approach. Hove: Language Teaching Publications, 1993

LEWIS, Michael. Implementing the Lexical Approach. Hove: Language Teaching

Publications, 1997

LEWIS, Michael; HILL, Jimmie. Practical Techniques for Language Teaching. Hove:

Language Teaching Publications, 1997

MACMILLAN English dictionary for Advanced Learners. Oxford: Macmillan

Publishers Limited, 2002

McCARTHY, Michael. Vocabulary. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2001



33

PHILLIPS, Sarah. Young Learners. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1994

SCOTT, Wendy A.; YTREBERG, Lisbeth H. Teaching English to Children. Essex:

Longman, 1991

SLATTERY, Mary. Oxford basics for children: Vocabulary Activities. Oxford: Oxford


THORNBURY, Scott. How to teach vocabulary. Essex: Longman, 2004

UR, Penny. A Course in Language Teaching. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press,2003

WRIGHT, Andrew. Pictures for Language Learning. Cambridge: Cambridge




34

Appendix I

Find out the odd one:beautiful – pretty – terrible

light – hair – dark

arm – friend – leg

nose – curly – wavy



35

Appendix II



36

Appendix III

Match these pairs together and translate:

police keeperteam road

table mind

step apple

scrambled eggs

pine cloth

news station

never work

pass mother

cross paper

go an examination

goal on



37

Appendix IV



38

Appendix V



39

Appendix VI



40

Appendix VII

Translate the underlined words:

Bananas are in the basket. basket =The elephant is in the book. elephant =

The bear is on the chair. bear =

The Building set is on the carpet. carpet =

Flowers are in the vase. flowers =

The T-shirt is on the bed. T-shirt =

The cake is on the table. cake =

Five candles are on the cake. candles =



41

Appendix VIII



42

Appendix IX

1. It’s a room in a house. You usually brush your hair, clean your teeth and

have a shower there.

2. It has got four legs. It’s a place where you sleep.

3. It’s a room in a house where you eat.

4. It’s a room in a house where you watch TV. There is a sofa and there are

armchairs.

5. It’s got four legs and you sit on it.

6. It’s a room in a house where your mother cooks.

7. It’s a place in a house where your car sleeps.



43

Appendix X



44

Appendix XI

Guess what the English words mean:

Ráda sportuji. Můj nejoblíbenejší sport je tennis. Při tomto sportu potřebuji

racket a tennis ball. Tennis se hraje na tennis court. Je to hra pro dva nebo

čtyři players. Uprostřed tennis court je natažena net.

sport = tennis =

racket = tennis ball =

tennis court = player =

net =



45

Appendix XII



46

Appendix XIII

Read the following text and guess the meaning of underlined words:

I like sports. My favourite sport is tennis. When I play it I need racket and tennis

ball. I play tennis on tennis court. Tennis is a game for 2 or 4 players. There is

a net on tennis court. The net is in the middle.

tennis = racket =

tennis ball = tennis court =

player = net =

in the middle =



Appendix XIV

presenting vocabulary to children

Documents