Specializarea : Profesor de Limba Engleză [626852]

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UNIVERSITATEA DIN ORADEA
Departamentul pentru Preg ătirea Personalului Didactic
Specializarea : Profesor de Limba Engleză

MODERN TE CHNIQUES IN TEACHING VOCABULARY TO
EFL CLASSES

Coordonator științific :
Prof. Univ. Dr. TEODOR MATEOC

Autor : SARCA – CRIȘAN RALUCA – DANA
Unitatea de învățământ :
Școala Gimnazială „Dacia”
Localitatea : Oradea
Județul : Bihor

-Oradea 2017 –

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CONTENTS
Argument ………………………….. ………………………….. ………………………….. ………………………….. …………… 3
Chapter 1. Understanding Vocabulary Learning ………………………….. ………………………….. ………….. 6
1.1 What is Vocabulary? ………………………….. ………………………….. ………………………….. …………… 6
1.2 The Importance of Vocabulary ………………………….. ………………………….. …………………………. 7
1.3 Aspects of Voc abulary Learning ………………………….. ………………………….. ……………………….. 8
Chapter 2. A Survey of Approaches to Teaching Vocabulary ………………………….. …………………… 14
2.1 The Grammar Translation Method ………………………….. ………………………….. ……………………….. 14
2.2 The Direct Method ………………………….. ………………………….. ………………………….. …………………. 15
2.3 The Audio Lingual Method ………………………….. ………………………….. ………………………….. …….. 16
2.4 Total Physical Resp onse ………………………….. ………………………….. ………………………….. …………. 17
2.5 The Silent Way ………………………….. ………………………….. ………………………….. ……………………… 18
2.6 Suggestopedia ………………………….. ………………………….. ………………………….. ……………………….. 20
2.7 The Natural Approach ………………………….. ………………………….. ………………………….. …………….. 21
2.8 Communicative Language Teaching ………………………….. ………………………….. …………………….. 22
Chapter 3. Innovative Techniques in Teaching Vocabulary ………………………….. …………………….. 25
3.1 Vocabulary in context ………………………….. ………………………….. ………………………….. …………….. 25
3.2 Teaching vocabulary through visual aids ………………………….. ………………………….. ……………….. 30
3.3 Teachi ng vocabulary through verbal aids ………………………….. ………………………….. ………………. 38
3.4 Teaching vocabulary through games ………………………….. ………………………….. …………………….. 44
3.5 Teaching vocabulary through songs ………………………….. ………………………….. ………………………. 52
3.6 Teaching vocabulary through role -plays ………………………….. ………………………….. ………………… 55
3.7 Teaching vocabulary through poems, rhymes and chants ………………………….. ……………………… 58
3.8 Teaching vocabulary through didactic technology ………………………….. ………………………….. ….. 61
Chapter 4. Assessing Vocabulary Knowledge ………………………….. ………………………….. ……………… 64
4.1 Why test vocabulary? ………………………….. ………………………….. ………………………….. ……………… 64
4.2 Types of tests ………………………….. ………………………….. ………………………….. ………………………… 66
4.3 Interpretation of results ………………………….. ………………………….. ………………………….. …………… 70
Chapter 5. The Design of the Research ………………………….. ………………………….. ……………………….. 71
5.1 The Survey on the Questionnaire Applied to 7th Grade Students ………………………….. …………… 71
5.2 Le sson Plans ………………………….. ………………………….. ………………………….. ………………………….. 80
5.3 The Research on the Achievement Test Applied to the Students ………………………….. …………. 110
Conclusions ………………………….. ………………………….. ………………………….. ………………………….. …….. 118
Bibliography ………………………….. ………………………….. ………………………….. ………………………….. …… 120
Annexes ………………………….. ………………………….. ………………………….. ………………………….. ………….. 124

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Argument

“Words – so innocent and powerless as they are, standing in a dictionary; how potent for
good and evil they become in the hands of one who knows how to choose and combine
them”.
(Nathaniel Hawthorne)
I have chosen the above quotation as introductory to my paper, because I consider that
it’s almost impos sible to overstate the power of words . Words are more than a means of
communication; they can shape people’s beliefs, behavio urs, feelings or actions.
Vocabulary acquisition is considered to be the most important aspect of foreign
language teaching and learning . It is the main tool for the st udents in their attempt to use
English effectively. When confronted with a native English speaker, when watching a movie
without subtitle or when listening to an English song, when reading a text or when writing an
e-mail, students will always need to oper ate with words. Without s ufficient vocabulary they
canno t understand others or express their own ideas. The more words students can use
comfortably and correctly, the more ways they have to say exactly what they mean. A wide
vocabulary makes them much clea rer and accurate. Improving students’ vocabulary will
improve not only their speaking skills but also their reading, listening and writing skills.
One way students develop vocabulary is indirectly through reading, listening, and
speaking. A student’s backg round knowledge and prior experiences play a large role in
vocabulary development. In learning voca bulary items, it is useful and necessary for language
learners to be taught vocabular y learning strategies so that they could learn how to discover
the meani ng of n ew words, how to store them in their memory, and how to use them by
practising and expanding their vocabulary.
I have decided to focus on vocabulary teaching because throughout my activity as an
English teacher I have noticed that part of my student s experience difficulties in
pronunciation, spelling or vocabulary usage . Some students are unable to recognize words
when they see them, are unable to comprehend them when they do recognize them, but above

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all, cannot use them with fluency when they are e xpected to give oral or written reports. They
need practice, but they also need motivation and a purpose to engage in activities.
My int ention in writing this paper is to search the mo st appropriate strategies to help
me enrich the vocabulary of my student s at the intermediate level . The purpose of my
research is to establish in what way modern strategies prove to be more appropriate and
interesting in teaching vocabulary than the traditional ones and how my students will cope
with them .
The first chapter d eals with understanding vocabulary learning. I consider necessary
first to establish what vocabular y means and how important it is to focus on teaching it.
Although it has been neglected for a long time, researchers have increasingly been turning
their att ention to its vital role . I am also interested in emphasizing some aspects of vocabulary
knowledge. What is involved in knowing a word? What criteria may be used to select
vocabulary? What is the difference between receptive and productive vocabulary learn ing?
The second chapter analyses and describes methods and techniques that teachers
could use when approaching the teaching of vocabulary . Special attention is given to their
principles, advantages and disadvantages. I will highlight some of the ways vocab ulary has
been taught in the past, and ways that it can be incorporated and taught in the modern foreign
language classroom .
The third chapter illustrates innovative techniques in teaching vocabulary. Every
subchapter includes a presentation of a techniqu e and some activities meant to increase
students’ vocabulary knowledge. Modern methods reflect on promoting real-life
communication, help student s understand spoken and written language and participate in
conversations . The key to success is to motivate ch ildren by model ling enthusiasm and
curiosity. Working in groups f oster s learning independence. The skill of using words in
different contexts plays an important role in the comprehension of new concepts and ideas
and it is what makes the essence of a langu age. Authentic materials like illustration, pictures,
realia increase learners’ level of involvement and concentration . Games are effective tools
when devised to explain new words and they make it easier to remember their meanings.
Role -play, s ongs and rhy mes make up a powerful means of teaching English vocabulary at all
ages. Students are actively involved in the learning process. The incorporation of didactic
technology in vocabulary learning is efficient, attractive and challenging.

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The forth chapter views the issue of assessing vocabulary knowledge. I will try to
explain its necessity, summarize various kinds of tests and analyse the item types that are
convenient to use for vocabulary testing. Assessing vocabulary is considered to be a process
of testin g learners' word knowledge , not simply to check whether they know those words, but
to find out their ability to understand and use vocabulary in a more general sense.
The fifth chapter is an analysis of a questionnaire applied to 7th graders A and C in
relation to vocabulary knowledge. The conclusions drawn from the students’ answers have
determined me to pursue a certain plan of action in terms of teaching vocabulary.
Consequently, I have designed a number of lesson plans which I have used in the class
throughout the school year. The last part of the research reveals the results achieved by the
students at the end of the school year after they have practised various vocabulary exercises.
I really hope that this thesis can be a helpful guide for my further v ocabulary teaching
because it has offered be a better understanding of the way I should approach it in the
language classroom.

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Chapter 1. Understanding Vocabulary Learning

1.1 What is V ocabulary?
“Vocabulary can be defined, roughly, as the words we teach in the foreign language .”
(Ur 1991: 60). All languages consist of words. Words are the tools learners use to think, to
express ideas and feelings, as well as to explore and analyse the world around them.
According to the Collins Cobuild English Lang uage Dictionary (1989) “the vocabulary of a
language is the total number of the words in it and someone’s vocabulary is the total number
of words in a language that he or she knows.”
For Scrivener (1994: 73), “vocabulary is a powerful carrier of meaning.” This means
that without establishing a strong vocabulary base first, comprehension and use of a language
will not be achieved. Oral vocabulary includes those words that we recognize and use in
listening and speaking. Print vocabulary includes those words t hat we recognize and use in
reading and writing. Therefore, vocabulary consists of more than j ust single words (Read
2000: 20 ), and more than this, vocabulary concerns not only simple words in all their aspects,
but also complex and compound words, as well as the meaningful units of language (Jackson
and Amvela 2000: 1 -2).
Nation (2001 : 221 ) states that vocabulary knowledge implies “knowing a word in the
spoken form of the word and the spoken form can be recognised and understood in and out of
context rathe r than guessed at ”. Additionally, Henriksen (1996 : 23) states that vocabulary
knowledge is often defined as “precise comprehension which is operationalized as the ability
to translate the lexical items into L1, the ability to find the right definition in a multiple –
choice task, or the ability to give a target language paraphrase ”. This means that vocabulary
knowledge requires the ability to react to words that students do not need to think about. The
words just come into students’ minds to be used in an eff ective and natural way.
What the definitions above about vocabulary have in common is the fact that
vocabulary knowledge requires not only word meanings knowledge, but the usage of the
words in the appropriate context and in a natural way and it also inclu des the relationship
between new words acquired and the ones already acquired.
Moreover, vocabular y is still widening. Even in the Romanian language, the students
are continually learning new words and meanings of old words . They come across completely

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new words tha t are made up according to new technologies and according to the needs of real
life. Thornbury (2002:1) states that learners “can be confronted by words that are totally
unfamiliar, or being used in ways that for them are novel and possibly obscu re. To find the
right word to fit the meaning can be very frustrating, especially if the store of words is
limited”.
1.2 The I mportance of Vocabulary

Vocabulary is central to English language teaching because without sufficient
vocabulary students cannot und erstand others or express the ir own ideas. Wilkings (1972:
111-112) wrote that “…while without grammar very little can be conveyed , without
vocabulary nothing can be conveyed.” He points out that, even without grammar, but with
some useful words and expres sions everybody can manage to communicate . Lewis (1993:
89) considers that “lexis is the core or heart of language”. As students develop fluency in
English, they acquire more productive vocabulary knowledge. Nation (1990:2) affirms that
learners also see vocabulary as being a very, if not the most, important element in language
learning. Learners feel that many of their difficulties result from the lack of vocabulary
knowledge. A limited vocabulary keeps them from expressing their thoughts and feelings. On
the other hand, a large, rich vocabulary gives them the right words to use at the right time.
Allen (1983: 5) indicates that in the best classes, ne ither grammar nor vocabulary is
neglected, but vocabular y is more essential and should be taught before gra mmar. Likewise,
Flower (2000: 5) states, “Words are the most important things students must learn. Grammar
is important, but vocabular y is much more important”. This is consistent with Lewis (19 93:
115) who also views the importance of vocabulary as the ce ntre of langua ge teaching and
learning since language consists of “ grammaticalised lexis, not lexicalised g rammar” and
“grammar, as str ucture, is subordinate to lexis” . That is to say, these scholars see that
vocabulary seems to be the key to language lear ning.
The knowledge of word meanings and the ability to access that knowledge efficiently
are recognized as important factors in reading and listening comprehension, speaking and
writing fluency. The comprehension of a language depends on the amount of wor ds that are
known in that language. Also, students need to have sufficient word knowledge to understand
what they read. Students can understand a writer’s message only if they know the meaning of
most of the words used in a text. Still, Nation (2001 : viii ) states that readers need to know “at

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least 97% of the vocabulary in a text for an adequate understanding of it ”. Without
knowledge of the key vocabulary in a text, a learner may have serious trouble in
understanding the messa ge, that is, word knowledge is essential to reading comprehension
and determines how well students will be able to comprehend the texts they read.
In addition, vocabulary helps students with language production. The more words
they know the more precisely they can express the exact mea ning they want to. Nation (2001:
221) considers that “vocabulary knowledge enables lang uage use and thus communication ”.
It is impossible to read or listen without vocabulary knowledge. Even for many native
speakers there is always something new to acquire with vocabulary and it is necessary for the
learners to go on with learning lexis in order to better understand the foreign language as
well.
Vocabulary is a major component to determine how much a student is able to
communicate successfully. Thus , studen ts have to overcome the lack of vocabulary
knowledge in order to communicate effectively. Language teachers should focus on effective
instruction to teach vocabulary to help students to develop their vocabulary knowledge in
order to communicate successfull y. “The more words one is able to use correctly, the better
one will be able to express oneself easily and with self -confidence and to understand the
world one lives in” (Nandy 1994: 1).

1.3 Aspects of Vocabulary L earning
Knowledge of words has several imp ortant aspects, in addition to what the word
actually means. It is a rather more complex process than it might appear at the first sight. As
Harmer (1991: 156) points out, the main thing we should be aware of vocabulary items is that
a new vocabulary item may be more than just one single word. It is important for learners to
understand the meaning of a word fro m the context in which it is used. Furthermore, there are
words which can have “meanings in relation to other words” (so called sense rel ations), sta tes
Harmer (1991: 156).
There are three significant aspects that the teachers need to be aware of: form,
meaning and use. According to Nation (2001 :23) the form of a word involves “its
pronunciation (spoken form), spelling (written form) and any word parts that make up this
particular item (such as a prefix, root and a suffix )”. He also considers that meaning
encompasses the way that form and meaning work together, the connotations and the ideas
associated with the word. Use involves the grammatical functio n of the word or phrase,

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collocations that go with it. Knowledge of a word also involves knowledge of its common
figurative uses or the ability to look for them.
According to Linda Taylor (1990: 1-3) there are different kinds of knowledge:
knowledge of th e frequency of occurrence of the word in a language, knowledge of style (i.e.
the level of formality: formal, informal, slang, colloquial, neutral) , register (i.e. varieties of
language defined by the topic and the context of use) and dialect (differences in geographical
variation) , knowledge of collocation, both semantic and syntactic, knowledge of mor phology
(i.e. knowing the underlying form and its possible derivations), knowledge of semantics (i.e .
knowing what the word means as well as its connotations ), knowledge of polysemy (i.e.
knowing the different meanings associated with a word), knowledge of the equivalent of the
word in the mother tongue, its translation. All of this information is necessary for the
knowledge of the meaning of the word and the ability to comprehend it and use it
appropriately.
The language teacher has to deal with the problem of selecting words as well.
Generally speaking, there was a “rule” that at lower levels, “more concrete words should be
presented and more abstract words s hould be learned l ater”, explains Harmer (1991: 154).
But “every teaching situation is different and so essential items in one context may be quit e
useless in another” (Gairns and Redman 1986: 57). The criteria which may be used to select
vocabulary are as follows: frequency, coverage, need and level.
For Harmer (1991: 154), frequency is “a general principle” of selecting vocabulary.
The teacher should teach the words which occur most frequently among speakers of the
language . In order to find out which wor ds are highly used, he or she can have a look at
English newspapers, magazines, books or listen to the English radio or television. Many
researches were led to discover which words are the most frequent ones. An early research
was done by Michael West (1953), writes Harmer (1991: 155). Another one that he mentions
is done by Hindmarsh (1980) whose list of most frequent words was used by exam and books
designers. However, nowa days, thanks to the computer, the teacher can get much more
information about word frequency .
Coverage is another criterion that should be used when selecting vocabulary . From
Harmer´s (1991: 154) point of view, “the words which have more than one meaning should
be taught ”.

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It is generally known that learners have different lexical needs . Their interests perhaps
don’t coincide with those of the class. The teacher’s role is to combine the collective and the
individual. To this respect, Gairns and Redman (1989: 57) suggest allowing students to select
“any words they wish from a text, within a given limit of time, to work on them using a
dictionary, alongside convential vocabulary work on the text ”.
There is no doubt that every teacher´s responsibility is to think over how many words
he or she wants to include in one lesson and what is the op timum “number of items that
should be covered over the duration of the cour se” (Gairns and Redman, 1986: 66). Although
the final number can vary, they suggest that on average, eight (at lower levels) to twelve (at
higher levels) vocabulary items should be presented in one lesson. I think that it must depend
on the context and on the learner’s need. Scott Thornbury (2002: 21) claims that a “core
vocabulary” consists of 2000 words, which is the size of the “defining vocabulary ” used in
dictionaries for langua ge learners.
English vocabulary is challenging. Students can expand their vocabulary knowledge
in many different ways. Researchers usually suggest that vocabulary can be broken down into
two forms: oral vocabulary and reading vocabulary. Oral vocabulary by its turn is broken
down into speaking and listening that refers to words that we use in speaking or recognise in
listening, while reading vocabulary is broken down into reading and writing that refers to
words we reco gnise or use in print . (Cardenas, 2001 ).
Students understand more words than they usually use in everyday situations. It is
important t o decide which words they should learn “for productive use” and which words are
worth learning “for the purpose of recognition” ( Gairns and Redman, 1986: 65). “Active ” or
“productive ” vocabulary is vocabulary that students are able to use when speaking and
writing, says McCarten (2007: 19). On the other hand, “passive ” or “receptive ” vocabulary
are lexical items that the learner recognize and comprehend but do not need to produce,
describes Me lka (1997) in McCarten (2007: 19). It is generally acknowledged that language
learners need receptive vocabulary for their listening and reading. The better one’s
vocabulary k nowledge, the easier one would find it to unders tand the conversation or a large
amount of reading. However, when compared vocabulary learning from listening with
vocabulary learning from reading, Read (2000: 47) points out that vocabulary learni ng from
listening has received much less attention than le arning voc abulary items through reading.

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To be able to speak or write, it is crucial to know enough words to make sentences,
speak with a pronunciation the lis tener can understand, or write with an orthography the
reader can recognize . Nandy (1994: i) hig hlights the r elationship between vocabulary and the
expressi on of speech and writing: “A n extensive vocabulary, besides empowering us to give
expression to a wide range of tho ughts, also enables us to vary our forms of expression, and
so make our speech or our writing more pleasing to hear or more interesting to read. No one
can ever become a n effective speaker or a ready writer if he does not have at his command a
wide vocabulary to which he is continually adding.”
The teacher choose s vocabulary items that will be useful and important for the
learner. Nevertheless, it is mostly the learner who decides whether a word is worth learning
productively or just receptiv ely (Gairns and Redman 1986: 65). It is quite common that
“learners know some words better than others”, informs Harmer (1991: 159). He explains
further that learner´s active vocabulary could also include “other words” which he or she
looks up and finds interesting for using and remembering them. The students should “do
things with words ” so that the y become acquainted with them. Both Harmer (1991: 159) and
Scrivener (1994: 74) agree that at beginner and elementary levels, the words that the learners
learn and practise become immediately their active vocabulary because of their everyday
usage. Howeve r, later, at higher levels, learners find out that a lot of words are not as useful
as they thought and that the only occasion when they can meet them is “within the context of
reading and listening materi al,” conveys Scrivener (1994: 74). According to Har mer (1991:
159), the storage of vocabulary items is not “a permanent state of affairs. ” As Gairns and
Redman (1986: 65) also think, the transformation of one vocabulary item from a learner´s
passive vocabulary to his or her active one is “a gradual process .” For them, the reason of this
transformation is clear: “repeatedly hearing or reading the item over a period of time.”
Finally, they advise teachers to explain the meanings and forms of vocabulary items and to
include “controlled and freer practice” in t he classroom. Students remember best the new
items when they are given tasks such as changing them into opposites, putting them together,
making a noun an adjective, etc. They have to do more than just repeat them.
Most authors argue that receptive vocabul ary is acquired first, followed by productive
vocabulary. If a word is known productively it means that the word is already known
receptively, that is, comprehension precedes production. In the process of vocabulary
acquisition a word is recognised and und erstood firstly and only later students are able to use

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it in context in appropriate situations and in a natural way. In addition, receptive vocabulary
is easier to learn than productive vocabulary.
Vocabulary acquisition is a continuum process. Students gradually acquire vocabulary
knowledge. This means that they have in common the view that vocabulary acquisition
follows some steps to be understood and be used actively and appropriately by the learner.
Palmerg (1987 : 201) states “At o ne end of the contin uum we have potential
vocabulary…moving along the continuum we have real vocabulary … which includes those
foreign language words that learners have learned at some stage in the learning process, and
that they can either only understand (passive and real v ocabulary) or both understand and use
(active real vocabulary)”.
Moreover, Henriksen (1996) suggests a model of vocabulary development acquisition
based on three hierarchical stages: the first stage is partial -precise continuum. In this stage the
student b egins to recognise the words used by the teacher or while reading a text, but he/she
does not know their meanings and how to use them. The receptive – productive continuum is
the second level. In this level as the student moves along he/she begins to under stand word
meanings and they know how to use them in some contexts; the student begins to have a
precise understanding of the words. The third stage is depth – of-knowledge continuum. In this
stage students finally understand words in different contexts and they use those words as
well. This is to say that this stage measures how well a word is known.
In short, receptive vocabulary leads to productive vocabulary, that is, receptive
vocabulary is the first contact learners have with the vocabulary items, w hich makes the
method of instruction very important. So, teachers and the course books used in the
classroom should recognise the relevance of vocabulary instruction in order for learners to
help develop their receptive vocabulary to productive vocabulary.
Unlike the learning of grammar, which is essentially a rule based s ystem, vocabulary
knowledge is largely a question of accumulating individual items. The general rule seems to
be a question of memory. How does memory work? Researchers into the workings of
memory such as Thornbury (2002: 23) distinguish between the following systems: shor t–
term store, working memory, long– term memory . Short -term store is the brain capacity to
hold a limited number of items of information for periods of time up to a few seconds.
Working memory means focussing on word long enough to perform operations on them.
Long -term memory can be seen as kind of filling system. However, to ensure moving new

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materials into permanent long -term memory requires number of principles to be followed,
described by Thornbury : repetition, retrieval, spacing, pacing, use, cognitive depth, personal
organising, imagining, motivation, attention, affective depth. Furthermore, vocabulary
learning requi res the students to be disciplined in spending more time on the new
word s in order to memorize high frequency vocabularies and keep them in their long term
memory . Students need to encounter the newly learned words in real life situations (speaking,
reading and writing ). This will allow learners to understand better the word correct usage and
will prevent them from making mistakes.
According to research, students’ vocabulary increases when they are exposed to new
words through various language experiences, such as reading aloud, i ndependent reading, and
oral discussions. In addition, when students are exposed to a wide variety of reading genres,
from biographies to fairy tales to how -to books, they learn different types of vocabulary. In
order to be exposed to academic vocabulary , students need to spend time reading books and
having books read to them.
Nation (200: 49 ) categorize s vocabulary learning activities i nto two kinds: “incidental
vocabulary learning ” and “intentional vocabulary learning ”. The incidental vocabulary is
defin ed as learning of knowledge without any intention and it happens accidentally. On the
other hand, any activity of transferring verbal knowledge to the memory is called intentional
vocabulary learning . The most important purpose can be achieved by improving vocabulary
in incidental learning. Huckin and Coady (1999 : 181 ) mention the following advantages of
incidental vocabulary learning: i t is contextualized, giving the learner a ric h sense of word
use and meaning; i t is pedagogically efficient in that it yie lds two activities at th e same time:
voca bulary acquisition and reading; it is more learner based, in that it is the learner who
selects the reading materials.
Motivating learners to read and listen extensively can provide them with great
opportunities to learn new vocabularies.

