Page 116 - Teaching English at Primary Level: From Theory into the Classroom

Teaching Grammar and Vocabulary

Table 7.1 The Vocabulary Learning Process with Examples
Stages Examples
1. Having sources for encounter- Watching a video about snakes (viper, rattlesnake, python,
ing new words blind snake).
2. Getting the forms of the new Focusing on spelling and pronunciation of different types
words of snakes, the spelling and pronunciation differences and
similarities between English and Slovene (e.g. in Slovene
python is spelt ‘piton’).
3. Learning the meanings of the Matching thenameofthe snakewiththe pictureofthe
words snake, discussing the meaning of the compound – ‘rattle’
and ‘snake,’ why is the ‘blind snake’ called blind, analysing
parts of snakes, discussing translations into Slovene etc.
4. Making a strong memory con- Categorising snakes into venomous and non-venomous,
nection between the forms and discussing fear of different snakes, vocabulary games with
the meaning of the words snake names, etc.
5. Using the words A school project in which pupils describe a snake of their
choice (its habitat, characteristics, interesting facts, etc.),
design aposterand presentitinclass.

practice in a variety of contexts. In addition, the more we know about a word,
the more we enter grammar. For instance, from knowing the word ‘friend’ we
can expand our knowledge about this word to include different grammat-
ical aspects: ‘friends’ (plural), ‘my friend’ (possessive pronoun), ‘best friend’
(noun phrase, collocation), ‘to befriend’ (verb conversion), ‘befriended’ (past
tense), ‘a friend in need is a friend indeed’ (a clause, a saying), etc. To sum up,
vocabulary teaching encompasses three aspects of language – word form,
word meaning and word use.
Most researchers agree that words ‘should not be presented in isolation
and should not be learned by rote memorization. It is important that new vo-
cabulary items be presented in context rich enough to provide clue to mean-
ing and that students be given multiple exposure to items they should learn.’
(Celce-Murcia, 2001, p. 288).
According to Hatch and Brown (1995, p. 372), there are five essential steps
in the process of vocabulary learning (see Table 7.1). Within these five steps,
several activities will be carried out with the final aim of enabling the learner
to use the new word productively. These activities will involve practicing the
pronunciation and spelling of the item, creating mental connections by asso-
ciationtootherwords,usingthewordsindifferentcontextsandmanyothers.
And, most importantly, this will have to be done again and again or ‘to use a
metaphor, learning words is not like ticking off items on a shopping list when

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