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Chapter 2. A Survey of Approaches to Teaching Vocabulary

After many decades of being neglected and receiving little importance, vocabulary
has now become into the focus of interest of many linguists and language teachers. Rece ntly,
they have stressed its importance in l anguage teaching and reassessed some of the ways in
which it is taught and learnt. Grammar was often considered a much more difficult part of
learning language, while vocabulary was something relatively easy. It was thought that
vocabulary could simply be learned effortlessly, and received only incidental attention in
many textbooks.
The low status of vocabulary teaching in past years can largely be attributed to the
language teaching approaches which were dominan t at that time. Changes in language
teaching approaches throughout history have reflected shifts in theories of the nature of
language and of language learning .
2.1 The Grammar Translation Method

The Grammar Translatio n Method, also known as “classical m ethod”, is one of the
oldest methods used by teachers all over the world. Its principles and techniques are similar
to those used for teaching Latin or old Greek. Adriana Vizental (2008:28) points out that “just
like those languages, the approach is doomed to fail, unless the teacher knows how to use it
to his/her advantage or is wise enough to combine it with other methods ”.
The main characteristics of the Grammar T ranslation Method are a focus on learning
the grammar rules and their applicatio n in transl ating texts from one language into the other.
The students are expected to learn the vocabulary of the target language using bilingual word
lists. Vocabulary lists are a familiar part of the lesson in this approach and a typical exercise
is to translate le xical items or sentences from the target language into their mother tongue
using dictionaries to (or vice versa) . Normally exact semantic equivalents or partially
semantic equivalents are given. A formal or informal bilingual dictionary is a common aid in
this met hod to teach the vocabulary. In some cases, the vocabulary used would be given at

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the end of the chapter along with the meaning with a supplementary list of vocabulary items
that can be memorized in the context of that lesson. Therefore, vocabulary is taught out of
context and in isolation. A typical grammar -translation textbook consisted of long texts,
mainly excerpts from literary masterpieces or accounts concerning the national identity of the
target language culture. The teaching is deeply teach er-centred. Grammar provides the rules
for putting words together, and instruction often focuses on th e form and inflection of words.
Accuracy is emphasized. Students are expected to attain hi gh standards in translation.
Reading of difficult classical text s is begun early. Little attention is paid to the content of
texts, which are treated as exercise in grammatical analysis. Often only the drills are exercises
in tra nslating disconnected sentences from the target language into the mother tongue. Little
or no attention is given to pronunciation. It focuses on reading and writing skills and
considers listening and speaking of secondary importance. Consequently, learners cope very
well with compositions, with the written word, but fail in face -to-face-interact ion.
As Krashen (1987: 128) points out, “It can be claimed that grammar translation
provides scraps of comprehensible input. The focus is entirely on the form, and not on
meaning … students are forced to read word by word, and consequently rarely focus
completely on the message’’ . Richards and Rodgers (1986:5) add that “i t is a method for
which there is no theory. There is no literature that offers a rationale or justification for it that
attempts to relate it to issues in linguistics, psychology, or educa tional theory.”
2.2 The Direct Method

By the end of the nineteenth century Direct Method emerged as a reaction to the
Grammar Translation Approach . Its appearance thus coincided with new school of thinking,
dictating that all foreign langua ge teaching sho uld occur in the target language only, with no
translation and an emphasis on linking meaning to the language being learned.
The method focuses on inductive teaching. Oral teaching precedes any form of
reading and writing. Pronunciation is to be taught sy stematically . The meanings of words are
forms and taught by means of objects, or by natural context. Richards and Rodgers (1986:12)
summari ze its major characteristics of as follows: classroom instruction is cond ucted
exclusively in the target language; o nly everyd ay vocabulary and sentences are taught; o ral
communication skills were built up in a carefully graded progression organized around
questi on and answer exchanges between teachers and stude nts in small, intensive classes,

16
grammar is taught inductiv ely; n ew teachin g points are introduced orally; c oncrete
vocabulary is taught through demonstration, abstract vocabulary is taught by association of
ideas, b oth speech and list ening comprehension are taught; c orrect pronunciation and
grammar are emphasized . In this approach, the learners are expected to imitate and practice
the target language until they become fluent and accurate speakers and, as there is no
translation, it is assumed that they will learn to think in the target language. It is supposed
that vocabulary can be acquired naturally through interactions during the lesson after careful
selection and gradation ; therefore, vocabulary is presented in context and is graded from
simple to complex. The vocabulary selection for the course material is mad e on the basis of
the frequency of vocabula ry items in the language, from the day to day conversations and
experiences, with an aid for action in the classroom, selecting the words that have only on e
meaning and by avoiding multi meaning vocabulary items.
The D irect Method is undoubtedly a h ighly effective method in terms of creating
language learners who are very competent in terms of using the target language
communicatively. But it requires teachers who were native speakers or had native -like
fluency in the foreign language. It is not suitable for all students as well. This m ethod suits
only those students who are linguistically minded .
2.3 The Audio Lingual Method

The Audio Lingual Method was dominant in the United States during the 1940s,
1950s, and 1 960s . It is bas ed on the behavio urist theory of stimulus response and
reinforcement. The main supporter of this method was J. Skinner, who considered that
foreign language learning is a process of habit formation through the acquisition of specific
languag e skills.
The e mphasis on speech is considered not only as a goal of instruction, but also as a
medium of instr uction. Listening and speaking skills are taught before reading and writing .
Little or no grammatical explanation is provided; grammar is taught inductively. Vocabulary
to be learnt is strictly limited and learned in context. Audio -linguists consider that words can
be better understood and remembered if they appear with a linguistic and non -linguistic
environment. Context matters because bilingual lists can give rise to mistakes. Memorization
of structures leads to the formation of good linguistic habits. The audio -lingual teacher has a

17
new image: he/she is friendly and supportive, moves among the students and participates in
their activities .
Larse n Freeman (2000: 45 -47) pr ovides expanded descriptions of some common
techniques closely associated with the Audio -lingual Method: dialogue m emorization using
mimicry and applied role -playing; backward build -up (expansion d rill), repetition drill, chain
drill, single slot and multiple substitution d rill, transformation drill, question – and – answer
drill, use of minimal p airs, complete the dialogue, grammar games.
The audio -lingual approaches brought about considerable improvements to the
teaching of fore ign languages. But l inguist s like Noam Chomsky reje cted the structuralist
approach as well as behaviorist theory of language learning arguing that language learning is
not all about a set of habit formation. It is a cognitive process. Ecaterina Popa (1995: 17)
considers that “exaggeration of the oral aspect of the language, as well as meaningless
repetition and mechanistic procedures, do not develop foreign language skills harmoniously,
nor do they enhance motivation in learning the language”.
However, with the further changing of society, the performance of the audio -linguists
made this kind of teaching inappropriate for the needs of the modern man.
2.4 Total Physical Response

This approach was develop ed by James. J. Asher and i t is based on the coordinati on
of language and physical movement. This allows the student to assimilate in formation and
skills at a rapid rate. The teacher gives a host of commands with the students then respond ing
by “acting out” the command. Asher states that the command directed t o young children
requires the child to respond to them physically rather than verbally . The Total Physical
Response combines “elements of speech and action and tries to teach language through motor
actions ” (Richards and Rodgers 1986 : 73). It was developed to reduce the stress the learners
feel when studying foreign languages.
Regarding this method of teach ing vocabulary, Diane Larsen Freeman, (2004: 115)
states that “vocabulary and grammatical structures are emphasized over other language
areas ”. Imperative s are the main structures to communicate information. The student is not
forced to speak, but is allowed to spontaneously begin to speak, when the student feels that he
is comfortable an d confident in understanding and subsequently produces the utterances.

18
In the classroom the teacher plays the role of parent. Imperative drills are the
prominent classroom activity. The teacher starts by saying a word or a phrase and
demo nstrating an action. He/she then says the command and the students all do the action.
The teacher says the command as bot h the teacher and the students then perform the action.
The teacher says the comman d but only students perform the action. The teacher tells one
stude nt at a time to do the command. The roles of the teacher and the studen t are reversed.
The student gives the command to the teacher and to other students. The teacher and the
student allow for command expansion or produces new sentences. It is more effective if the
students are standing in a circle around the teacher and he/she can even encourage them to
walk around as they do the action. Materials and realia are essential.
The teacher plays an active and direct role because he decides what to teach, who
models and presents the new materials, and who selects supporting materi als for classroom
use. In giving feedback to learners, he/she is required to follow the example of parents giving
feedback to their children. Similarly, the teacher needs to tolerate fewer mistakes in speech;
he/she has to avoid too much correction in the early stages and is not required to interrupt to
correct errors in that this may inhibit learners to take an action or speak out.
Total Physical Response has some advantages. It is a lot of fun, l earners enjoy it, and
this method can be a real stirrer in the class. It is very memorable. It is good for kinaesthetic
learners who are required to be active in the class . It can be used both in large or small
classes. It is no need to have a lot of prepar ation or materials using this approach . It is very
effecti ve with teenagers and young learners . It involves both left and right -brained learning.
In addition to such advantages, this method has disadvantages. Students who are not
used to such things might find it embarrassing. It is only really suitable for beg inner levels. It
is not flexibly used to teach everything, and if used a lot, it would become repetitive. This
method is a fun way of changing the dynamics and pace of a lesson used in conjunction with
other methods and techniques. It should best be combin ed with others since it needs much
energy so that learners do not feel tired of learning language .
2.5 The Silent Way

The Silent Way is the name of a method of language teaching devised by Caleb
Gattegno. It is on the premise that the teacher remains sil ent as mu ch as possible in the
classroom whereas, the student is encouraged to utter as much language as possible.

19
It is characterized by its focus on discovery, creativity, problem solving and the use of
accompanying materials. According to Richards and R odgers, (1986:81) the theory of leaning
underlying th is method is as follows: l earning is facilitated if the learner d iscovers or creates
rather than remembers and repeats what is to be learned, l earning is facilitated by
accompanyin g (mediating) physical objects, l earning is facilitated by problem solving
involving the material to be learned.
According to Gattegno, vocabulary is co nsidered as a central dimension of learning a
language and hence the choice of v ocabulary is crucial. Regarding selection and g radation of
vocabulary, the learner deals with the most functional and versatile words of the language
and many of them d on’t have even direct equivalents to the learner’s mother tongue. The
“functional vocabulary” provides a key to comprehending t he “spir it” of the language. By
“spirit” , he means the way how each lang uage possesses its unique sound system and melody,
composed of phonologica l and supra segmental elements. (Richards and Rodgers, 1986:82) .
To cre ate simple linguistic tasks for the beginning le vel students the teacher models a
word, phrase or sentence and then see ks to elicit learner responses. Learner s then seek to
produce language by putting together old and new information. Charts, rods and other aids
may be used to elicit learner responses. There is absence of correction and repeated
modelling from the teacher . Experimentation and peer -group corr ections are encouraged.
Teacher speaks only to correct an incorrect utterance if no peer -group correction is
forthcoming. Harmer (2009:69) claims tha t “it is students who should take responsibility for
their learning; it is the teacher’s job to organise this”.
Learning through problem solving looks attractive especially because it fosters:
creativity, discovery, increase in intelligent potency and long term memory. The indirect role
of the teacher highlights the importance and the centrality of the learner who is responsible in
figuring out and testing the hypotheses about how language works. In other words teaching is
subordinated to learning .
The Sile nt Way is often criticized of being a harsh method. The learner works in
isolation and communication is lacking b adly in a Silent Way classroom. With minimum help
on the part of the teacher, the Silent Way method may put the learning itself at stake. The
material used in this method will certainly fail to introduce all aspects of language. Other
materials will have to be introduced.

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2.6 Suggestopedia

Suggestopedia is a teaching method developed by the Bulgarian psychotherapist
Georgi Lozanov. Suggestopedia has been called a "pseudo -science". It strongly depends on
the trust that students develop towards the method by simply believing that it works. The
intended purpose of Suggestopedia was to enhance learning by tapping into the power of
suggestion.
Richard s and Rodgers (1986:145 ) summarizes the most relevant featur es of this
method as follows: decoration, furniture, arrangement of the classroom, the use of music, t he
authoritative behaviour of the teacher. According to Lozanov, the central ity of music and
musical rhythm helps to induce a relaxed attitude . Anxieti es and tension are relieved and
power of concentration for new materials is raised. Lexis is central and lexical translation
rather than contextualization is stressed . It emphasizes on memorization of vocabulary pairs –
a target language item and parallel to it, its native language translation. Little emphasis on
grammar is given. The aim of the method is to deliver advanced conversational proficiency
quickly.
Larsen Freeman (1986:84 -86) summarize the typical techniques closely associated
with Suggestopedia as the following: classroom set -up, peripheral leaning, positive
suggestion, visualization, choose a new identity, role – play, first concert (t eacher does a
slow, dramatic reading of the dialogue synchronized in intonation with classical music ),
second concert (students put asid e their scripts and the teacher reads at normal speed
accord ing to the context, and not the accompanying pre -classical or Baroque music – this
typically ends the class for t he day ), primary activation (s tudents “playfully” re -read out the
target language loud as individuals or in groups ), secondary activation ( s tuden ts engage in
various activities: singing, dancing, dramatization. Richards and Rodgers (1986:149) claim
that “group of learners are ideally socially homogeneous, twelve in number, and divided
equally between men and women ”. They sit in a circle, which encourages face -to face
communication.
The disadvantage of this method is that, attention should not focus u pon po or scores.
The attention of the learners should rather be drawn to the understanding of the complete
sentence; and analysis will come later. Again, playing background music is like a noisy class
to other learners wh o like to learn in a quiet environment, s o the baroque music in the

21
background might become distracted. This can lead to lack of concentration on the part of the
students.
2.7 The Natural Approach

The N atural Approach, with echoes of the ‘naturalistic’ approach of the Direct
Method was develope d by Krashen a nd Terrell (1983). It was based upon Krashen’s theories
of second language acquisition, emphasizing “comprehensible input” distinguishing between
‘acquisition’ – a natural subconscious process, and “learning” a conscious process . “Unlike
the Direct Method, however, it places less emphasis on teacher monologues, direct repetition
and formal questions and answers, and less focus on accurate production of target language
sentences” Richards and Rodgers (1986: 129).
This approach is design to help the beginners become intermediate. Focus is on
meaning not on form. The teacher is the primary source of co mprehensible input. He /she
must crea te positive low -anxiety climate. The students are engaged in activities involving
meaningful communication. Materials come from realia rather than textbooks. The Natural
Approach includes comm and based activities from Total Physical Response; Direct Method
activi ties in which mime, gesture and context are used to elicit questions and an swers; and
even situation -based practice or structures and patterns. Pair or group work may be
employed, followed by whole -class discussion led by the teacher. Learners’ roles are seen to
change according to their stage of linguistic development. Central to these changing roles are
learner decisions on when to speak, what to speak about, and what linguistic expressions to
use in speaking. The teacher is the primary source of comprehensible input in the target
language , he/she must create a pleasant atmosphere and choose a rich mix of cl ass­room
activities .
The importa nce of vocabulary is emphasized suggesting the view that a language is
essentially its lexicon and only inconsequently the grammar tha t determines how the lexicon
is exploited to produce messages. The lexicon for both percep tion and production is
considered critical in the con struction and interpretation of messages.
There are three stages identified in the approach:
Pre-production stage: Students participate in the language activity without having to respond
in the target l anguage . It is used for developing listening skills.

22
Early production stage: Students respo nd to either or questions, use single word and short
phrases, and use fixed conversational patterns,
Speech emergent phase: Students involve themselves in role play and games, contribute
persona l information and opinions, and participate in group problem solving. I t extends
production, promoting fluency through a variety of more challenging activities.
The natural approach was based upon Krashe n’s theories of Second language
acquisition and five Hypotheses are as follows: t he Ac quisition / Learning Hypothesis, the
Monitor Hypothesis, the Natural order Hypothesis, the Input Hypothesis, t he Affective Filter
Hypothesis . Richards and Rodgers (1986:13 3) summarize the foll owin g obvious implications
of these five hy potheses for language teaching: a s much comprehensible input as possible
must be presented; or comprehension, visual aids are u seful, as is exposure to a wide range of
vocabulary rather than the study of sy ntacti c structures; t he emphasis in the classroom should
be laid on listening and reading; speaking should be allowed to “emerge”; s tudents work
should focus on meani ngful communication rather than on form in order to lower the
affective filter. Inpu t should be interesting so as to contribute to a relaxed classroom
environment.
This method is reliable as is widely used. “Its greatest claim to origi nality lies not in
the techniques it employs but in their use in a method that emphasizes and meaningful
practice ac tivities, rather than production of grammatically perfect utt erances and sentences”.
Richards and Rodgers (1986:140 -141)
2.8 Communicative Language Teaching

During the 1980s and 1990s approa ches emerged which concentrated on the
fundamentally communicativ e fun ctions of language and language classrooms were
characterized by attempts to e nsure authenticity of materials and pragmatic, meaningful tasks.
The C ommunicativ e Language Teaching is, relatively, a newly adapted approach in
the area of foreign language teaching considered rather “progressive” than “traditional”. It
can be seen to derive from linguistics, psychology, philosophy, sociology and educational
research . It places great emphasis on helping students use the target language in a variety of
contex ts and on learning language functions. Unlike the Audio -Lingual Method, its primary

23
focus is on helping learners create meaning rather than helping them develop perfectly
grammatical structures or acquire native -like pronunciation.
David Nunan (1991:279) s ummarize s five basic characteristics of Communicative
Language T eaching as the following:
1) An emphasis on learning to communi cate through interaction in the target language.
2) The introduction of authentic texts into the learning situation.
3) The provi sion of opportunities for learners to focus not only on the language but also on
the learning process itself.
4) An enhancement of the learner’s own pe rsonal experiences as important contributing
elements to classroom learning.
5) An attempt to link classr oom language learning with language activation outside the
classroom.
These features show that the practitioners of Communicative Language Teaching are
very interested in the needs and desires of their learners, as well as the connection between
the langua ge as it is taught in their class and as it used outside the classroom. Any teaching
practice that helps students develop their communicative competence in an au thentic context
is considered a beneficial form of instruction. This is a learner -centered appr oach. The learner
and his/her needs become the focus of th e learning process. The learner gains knowledge not
only on grammatical competence, but also acquires a social skill as to what to say, how to
say, when to s ay and where, in order to satisfy his dai ly needs or larger aims. Jeremy Harmer
(2002:68) points out that “communicative language teachers taught people to invite and
apologise, to agree and disagree, alongside making sure that they could use past perfect or
second conditional”.
This method makes use of real -life situations that generate communication. The
teacher sets up a situation that students are likely to enco unter in real life. Unlike the Audio –
Lingual M ethod of language teaching, which relies on repetition and drills, the
communicative app roach can leave students in suspense as to the outcome of a class exercise,
which will vary according to their reactions and responses. The real -life simulations change
from day to day. Students' motivation to learn comes from their desire to communicate i n
meaningful ways about meaningful topics. Several concepts related to communicative

24
language teaching are presented here. The ultimate role that teaching must assume is to
generate communication. Everything should have a purpose for communication. The tea cher
becomes a co -participant with the learner in th e teaching -learning process. He/she is in the
background helping all students to take part in the language task given , being considered a
guide and organizer of different learning activities. Other roles assumed for the teacher are
needs analyst, counsellor and group process manager.
Communicative language teachin g aims to develop communicative competence in
learners so as to acquire the skil l of effective communication in the target language. The
focus ha s shifted from form to meanings and functions of the language. Language is acquired
rather than learnt consciously. Diane Larsen Freeman (2000: 129) claims that “the most
obvious characteristic of this approach is that almost everything that is done is don e with a
communicative intent”. Activities such as games, drama, role-play, simulation, sharing
information, problem -solving tasks have become very popular. Thus, communicative
language teaching often takes the form of pair and group work requiring negot iation and
cooperation between learners, fluency -based activities that encourage learners to develop
their confidence . Communication involves the integration of different language skills.
Learning is a process of creative cons truction and involves error. The teacher should have
feedback for each activity that students are involved in. The grammar and vocabulary that the
students learn follow from the situational context and the roles of the interlocutors.
Communicative approach is not just limited to oral s kills. Reading and writing skills need to
be developed to promote pupils' confidence in all four skill areas. Students are required to use
the language that they know, and graduall y they develop their strategies in communication.
This method shifts from le arning structure of language to learning how to
communicate and how to com municate effectively. By doing it students will be “more
motivated to study a foreign language since they will feel they are learning to do something
useful with the language”. Dian e Larsen Freeman (2000: 130)
Consequently, methods have been re -evaluated so that they should meet the needs and
interests of the students. T here can be no single method, which can suit all people, all places
and all conditions. The language teacher should always choose the techniques and activities
that are appropriate for each particular task, context and learner, with a focus on motivation
and helping learners become independent and inspired to learn more.

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Chapter 3. Innovative Techniques in Teaching V ocabulary

The main aim when teaching vocabulary is to introduce each new word in the way so
that the learners will be able to understand its meaning properly, memorize it, become
familiar with it as soon as possible and use it appropriately. Therefore, “as a language
teacher, it is necessary to have and use a number of presentation techniques and to combine
them if possible ” (Hedge, 2000: 126)
3.1 Vocabulary in context

Today it is widely agreed that context greatly contributes to vocabulary l earning. The
contextual approach to vocabulary instruction is designed to teach students the meanings of
new words by having them study the context of surrounding words . Scott Thornbury
(2002:148) argues that guessing from context is probably “one of the most useful sk ills
learners can acquire and apply both inside and outside the classroom. What’s more, it seems
to be one that can be taught and implemented relatively easily. It is also one that we all
already use -perhaps unconsciously -when reading and listening in our mother tongue ”.
McKeown, & McCasli n (1983: 177) claim that there are two kinds of context: the first type
refers to “sentences specificall y written to introduce the mean ings of words ” and the second
type refers to “ text sentences written to communicate ide as and not to teach word meanings
specifically ”. But there is a need for a balanced approach that should include explicit teaching
together with activities providing appropriate context for incidental learning.
Students learn from context by making connect ions between the new words and the
text. In other words, it is easier to learn vocabulary in context than in isolated word lists due
to the fact that meaningful contexts enable a more complex and deeper processing which
leads to better r etention of the le xical item. As Bowen and Marks (1994: 93) also mention,
presenting vocabulary in context is very important for learners because the context itself can
act as a connection that may help him or her to “trigger the recall of lexical items linked with
this con text.” They add that there are many learners who can remember lexical items “by
making mental associations with situational or contextual images.” Another advantage of
learning vocabulary in context is that it provides the learner a range of words that are
physically stored “under a topic category”, not in incidental or alphabetical order, they claim.
An un derlying assumption of the con textual approach is that students already possess some

26
knowledge relevant to the topic of the text in which an unknown word is embedded. Students
are then expected to reason from this knowledge to figure out a meaning for the word.
It is better to present and practise vocabulary in context since word meaning may
chang e from one context to another. Teachers usually help studen ts learn to recognize clues
to guessing word meaning from the context. This strategy is a key vocabulary learning skill
for dealing with low -frequency vocabulary, particularly in reading authentic texts. Sometimes
a single context is not enough and there a ppears the need for repeated encounters with a word
in diverse contexts. Nation (cited in Marianne Celce -Murcia 2001:290) propose s a guessing
strategy based on such clues. “A beginning step is to get the learner to look closely at the
unknown word, next t o look at its immediate context, and then to take a much broader view
of how the clause containing the word relates to other clauses, sentences, or paragraphs”.
The basic step includes deciding the part of the speech of the unknown word, then examining
the context. The next step is looking for conjunctions or adverbial. Punctuation and reference
words may also be very helpful. Final step include knowledge gained from such clues. Once
the strategy is mastered, learners can skip some of the steps.
There are many useful contextual aids in vocabulary development which can help
them with better recognition of words from the context. According to Kruse (Long and
Richards, 1987: 313), several types of contextual aids which can be helpful when reading an
unknown t ext are suggested : word elements, e.g. prefixes, suffixes and roots ; pictures,
diagrams and charts (learners should be taught to m atch the illustration with the word which
is difficult for them, as well as read charts and graphs in English) ; clues of defin ition (e.g.
synonyms, antonyms), i nference clues from discourse (the meaning of the word can be
guessed from physical, summary and experience clues) ; general aids (recognizing nouns,
adjectives etc. which can help to narrow the meaning of the word) .
The understanding of word formation can be very helpful for students to discover the
meaning of the word . Modeling and practice with adding and removing prefixes and suffixes
will give students facility with breaking words down into parts. In teaching word part s, the
teacher should stress how the parts fu nction to affect word meaning. He/She may want to
point out that prefixes such as un-, super -, anti-, mis-, and sub- change the meanings o f the
roots they precede in pre dictable ways. Suffixes have less stable m eanings, but l earning to
recognize common suf fixes such as -tion, -less, -ed, and -ing will h elp students know a
word’s func tion. For example, remembering that -tion indicates the word is a noun and that –

27
ed usually forms the past tense of verbs can make i t easier for readers to figure out words
using these suffixes. The teacher should also explain that the verb run can change its form as
in participles running and ran, and that running can be used as an adjective and run as a noun
as well, claims Harmer (1 991, p. 157).
Teacher can maximize vocabulary considerably by teaching word families instead of
individual word forms. A word family is a set of words that includes a base word plus its
inflections and/or derivations. “For purposes of teaching, especially, it makes more sense to
view sets such as talk, talked , talking and talks as members of a closed related “family”, not
as four single words, and to help students recognize them as such” (Marianne Celce -Murcia
2001: 287). Highlighting passages in texts has the advantage of providing a more natural
context in which students can trace words through the discourse and observe how the form
change according to the discourse function. Marianne Celce -Murcia gives the following
example: A conductor of an orchestra m ust spend years studying music and must also learn
how to conduct other musicians so they can play together. The proper conduc t of each
musician will contribute to the success of the performance.
Thornbury (2002: 148) suggests that vocabulary “guesswo rk” should be integrated as
often as possible into text -based activities, such as reading or listening for comprehension,
and will be most effective after a global or gist understanding of the text has been established.
Here are two of the many useful exer cise types that have been devised to train learners in this
strategy:
Exercise 1
Part A
Look at the sentences below. All the words in italics are nonsense words. Work out what
those words mean from the context of the sentence. Exemple:
Tribbet must mean sc arf, because it is something you put round your neck when it’s cold .
a) It was a very cold day so I put a tribbet round my neck.
b) It was so fliglive that I drank a whole bottle of Coke.
c) I did three tralets yesterday but I failed them all because I hadn’t stud ied enough.
d) I did the exam very trodly because I had a headache.
e) I sarked very late at work because I overslept.

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Part B
In the sentence above decide whether the nonsense words are: adverbs, verbs (past tense),
nouns, adjectives.
Exemple: Tribbet must be a noun, because a comes before it.
(from ”Word study” by S. Atajanova, Z. Yusupova )
Exercise 2
Read the following text once, and look carefully at eac h of the words printed in italics.
Remember when looking at each of the words printed in italics. Remember when looking at
each word (if its meaning is unknown to you) that you should decide:
a) What kind of word is it
b) What information is given in sentence o r the whole passage which can help you to
work out the meaning
We got into little blue car heavily decorated shining brass and upholstered in deep red plush,
we were the only ones in a car made to take six. As we waited to start, I tried to make myself
confortable on the seats, but they were so high and vast that I could only sit on the edge with
my legs dangling and my hands tightly clutching the brass safety rail in front: I felt like a pea
in a pod (…)
(from The Only Child made by James Kirkup)
When you have done this, look at the questions which follow and in each case write down
from the four choices give, the word which seems closest in meaning to the word quoted
from the passage.
1 brass
A cloth B wood C paper D metal
2 vast
A small B hard C big D soft
(etc.) (from Naylon H and Hadges S, First Certificate Handbook ,
Hulton Education)

29

Thornbury (2002: 150) mentions that there is a strategy for learners to make up for
gaps in their knowledge when speaking or writing: using vague language. Words and phrases
like a sort of, a kind of , stuff, thing , etc. can be usefully taught at even quite low levels. For
instance:
a thing with a hole/with a handle
some stuff for killing insects
a machine for m aking holes
Word -in-context exercises, so -called cloze or gap exercises are those in which
learners encounter target vocabulary items in the meaningful context of a continuous text and
use the surrounding context to arrive at the meaning through focused di scussion. Nunan
(1991: 123) points out that “they are design to show learner how the more context one takes
into account, the greater are the chances of guessing an unknown word”. Examples of this
procedure are provided below:
Cloze exercise
Instructions: Some words have been taken out from this piece of English. Try to guess all the
words and write them in the correct places. If you are not sure of the word just guess.
DESERT PLANTS
Many desert plants are able to turn their leaves to avoid the direct rays of the sun. Some
leaves protect themselves from the great heat by not (1) ____ flat in their normal position, but
by curling up until the (2) ___ _ when it is cooler. Some plants have leaves that are covered
with (3) ____ thin hairs that can draw moisture f rom the (4) ____. Other have hard or shiny
surfaces that prevent loss of (5) ____. Most cactus plants are covered with (6) ____ points
known as “thorns”, that protect them from being (7) ____. Other plants produce poison
substances that (8) ____ hungry ani mals away.
(Nunan 1991:123)
In order to facilitate the comprehension of a text, vocabulary knowledge is extremely
important. If students do not understand the meanings of the words they encounter in a

30
context, their comprehension of the context is likely to fail. To develop reading fluency and
increase reading efficiency guessing the meanings of words from context is significantly
useful. New words presented in isolation are ha rd to learn but words in context help learners
to deduce meaning from context and learners see how new words are used grammatically in a
sentence. This technique encourages learners to take risks and guess the meanings of words
they do not know as much as possible. This will help them build up their self -confidence so
that they can work out the meanings of words when they are on their own. To continue
reading without interruption, guessing meanings of words f rom context is a useful skill. It
will make the l earning task much more active and challenging than direct explanation of
words.

3.2 Teaching vocabulary through visual aids

“The standard cl assroom” is usually not a very suitable environment for learning
languages. That is w hy teachers search for variou s aids and stimuli to improve this situation.
Visuals include flashcards, photographs, blackboard drawings, wall charts and rea lia (Gairns
and Redman, 1986: 73).
There are many benefits why to use visuals in the classroom. Firstly, “visual
presentation is easier than verbal” (Hadfield and Hadfield 1999: 4). Secondly, visuals can
serve as a good tool because all students can be involved when practising new it ems, Gairns
and Redman (1986: 73) explain. At the same time, when using visuals, learners´ interests in
learning a foreign language can increase and a discussion in the class can be stimulated
(Gower and Walters 1983: 157). “They have the advantages of being inexpensive (in fact,
they are often “free”), of being available in most situations (unlike readi ng passages, they can
be taken from the local magazines); of being personal, that is, they are selected by the
teacher, which leads to an automatic sympathy between teacher and materials, and
consequent enthusiastic use; and of bringing images of reality i nto the natural world of the
language classroom”. (Hill 1991 : 1) Well -chosen visual materials provide an immediate
response from learners because the y are always different, highly flexible and the subject
matter is a surprise. The most obvious way of class ifying them is according to the subject
matter of the picture. Moreover, using visuals can not only develop students’ literacy

31
abilities, but also can develop their oral ability. Visual aids allow students to have a chance to
brainstorm and present their i deas or thoughts. One picture could elicit unlimited words.
Pictures are valuable aids. They bring “images of reality into the unnatural world of
the language classroom.” (Hill 1991 : 1) Pictures bring not only images of reality, but can also
function as a fun element in the class. Sometimes it is surprising, how pictures may change a
lesson, even if only employed in additional exercises or just to create the atmosphere. Wright
(1991: 2) refers to the fact that they provide a sense of the cont ext of the l anguage and give a
specific reference point or stimulus.
Pictures, being suitable for any group of learners independently on age or level, can
be used in lots of various ways . From my experience, learners always pay attention and are
curious about what ar e they going to do with the pictures shown.
Big picture flashcards are very helpful tools in pr esenting and drilling forms of new
words, since they draw learners’ attention and make these activities more enjoyable . When
using flashcards in presentation, it is easy to involve learners actively and to combine the
presentation with controlled practice. The presentation of vocabulary with flashcards can be
done in lots of various ways, for example in telling a story or just simply based on a set of
vocabulary f or a particular topic. Hadfiel d and Hadfield (1999: 3) write that vocabulary
items, such as “food” and “clothes ”, need to be drawn on big flashcards and “more complex
pictures on the board or on a poster.”
A plenty of variations of the small cards are typ ically applied in communicative
activities in pairs or small groups of students, thu s finding a meaningful role in reviewing and
practicing vocabulary. Being flexible in their way of use, these cards offer teachers and
students a large amount of possibilit ies in applying them in a number of activities and games
such as ‘domino’ or various forms of word matching activities . Moreover, they are fit for a
range of sorting or ordering activities, e.g. creating a story. These cards can also be used for
games base d on asking each other questions and e xchanging them while searching for a set.
On top of that, they might be helpful in individual practice of vocabulary, e.g. looking at a
picture and guessing the meaning written on the other side.
Scott Thornbury (2002:80) claims that “especially useful are pictures of items
belonging to the following sets: food and drink, clothing, house interiors and furniture,
landscapes/exteriors, form of transport plus a wide selection of pictures of people, sub –

32
divided into sets such as jobs, nationalities, sports activities and appearance (tall, strong,
sad, healthy, old, etc.) ”. They can be used not only to present new vocabulary but also to
practise them.

Feelings and Emotions

(https://blog.difflearn.com/2015/01/20/)
Here are some activities using flashcards suggested by Thornbury :
1. The teacher shows cards one at a time and either elicits or says the word it represents.
As a rule of thumb, about ten unfa miliar words is probably sufficient. Periodically the
teacher backtracks and changes the order. Finally, stick all the cards on to the board,
and write the words alongside.
2. Stick a collection of picture cards (e.g. clothes) on the board and number them. In vite
learners to ask you about the words they are unfamiliar with. For example: What’s
number 6 ? Check to see if someone else knows before giving the answer. When
students are sufficiently familiar go through them all, asking: What’s number 8 ? etc.
As a ch eck, turn the cards around, one at a time, so that they can’t be seen and ask
again, What ’s number 8 ? Finally, write the words on the board alongside each picture.
3. Show the class a wall chart or a large picture containing many different items (e.g. a
stree t scene or an airport) for a short period of time, say ten seconds. Individually or
in pairs, the learners then have to write down as many words in English as they can
remember having seen represented in the picture… Reveal the picture for the
checking sta ge: the individual or pair with the most correct words is the winner.

Drawing finds huge potential in teaching langu ages. I must agree with Wright
(1992:203) that in the first place, simple drawings can possibly substitute other forms
of pictures. The ele ment of individuality might have a sign ificant impact on

33
remembering, whether it is a unique expression of the teacher or even better, the
expression of students when creating the pictures themselves.
In my opinion it is a useful way to present and pract ice vocabulary , since this
might put the words into context. For example a house could be drawn and pictures of
furniture could be placed inside, either by the teacher or by students. This particular
example can be used for the presentation or practice of names of rooms or furniture,
home activities, together with the phrase ‘there is/are’ etc.
Semantic maps can be used to develop studen ts’ understanding of a particul ar concept
or group of thematically related words . They can be considered a visual represen tation of
knowledge . Sense relations “are extremely valuable, and can provide a useful framework for
the learner to understand semantic boundaries.” (Gairns and Redman 1992: 31) This
technique makes use of students’ knowledge of association among ideas. Th e teacher writes a
word representing a central concept from the reading on the board, and then he/she asks
students to generate words related to the basic theme. Together they find categories for the
words that are generated and put the draw lines or the c ircles connecting words in the same
category and the category to the main idea and to other related categories. This gives students
an idea of where the new words fit in with words and ideas that they already know.
Semantic mapping is a good technique to use in content -area teaching, in which
vocabulary words are thematically related. The technique works best as a group activity,
since discussion helps students with smaller vocabularies learn all the words that are talked
about. Advanced learners will bene fit from the extra exposure to words they have already
learned.
Semantic maps will find various functions i n classes. They can be used in
presentations of vocabulary for a particular topic, mak ing this vocabulary organized,
withdrawing their relations. The y can be used in brainsto rming activities as a tool for
vocabulary organisation again. Furthermore, McCarthy (1992: 97) listed other uses such as
gap-filling activities, speaking activities for group -work, or “as reference device” as well as
“recording dev ice in the vocabulary notebook”.
Jeremy Harmer points out that getting students to build up their own maps by working
in groups has the added advantage of making them try to remember some of the m any words
they know, while at the same time learning new w ords from their peers”. (2002: 236) He
presents the technique with some students working on aspects of house and things in them.

34
The teacher puts the beginnings of a map on the board (figure 10) and the learners come to
the board and add some roots to a di agram. Students should by now have begun to get the
idea, and the teacher goes on eliciting words from one room.

Figure 12: The wor d map takes shape
(Jeremy Harmer 2002: 236)

Another good technique to use in teaching words that share content is semantic
feature analysis, which makes use of a grid. The left -hand column contains the names of
members of the category. For a unit on animals, the teacher might write words such as: dog,
cat, mouse , tiger, rabbit, parrot , and horse. The top row of the grid lists features of the
category’s members such as: has fur, has feathers, can fly, can run on four legs. Students
should be encouraged to add terms to either the column or the row during discussion. After
seeing the grid, groups of students or the whole class discusses whether the items in the
column are an example of th e features across the top, marking “plu s” for positive examples,
“minus” for negative examples.

House bedroom
m
study
yytu kitchen bathroom
sitting
room
utility
room
frying
pan sink
fridge cooker

35
Semantic Feature Analysis

has fur has
feathers can fly runs on
four legs

cat + – – +
dog + – – +
fox + – – +
tiger + – – +
rabbit + – – +
parrot – + + –
horse + – – +

Using mimes an d gestures is a useful technique. When explaining actions, e.g.
running, it is better and easier to use mime than to draw a pict ure, points out Harmer (1991:
161). He also puts it that by mime we can present different ways of walking, expressions,
preposit ions and even times. According to Hadfield and Hadfield (1999: 4), simple everyday
actions can be mimed as well (e.g. brushing y our teeth). In Hedge´s (2000: 126) opinion, this
technique may be the most cost effective because “a visual me mory for the word” is created.
Sometimes, to have our presentation more precise, the mimes can be accompanied by
blackboard drawings or showing pictu res (Gairns and Redman, 1986: 74).
Realia is everyday authentic objects, such as photographs, menus, brochures, receipts,
maps, movies, television shows, commercials, etc. that are used to teach and learn languages.
According to David Nunan (1999: 98) realia is defined as “object and teaching props from
the world outside the classroom that are used for teachi ng and learning”. Under
this statement, realia is conside red as real objects, which are used to aid in practicing
a new language, as a way to present meaningful examples from the real world .
Using r ealia helps students to make Engl ish lessons memorable by creating a link
between the objects and the word or phrase they represent. Adrienne L. Herrell and Michael
Jordan (2012: 88) point out that “realia is used to provide experience on whic h to build and

36
to provide students with opportunities to use all the sense in learning ”. This technique
will generate interest and help create an atmosphere conductive to learning.
There are several steps that must be known in its implementation:
1) Identify opportunities to use realia, be aware of opportunities to include
realia in lesson as you plan it. Pre-read any stories that will be read aloud or used
for reading instruction to identify vocabul ary that may be unfamiliar to the
students and locate realia that will be helpful to their understanding .
2) Collect realia, begin to collect item that can be stored in the classroom and
organized them so that they can be easily accessed for instruction. Plastic tubs or
large, clear plastic bags are often used for thi s purpose. Some items will be
appropriate for only one theme or book and should be stored with the theme
materials or book. Yard sales and end -of-season sales at craft stores are good
sources of realia for classroom use. Parents can often be helpful in locating
and supplying useful items.
3) Build a library of realia, collaborate with other teachers at the school or
grade level to build a library of realia that can be shared for major theme studies.
Located local merchants, far mers, and other resources for the loan of large items
such as farm equipment or animals.
4) Use field trip as realia, if it’s too large to move and your students’
learning would benefit by experiencing it, take a field trip. Give yo ur
students the opportunity to really understand what they are studying.
L. Herrell and Michael Jordan (2012: 88)
And here some other examples using realia for teaching vocabulary in the classroom:
1) Use an object, such as a ball, to teach prepositions of p lace like “on, under,
above.” Place the ball on the table, and ask where it is. Elicit the reply “It’s on the
table,” and so on . The students can also revise furniture items.
2) Write or print out recipes for work on the imperative and food items . Read out th e
step by step recipe instructions and have the students mime them as you read them
out.
Adrienne L. Herr ell and Michael Jordan (2012: 90)

37
Some teachers also have a class puppet, which takes on the identity of a character the
children like . It could be a very useful resource for introducing new words.
Realia has some of the advantages in teaching learning English especially in teaching
vocabulary. It breathes life into new vocabula ry, the chances of the students remembering the
new words have increased cons iderably . Realia stimulates the mind, and is one way of
encouraging creativity by involving the senses.
Gestures and mime can be used very effectively in teaching new words. Teaching
gestures appear in various shapes: hand ge stures, facial expres sions, pantomime, body
movements, etc. They can eith er mime or symbolis e something and they help pupils
to infer t he meaning of a spoken word or expression, providing that they are unambiguous
and easy to understand. This teaching strategy i s thus relevant for comprehension. Learners
can retrieve a word easily when the teacher produces the gesture associated wit h the
lexical item during the lesson before them. Usually y oung learners spontaneously
reproduce th e gesture wh en saying the word. Miming make learning a pleasure, children love
to act and show off. It involves students totally; they appreciate the lessons and remember it
better. It develops the social sk ills required f or them such as cooperation and co-ordinati on.
Learners can label pictures or objects or perform an action. When explaining actions,
e.g. “running ” or “smoking ”, it is better and easier to use mime than to draw a pict ure, points
out Harmer (1991: 161). He also puts it that by mime the teacher can present different ways
of walking, expressions, prepositions and even times. According to Hadfield and Hadfield
(1999: 4), simple everyday actions can be mimed as well (e.g. “brushing your teeth ”). Paul
Davies and Eric Pearse (2000 :160) suggest giving car ds with actions written on them to
learners (e.g. “driving a car” or “reading a newspaper” and then getting learners to mime the
action in front of the class. They also advise the teacher to select or write a story, then to
decide what words can be left ou t. The teacher should tell the story pretending he/she cannot
think of those words. When he/she reaches on e of these words, the teacher should mime it
instead and get the students to provide the missing vocabulary. There is no doubt that the
teacher should be a good “actor ”. Sometimes the m imes can be accompanied by board
drawings or showing pictures .
The following activity suggested by Jeremy Harmer (1991: 161) is based on action
and gestures. Students have studied words connected with body language and movement (e.g.

38
shrug, shake, cross, shoulders, fist, arm). They have done an exercise on the way verbs and
nouns collocate. Now they complete the following questionnaire:
What actions or gestures do you use to do the following?
Interviewee N umber 1 2 3 4
Say hello
Say goodbye
Express anger
Express surprise
Express indifference
Express agreement
Express disagreement

3.3 Teaching vocabulary through verbal aids
Teachers use verbal techniques , which can be eith er written or ora l, and create an
example of a concept. It is a way of presenting words and their meanings through the use of
language in order to clarify more what have been introduced. According to Mendez and
Rodriguez (1999:4), there are four kinds of verbal techniques, namely: definitions and
illustrative sentences , synonyms and antonyms , explanation , translation. Ur (1991: 64)
considers that “on the whole, definition, synonym and description tend to be most popular,
perhaps because they are most obvious and convention al.”
The use of synonyms and antonyms enables students to broaden vocabulary store as
well as it ‘helps to build up in the student's mind the idea that language consists of choice,
that words do not mean the same as each other” (Lewis and Hill 1992:103 )
Teachers tend to use synonyms with students either at lower or at higher levels .
Synonyms are the words which are similar or same in meaning. They help to enrich a
student's vocabulary bank and provide alternative words instantly. These can be effective
since they build on words and phrases that students already recognize. The teacher needs to

39
highlight the fact that “synonyms are similar, but seldom the same”(Thornbury 2002: 9) .
Thornbury considers that even between words that seem interchangeable, such as “taxi” and
“cab”, one will be preferred over the other in certain contexts and by particular speakers. He
mentions that “old”, “ancient”, “antique”, “aged”, “elderly” are all synonyms in that they
share the common meaning of “not young/new”. The students could make crosswords, word
snakes or other puzzles for each other using these synonyms. Multiple choice and matching
exercises are also efficient.
Replace nice with one of its synonyms:
_____________________________________________
tasty good fin e bright interesting enjoyable
_____________________________________________
It was a nice day. I thought it would be a nice idea if we played cricket. But my
brother had a very nice book, and did not want to leave it. Then, Peter had a nice idea. He
suggested we all went to the park and bought one of the nice ice-creams they sell there. My
brother could then finish his book and join us afterward in a really nice game of cricket.
(Istratescu 2009: 26)
Antonyms are words whose meanings can be ex pressed by telling their opposite
meanings. For example, when demonstrating the word “empty ”, we can contrast it simply
with its opposite “full” (Harmer 1991: 161). Like synonyms, “the relation between such
opposite is not always black and white and the v ery notion of oppositeness is troublesome”
(Thornbury 2002: 9). However, some words need to be explained in contexts, t hink Gairns
and Redman (1986: 74). They show an example of the word “sour” and its opposite “sweet ”.
The teacher may teach that “sugar ” is “sweet ”, whereas “lemons ” are “sour”, but he or she
should add that the antonym of “sweet wine ” is not “sour wine ” and the antonym of “sweet
tea” is not “sour tea ”, they describe.
The teacher can ask the students to make a list of opposite words. Two gro ups can be
formed ; one group gives one word while the other group gives an opposit e word to it. For
example , “dark/light” , “rude/polite ”, “shiny/dull” etc. Thus, by play -way method the student
can learn new words. The incorporation of antonyms in the class room is an effective way of
increasing the students’ lexical power.

40
Match the words on the left with their opposites on the right:
1. neat a. old
2. neгvous b. untidy
3. сlean c. short
4. smart d. old
5. young e. confident
6. new f. dirty
7. Tall g. casual
(New Matrix , Pre-Intermediate , Rosemary Nixon 2007 : 16)
It’s a widely accepted idea that collocations are very important part of knowledge of
second language acquisition and they are essential to non -native speakers of English in order
to speak or write fluently and accurately . To kn ow the meaning of a word most effectively,
students need to know its associations with other words . By the help of these collocates the
learner s keep the words in memory and can easily infer the meaning from the context. Stubbs
(2002: 215) defines collocat ion as “the habitual co -occurrence of two unordered content
words or of a content word and a lexical set ”. It is explicitly suggested in the introduction
of Oxford Collocations Dictionary for Students of English (2003 : vii) that “for the
student , choosing the right collocation will make his speech and writing sound
much more natural, more native -speaker -like, even when basic intelligibility doe s not
seem to be at issue” . There are two types of collocations : lexical and grammatical . Lexical
collocations are combinations of nouns, adjectives, adverbs, and verbs .
There are activities designed to raise awareness about collocations. Students match
words on cards to form collocations. For example:
densely injured
fatally enforced
narrowly defeated
sorely outnumbered
strictly tempted
hopelessly populated Thornbury (2002: 66)

41
Among the various ways to illustrate the meaning of a word, translation is one of the
most convenient . This technique i s not used much recently, even though it is quick and easy
but can be very discouraging f or learners. Words can be organised into sets, subclasses and
subcategories often aided by visual presentation. By asking students to translate words and
sentences, the teacher can make sure that they have understood not only the general meaning
of the sen tence, but also the interrelationships among its components parts. According to
Ecaterina Popa (1995: 76) the teacher may resort to translation whenever the use of other
means of word interpretation would result in ambiguity:
a) Some words do not lend themsel ves to target language definitions or explanations
b) False cognates , “false friends”
c) Partial cognates (a n English word sometimes overlaps with one of the meanings of
a polysemantic word).
Translation is one of the traditional ways of explaining the meaning o f words. It could
be done by the teacher or with using a dictionary. It has its advantages but also disadvantages.
Firstly, translating words into learner´s mother tongue can sometimes be difficult because for
some English words it is not always easy to fi nd their exact mother tongue equival ents
(Gairns and Redman, 1986: 75). Secondly, Folse (2004: 64) writes that learners often
“mistranslate” the lexical item when looking it up in their bilingual dictionary. Moreover, for
Folse (2004, p. 64), there are wor ds that can have mo re than one meaning , so it could be a
problem for learners to find the right translation. In addition to this, this method can be “too
easy” for the learners (Harmer, 1991, p. 162) and so they can become less motivated and less
intereste d in the vocabulary learning . But it has also its positive side, r esearches have shown
that this is “a good and helpful” technique for learning new vocabulary (Folse, 2004, p. 66 –
68). He also points out that this is “a natural part of learning new words” .
Using dictionaries can be seen as an explicit strategy of learning foreign
language vocabulary or as a communication strategy: with the help of a dictionary, a
language learner can, for instance, check the spelling, pronunciation and cons traints of
usage of a familiar word or search meanings for unfamiliar words. There have been
several reasons to discourage dictionary use in foreign language classrooms: for
instance, it has been seen as inhibiting learners from deve loping important skills, such as
guessing from context. Moreover, careless dictionary use may sometimes cause grave errors.
(Thornbury 2002:60.) But still, it is proved that using a dictio nary while reading increases

42
vocabul ary learning and reading comp rehension . Scholfield (1997:296) suggests that a
combination of inferring and dictionary look -up may be the best for the long -term
retention of vocabulary. According t o Nation (2001:296), vocabul ary learning as a
whole should inc lude meaning -focused input, language -focused learning, meaning -focus ed
output and fluency development in approximately equal proportions. It should be seen as a
complementary approach than as opposed or competing ones.
There are three categories of d ictionaries: monolingual, bilingual and bilingualised
dictionaries. While monolingual dictionaries have the headword, definitions, examples and
other infor mation in the target language, the bilingual ones provide the me aning of a word in
another, nor mally the user’s native language. Bilingualised dictionaries , on the other hand,
offer both of these options: the information of a monolingual dictiona ry in the target
language and a translation of the head word (Nation 2001:290). Some skills need ed in
effective dictionary use are mentione d by both Nation (2001:285 –288) and Th ornbury
(2002:152), such as knowing the symbols, abbreviations and lay out conv entions used in
dictionaries and being able to use synonyms, opposit e or related word s for finding the correct
word. However, the emphases are different: while Nation (2001:285 –288) outlines the
dictionary search pro cess as a series of steps and clearly distinguishes between
receptive and pro ductive use, Tho rnbury (2 002:152) pays more attention to the use of a
bilingual dictionary and to the receptive use based on hearing.
Supporting learner independence has been considered important in foreign language
teaching for some decades. Thornbury (20 02:151) suggests that i nstructi on in dictionary u se
can be regarded as a way of promoting learner au tonomy, since it provides a pos sibility to
continue word acquisition outside th e formal study of the language. Dictionary based
activities can be designed that require students to make decisions about a word’s spelling, its
pronunciation, its connotations of the word, and its frequency. Here is an activity from
Greenall S, Reward Pre -Intermediate , Macmillan Heinemann:
Some words can be more than one part of speech. For example:
cook: A cook (noun) is someone who cooks (verb) food.
orange: An orange (noun) is an orange (adjective) fruit.
Use your dictionary to find out what part of speech these words can be.

43
talk head drink flat start rent slice heat
Write sen tences showing their different parts of speech.
He talks all the time. There’s a talk on insects tonight.
Jeremy Harmer (1991:178) suggests an activity called “Write yourself in”. Students
are given words which they probably don’t know. They have to look the word up in the
dictionary and then write a sentence using the word and the pronoun “I” or “We”. A sentence
like “I don’t understand the meaning of…” is not allowed. Team A is given a different list of
words from Team B. The members of Team A look up their words and write their sentences.
Team B guesses the meaning. Team A scores a point only if Team B gets the meaning.
Here are two task s mentioned by Thornbury (2002:66) , one that focuses on spelling
and pronunciation and the other targets word meaning :
Students are given words on cards that share the same spelling features, but may be
pronounced differently. For example, the letter g in guess, magic, fog, gym, gift, logic, large ,
etc.
Students find the odd one out in sets of three or four words ( duck, pigeon, python ,
stork ); matching synonyms ( poisonous -venomous ); antonyms ( harmless -dangerous );
organising words into hierarchy ranks (e.g . reptile, snake, python, fruit, apple, granny Smith ).
Another important verbal technique is explanation. It should be simple, clear and
supplemented by other technique to help in word retention . For effective vocabulary
explanation, teachers are advised to consider both learner’s level and previous knowledge.
They need to explore their learner’s level of competence to de cide how the explanation
should be. In addition, teachers will use the student’s previous knowledge to connect the new
information to the old one for easily and effectively conveying the meaning of words.
Beginners in particu lar, are not familiar with the language presented for them. So, the
teachers must encourage them to know the language through making clear, well selected
explanation. A good explanation is a key factor for good understanding so that successful
learning.

44
3.4 Teaching vocabulary through game s

Language teachers highlight the importance of creating entertaining, helpful and
useful activities for optimal learning atmosphere because an entertaining situation can
prevent the feeling of obligation. Games has always been and seen symbols of fun,
enjoyment, involvemen t, competition and cooperation. During the classro om, games are used
as means of reinforcing or practicing what have been studied and it can be used as a way to
motivate learners to have pleasant interaction with the language. In his boo k entitled
Elementary Vocabulary Games , Hadfield ( 1998:4) says, “A game is or activity with rules, a
goal, and element of fun, which is divided into two kinds; competitive games, in whi ch
players or teams race to be the first to reach the goal, and coopera tive games, in which
players or teams work together towards a common goal”.
An important factor when selecting a useful game is the game appropriateness to
learner’s level and age. Beak (2010 : 271 ) adds that a game should have a balance between
“educationa l requirements and motivational factors” . It should have objectives, measurable
results , suitable strategy for winning ; it sho uld be challenging and engaging. According to
Hadfield (1999: 91), in order to retain a word, students have to go through three di stinct
processes: fix the meanin g of the word in their mind, make the word their own, use the word
to communicate with others. He adds that games can help the learner through these three
processes. It can be said that games are very effective in helping st udents increase exposure
to vocabulary. “When students play games, they don’t realize they are learning language.
And if the game has built -in repetition, they will be practicing words and phrases without
even realizing it!” (Harmer 2002: 207)
Scott Thorn bury (2002: 102 -104) mentions some word games to try :
“Word clap”: Students stand or sit in a circle, and following the teacher’s lead,
maintain a four -beat rhythm, clapping their hands on their thighs three times and then both
hands together. The game sho uld start slowly, but the pace of the clapping can gradually
increase. The idea is to take turns, clockwise, to shout out a different word from a pre –
selected lexical set (for example fruit and vegetables) on every fourth beat. Players who
either repeat a word already used, or break the rhythm -or say nothing – are out and the game
resumes without them, until only one player is left. The teacher can change the lexical set by
shouting out the name of a new set at strategic points: Furniture! Nationalities! Job ! etc.

45
“Categories”: Learners work in pairs or small groups. On a piece of paper, they draw
up a number of columns, according to a model on the board, each column labelled with the
name of a lexical set: e.g. fruit, transport, clothes, animals, sports. The teacher call s out a
letter of the alphabet (e.g. B), and to a time limit (e.g. three minutes), students write down as
many words as they can beginning with that letter in the separate columns (banana, berry,
bus, blouse, bear, bat, baseball, basketball …) The group with the most (correct) words wins.
“Noughts and crosses”: Draw two noughts and crosses grids on the board:

food and drink animals the home

jobs clothes the weather
sports transport body parts

One is blank. In the other each square is labelled with a category, or with nine
different phrasal verbs particles ( up, on, off, in, back etc.), or nine different affixes (un -, non -,
-less, -tion, etc.) prepare a number of questions relating to each category. For example : How
do you say “taur ” in English? Or, What is the opposite of “lazy ”? Divide the class into two
teams: noughts and crosses. The object is to take turns choosing a category and answering a
question in this category correctly so as to earn the right to place their team’s symbol in the
corresponding position in the blank grid. The winning team is the first to create a line of three
(noughts and crosses), vertically , horizontall y, or diagonally.
“Coffeepot”: This is a guessing game. One learner answers yes/no questions from the
rest of the class about a verb that she has thought of, or what the teacher has whispered to her.
In the questions the word coffeepot is used in place of the mystery word. So,for example the
students might ask Do you coffeepot indoors or outdoors? Is coffeepotting easy or difficult?
Can you coffeepot with your hands? etc. If the verb that the students has selected is yawn the
answers would be: Both indoors and outdoors, It’s easy; No, you can’t, but you can use your
hands …To make the game easier a list of, say twenty verbs can be put on the board and the
person who is “it” chooses one of them. This can also be played in pairs.

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“Back to board”: This is anothe r guessing game, but this time the student who is “it”
has to guess a word by asking the rest of the class questions. The student sits facing the class,
back to the board; the teacher writes a recently studied word or phrase or idiom on the board,
out of s ight of the student. The student asks different students yes/no or either/or questions in
order to guess the word. For example : Jane , is it a v erb or a noun? (A verb). George , is it an
action? (No.) Jim , is it something you do with your mind? (Yes.) …etc. T o make the game
easier, the words chosen can be limited in some way -e.g. all phrasal verbs, all character
adjectives, and so on.
“Pictionary”: Based on the commercialised game of the same name, this involves
students guessing words or phrases from drawing . They work in teams, each number of the
team taking turns to be the “artist”. If there are three teams, for example, the three “artists”
go to the front of the class where the teacher shows them a word (or phase) on a card. At a
cue, they quickly return to the group and try to get their group to correctly guess the word by
drawing it with pen and paper. The first team to guess the word correctly earns a point, and
three new “artists” have a turn with another word. This is good for reviewing idiomatic
expressions such as green with envy, down the dumps, under the weather, in the dark, over
the moon . At the end of the game, groups can use the pictures as memory prompts in order to
recall and write down the expressions that came up in the game, and then to pu t them into a
sentence to show what they mean.
“Word snap”: Using word cards -e.g. from the class word bag or word box, students
work in small groups, with the aim of collecting as many word “pairs” as possible. One
player “deals” two word cards, face up, s o that everyone can read them. The first player to
think of a way the words are laid down. A connection could be: same part of speech,
synonyms or antonyms, same lexical set or simply a meaningful sentence can be made using
both words. If no connection can be made, the two cards are shuffled back into the pack. The
teacher will need to be available to decide in the case of connections being “challenged”.
“Word race” : The class is divided into teams and each team is given a board marker
pen. The board is div ided into as many sections as there are teams. The teacher (or a student)
says a word in the students’ language and the first team to get the correct English translation
on to the board earns a point. The game continues for as many words as it is felt nece ssary to
review. The game is suitable for monolingual classes, would be to read out the definitions of
the words, of give synonyms or show pictures, rather than give translations.

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“Spelling race”: The board is divided in two halves and a representative fr om each of
two teams stands at the board with a board marker pen or chalk. The teacher shows the rest of
the class a word on a card. The team must simultaneously spell (not say) the word on a card
to the representative, who cannot see the word. The first t eam to get the word on the board
with its correct spelling earns a point. The game continues with different students taking turns
to be the team representative. This game is more difficult than it sounds, especially if words
are chosen that include letters which are frequently confused -such as i and e, v and b, j and g.
lots of variations of this game are possible. The word could be displayed as a picture, so that
the teams have to decide what word is before spelling it.
Mary Slattery (2015: 16 -62) mentions other interesting vocabulary games such as:
“Simon says…” engages actively all the students in the class. It helps students to
practice actio n verbs, prepositions of place or parts of the body. The procedure for this
activity is the following: The teache r should make sure that there is enough space in the
classroom for all the children to stand and face her/him. She/he explains that they are going
to call out some instructions (Simon says put your hands up high…Very Good…Simon says
touch your ears…now…Tou ch your feet .) They have to listen very carefully; they have to do
the movements and should only move when they hear “Simon says”. If the teacher doesn’t
say “Simon says” and some learners move, she/he can let them make a second group, who
can continue to do the actions. Making extra groups gives learners extra chances and it allows
them to continue doing the actions. The aim is not to exclude children from the activity, but
to include as many as possible.
“Odd one out” is a game that focuses on topics tha t learners are already familiar with,
for example jobs, objects, animals, etc. The teacher prepares several sets of cards with four
picture cards in each set, for example : horse, giraffe, bird and kangaroo. One card in the set
should be obviously different from the others. The teacher puts a set of picture cards on the
board, and then explains that all the pictures have something in common except one. That is
“the odd one out”. He/ She supports them by asking questions and extending what they
answer.
“Bing o” deals with a vocabulary set that learners are familiar with, for example
occupations: astronaut, baker, clown, cook, dentist, doctor, farmer, fireman, footballer,
mechanic, nurse, painter, teacher photographer, pilot, policeman, secretary, singer. Bingo
design set out in a 3×3 grid like this:

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The teacher shows learners about twenty job picture cards to help them remember the names
for people’s jobs. The teacher shows different parts of each picture first to see if learners can
recognise the occupations. As they call their answers out, the teacher writes the name of the
job on the board, then draws the bingo card grid with nine spaces on the other side of the
board. Students have to copy the grid onto a piece of paper and fill in the squares on their
Bingo card with jobs from the list on the board. They can choose any nine jobs they like.
When they have filled all the spaces on their cards the teacher explains that he/she is going to
call out names of nine jobs, the class should listen careful ly for the jobs on their cards, when
they hear them, they should cover them with a small piece of paper; the first person to cover
all the jobs on his/her card call out “Bingo”. He/she then reads out all the words again.

clown singer painter
pilot polic eman cook
footballer doctor dentist

policeman nurse pilot
mechanic clown singer
fireman doctor footballer

Policeman singer farmer
Fireman doctor cook
Clown nurse painter

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“Word search puzzle” focuses on any vocabulary the teacher wants learners to revise,
for example family words. The teacher prepares two large word searches on squared paper. A
and B are the same word search. Word search A shows the nine words hidden in all the extra
letters. Word search B shows the nine family words: baby, mothe r, father, son, daughter,
uncle, aunt, cousin, grandmother and parents. The teacher brings in several smaller sheets of
squared paper and some visual support, pictures, photos. The teacher asks students to make a
circle around the board and asks them to na me the people in their families. Every time they
remember a word the teacher writes it on the board so they can read it as well. Now he/she
shows them word search A with family words and works with them to find the nine words
hidden in it. Then the teacher shows students word search B and tells them how he/she made
the word search by showing them how words share the same letters or stand on their own.
B
g p a r e n t s
r f a t h e R
a m
n o
d a u g h t e r
m n h s o n
o c e b
t l r A
h e a u n t b
e y
r c o u s i n

“I can spy something beginning with…” is a guessing game which helps students t o
practice spelling and objects in the classroom. A student comes in front of the class, thinks of
an object that can be seen in the class and says “I can sp y something beginning with b”. T hen
there take place a series of questions and answers between the student and the rest of the
class: S2: “Board?”
S1: “No.”
S2: “Book?”

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S1: “Yes.”
“Biting your tail” is another useful game for revising vocabulary. The teacher chooses
a topic such as “Food” and asks one student to say a word re lated to this topic. The first
student says “water”, the second student must say another word beginning with the last letter
of the word said by the previous student, for example “rice”. The student who cannot say a
word beginning with the last letter of t he previous word is out of the game. Students are not
allowed to repeat words that have already said before.
“Paintbox” is another movement game for revising colours. The teacher prepares in
advance colourful cards. The teacher may use four colours, for example red, blue, green and
pink. Each student is given a card and then they are seated in a circle. But there is one chair
less than the number of students present in the class. The student who does not have a chair
stands in the middle of the circle and must call out a colour. If the student call s out “red” all
the students who have the red card must stand up and quickly find another seat for
themselves. The student who has been in the middle is also trying to find a seat for himself.
The student who is left without a seat continues the game by calling out another colour. The
same student can also say “P aintbox” in which case all students must stand up and find a new
seat. There are variations on this game. The teacher can use instead of colours fruit, cl othes
etc.
“Word of Mouth ” is another game that can be played with easily confused words. The
teacher d ivide s students into two teams. He/she w hisper s a word to a student, who must then
whisper it to the student next to him/her, and so it goes until the l ast student in line hast to say
the word out loud. If he/she pronounces it correctly, the team gets a point. A variation of this
would be not to whisper to the first student but show him/her the word written down on a
piece of paper.
“Letter Sounds Scaven ger Hunt ” is best for beginners who need work on their
vocabulary. It involves running around, so pull this one out when your students are restless.
To play, call out a letter. Students must run to find an object that begins with that letter
sound. The fir st person to find it must hold the object up and call out the name. If they’re
correct, you’ll call out another letter. If they’re wrong, the round continues. To mix this one
up a bit, try calling out words. In this case, students must find an object begin ning with the
first, last or middle letter sound. They’ll need to break the word down in order to figure it out
and this works well with slightly more advanced students.

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Another interesting game that Jeremy Harmer (2002: 238 -239) suggests is “Call my
bluff”. It involves two teams. Team A is given a word that members of the other team are
unlikely to know. Team A finds a correct dictionary definition of the word and then make up
two false ones. They read out their definitions and Team B has to guess which i s the correct
one. Now Team B is given a word and reads out three definitions of their word and Team A
has to guess.
In the “Backs to the board” game, students have to explain the meaning of a word or
phrase to one of their team members so that he or she can guess what the word is. Students
are put into small teams. In each team one member sits with their back to the board. The
teacher now writes a word or phrase on the board. All of the group who can see this word
have to explain what it means (without sa ying the word or phrase itself) to the team member
who has their back to the board. The first student to guess it gets a point for their team.
“Snap” is particularly useful for simple word -meaning recognition. It can be played in
pairs or groups. Two stude nts have a pack of cards each. The students deal the cards, putting
down each card at the same time as their partner. When a picture card matches the word card
put down at the same time, the first person to say “Snap !” keeps the pair cards. The object of
the game is to collect as man y pairs as possible.
Using “tongue twisters ” in the class is a fun and a challenging way of providing word
and pronunciation practice. Tongue twisters are one of the means of learning a language
without getting bored. They help the students to improve fluency in the language. They are
not only for light -hearted linguistic fun but they also serve a practical purpose in practising
pronunciation. Many tongue twisters contain similar sounding words/phrases with different
meanings. Th is leads to another benefit of improving students‘ vocabulary. The following are
some of the examples of tongue twisters:
a) Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers. Did Peter Piper pick a peck of pickled
peppers? If Peter Piper picked a peck of pick led peppers, where’s the peck of pickled peppers
Peter Piper picked?
b) She sells seashells by the seashore. The shells she sells are surely seashells. So if
she sells shells on the seashore, I'm sure she sells seashore s hells.
Students appreciate the u se of games, and their feedback should encourage the teacher
to implement the games into their teaching. The vast majority of learners not only accept but

52
even appreciate using game in lessons, they are able to both understand its purposes and
enjoy the ac tivity and change of the overall learning environment to more relaxed one.

3.5 Teaching vocabulary through songs
Music is part of daily life for most people . “In relation to language learning, the use of
music and song s offers two major advantages: music is highly memorable; i t is highly
motivating especially for childre n, adolescents and young adult learners”. ( Murphey: 1992:3)
Songs usually stick to the students' min ds, and unlike anything else, are not forgotten so
easily. Jeremy Harmer (2002: 319) points out that “it can amuse and entertain, and it can
make a satisfactory connection between the word of leisure and the world of learning in the
classroom”.
A wide variety of useful vocabulary i tems can be acquired through popular songs. The
use of song s in vocabulary teaching also helps the teacher in teaching English in a way that is
quickly absorbed and fun. The main advantage of using songs and music is the enjoyable
experience they bring to students and the relaxed atmosphere they create in a class. In
addition, through songs, learners are exposed to authentic examples of the second language. It
is also important to know that music and songs in the classroom can stimulate positive
associations to the study of a language . Through songs students are exposed to the authentic
examples. In addition, Brown (2001: 258) states that authentic language and real -world tasks
enable students to see the relevance of classroom activity to their long -term communicative
goals. This indicates that song is a subject of every day communication and it is something
that is present in people's lives intentionally . Practicing lyrics reading, studying the
vocabulary, and listening to various songs can help students become more familiar with
popular music and make them more confident in their ability to understand the world around
them.
Singing is an important tool for building students’ confidence. It gives students a
degree of fluency before they have succeeded in speaking. Words usually occur in
context in lyric s; the sound of new words is easily remembered through the melody of
the song. While listening to the song, students will hear several new vo cabularies many
times. Composing words and rhythm appropriately can help to hold the song together an d

53
increase the mind’s ability to recall it . When using songs to teach vocabulary, it begins with
listening and finishes with communication.
Students improve their pronunciation skills while singing, but at the same time the
repetitive lyrics in songs have a positive effect on the students’ language acquisition level.
Songs can be easily remembered, and are therefore an effective means of providing students
with lexical patterns that are stored in their minds and that can be retrieved with ease during
any o ral communication.
In order to work with songs that are beneficial for students, it is also important to
know how to choose the best songs for the lessons. When a song is selected, the song that has
a good topic and beautiful music is perfect, but this is not enough. Its lyrics should be easy to
understand and closely related to the students' daily life. Songs that are selected ought to be
appropriate for students’ age and for the aim of teaching. There are rhymes and songs alike
for almost every theme, to pic or occasion. Not only can teachers practice common language
topics such as numbers, colours, animals or food (for beginners) , but they can also explore a
range of emotions and situations that are part of the child’s everyday life. Songs linked to
calen dar events, such as festivals or holidays may also give the children insights into their
own and other cultures.
There are many types of songs which can be used in a classroom, ranging from
nursery rhymes to contemporary pop music . Songs can be used as eff ective materials for
teaching vocabulary such as using the words of a song, dictating a song, using a song for gap –
fill, cloze or for correction, integrating songs into project work, practicing pronunciation,
stress, and intonation. Using students’ favouri te songs to teach vocabulary creates endless
opportunities for revision and revision is fundamental for storing the information in long term
memory .
The traditional song Head, shoulders, knees and toes is a good way to introduce
vocabulary to young learner s or to remember it. The teacher prepares any necessary hand –
outs and asks students to repeat lines or part of lines after her/him, while touching the
relevant parts of the body. When they are familiar with the actions, the teacher sings the song
through o nce, encouraging them to do the actions together.
The song can be repeated several times:

54
Head, shoulders, knees and toes, knees and toes
and eyes and ears and mouth and nose
Head, shoulders, knees and toes, knees and toes.
If you’re happy and you know it is a song in which children have to interpret the
actions while they are singing. A song in which students have to move is a very good way to
start the class, be cause if they activate their body, they will activate their brain. The actions
are: “clap yo ur hands ”, “stamp your feet ”, “turn around ”, “wiggle your hips ”, “stretch your
arms ”, “pat your head ”, “touch your nose ”, “point your toes… ”.
In the song Old MacDonald, each line introduces an animal from Old MacDonald’s
farm with its corresponding animal sound. First of all, students will listen to the song
meanwhile the teacher show s animal flashcards to them. To develop their musical
intelligence, one half of the class will sing it and then the other half will do the same. Here,
the teacher will focus o n the intonation patterns and song rhythm. Afterwards, he/sh e will say
an animal name and learners will have to do the sound of the animal, as a revision of animal
lexicon.

In London Bridge is Falling Down the teacher p re-teach es the main words “ bridge ”,
“fall down /build up”, “lady”, “sticks”, “stones” . The teacher u ses a mixture of actions, mime,
objects and pictures to make the words memorable. He/she p lays or sing s the song to the
children two or three tim es while they just listen. A ctions, mimes and g estures are used to
illustrate the song as the teacher sings it. The teacher e ncourage s the childre n to join in
miming and singing and a sk the children to repeat any words/phrases they have understood.
He/she writes these words on the board. They play or s ing the song and do the actions again,
but this time the teacher stops after each line and ask s the children to repeat both the words
and actions. The teacher plays or sing s the whole song again, with the children singing along
and doing the actions.
Songs can be exploited in lots of different ways. They are usually presented in three
stages, with pre -study activities, while -studying activities and post -study activities. This
classification is very useful as the students may get involved and t hen consolidat e the
knowledge. The purpose of the pre -stage is to develop the students thematically,
linguistically, educationally and psychologically for the activity (Davanellos 1999: 14). The

55
learners may be introduced to the subject matter and key lexis, or any ling uistics features
from which they ma y benefit at a later step. During the second stage , the learners complete
the activities and tasks which directly concern the song. F or instance, when listening to An
Englishman in New York by Sting, first activity might be identifying the subject matter of the
song and pre -teaching the unknown words. Next, a later task might be dealing with specific
information and intensive listening or reading by asking them for example, to tick sentences
true of false (Davanellos 1999: 14). The third stage usually involves follow -up activities that
practise the productive skills of writing and speaking in different ways.
To conclude, using music for t he teaching of English is not only a valuable resource,
but it is also necessary to cre ate a calmed and motivating classroom environment. It develops
all the skills and it encourages language acquisition. This turns the language teaching activity
into a multi -layered task where language input comes from different sources, making the
whole le arning process a global and more meaningful one.

3.6 Teaching vocabulary through role -plays

Role -play is an effective technique to animate the teaching and learning atmosphere,
arouse the interests of learners, and make the language acquisition im pressive . Role -play
creates a real life situation in the classroom. It is important because it gi ves students a chance
to practis e communicatively in different social contexts and in different social roles. The
language applied in this activity is varied according t o the person‘s status, attitud es or mood .
The joy of role-play is that students can “become” anyone they like and can take on the
opinions of someone else. In role -play, students need to imagine a role , a context, or both
and improvise a conversation.
When setting up a role -play or simulation, the teacher makes sure that everyone
understands the purpose of the activity and their own part in the activity. The teacher should
be available, but not involved unless she/he is needed to keep the activity going; she/he
should monitor language use and make notes on students’ needs. The teacher could simulate
a sense of reality b y using simple prop s such as a pen and a notepad for a waitress, a hat for a
police officer or signs, chairs, pictures etc. Puppets and toys are another way to motivate
young learners and help them identify with a role.

56
The most common situations for role -plays are those in which the students
may need to function in the target language . Appropriate situation s include topics that
students see or in which they participate in th eir own lives, m eetings in various situations .
Examples include greetings, small talk, shopping, interacting at school, talking on the
telep hone, going to the doctor, asking for direc tions, interviewing for a job, making
appointments or attending business meetings. Other po ssible situations for role play include
fantasy situations from stories, television, or simulations and situations. The topics for
discussion can be controversial or humorous . Interviews, TV talk shows, panel discussions,
debates, and conversations in which students take roles of famous people or e ven well –
known characters from literature. Magazines , the newspaper or storybooks are also ideal
current so urces . Students can act out a fav ourite story or play.
The use of index cards with written cu es or the complete role -play exchange
will help students know what to say. Here is an intermediate -level activity :

Work in groups of three. Ea ch person should take one of the roles below:

Student A
You are a vegan. You strongly disagree with people eating meat, fish, eggs, cheese or milk.

Student B
You are a vegetarian. You do not eat fish or meat but see nothing wrong in eating dairy
products .

Student C
You are a gourmet. You love good food, including meat, fish and dairy products.

a) Work out from the checklist the things you can and can’t eat.
b) Compare your diets and try to persuade each other of your point of view.
Ex. 8.4 (Bell and Gower 19 91: 108)
Like role -plays, simulations involve pretence. Students are asked to be themselves in
an imaginary situation.

57

Look at the following situations and compare your ideas with your partner.
What would you do if…
a) someone was following you down a dark street?
b) you saw a pool of blood in your living room?
c) you saw the furniture moving on its own?
d) you heard a noise downstairs at 2 a.m. and you were alone?
e) you were trapped in a lift?
f) you ran out of petrol miles away from anywhere?
Ex. 8.5 (Bell and Gower 19 91: 108)
Helena Curtain and Carol Ann Dahlberg (2004 : 237 ) desc ribe fantasy
simulations for pupils in EFL situations:
Children are issued passports and airline tickets and prepare for a “trip” to Germany,
Canada, Colombia, or any other destination appropriate… The teacher prepares an “aircra ft”
with a masking tape outline on the floor . . . with chairs placed side by side, in twos or in
fours, and labelled with letters and numbers, as in a real aircraf t… there are … realia
typically found in an airplane. Children are directed to show their tickets and their passports
to the flight att endant, to find their seats, to buckle their imaginary seatbelts… to look out
their imaginary windows … The children finally arrive at t heir destination and exclaim
over large pictures of the city in which the y have landed, as they are directed to look
at and point to special la ndmarks they should note. . . .
There are many reasons for using role -plays in the language classroom: they are fun
and motivating, they heighten students’ self -esteem and impr ove their ability to work
coop eratively , they allow students to exper iment with language they have learned, they
can consolidate learning and allow stude nts the opportun ity to dis cover their own level
of mastery over specific language content , they may be used as a stimulus to discussion and
problem solving and also for assessment and feedback purposes at the end of a unit.

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3.7 Teaching vocabulary through poems, rhymes a nd chants

The use of rhymes and poems is an important tool for language acquisition . They
introduce new vocabulary, culture, and focus on pronunciation and intonation in a way that is
quite easy for the children to follow and learn steadily. Poems, chants and rhymes are full of
lexicon, they use authentic language and students can take advantage of their repetition and
musicality, contributing to the learning of new expressions. When students listen to them
again and again they acquire and receive a great language input unconsciously. They also
help to create a relaxing and pleasant atmosphere, motivating students in the learning and
introducing fun and happiness in the foreign language classroom.
Poems, rhymes and chants can be used at the beginning, durin g or at the end of any
lesson. The teacher may use them in many different ways in the language classroom: as short
warm -ups to start our lessons, to introduce new language, to revise and practice language, to
change the mood or to get everyone’s attention. They can be recited by the teacher , while
showing the accompanying pictures and then children could recite them along with her/him .
Poems depend less on the playfulness of the language, and more on the meaning,
which evokes feelings, imagination and the d iscovery of ideas beyond the child’s own
environment. Poems provide students with an opportunity to enrich their vocabulary in
a new way by offering meaningful context, in which they could be used and hence be
remembered more effectively. P oetry allows freedom of expression and creativity while
providing a break from regular classroom routines. The needs of the students, their
motivation, interest, and cultural background should be taken into consideration while
selecting a poem for the clas sroom teaching.
Teaching a poem should involve pre -reading tasks, interactive work on the text
and follow up activities. Activities like predicting, gap filling, creative writing, role –
playing, integrating spelling with vocabulary, matc hing the pictures with some of the words
in the poem can establish the necessary connection between language and the literature which
eventually make the teaching and learning of the poe m a very productive enterprise.
Jim Scrivener (1994: 361) mentions so me ideas for using poems in class: t ell students
the topic of the poem and let them brainstorm as many words as they can that might be in it;
alternatively, look at a list of words and decide which words might be in a poem about a

59
certain subject or do a p icture dictation: describe the scene in the poem, item by item, and
students draw a picture, at the end, they compare pictures and then read the poem, deciding
who is the closest to the original.
Rhymes, in general, are short and depend on the melodic use of the voice to recite the
text that includes rhyming words, and the repetition of sounds and words in attractive
rhythms. The traditional and well -known rhymes are sometimes classified as “Mother Goose
rhymes ” or “nursery rhymes ”. Many, like ‘Twinkle, Twi nkle, Little Star’ and ‘Humpty
Dumpty’, are considered part of British culture. Action rhymes captivate young students and
help teachers convert their enthusiasm into meaningful learning experiences. Action rhymes
also help pupils associate words and phras es with meanings.
Many primary level language learners respond very well to rhymes. Some of the
reasons may be the rhythm, the repetition and most importantly the fun involved in rhymes
get children naturally drawn to it. Although these young learners c an initially find it very
difficult to remember how to say complete phrases in a foreign language, they remember
whole rhymes with ease. For example the rhythm and physical action involved in action
rhymes like provide fun drills of vo cabulary for parts of the body:
Ten fingers,
Ten toes,
Two eyes
And a round nose.
Or another one for a rainy day:
Rain on the green grass,
And rain on the tree,
Rain on the house -top,
But not on me.
(Wendy A. Scott and Lisbeth H. Ytreberg ( 1990 : 27)

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Thus , through this kind of activity they naturally pick up the language with its
accurate sound, words and sentences.
Chants are useful for learning in the classroom and can encourage everyday
conversation. They have many of the benefits of song: they use rhythm and rhyme i n an
enjoyable way, they provide patterns that can make learning easier, they build children' s
confidence in oral language, they can promote a sense of community , they provide a change
of pace and mood to improve student motivation, they offer opportunitie s for repeated
readings, which build f luency, they can serve as a writing prompt, offering students the
chance to write new verses. Students practis e using vocabulary in context, pronounce words
more clearly, and reinforce grammar patterns.
Karen Seberg (2008: 16) suggests that t he chant “Who Stole the Cookies from the
Cookie Jar?” is a w onderful tool for young learners to learn each other’s names (or learn
animals) . Children can recite the following phrases and then take turns choosing a new name:
Everyo ne: Shalee stole the cookies from the cookie jar.
Shalee: Who, me?
Everyone: Yes, you.
Shalee: Not me.
Everyone: Then, who?
Shalee: Mica stole stole the cookies from the cookie jar.
Mica: Who, me? (and the chant continues)
Poems, rhymes and chants make lar ger vocabulary background, like expressions and
useful sentences. They help to develop listening and speaking skills. Affectively i t is good to
stimulate learners’ interest in the new language, to bring fun and variety to learning, to
provide a relaxed atm osphere, to motivate to learn to be active and to give encouragement .

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3.8 Teaching vocabulary through didactic technology

Technology can be a great asset in learning English, offering interactive and
motivating activities for students of all ages. Computer technology, Internet and web -based
resources offer teachers a nd learners important resources and opportunities for language
teaching and learning. Nation (2001) asserts that, in the light of the rapid development in the
use of computers in language learni ng, computers provide a very effective way of vocabulary
learning, particularly in ensuring that learners’ efforts are directed towards vocabulary they
most need.
Technology can stimulate and cre ate a great interest in students, motivating them and
develop ing their creativity, skills , their sense of freedom, encouragement, and involvement in
their learning process . They give the feeling of experiencing information instead of simply
acquiring it.
Modern teaching aids include personal computers, tablets, inte ractive -whiteboards or
mobile phone applications. These technologies are able to deliver web applications and
provide access to various learning resources. One pedagogical method involving technology
that has gained interest and attention of many researche rs is introducing new words with
computer vocabulary teaching programs or software. Reading -based computer programs can
be used to improve the word vocabulary, fluency, and comprehension of the students. This
also can enable students to increase the ir interaction with text s, pay their attention to
individual need s. Learning computer programs can check exercises after they are performed
by stu dents, move students gradually from easy to more difficu lt problems according to their
abilities.
Mod ern course books are accompanied by course supplementary learn ing resources
like interactive C Ds, dictionaries, audio and video support and various other opportunities for
further work and practice. Multimedia refers to computer -based systems that use vari ous
types of content, such as text, audio, video, graphics, animation, and interactivity. Many
digital tools allow students to : hear pronunciations; read words in a variety of authentic
examples; view photos and i mages related to words; reinforce word lear ning through
interactive games; play with language; discover rhyming words; and collaborate with
classmates to create virtual words walls.

62
Using short and feature -length videos is an engaging way to work on vocabulary and
comprehension. Videos help to expo se students to the use of natural English. Young children
really enjoy short cartoons and animated movies, and older students can learn about current
events through news broadcasts.
PowerPoint is an innovative and complementary technique to teach vocabular y for the
reading skill . Students can see the objects in the form of animated images accompanied by
text and sound . They may also benefit from creating multimedia representations of words in
PowerPoint slides that are hyperlinked together . It can help stud ents increase word
memorization and therefore word knowledge.
It is believed that online educational games stimulate students . Active participation
in vocabulary games will lead to learning reinforcement . In the con text of a game, vocabulary
can be acqui red without pressure . Retention improves as a result of attention to
pronunciation, orthography , the words meanings , grammatical category along with the
association made between other words . Games include crossword puzzles, picture -word
matches, word scram bles, Hangman etc. The games are supplemented with themed word
lists, test preparation items, and activities on prefixes and suffixes. Many of these games can
be put up on interactive white boards to get full class participation.
Smart Boards are whiteboar ds displaying the image from the computer monitor with
the surface op erating as a giant touch screen. They have the same properties as a computer;
the teacher can present visual material, Internet pages etc. in an interesting way. Jerem y
Harmer mentions so me major advantages (2002: 187): in the first place, teacher and students
can write on the board which the images are being projected onto; secondly, what appears on
the board can be saved or printed ; everything can be controlled from the board, texts,
graphics, Internet capability, video and audio material.
Students can listen to podcasts to improve their vocabulary knowledge. There a re
many podcasts on different topics such as: kitchen appli ances, sport tools, weather, shapes
etc. free to download and provided for learning new English vocabularies. They are
attractive and amusing, images remain in mind. Video podcasts are more effective than audio
podcast s. The availability of podcasts means that both learners and teachers can listen to a
range of ma terial whenever they want to on devices that are not difficult to carry around.

63
Using technology as an aid helps students to be a ctive, eager and involved in classes
due to the interest that the use of technology produces . Browsing all the resources (avail able
in th e form of newspapers, m agazines, journals, electronic librari es, dictionaries ,
encyclopedias , newsletters ) and sites will obviously en hance their vocabulary and reading
ability . English l anguage learners in particular benefit from the reinforceme nt of voca bulary
and concepts through pic tures, graphics and video. They also benefit from being able to use
technol ogy to express themselves. Technology creates more favourable conditions and
facilitates the vocabulary learning . It has the potential to m ediate stude nts’ learning in a
multitude of creative ways .

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Chapter 4. Assessing Vocabulary Knowledge

4.1 Why test vocabulary?

A test is defined as an activity whose main purpose is to provide information about
ability and about the learni ng and the teaching process. “Why test anything?” Thornbury
(2002: 129) explains that similarly we could ask about anything. The main reason for testing
is that it gives us information about how well our students proceed in their learning of
English. It gi ves a useful feedback to both teachers and students. It could be a good input for
the teachers to check the vocabulary size of their students and detect as early as possible if
there is some problems in the vocabulary acquisition. Secondly, a vocabulary t est is a good
instrument to measure how vocabulary develops . In addition, when the teacher announces
her students that a vocabulary test is coming in a period of time, they will probably start to
study the vocabulary harder than before, so it will have a positive effect. It is used as a means
to get students to make an effort, to motivate them, which is likely to lead to better results and
a feeling of satisfaction. In general, testing is necessary to “recycle” vocabulary as well as to
consolidate it.
Testing vocabulary is not very different to testing other areas of language
knowledge. The construct of vocabulary is not a simpl e one an d this complexity
makes it necessary to assess vocabulary from various pe rspectives . Any vocabulary test
should take into account the multi -dimensional character of word -knowledge: the spoken
form of the word; the written form of the word; the grammatical behaviour of the word; the
collocation behaviour of the word; the frequency of the word; the stylis tic register constraints
of the word; the conceptual meaning of the word; the associations the word has with other
related words (Nation 1990: 31) . The aim of vocabular y testing is to test students’ mastery of
these competences of target words.
According t o the purpose the teacher design s the test, it can be either “contextualised ”
or “de-contextualised ”. Contextualised test means that the vocabulary is examined through a
text whereas in de -contextualised test there are only words without any text. If the t eacher
needs to test student´s knowledge of spelling, she can dictate words without any con text. On
the other hand, when she tests meanings of words, she has to put them into a context. These
contextualised tests can be furt her divided into tests that asse ss active vocabulary or passive
vocabulary.

65
Example of a test for passive vocabulary, where students do not have t o write any
words, they just circle the right letter:
Choose the best word to complete each sentence: 1) The flight attendant asked the
passen gers to _____ attention to the safety demonstration. a give b devote c pay d lend 2) A
severe hurricane in the South Pacific has _____ many lives. a claimed b taken c killed
destroyed (Thornbury 2002: 131).
Example of a test for active vocabulary, where stu dents have to invent the right word
which fits into each sentence:
Choose the best word to complete each sentence: 1) The flight attendant asked the
passengers to _____ attention to the safety demonstration. 2) A severe hurricane in the South
Pacific has _ ____ many lives (Thornbury 2002: 131).
Another perspective of vocabulary assessment is seen from the point of view breadth
and depth. Breadth refers to the number of words a learner knows and depth refers to what
the learner knows about these words. Milton explains this more that “Vocabulary breadth, for
example, might involve the passive recognition of word forms quite separate from meaning;
the kind of recognition where you know a word is a word in a foreign language, you can
remember seeing or hearing it, even if you cannot think what it means or provide a
translation. Equally, vocabulary breadth might be measured by a translation test where the
learner must provide a translation equivalent or some kind of explanation. ” (Milton, 2009:
13-14)
A vocabulary test can be used to assess whether learners have acquired the words they
were learned (achievement test), it can help detecting gaps in the vocabulary knowledge of
learners (diagnostic test), it can place students in the appropriate language class level
(placement test), or it can form part of a more global language proficiency test in order to
arrive at an estimate of the learner’s skills to perform in the target language (proficiency test).
A test is valid to the extent that it actually tests what is supp osed to test. It is reliable
to the extent that it produces the same result under the same circumstances. It is practical
because it is easy to administer and mark. Considerations of validity and reliability are less
important in informal testing, where th e main objective is to motivate review and recycling.
Learners accept it as being a valid test, that it has what is called “face validity”.

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4.2 Types of tests

In a voc abulary test, there are two type s of questions: recognition items and
production items. Usually vocabulary can be tested through the following ways: multiple –
choice items, associated words, matching items, word formation test items, items involving
synonyms, rearrangement items, and completion items and so on. Each form of testing has its
own advantages and disadvantages .
Yes/No Questions and Multiple -choice items are popula r item types in vocabulary
testing. Multiple -choice items are quick to administer, easy to score, ca n be applied to
a large number of students in a short time , and are highly reliable.
Single words can be tested through definitions, for example:
tangle means a) type of dance
b) a tropical forest
c) a confused mass
d) a kind of fruit
(Thornbury 2002: 132).
Words can be tested in sentences and the testees choose which of the alternatives fit in the
sentence; for example:
There is a good _ ________ at the Odeon tonight. a) screen b) film c ) showing d ) acting
(Heaton 1990: 79).
Thornbury (2002:132 ) presents another way of using multiple choice exercises , where the
options are put d irectly into a text :
CANCER 22 June -22 July
Someone else is (a plying; b calling; c singing;) the tune and for the moment you´re
quite happy to go (a along; b around; c away) with what seems like a reasonable idea.
Hobbies (a make; b use; c take) up far too much time and children could need support w ith a
new activity. …

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Gap-fill tests are an excellent way to pr actise vocabulary in different contexts and can
be used to broaden the student's understanding of the range of meaning of vocabulary. They
test the ability to produce the word, to recall it from memory. A well -known example is the
cloze -test, which consist s of a portion of text in which words are deleted from it (every
seventh, eighth or ninth word) then the students are asked to replace the missing words . This
type of test can increase students achievement compared to an open -ended test, easy to
assess, ob jective, practical and understandable. It is not exactly clear if it be longs to testing
vocabulary or rather to testing reading and again there is a problem with more possible
answers. To prevent this, we can use C -test where the beginnings of words are al ready given.
Tumbu fly
In Africa south of the Sahara, another prob__ the trav__ may encou__ is t__ tumbu o__
mango fl__, which la__ its eg__ on cloth__ laid o__ on t__ ground t__ dry. T__ larvae hat__
and bur__ their w__ into t__ skin, caus__ boil -like swe l__.
(Thornbury 2002:132).
In the word-formation tests students have to change the form of word so that it fits to
a particular sentence. T hey have to show that they understand the context and that they know
various forms of a word . This type of exercise regularly occurs in FCE Cambridge tests. The
students have to form nouns using the words in capitals :
The right style
Fashion designer Esthe r Robinson’s path to 1……………… one fortune FAMOUS
hasn’t been an easy one. Start ing with a small 2……………..from the bank, she set LEND
her business in the 3……………….. that there was a mar ket for the kind of BELIEVE
clothes she designed, but the firm made a 4………………… in the first LOSE
few years. S he was faced with the 5……… of giving up or going bankrupt, CHOOSE
but she never lost her 6 ………………… NERVOUS
(Mark Harrison, 2004: 124)
In the odd one out test the students have to determine which item does not belong
among the other. The amount of items can be various . This kind of exercise is easy to design ;
however, the teacher must know which words her students know so t hat they could find the
odd one .

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Example: Find the odd word: tiger – hat – lion – cow – penguin – parrot – monkey
Through matching , the meaning of words is tested. They are usually words of the
opposite meaning. Students do not produce any voc abulary, they only match given words. Ur
(1991:72) points out that the last pair of words, if the student has matched the pairs correctly,
can be matched without any knowledge because they are left. This can be prevented by
giving more options in one column than in the other one . Words and pictures can also be
matched. Another variation of this type of item can be putting words into appropriate
category, for instance, food and drink or fruit and vegetables. Or students can match the right
beginnings and endings of senten ces according to their meaning:
Which beginning goes with which ending?
1 He planted a the stones and weeds
2 She picked b som e beautiful red apples
3 She dug up c the seeds in three separate rows
(Scrivener 1994 : 184).
In a sentence completion test students are given incomplete sentences containing
words that we need to test. Their task is to complete these sentences so that they make sense.
For example:
Finish the following sentences:
1. I feel depressed when.. .
2. I never have an appetite when…
3. It was a great relief when…
(Ur, 1991: 72-74).
Correction items tests recognition of mistakes. It focuses on word spelling only;
mistakes are ungrammatical, context is important, but not essential.
Another method of testing is dictation , which is usually used for testing spelling
mainly. Learners can be tested through translation as well and it can test bo th meaning and
form, however, it’s difficult to find the right equivalent be tween the two languages. Another

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possibility is to test collocations or phrases which could be a well -balanced compromise
between testing single words and senten ces. The teacher can also ask students to make
sentences from given words or to write their synonyms and antonyms . The teacher ca n give
students a list of definitions of words she needs to test . For example:
It is a big animal; it has got with long legs, a long neck and lives in Africa … …… (giraffe)
…………. is frozen water. (ice)
There is a more global assessment of students’ vocabul ary knowledge when it comes
to evaluating their writing and speaking overall. Many tests of students’ production include
an assessment of the learner’s vocabulary knowledge. Its range and accuracy are important. It
is necessary to set as accurate demands a s possible to increase reliability and to give criteria
according to which th e teacher will correct the test:
Wide range of words appropriately and accurately used; good use of idiom and
collocation; appropriate style 4
Adequate range, with only occasiona l errors of spelling, word form, style, collocation,
or word choice, meaning clear overall 3
Limited range of words, with some repetition, frequent errors of spelling, style,
collocations or word choice, leading to occasional difficulties in understanding
meaning 2
Very narrow range, highly repetitive; frequent spelling and word form errors; little or
no awareness of collocation or style; meaning frequently obscure 1
(Thornbury 2002:1 35).
In general a good voca bulary test has plenty of items. It uses a test item type which
requires learners to use the kind of vocabulary knowledge that the teacher want s to test. Some
test formats, like translation tests, require strong knowledge of the words, while others like
multiple choice tests with distractors which are not closely re lated in mean ing show partial
knowledge. The difficulty of the test format can have a strong influence on the number of
words th at learners get correct and thus influence the measurement of their vocabulary size.

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4.3 Interpretation of results

Assessment accompanied by purposeful feedback serves as key components of
student learning and education . For the assessment and feedbac k to be productive teachers as
well as students can play a central role. The teacher should try to fill the learner’s knowledge
gap by assessing student’s knowledge formatively and providing useful feedback. Learners’
also can play an important role, if th eir preferences and attitude towards feedback and
assessment are taken into consideration. Using formative assessment and feedback gives
students ti me to pause and evaluate their performances before they reach major assessments.
Tests n eed to be designe d so that it c an be easy to interpret their results. Objectively
scored items ensure speed and constancy of scoring; subjectively scored items evaluate
learners’ productive skills. The results of a test do not tell the teacher how many words the
learners k now in the language, or what vocabulary they should be working on. The results tell
the teacher and learners how successful their recent study has been. The teacher should
provide an opportunity to develop positive attitude towards testing. The teacher sho uld tell
students not only their weaknesses, but also what they have done well. Critical comments can
undermine a student's motivation and impede the learning process. Specificity and the goal of
student improvement are the tenets of good feedback . The pur pose of in -text marks and
comments is to identify specific examples of the strengths and weaknesses in students’
paper s. Giving verbal feedback is often faster than writing out comments for every student,
and it provides students a chance to ask questions and talk to the teacher about what they do
and do not understand.
A good way to encourage self -assessment skills is to have students provide feedback
to their peers. Evaluation skills that students use on their peer's work can translate to their
own perfor mance.

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Chapter 5. The Design of the Research

The research part of my work contains three main parts: a survey on the questionnaire
applied to 7th grade students, a few examples of lesson plans I have used during the school
year and a research on the achievement test applied to the same classes of students.

5.1 The Survey on the Questionnaire Applied to 7th Grade Students

In learning a foreign language, vocabulary is an indispensible part since there is an
obvious connection between students’ vocabulary size and their performance of language
skills . As an English teacher I have had the opportunity to notice in the last few years that in
each class a certain number of students have various difficulties and problems in learning
English vocabulary. They make different mistakes in English pronunciation , spelling and
vocabulary usage. Their difficulties with learning and using English vocabulary include
multiple sense English words , fixed word collo cations, phrasal verbs, idioms . Many word s
are recognized, but many can't be recalled quickly enough to enable fluent comprehension.
They use the same words over and over again. They are u nable to transfer new words to real
life vocabulary. New words are easily forgotten. These students struggle to communicate
what they are thinking. Their lack of vocabulary has influence d their performance in
listening, reading comprehension , conversation and in expressing their ideas and feelings in
creative writing. I have always wanted to find out and apply th e proper methods and
techniques by means of which I would be able to help students improve their vocabulary
knowledge. My goal has been to experiment with dif ferent strategies and approaches to
determine w hich ones work the best for my students.
In order to do my research I have focused my attention on two classes of students 7th
A and 7th C, during the school year 2016 -2017. Having noticed that the results of the initial
tests taken by the students at the beginning of the school year were not that satisfa ctory, I
have decided to think about effective ways to improve their performance. An example of the
tests applied to 7th graders is to be found in the annexes of this paper (see Annexes 1 ). The
first part of the test assesses the students’ lexical and gram matical knowledge with the help of
indirect or discrete -point items, whereas the second part of the test includes an indirect or
integrative test -point item, namely that of writing a short letter to a friend. The results of the

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7th graders A were better th an those of the 7th graders C. The charts below point out the marks
the students got for their performance. The initial assessment became a starting point for my
research. I have also used my records on students’ performance in speaking and listening
over a longer period of time in order to make up a plan of action that would lead to better
results.
CLASS 7th A –Results of initial assessment
Marks 1-
1.99 2-
2.99 3-
3.99 4-
4.99 5-
5.99 6-
6.99 7-
7.99 8-
8.99 9-
9.99 10
No. of
students – – – – 3 4 7 7 2 5
Percentage
– – – – 10,7% 14,2% 25% 25% 7,1% 17,8%

Class 7th C – Results of initial assessment
Marks 1-
1.99 2-
2.99 3-
3.99 4-
4.99 5-
5.99 6-
6.99 7-
7.99 8-
8.99 9-
9.99 10
No. of
students – – – 3 5 3 3 5 2 1
Percentage – – – 13,6% 22,7% 13,6% 13,6% 22,7% 9,% 4,5%

First of all, I was interested in what students think in relation to vocabulary teaching
and learning. This is why I have designed a questionnaire for the students of these two
classes. It stands for the first part of my research. It was distributed to 50 students, who were
asked to answer in English as honestly as possible and use their own words. The
questionnaire highlight s the following four questions:
1. Why is it important to learn vocabulary?
2. Why is learning vocabulary difficult for y ou?
3. What is the most effective technique for you to learn vocabulary?
4. How can I improve my vocabulary?

73
For the first question I tried to put the students’ answers into several categories. Each
chart indicates the reasons given by the students in relation t o the importance of learning
vocabulary.
Class 7th A- all the 28 students answered the questions put in the questionnaire
Question 1: “ Why is it important to learn vocabulary? ”
Answers
given by
the
students Learning vocabulary
is very important
because it improves
my ability to
communicate in
speaking or writing . Learning
vocabulary is
very important
because it helps
me understand
what other
people are
saying. Vocabulary is
not important
for me, grammar
is. Other answers
No. of
students 15 8 3 2
Percenta ge 53,5% 28,5% 10,7% 7,1%

Class 7th A is formed mainly of very good students, almost 70 % of them work well in
class. They always pay attention, take copious notes, study hard, and earn good grades. They
do their homework, raise their hands and are will ing to participate actively in the lesson. With
these students I can employ many methods and techniques during each lesson. Their answers
to the first question can be seen in the chart above. Thus, 53,5 % claim that vocabulary plays
a very important role in language teaching because it develops their communicative skills.
Indeed, these hardworking students are able to express their ideas, thoughts, and emotions
without any difficulty. 28,5 % consider that learning vocabulary will greatly increase their
reading and listening comprehension , their ability to understand a message . 10,7 % assume
that learning vocabulary is less important than grammar. 7,1 % of them suggest other answers
such as: “Vocabulary is important for me because if I am good at it I will b e able to get a job
in the future ”.

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Class 7th C – 22 students
Question 1: “Why is it important to learn vocabulary?”
Answers
given by the
students Learning
vocabulary is very
important because
it improves my
ability to
communicate in
speaking or writing. Learning
vocabulary is
very important
because it helps
me understand
what other
people are
saying. Vocabulary is
not important
for me, grammar
is. Other answers
No. of
students 10 8 2 2
Percentage 45,4% 36,3% 9% 9%

In this class there are a few strong students, most of them being average . Sometimes
they don’t work well and some of them fail to prepare constantly for the English class. There
are pupils who don’t do their homework all the time and are reluctant to participate in various
activities.
45,4 % point out that vocabulary is necessary when it comes to speaking f luently and
writing correctly. 36,3 % of the students in this class say that vocabulary learning provide s
them a better chance of understanding people and reading texts. Vocabulary knowled ge aids
in activating and building background knowledge to make connections to text, and having
vocabulary knowledge can increase reading comprehension and fluency while reading. 9 %
don't think highly of the importance of vocabulary , grammar teaching shou ld be prioritized .
9 % give other answers such as: “Vocabulary is important for me because I will be able to go
abroad”.
Most of the students ’ answers show that vocabulary is very important when learning
the English language . They agree that learning voca bulary is beneficial . One of the reasons is
that it will improve their public speaking skills , their confidence in words and conversation
and their self -esteem . A masterful command of words is essential in crafting engaging speech
and writing. The more wor ds they know, the quicker they can process information . An

75
educated vocabulary enables students to get their message across more effectively . They will
create a good impression in their e -mails and letters. Vocabulary not only aids them in
understanding ot her people, it’s also essential in comprehe nding the books and articles they
read. A student with a good vocabulary can potentially think more clearly and precisely. A
powerful vocabulary is the key to success in life.
The second question in my questionnai re was: “Why is learning vocabulary difficult
for you?” In order to have a better view of the pupils’ answer I used ranking the same way I
did before . The most frequent reasons reflected in their answers have fallen into the following
categories:
Class 7th A
Question 2 “Why is learning vocabulary difficult for you?”
Answers
given by
the
students Learning
vocabulary
is not
difficult for
me It is difficult
because I
can’t
remember all
the words It is difficult
because of the
multiple sense
words, idioms,
phrasal verbs,
collocations etc. The spelling
is difficult The
pronunciation
is difficult
No. of
students 10 6 7 3 2
Percentage 35,7% 21,4% 25% 10,7% 7,1%

35,7 % of the 7th graders A consider that they encounter no diffi culties in learning
vocabulary. A go od student even wrote that “it is challenging and fun , that’s why I’m so
excited about the vocabulary lessons. ” Another one added t hat “ it is simple because some
words are almost similar to Romanian.” 21,4 % state that learning vocabulary is difficult
because they can’t remember all the words. For 25 % it is difficult because of the multiple
sense words, idioms, phrasal verbs, collocations etc. 10,7 % say that spelling is difficult ,
while 7,1 % say that pronunciation is difficult .

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Class 7th C
Quest ion 2 “Why is learning vocabulary difficult for you?”
Answers
given by
the
students Learning
vocabulary
is not
difficult for
me It is difficult
because I
can’t
remember all
the words It is difficult
because of the
multiple sense
words, idioms,
phrasal verb s,
collocations etc. The spelling
is difficult The
pronunciation
is difficult
No of
students 5 8 5 2 2
Percentage
22,7% 36,3% 22,7% 9% 9%

In the case of the 7th graders C, only 22,7 % feel that they don’t have difficulties in
learning vocabulary. This means that for the rest of the class vocabulary learning is not easy
at all. They need motivation and a lot of practice. 36,3 % answer that is difficult because
they can’t remember all the words . Somebody mentioned that : “Memorizing unknown words
is not working for me, I simply forget them.” 22,7 % think that vocabulary learning is
difficult because “English words have too many meanings”. Another student wrote: “I
believe vocabulary is the most difficult aspect of English because there are phrasal verbs,
idioms and many synonyms and antonyms.” 9 % students think that the difficulty in
vocabulary learnin g is pronunciation. 9 % claim that it is spelling .
All these figures indicate that for the hard -working students learning English
vocabulary is not diffic ult. Most of the average students comp lain about the fact that they
forget easily the newly learned words. They are not able to make connections among words ,
to use the right meanings, collocations or idioms.
My goal is to change these students’ attitude towards vocabulary learning and to make
it enjoyable. Thus, I asked them the third question , “What is the most effective technique for
you to learn vocabulary? ” in order to find out more about the methods and approaches they
prefer.

77

Class 7th A
Question 3 What is the most effective technique for you to learn vocabulary?
Answers
given by
the students Translation
and
Dictionary Context Visual
aids Games
Synonyms
antonyms Didactic
Technology Other
No. of
students 2 3 5 6 3 8 1
Percentage
7,1% 10,7% 17,8% 21,4% 10,7% 28,5% 3,5%

7,1 % of the learners from this class prefer the translation method and the use of
dictionaries, while 10,7 % of them are interested in learning from the context. For17,8 % of
them visual aids are very important. 21,4 % of the students claim that they like playing
games because it’s easier for them to remember the unknown words. 10,7 % of them prefer
working with synonyms/antonyms, while 28,5 % of them consider that technology is the best
technique for them. 3,5 % give other a nswers such as: “ In my opinion, miming and role –
playing is interesting and useful because we practise the new words in a funny way.”
Class 7th C
Question 3 What is the most effective technique for you to learn vocabulary?
Answers
given by
the
students Translation
and
Dictionary Context Visual
aids Games Synonyms
antonyms Didactic
Technology Other
No. of
students 2 1 3 5 1 8 2
Percentage 9% 4,5% 13,6% 22,7% 4,5% 36,3% 9%

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9 % of the 7th graders C like better using dictionaries and the translation metho d.
4,5% of them choose to learn vocabulary from the context, while 13,6 % of them prefer the
visual aids. 22,7 % of these students feel that playing games is more efficient for them. 4,5 %
of them think that they remember words more easily if they use syn onyms/antonyms. For
36,3 % of them, technology is the best method. 9 % give other answers such as: “ I think that
I learn better the unknown words when we sing songs or learn poems .”
The students’ answers from both classes proved my hypothesis that the mo dern
techniques and methods of teaching vocabulary are more efficient. There is a need for fun
activities based on interaction. Most students prefer learning vocabulary through didactic
technology and games. Among the answers given to the third questions i n the questionnaire
one of them particularly caught my attention:

Students need activities based on enjoyment, involvement, competition and cooperation in
order to motivate them to have a pleasant interaction with the language . Visuals are also
importa nt for introducing and practising vocabulary . Presenting words in context and
inferring their meaning is acknowledged as a useful technique. I encourage my students to try
to understand the meaning of an unknown word by the other words that surrounds it. T hey
should be a ble to think logically and figure out if the word has a positive or negative
meaning. They sh ould always look for prefixes, suffixes and other clues . I was not surprised
to find out that the translation method is not their favourite. Transla ting the words one by one
and learning words by memorizing the wordlist alone are boring, and the learners would lose
interests in vocabulary learning after a while. I have noticed that the usage of dictionaries in
English lessons often depends on learners ´ skills and level.

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For the fourth question “How can I improve my vocabulary?” it was quite difficult to
rank the various suggestions given by the students. Both classes gave similar answers:
● “We should read more books and articles.”
● “We should watc h English/American movies with English subtitles or without any
subtitles.”
● “We should do more speaking exercises.”
● “We should look up any words we don't recognize .”
● “We should use post-it notes around our classroom.”
● “We should d o word puzzles and play word games. ”
● “We should learn more words by heart.”
● “We should have more listening lessons.”
● “We should write more compositions and letters.”
● “We should engage more in group activities.”
● “W e should learn more songs.”
● “We should t ake vocab ulary tests more often .”
● “We should keep a journal .”
● “We should make synonym/antonym word lists.”
● “We should practise more at home.”
● “We should make up associations.”
● “We should revise the words every week.”
● “We should have more English classes in a week.”

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5.2 Lesson Plans

The questionnaire reveals the fact that some students learn better from visual inputs ,
while others expressed their preference either for auditory cues or for dynamic activities . By
taking into account the results of this questionnaire I have decided to use methods and
techniques that would help them feel more confident when learning and practising new
vocabulary. During the entire school year I have experimented with traditional and modern
approaches and I have used vario us activities meant to arouse students’ interest and
motivation. My intention has been to help them improve their vocabulary and achieve better
results by the end of the school year. Here are some examples of the teaching strategies I
have applied with my 7th graders.

LESSON PLAN 1

NAME : SARCA -CRISAN RALUCA -DANA
SCHOOL : “OCTAVIAN GOGA” NATIONAL COLLEGE, MARGHITA
DATE : the 31st of March 2017
GRADE : 7th grade A
NUMBER OF STUDENTS : 28
TEXTBOOK : “HIGH FLYER” INTERMEDIATE
LESSON : “Glorious food”
LEVEL : interm ediate
TIME OF THE LESSON : 50 minutes
TYPE OF LESSON : MIXED
LESSON AIMS
GENERAL AIMS:

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• to arouse th e pupils’ interest in the topic of the lesson
• to improve their vocabulary knowledge
• to develop communication during class
• to check comprehension
• to make students use their previous knowledge
• to stimulate students’ imagination
SPECIFIC AIMS:
By the end of this lesson students will have:
● learned new voca bulary items related to food
● expressed preference about food according to facts and opinions
● demonstrated their comprehension of the text
● understood written and oral messages
● worked in groups to create their own advertisements
● practiced the skill of reading, speaking, listening and writing
Personal Aim
-to reduce teacher language in whole c lass activities and provide more learner interaction.
-to promote and motivate discussion
LANGUAGE SKILLS INVOLVED : all the four skills are going to be used by the students
• Speaking – productive skill
• Reading – receptive skill
• Writing – product ive skill
• Listening – receptive skill
MATERIALS : flashcards, handouts, worksheets, textbook, board , laptop, projector

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TEACHING TECHNIQUES : eliciting, brainstorming, conversation
GROUPING STUDENTS : whole -class teaching, pair work, group work
PREDICTED PRO BLEMS : The use of mother tongue in workgroup, lack of imagination,
some difficulties in expressing orally.
ACTIVITY 1: WARM -UP
AIMS : – to prepare the students for the class
– to break the ice
– to identify food items related to snacks
– to have students speak fo r fun
PROCEDURE : The teac her greets the students and chec ks the attendance. The students are
asked to watch a sh ort video about Nick, a 12 – year- old boy who lives in Cambridge with his
family . His mother, his father and his little sister, Molly talk about the food they usually buy
and eat. The teacher elicits some food items related to snacks suck as: “ice -cream”,
“chocolate”, and “sweets ”,“ crisps ”,“ apple, raw vegetables ”,“ yoghurt . Then, each student
is given a copy of the following handout. Students are told that they are supposed to stand up
and walk around the room interviewing other students about the snacks they like and dislike.
The teacher does a demonstration in front of the task together with a student and then asks
two of the students to per form in front of the class. The teacher sets a time limit and monitors
the students, while they walk around, ask and answer the questions. When the time is up, the
students present their findings to the class.
HANDOUT
Find someone who………………………………
1. likes ice -cream _____________________
2. dislikes raw vegetables _________________________
3. likes crisps__________________
4. dislikes yoghurt _____________________
5. likes apples_________________
e.g. Do you like ice -cream? Yes, I do/No, I don’t.
T announces the title and the objectives of the lesson
INTERACTION : T-Ss, S s-Ss mingle

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METHOD : dialogue
TIMING : 6 minutes
ACTIVITY 2: HOMEWORK CHECKING
AIMS : -to review the Ss’ previous knowledge
– to have Ss practise the relative pronouns
PROCEDURE : the teacher elicits the homework . The students had to solve exercise 5, page
51 from the textbook.
HOMEWORK
Fill in the blanks with who, which , where or whose :
1. The people _______emigrated to America in the early part of the twentieth century
used to arrive at Ellis Island by boat.
2. Long I sland is the place_____ David spends the weekends.
3. Maria is a girl _______writes for the Children’s Express.
4. “Salsa” is a type of music _____ o riginated in New York.
5. David is a boy _________ grandparents came from Germany.

INTERACTION : T-Ss, Ss -T
TIMING : 4 minutes
ACTIVITY 3 LEAD – IN
AIMS: -to be able to infer the meaning of the unknown words
– to be able to complete the diagram
PROCEDURE : The teacher fosters group work. T gives Ss a hand out with a diagram and
elicits some adjectives. Ss have to complete t he diagram according to taste, texture, opinio n
or factual description e.g. sweet, delicious, healthy, crunchy…. The teacher writes on the
white board some words related to food. The students are asked to find their meaning s from
the context and to put them in the correct place in the diagram . Soft=texture; filling= factual
description, s our=tastes; scrumptious=opinion

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TASTE

FACTUAL
OPINION

DESCRIPTION

TEXTURE
INTERACTION : T-Ss, Ss -Ss group work
METHOD : brainstorming, fill in
TIMIN G: 7 minutes
ACTIVITY 4 TEACHING/REVISING VOCABULARY ITEMS
AIMS : -to develop S s’ reading skills and to monitor understanding of the two advertisements
– to consolidate information
PROCEDURE : The teacher asks S s to read the sub -skills paragraph. T. tries to elicit some
words that might be found in advertisements, from both the ‘fact’ and ‘opinion’ category.
T asks S s to read the sentences from exercise 5 page 54 . T reads the first sentenc e, which is
given as an example: “An apple is a fruit. App les are often juicy and sweet. They can be red, FOOD
sweet
delicious
healthy

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yellow or green.” (Fact) T elicits the idea that all the statements here are facts – they can be
checked scientifically, or as matters of statistic.
Ss work in pairs and decide whether the remaining sentences are facts or opinions. T goes
through and discusses the answers. T invites different opinions if S s seem to disagree.
Answers:
2- Opinion
I think apples are a better snack than crisps.
3- Opinion
Chocolate is the most disgusting snack ever invented.
4-Fact
Chocolate is made of cocoa beans and milk.
5- Fact
Crisps are thin slices of potato fried in oil.
6 -Opinion.
Crisps are not as nice as sweets.
T asks S s to read the two advertisements and look for adjectives. After finding them S s must
decide what ki nd of adjectives are. S s are divided in pairs. T elicits some adjectives from the
advertisement ( eg. delicious, natural) and gets Ss to say whether they are adjectives of
opinion or of fact. S s continue the task writing down the adjectives for each catego ry. T goes
round the class and checks their answers. After that S s come to the board and write the
adjectives under the correct heading: opinion or fact adjectives.

Adjectives of opinion Adjectives of fact
Eg. deli cious healthy

T asks Ss what kind of adjective is more common in each advertisement. (opinion adjectives).

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INTERACTION : T-Ss, Ss -Ss pair work
METHOD : dialogue
TIMING : 15 minutes
ACTIVITY 5 PRACTICE
AIMS : – to be able to extract information from a text
– to consolidate information
PROCEDURE : The teacher asks Ss to read the advertisements again and look at the pictures
in the textbook. She shows Ss a chart and explain s what an advertisement needs to have.
(selling points, pictures, appeal) . T asks S s to work in pairs and identify the se elements in the
two advertisements and write them in the following chart :
Colashake Crunchies
Selling points
(important characteristics)
Pictures
(lively, jazzy, realistic)
Appeal
(teenagers, adults, both )

INTERACTION : T-Ss, Ss-Ss pair work
METHOD : dialogue
TIMING : 5 minutes
ACTIVITY 6 PRODUCTION GROUP WRITING
AIMS : – to encourage students to work together on a collaborative task
– to improve the students’ writing skills
PROCEDURE : The teacher fosters group work. The students have to create a Snack
adve rtisement. The teach er gives students different snack packs . After finishing the

87
advert isement , they are asked to present it to the class. T gives the most interesting
presentation the best score.
INTERACT ION : T-Ss, Ss -Ss group work
METHOD : writing
TIMING : 10 minutes
ACTIVITY 7 HOMEWORK
AIMS : -to give Ss their home assignment and feedback
-to check if Ss know what they have to do for the next English class
PROCEDURE : Ss have to imagine they are going to set up a snack bar in their school . T
tells them: “Make up a dialogue between you and your schoolmates. Choose f ive kinds of
food and drink to sell. (What's healthy? What's popular? etc.) Decide how much to charge
for the five products . (Is it too expensive, or too cheap?) Decide where to set up t he snack
bar. (Out side or in a classroom? etc.) Decide when it will be open ”.
The teacher rewards the students who were active in the lesson with high marks or verbal
appreciation. The T asks Ss to say which of the activities they enjoyed best.
INTERACTION :T-Ss
TIMING : 3 minutes

88
LESSON PLAN 2

NAME : SARCA -CRISAN RALUCA -DANA
SCHOOL : “OCTAVIAN GOGA” NATIONAL COLLEGE , MARGHITA
DATE : the 31st of March 2017
GRADE : 7th grade C
NUMBER OF STUDENTS : 22
TEXTBOOK : “HIGH FLYER” INTERMEDIATE
LESSON : “Glorious food”
LEVEL : intermediate
TIME OF THE LESSON : 50 minutes
TYPE OF LESSON : MIXED
LESSON AIMS
GENERAL AIMS:
• to arouse the pupils’ interest in the topic of the lesson
• to improve their vocabulary knowledg e
• to develop communication during class
• to check comprehension
• to make students use their previous knowledge
• to stimulate students’ imagination
SPECIFIC AIMS:
By the end of this lesson students will have:
● learned new vocabulary items related to food

89
● expressed preference about food according to facts and opinions
● demonstrated their comprehension of the text
● understood written and oral messages
● practiced the skill of reading, speaking, listening and writing
Personal Aim
– to develop the stu dents’ reading and writing skills
-to encourage students to use the new vocabulary related to food
LANGUAGE SKILLS INVOLVED : all the four skills are going to be used by the students
• Speaking – productive skill
• Reading – receptive skill
• Writing – productive skill
• Listening – receptive skill
MATERIALS : flashcards, handout s, worksheets, textbook, board
TEACHING TECHNIQUES : eliciting, brainstorming, conversation
GROUPING STUDENTS : whole -class teaching
PREDICTED PROBLEMS :
– some students might nee d further help and extra indications in solving the tas ks ;
-some students might feel reluctan t to participate in the activities , so they may need more
encouragement.
ACTIVITY 1: WARM -UP
AIMS : – to prepare the students for the class
– to break the ice
– to identify food items related to snacks

90
– to have students speak for fun
– to activate the Ss’ knowledge of the world and of the language
PROCEDURE :
The teacher greets the students , asks about their mood and makes sure the conditions are
proper to start the lesson. The teacher shows students some snacks flashcards and asks them
to guess which snack belongs to each sentence:
This snack needs an icy place to be kept __________. (ice-cream)
People usually eat this snack when they watch a movie ___ ______ . (popcorn)
This snack is fried and salty _______________. (crisps / chips )
This snack is good for your health ___________ . (fruit /nuts)
They are perfect with a glass of milk ___________. (biscuits)
It is brown, sweet and everybody likes it __ ______. (chocolate)
You use bread to make this snack _______. ( sandwich )
INTERACTION : T-Ss, Ss -T
METHOD : dialogue
TIMING : 5 minutes
ACTIVITY 2: HOMEWORK CHECKING
AIMS : -to review the Ss’ previous knowledge
– to have Ss practise the relative prono uns
PROCEDURE : the teacher elicits the homework. The students had to solve exercise 5, page
51 from the textbook.

91
HOMEWORK
Fill in the blanks with who, which, where or whose:
1. The people _______emigrated to America in the early part of the twentieth cen tury
used to arrive at Ellis Island by boat.
2. Long Island is the place_____ David spends the weekends.
3. Maria is a girl _______writes for the Children’s Express.
4. “Salsa” is a type of music _____ originated in New York.
5. David is a boy _________ gr andparents came from Germany.

INTERACTION : T-Ss, Ss -T
TIMING : 5 minutes

ACTIVITY 3 LEAD – IN
AIMS: -to introduce new vocabulary
-to be able to use the adjectives describing food properly
– to be able to complete the diagram
PROCEDURE: The students are handed a handout. The teacher tells them that t he following
adjectives can all be used to describe food or drink. The Ss have to w rite the names of at least
two foods or drinks from the box below next to the adjectives which could describ e them.
You can use the words in the box more than once.
honey cri sps tomato chilli coffee
sausages ora nge cola p izza chocolate
milk biscuits lem on peppers lemonade
ice-cream

1. sour__________________
2. sweet_________________
3. spicy_________________
4. salty____ _____________

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5. bitter_________________
6. juicy_________________
7. fizzy_________________
8. crunchy______________
9. fattening_____________
10. tasty________________
The teacher elicits answers from the students. Then she asks them to complete the diagram in
their hando ut with the adjectives from the previous exercise. The teacher writes on the
white board some new words related to food: “soft”, “appetizing”, “filling”, “sour”,
“scrumptious”. The teacher explains and translates into Romanian the unknown words. The
student s are asked to write their Romanian meaning in their notebooks and then to put the
new words in the correct place in the diagram. Soft=texture; filling= factual description,
sour=tastes; scrumptious=opinion

TASTE

FACTUAL
DESCRIPTION

OPINION

TEXTURE FOOD
delicious
sweet
healthy
crunchy

93

INTERACTION : T-Ss, Ss -T
METHOD : explanation, fill in
TIMING : 10 minutes
ACTIVITY 4 TEACHING/REVISING VOCABULARY ITEMS
AIMS: -to develop Ss’ reading skills and to monitor understanding of the two advertisements
– to consolidate information
PROCEDURE: The teacher asks Ss to read the sub -skills paragraph. T. tries to elicit some
words that might be found in advertisements, from both the ‘fact’ and ‘opinion’ category.
T asks S to read the se ntences from exercise 5 page 54 . T reads the first sentence, which is
given as an example: “An apple is a fruit. Apples are often juicy and s weet. They can be red,
yellow or green.” (Fact) T elicits the idea that all the statements here are facts – they can be
checked scientifically, or as matters of statistic.
S work individually and decide whether the remaining sentences are facts or opinions . T goes
through and discusses the answers .
Answers:
2- Opinion
I think apples are a better snack than crisps.
3- Opinion
Chocolate is the most disgusting snack ever invented.
4-Fact
Chocolate is made of cocoa beans and milk.
5- Fact
Crisps are thin sli ces of potato fried in oil.

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6 -Opinion.
Crisps are not as nice as sweets.
T asks S s to read the two advertisements and look for adjectives. After finding them S s must
decide what kind of adjectives are. T elicits some adjectives from the advertisement ( eg .
delicious, natural) and gets Ss to say whether they are adjectives of opinion or of fact. Ss
continue the task writing down the adjectives for each category.
Answers
Adjectives of opinion
Advertisement 1: delicious, scrumptious, better, coolest
Advertis ement 2: natural, appetizing, finest, tastier, better
Adjectives of fact
Advertisement 1 : fizzier, healthy
Advertisement 2: golden, freshest, fattening
INTERACTION : T-Ss, Ss -T
METHOD : fill in
TIMING : 15 minutes
ACTIVITY 5 PRACTICE
AIMS : – to promote global reading for meaning
– to consolidate information
PROCEDURE : The teacher asks students to answer the questions from exercise 7, page 55:
1. Why is the drink in the first advertisement called Colashake?
2. Which is fizzier, Colashake or Cola?
3. Which is a healthier drink?
4. Can you find fresher potatoes than those used to make Crunchies?
5. Which are less fattening, ordinary crisps or Crunchies?

95
6. Why do you think Crunchies are call ed the “natural choice”?
Students read the comprehension questions and scan the advertisements to find answers.
They write down the answers, work individually. The T goes through the answers with
the whole class.
1. Because it combines the taste of Cola with the taste and texture of a milkshake.
2. Colashake is fizzier.
3. Colashake is a healt hy drink.
4. No, you can’t. “Crunchies” potatoes are the freshest in the land.
5. Crunchies are less fattening.
6. Because they have no additives , they are closer to foods in their natural state.
INTERACTION : T-Ss, Ss -T
METHOD : scanning, writing
TIMING : 10 minutes
ACTIVITY 6 HOMEWORK
AIMS : -to give Ss their home assignment and feedback
-to check if Ss know what they have to do for the next English class
PROCEDURE : The students have to create a Snack advertisement. : The teacher asks Ss
to read the adver tisements again and look at the pictures in the textbook. She explains
them what an advertisement needs to have (selling points, pictures, appeal) .
The teacher rewards the students who were active in the lesson with high marks or verbal
appreciation. The T asks Ss to say which of the activities they enjoyed best.
INTERACTION :T-Ss
TIMING : 5 minutes

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LESSON PLAN 3
NAME : SARCA -CRISAN RALUCA -DANA
SCHOOL: “OCTAVIAN GOGA” NATIONAL COLLEGE, MARGHITA
DATE : the 8th of May 2017
GRADE : 7th grade A
NUMBER OF STUDEN TS: 28
TEXTBOOK : “HIGH FLYER” INTERMEDIATE
LESSON : “Holiday Countdown”
LEVEL : intermediate
TIME OF THE LESSON : 50 minutes
TYPE OF LESSON : MIXED
LESSON AIMS
GENERAL AIMS :
• to arouse the pupils’ interest in the topic of the lesson
• to improve their vocabul ary knowledge
• to develop communication during class
• to check comprehension
• to make students use their previous knowledge
• to stimulate students’ imagination
SPECIFIC AIMS :
By the end of this lesson students will have:
● learned new vocabulary items related to holidays, vacations
● demonstrated their comprehension of the text

97
● understood written and oral messages
● practiced the skill of reading, speaking, listening and writing
Personal Aim
-to make them understand and remember the new words /expressions
-to promote and motivate discussion
LANGUAGE SKILLS INVOLVED : all the four skills are going to be used by the students
• Speaking – productive skill
• Reading – receptive skill
• Writing – productive skill
• Listen ing- receptive skill
MATERIALS : flashcards, handouts , worksheets, textbook, board , CD player
TEACHING TECHNIQUES : eliciting, brainstorming, conversation
GROUPING STUDENTS : whole -class teaching
PREDICTED PROBLEMS : The Ss may not be familiar with some new w ords mentioned
in the lesson; lack of imagination, some difficulties in expressing orally.
ACTIVITY 1: WARM -UP
AIMS : – to prepare the students for the class
– to break the ice
– to activate the students’ knowledge of the word and of the language
– to prom ote and motivate discussion
– to revise vocabulary items
PROCEDURE : The teacher greets the students, asks about absentees and makes sure the
conditions are proper to start the lesson. She suggests playing a game. She b reaks the class
into 2 teams and f ills a hat with a bunch of vocab cut -outs listing jo bs, animals, verbs,

98
adjectives. The teacher draws a word from the hat and performs it. Students from each team
take turns guessing the word . Each team has 1 0 seconds to guess it.
INTERACTION : T-Ss, Ss-T
METHOD : playing a game
TIMING : 8 minutes
ACTIVITY 2: HOMEWORK CHECKING
AIMS : -to review the Ss’ previous knowledge
– to be able to make comparisons
PROCEDURE : The teacher elicits the homework. The students had to solve exercise 1, page
35 fr om their workbook. They had to give their opinions ab out the following pairs of food
and drink as in the example.
Example: 1 Chocolate is the most delicious.
1. chocolate/coffee/delicious
2. Cola/lemonade/sweet
3. sausages/pizza/scrumptious
4. milk/coff ee/filling
5. honey/ice -cream/healthy
6. biscuits/crisps/appetising
7. crisps/biscuits/crunchy
INTERACTION : T-Ss, Ss -T
TIMING : 5 minutes
ACTIVITY 3 LEAD – IN
AIMS : -to revise holiday vocabulary items
-to introduce topic and raise expectations

99
– to increase Ss’ anticipation skills
PROCEDURE : The teacher draws a picture of a suitcase on the board and ask s “What do
you put in your suitcase when you go on holiday?” The students have to imagine they are
going on a holiday soon. They have to make a list and brainstorm things that they pack on the
board. They repeat the words in order to memorize the vocabulary list.
INTERACTION : T-Ss, Ss -T
METHOD : dialogue , brainstorming
TIMING : 5 minutes
ACTIVITY 4
AIM S: – to facilitate reading
– to promote global reading for meaning
-to introduce new vocabulary
PROCEDURE :
The teacher asks stu dents to open the book at page 58 and to read the text silently . They skim
it for the unknown words (“souvenir”, “traffic jam”, “excitement”, “brillia nt”, “Think Big!”) .
The teacher explains all the new words and expressions and translates them into Romanian.
The students write their Romanian meaning in their notebooks . The teacher tells them to tick
the sentences in their list that match the tips in th e text.
INTERACTION : T-Ss, Ss -T
METHOD : skimming
TIMING : 10 minutes
ACTIVITY 4 VOCABULARY PRACTICE
AIMS: – to develop reading skills
– to promote global reading for meaning
PROCEDURE : The teacher asks students to answer the questions from exercise 3 page 58:

100
a) Why is it a good idea to
1. take photos on your holiday?
2. avoid the sun between midday and three o’clock?
3. check the house the day before you leave?
b) Name eight steps to planning a great holiday.
c) What does the author mean by these phrases?
1. Think Big!
2. Two hea ds are better than one!
3. (Souvenirs) will bring some sunshine to the cold, dark months ahead.
4. A smile is the best passport to a mega holiday.
Students look at the questions for themselves, then read the text and write down
answers, working individually. Students check their answers with the teacher .
INTERACTION : T-Ss, Ss -T
METHOD : scanning
TIMING : 10 minutes
ACTIVITY 5
PROCEDURE : The teacher asks students to listen to a happy summer song twice , a classic
by Boney M. and fill in the missing words from the b ox:
high side
there know
hide fair
near-by go
loop swoop
fair there
do you

Digge ding ding ding digge digge ding ding
Hey – di – hey – di – hoh
Digge ding ding ding digge digge ding ding

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Hey – di – hey – di – hoh

There's a place I ___________where we should ________ – hey-di-hey-di-hoh
Won’t you _________me there your lady _______ –
There's a brook ________the grass grows _________ –
Where we both can ________ side by side –

Hooray! Hooray ! It's A Holi -Holiday
What a world of fun for everyone, holi -holiday
Hooray! Hooray! It's A Holi -Holiday
Sing a summer song, skip along, holi -holiday
It's a holi -holiday

There's a country _____ not far from ______ – hey-di-hey-di-hoh
On a carousel the din gdong bell – hey-di-hey-di-hoh
On the loop ______ we swing and _____ – hey-di-hey-di-hoh
And what else we'll _____ is up to ______ – hey-di-hey-di-hoh

INTERACTION : T-Ss, Ss -T
METHOD : listening, fill in
TIMING : 9 minutes
ACTIVITY 6 HOMEWORK
AIMS : -to give Ss their home assignment and feedback

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-to check if Ss know what they have to do for the next English class
PROCEDURE : The students have to imagine that they are going on their dream holiday
destination. They have to write in their composition the means of transport they would use,
the places they would visit, the things they would take with them, the activities they would
perform there etc.
Students and teacher remember the points taught and the homework is assigned by the
teacher. The teacher praises the students to enhance their resilience and learning.
INTERACTION : T-Ss
METHOD : dialogue
TIMING : 3 minutes

LESSON PLAN 4

NAME : SARCA -CRISAN RALUCA -DANA
SCHOOL : “OCTAVIAN GOGA” NATIONAL COLLEGE, MARGHITA
DATE : the 8th of May 2017
GRADE : 7th grade C
NUMBER OF STUDENTS : 22
TEXTBOOK : “HIGH FLYER” INTERMEDIATE
LESSON : “Holiday Countdown ”
LEVEL : intermediate
TIME OF THE LESSON : 50 minutes
TYPE OF LESSON : MIXED
LESSON AIMS

103
GENERAL AIMS :
• to arouse the pupils’ interest in the topic of the lesson
• to improve their vocabulary knowledge
• to develop communication during class
• to check comprehension
• to make students use their previous knowledge
• to stimulate students’ imagination
SPECIFIC AIMS :
By the end of this lesson students will have:
● learned new vocabulary items related to holidays, vacations
● demonstrated their comprehension of the text
● understood written and oral messages
● worked in groups to simulate real -life situations
● practiced the skill of reading, speaking, listening an d writing
Personal Aim
-to reduce teacher language in whole class activities and provide more learner interaction.
-to promote and motivate discussion
LANGUAGE SKILLS INVOLVED : all the four skills are going to be used by the students
• Speaking – producti ve skill
• Reading – receptive skill
• Writing – productive skill
• Listening – receptive skill
MATERIALS : flashcards, handout s, worksheets, textbook, board

104
TEACHING TECHNIQUES : eliciting, brainstorming, conversation , CD player
GROUPING STUDENTS : whol e-class teaching, pair work, group work
PREDICTED PROBLEMS : The use of mother tongue in workgroup, lack of imagination,
some difficulties in expressing orally.
ACTIVITY 1: WARM -UP
AIMS: – to prepare the students for the class
– to break the ice
– to activa te the students’ knowledge of the word and of the language
– to promote and motivate discussion
PROCEDURE : The teacher greets the students, asks about absentees and makes sure the
conditions are proper to start the lesson. The teacher suggests playing a g ame called “ World
Traveller ”. She starts it by asking a question “If you could travel anywhere, where would you
go?” . The teacher e licits different countries from students and write s them all on the board.
Once she has listed a bunch of countries on the b oard, she break s the class into 5 teams. The
T has a list of historical landmarks and their corresponding countries prepared in advance
(Eiffel Tower: France, Pyramids: Egypt, Statue of Liberty: U.S.A., The Leaning Tower of
Pisa: Italy, The Taj Mahal : Indi a, The Great Wall : China etc.) She a sk the class, “Where can I
visit the… ?” The team that gives the right answers wins. T announces the title and the
objectives of the lesson .
INTERACTION : T-Ss, Ss-Ss, Ss-T
METHOD : dialogue
TIMING : 5 minutes
ACTIVITY 2: H OMEWORK CHECKING
AIMS : -to review the Ss’ previous knowledge
– to be able to make comparisons

105
PROCEDURE : The teacher elicits the homework. The students had to solve exercise 1, page
35 from their work book. They had to give their opinions ab out th e following pairs of food
and drink as in the example.
Example: 1 Chocolate is the most delic ious.
1. chocolate/coffee/delicious
2. Cola /lemonade/sweet
3. sausages/pizza/scr umptious
4. milk/coff ee/filling
5. honey/ice -cream/healthy
6. biscuits/crisps/appetisin g
7. crisps/bi scuits/crunchy
INTERACTION : T-Ss, Ss -T
TIMING : 5 minutes
ACTIVITY 3 LEAD – IN
AIMS : -to revise holiday vocabulary items
-to introduce topic and raise expectations
PROCEDURE:
The teacher draws a spider map on the white board and writes the phrase “My summer
holiday” in the middle of it. Then, she elicits words related to means of transportation (car,
plane, train, bike, ship, bus, hot air balloon etc.) , accommodation (hotel, tent, cabin, caravan ,
pension etc.), places to go (seaside, mountains, vi llage, forest, camp, beach etc.) , activities to
perform (planning, making a list, packing, go sightseeing, riding, sun bathing, swimming,
surfing, hiking, climbing, grilling, taking photos, bungee jumping etc.) . The students ,
working in pairs, brainstorm t he words, write them on the board and then in their notebooks.

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INTERACTION : T-Ss, Ss -Ss, Ss -T
METHOD : brainstorming
TIMING : 10 minutes

ACTIVITY 4 VOCABULARY PRACTICE
AIMS : -to practise travel related vocabulary
PROCEDURE : The teacher hands out the following worksheet. The students have to
complete the sentences using the words given in the box. Ss are given a time of 4 minutes to
complete the task. When the time is up the T goes through the answers with the whole class.
flight tour package ride sightseeing
My summer
holiday
Travelling
by
Accommodation
Places to
go
Activities

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1. I nearly missed my __________. The bus to the airport was late.
2. I went for a ___________ on a horse when I was in Spain.
3. The hotel and tickets were all included in the __ ______ .
4. The __ _________ of Egypt was wonderful, we sow the Pyramids and the River Nile,
5. I'm glad we took our cameras on holiday. We did a lot of _________.
INTERACTION : T-Ss, Ss -T
METHOD : fill in
TIMING : 6 minutes
ACTIVITY 5
AIMS : – to enable students to develop listening comprehension skills
-to promote listening for specific information
PROCEDURE : The teacher tells the students that they are going to listen to four young
peopl e talking about holidays. As they listen, they have to match the speakers 1 -4 to the
statements a -e. There is one statement they do not need. The Ss work in pairs.
a. He/She has always en joyed going to different places. ________
b. He/She has always been afraid of flying.________
c. He/She al ways goes on holiday with his/her parents. ________
d. He/She doesn't like spending too much money on a holiday. __ _____
e. He/She likes dancing and having a good time. __ _______
INTERACTION : T-Ss, Ss -Ss, Ss -T
METHOD : listening
TIMING : 5 minutes
ACTIVITY 6 ROLE -PLAY
AIMS : – to motivate the students to interact and exchange ideas
– to practise the revised vocabulary in context
– to simulate real -life situations
– to develop speaking and communicative skills

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PROCEDURE : The teacher divides the class into groups of three . One st udent is a travel
agent, and the other two friends want to book a holiday . They have to act out the
conversation, using the following phrases:
• I'd like to book …
• Certainly, when would you .,. ?
• I'm afraid that's not ava ilable, but you could …
• I’d rather…
• I don’t mind…
• I was wondering if ?
• We could…..
• Could you tell me ?
• Tha t will cost …
• Can I pay by . ?
The T acts with a student as a model.
METHOD : role-play
TIMING : 14 minutes
ACTIVITY 7 HOMEWORK
AIMS : -to give Ss their hom e assignment and feedback
-to check if Ss know what they have to do for the next English class
– to revise Paste Tense Simple
PROCEDURE : Ss have to write about t he activities that some families performed on their
vacation. There i s an example:
1. The Bush family
Paris / expensive hotel / museums / old books / champagne / river

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The Bush family went to Paris for their summer vacation. They stayed in an expensive hotel.
They visited some museums in Paris and bought some old books. The y drank lots of
champagne and walked every day by the river.
2. The Smith family
New York / Hard Rock Cafe / Central Park / expensiv e shoes / hot dog / yellow taxi
3. The James family
Buenos Aires / cheap hotel / s teak / red wine / tango / parks
4. The Ada ms family
Cairo / apartment / Nile / pyram ids / lots of postcards / camel
5. The Johnson family
Helsinki / small hotel / snow / skating / reindeer / sauna / shopping / hot wine
The teacher rewards the students who were active in the lesson with high marks or verbal
appreciation. The T asks Ss to say which of the activities they enjoyed best.
INTERACTION :T-Ss
TIMING : 5 minutes

110
5.3 The Research on the Achievement Test Applied to the Students

The aim of the research on the achievement test is to find ou t the effectiveness of the
methods and techniques I have used in the teac hing process in order to increase my students’
vocabulary knowledge . During this school year I have explored traditional and modern
techniques of teaching new vocabulary to see with which method students acquire more and
perform better. I have also made use of various activities and tasks , I have integrated
creativity and diversity into everyday classroom practice to help students understand and
learn new words , but I have also focused on long expla nation, memorizing, translation . I have
directed pair work and group work , but I have also used individual work. I did my best to
involve the learners in their own learning and to make them responsible for their own
vocabulary development.
I designed two achievement tests, one based on the traditional methodology and the
other based on the modern methodology . The tests were applied to the same students
mentioned earlier in my research that is those from 7th A and 7th C. The goal of the tests was
to assess whether the students have acquired the words learned at the end of the semester.

ACHIEVEMENT TEST 1
1. Match these words to their opposites: (1 point )
1. skinny a) poor
2. positive b) similar
3. proud c) negative
4. rich d) tiny
5. different e) well-built
6. enormous f) ashamed
7. awful g) strange
8. un usual h) wonderful
9. capable i) humble

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10. arrogant j) unskilled
2. Circle the odd one out: (1 point)
1. sword poison dagger blade
2. scrumptious delicious appetizing healthy
3. slice meat cereals fruit
4. disapprove of dislike recognize hate
5. excitement expense drama suspense
6. honey calori es additives vitamins
7. spectacular wonderful perfect clarity
8. sweet fried sour bitter
9. bubbles fizzes escapes crackles
10. signature greeting date advice
3. Choose the best answer a, b or c, to com plete the sentences : (1 point )
1. Global warming is causing the Earths’ temperature to _________ .
a) rise b ) grow c ) heighten
2. Yesterday evening it poured with rain, and only _______ people went to the
firework display.
a) little b ) a littl e c) a few
3. I want to travel _________ and see how other people live.
a) away b ) abroad c ) along
4. John said he found learning Latin _________ boring.
a) a part b ) a piece c ) a bit
5. The dog was barking at 3am last night – something must have ________ him.
a) shocked b ) disturbed c ) puzzled
6. Our teacher will be very cross that we’re late – we’d better _______ a good story!
a) make up b ) find out c ) set up
7. I was so tired, I fell asleep ________ the film.
a) until b ) during c ) at
8. Bella is coming round to listen to my new CD _______ half an hour.
a) on b) at c) in
9. Ellie overslept, so she _______ her flight.
a) lost b ) missed c ) dropped
10. Next su mmer we’re going on a ________ of the Scottish Highlands.
a) travel b) ride c) tour

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4. Use the words in brackets to form a new word that fits into the gap : (1 points)
1. You need a lot of __________________ to write a good story . (IMAGINE)
2. There’s a lot of __________________ about that on the internet . (INFORM)
3. The children were very __________________ when the teacher came in . (NOISE)
4. What __________________ is he , Spanish or Italian ? (NATION)
5. Thank you for being so __________________ yesterday . (HELP)
5. Compl ete the gaps with these words : ( 1 point)
▪ swim ▪piсniс ▪сoast ▪sandсasles ▪sail▪ outdoors ▪ padd led ▪ beaсh ▪ windsuгfing
▪shell s
I grеw up on the 1………. in the south west of England . As a famil y, we spent most
of our free time ………….. It was only a short walk from our house to the 3…….. . ln
the summer holidays we spent all day there, taking 4 a ……. …. foг lunch . When we
were very young we made hundre ds of 5……………. , and stuсk paper f lags in them or
deсoгаted them with 6…………. When it wasn't warm enough to 7…………. , we just
took off our shoes and soсks and 8……… up to our knees. My fathe r made his own
boat and we all l eаrnt to 9……… As a teenager, I preferred 10………. I miss the sea
now I l ive in a big сity .
6. Describe your best friend (write about his/her physical appearance and personality ).
Do not use more than 80 words . (2 points )
(3 points extra)
The Achievement Test 1 contains mostly indirect item types which my students are
familiar with. The first exercise is a matching activity in which studen ts had to match the
words to their opposites. The aim was to see if they learnt the words as they had been
instructed . In the second exercise they had to find the odd one out from the given alternatives .
The third exercise is a traditional vocabulary multiple -choice question. The four th one is a
word formation exercise. The students were instructed to fill in blanks with the correct forms
of the words that they were given . It assesses the students’ knowledge of the word forms. The
fifth one is a fill in the blanks exercise in which stu dents had to complete sentences using the
words given; the purpose of this activity wa s to see if they understood the meaning of the
words taught before and whether they knew how to use them in context. I’ve decided to
balance the elements and to include a direct test item, exercise 6. The students had to perform
a short real -life writing task, using the v ocabulary for describing people .

113

General analysis and interpretation considering the marks the students took on the test

The chart below indicates the marks received by the students and the percentages
these marks represent in each interval of values.
The results of the 7th graders A
MARKS 1-
1.99 2-
2.99 3-
3.99 4.-
4.99 5-
5.99 6-6.99 7-7.99 8-8.99 9-9.99 10
NO. OF
STUDENTS – – – – 1 3 6 6 6 6
PERCENTAG E – – – – 3,5% 10,7% 21,4% 21,4% 21,4% 21,4%

The results of the 7th graders A for this achievement test are the following: nobody
got poor marks; 3,5 % of the students received marks between 5 and 5 .99; 10,7 % of the
students received marks between 6 and 6 .99; 21,4 % of the students got marks between 7 and
7.99; 21,4 % of them took quite good marks between 8 and 8.99; 21,4 % of them got marks
between 9 and 9.99 and % of the students received the maximum score. The analysis of high
level students’ tes ts proved that these students did not encounter problems in solving the
exercises. Middle level students proved that they have knowledge about the vocabulary
tested. Low level students did quite well and were able to remember more than basic
vocabulary. By comparing these final results to those to the initial test I can say that the
number o f students who score d very well has increased. All the students’ results show a
change in better.
The results of the 7th graders C
MARKS 1-
1.99 2-
2.99 3-
3.99 4-
4.99 5-
5.99 6-
6.99 7-7.99 8-8.99 9-
9.99 10
NO. OF
STUDENTS – – – 1 2 2 5 6 4 2
PERCENTAGE – – – 4,5% 9% 9% 22,7% 27,2% 18% 9%

114

The results of the 7th graders C for this achievement test are the following: 4,5 % got
poor marks; 9 % of the students received mar ks between 5 and 5.99; 9 % of the students
received marks between 6 and 6.99; 22,7 % of the students got marks between 7 and 7.99;
27,2 % of them took quite good marks between 8 and 8.99; 18 % of them got marks between
9 and 9.99 and 9 % of the stu dents received 10. By comparing these final results to those to
the initi al test one can notice an improvement. The results of this test revealed the fact that
the number of low, middle and high level students increased, compared to initial test .

ACHIEVEMENT T EST 2

1. Translate the following words /expressions into Romanian : 1 point
1. voyage= 6. hassle=
2. frightening= 7. to wound =
3. scrumptious= 8. fizzy=
4. exhibition= 9. motorway=
5. misunderstanding= 10. Think Big! =
2. Translate the following words into English : 1 point
1. plictiseală = 6. busolă =
2. amar= 7. fără viață =
3. apetisant= 8. îngrijorat=
4. primar= 9. a colecț iona=
5. legume crude= 10. îngrozit=
3. Make up sentences with the followin g phrasal verbs : get on well • pick up •work
out • come up agains t • count on • bring up • close down • go without • find out • turn
on 1 point
4. Write the definition of the following words : “rage”, “easy -going”, “poison”,
“impulsive”, “to recognize”. 1 point
5. Translate the following sentences into English : 1 point
1. Îmi pare sincer rău , dar nu e vina mea .

115
2. Sportul este sănă tos deoarece iți dezvoltă mușchii, te face mai puternic ș i mai bine
tonifiat.
3. Doi membrii ai acestei formaț ii faimoase dau un interviu acum.
4. Bunicul muncea cu fratele să u în hambar când a ză rit un extraterestru.
5. Fă-mi o favoare, te rog ! Udă tu plantele î n locul meu!
6. Translate the text into Ro manian : 2 point s
Many of the medical problems people have today are a direct res ult of how the
body has changed. The changes in both the body and lifestyle happen extremely
slowly and will continue as long as mankind exists. Common me dical problems today
concern teeth, bones and weight. Many of these have happened because of
evolutionary changes to the body, not because of bad diet or a lazy lifestyle, as a lot of
people think. (New Matrix -Intermediate Tests)
(3 points extra)
This achievement test is made up of six exercises . I have focused on traditional ways
of assessing vocabulary knowledge. The purpose of the test is that of assessing the
knowledge of the word s or expressio ns learned across the semester . The first two exercises
are based on translation, the students were required to translate the possible new words and
expressions into Romanian and then into English. In the 3rd exercise, the students had to
make up sentences with some phrasal verbs, while in the 4th exercise they were asked to
provide definitions. Number 5 and 6 are also translation exercise s. This time students had to
translate some sente nces from Romanian into English and then a short text from English into
Romanian.
The results of the 7th graders A
MARKS 1-
1.9
9 2-
2.9
9 3-
3.9
9 4-
4.9
9 5-
5.99 6-
6.99 7-
7.99 8-
8.99 9-
9.99 10
NO. OF
STUDENTS – – – – 4 6 6 5 4 3
PERCENTAGE – – – – 14,2
% 21,4
% 21,4
% 17,8
% 14,2
% 10,7
%

116
The results of the 7th graders A for this ac hievement test are the following: there are
no poor marks; 14,2 % of the students received marks between 5 and 5.99; 21,4 % of the
students received marks between 6 and 6.99; 21,4 % of the students got marks between 7 and
7.99; 17,8 % of them took quite good marks between 8 and 8.99; 14,2 % of them got marks
between 9 and 9.99 and only 10,7 % of the students received the maximum score . By
comparing these final results to those to the initial test one c an notice a certain improvement
regarding the average students from this class.

The results of the 7th graders C
MARKS 1-
1.99 2-
2.99 3-
3.99 4-
4.99 5-
5.99 6-6.99 7-7.99 8-
8.99 9-
9.99 10
NO. OF
STUDENTS – – – 2 4 5 5 4 1 1
PERCENTAGE – – – 9% 18% 22,7% 22,7% 18% 4,5% 4,5%

The results of the 7th grader s C for this achievement tes t are the following: only 9 %
of the students got poor marks; 18 % of the students received marks between 5 and 5.99;
22,7 % of the students received marks between 6 and 6.99; 22,7% of the students got marks
between 7 and 7.99 ; 18 % of them took quite good marks between 8 and 8.99; 4,5 % of them
got marks between 9 and 9.99 and only 4,5 % of the students received the maximum score.
The results of this achievement test compared with the results of the initial test show a change
in better of how low and middle level students responded to the tasks of the achievement test .

117
Conclusion of the research on the achievement tests and questionnaire

By means of comparing the results of the initial test with those of both the
achiev ements tests, I have come to the conclusion that there can be discerned an
improvement on the students’ vocabulary knowledge. The analysis of data after comparing
the two achievement tests points out that students respond ed better to modern strategies and
demonstrate d interest and full commitment during activities when using modern strategies .
The students solved better the exercise s from Achievement T est 1 compared to the translation
exercises in Achievement T est 2. From this comparison of score data one can see that the
modern strategies seems to be quite successful . Students retain more when they are actively
involved in the learning process and, as the results of the Achievement Test 1 suggested. But
if students learn passively, most of the classroom inf ormation is forgotten within a short
period of time, while information acquired from active learning is retained for long term
periods. Though no t so motivating for the students , the traditional methodology caused them
to study and produced good results for some of them.
The questionnaire that the students answered to has offered me good suggestions in
relation to their needs and expectations regarding the English class. It was meant to create a
general picture of students’ preferences on learning styles, favourite teaching exercises and
activities etc. It was a very useful tool for my research.
Due to the theoretical research presented in this paper and due to the results of the
questionnaire I have provided my students with various activities aimed at he lping them to
progress and develop their vocabulary. The tests results together with my recordings on their
reading, listening, writing and speaking performance highlight that most students have
managed to increase their vocabulary knowledge.

118
Conclusi ons

Teaching vocabulary has become a challenge to most teachers of English as a foreign
language. Within the last few years, vocabulary has be en considered as an impo rtant aspect in
language learning, just as important as the m ain skills of reading, writ ing, listening, and
speaking. Lexical knowledge is central to communicative competence and a l ack of
vocabulary knowledge is an obstacle to learning. Students need a wide array of language
words to be able to tackle successfully both production and compreh ension activities in
English .
What I have tried to find out in my thesis were the effects of the modern approach on
students’ learning and o n their vocabulary acquisition. In this respect, I have chosen to
compare i t to the traditional approach to discover to which o f them the students respond
better .
I have depicted an overall view of the manners teachers should deal with vocabulary
teaching. I have present ed some activities which I considered to be illustrative for the
methods and techniques in teaching and learning vocabulary and which had a great impact on
students’ vocabulary learning. The feedback of the classroom ac tivities presented in this
paper is a positive one. I have noticed a substantial improving of students’ reading, listening,
speaking and writing skills which have enhanced them with more confidence in
communicating in English. I have also discovered that activities such as rol e-play, interviews,
games , songs, miming and using authentic materials are effective due to the fact that the
stude nts are actively involved and they have the chance to be creative. Teachers may use
various visual stimuli such as pictures, flashcards or realia to stimulate learners’ imagination
and increase their interest. Teaching vocabulary through didac tic technolog y is vital . Students
need to be exposed to the vocabulary over and over and in more than one context if they are
to understand and use the words effortlessly .
I have realized that e xplaining the words one by one and learning words by
memorizing the wordlis t alone is boring, and the learners become discouraged in vocabulary
learning after a while. If English vocabulary is taught in an uninteresting way such as by
drilling, simple repetition and learning lists, then the words are likely to be forgotten. If the
teachers rely too much on the use of translation to convey meaning, students may lose their
enthusiasm in foreign language learning . It seems that the traditional methods can no longer

119
effectively meet the needs of students. They should be approached in a different, modern
way.
These conclusions are also based on the results of the questionnaire which has been
applied to stud ents before starting this study. Their answers have been of great help to me.
Giving feedback on written work is important because students need not only an indication of
what they have done wrong, but also of what they have done well. The results of the two
classes of students at the achievement tests show that most of them have managed to improve
their vocabulary knowledge.
I have c ome to the conclusion that English teacher s should find ways to be in
harmony with the demands for vocabulary of their students according to their needs, level or
learning style . Understan ding what words to teach and in what manne r helped me to better
plan my lessons so that my students could acquire the necessary vocabulary.

120
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Annexes
Annex 1
Initial Assessment Test
School year 2016 -2017
7th grade
First name:
Surname:
Date:
PART I ( 60 points )___
1. Fill in the gaps using the following word s:
sorry, lady, right, wrong, job, curtains, you, complain, boring, o’clock ,
George : We’ve finished the clean ing job.
Tom : Good. You’ve got time to do another _____________.
Mike : But it’s already three ___________________ and it’s so hot!
Tom : It’s for a n old _____________. She wants you to put some _____________.
Mike : Curtains! Very interesting!
Tom : If you go now, you’ll have lots of time. You’ll do it easily in half an hour.
Mike : Why do Gabriel and I always get the _______________ jobs?
Tom : Spike, if you _________________ any more, I’ll give you a really difficult job.
Mike : Thank ____________ very much.
Tom : What’s got into her?
Mrs. Smith : Oh, no…. The dry cleaner has sent me the ______________ curtains!
Mike : I don’t believe it!
Mrs. Smith : I’m __________________ I didn’t check them before you put them up.
George : That’s all ___________________ Mrs. Grant. Don’t worry about it.
(10×2 p=20p)
2. Put the verbs in brackets into the Present Continuous or Present Simple.
1. The boys _________ ________________ (play) tennis in the courtyard every
weekend.
2. My mother ______________________ ____ (work) in the office now.
3. Listen! My baby brother ________________________ (cry).

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4. The students _________ ______________ (not read) the poem at the moment.
5. Joe sometimes ____________________ (drive) to work.
6. Our relatives _______________________ (not go) on holiday every summer.
7. You never ________________________ (drink) coffee.
8. We ____________________________ (swim) in the ocea n now.
9. Many tourists _________ _______________ (visit) London every year.
10. M y grandmother ____________________________ (cook) dinner at the moment .
(10x1p=10p)
3.Underline the correct word.
1 She was so sad/nervous/angry about her interview that she left her purse at home .
2 Mum was depressed/miserable/furious when she saw what a mess we had made in
the kitchen .
3 He was delightful/excited/interested when he found out th at his favourite band was
coming to town .
4 5he is such a(n) expressive/easy -going/delighted person that nothing seems to
annoy her .
5 Everyone was annoyed/irritated/shocked by the sound of the explosion .
(5x2p= 10p)
4.Put the verbs in brackets into the Past Simple:
1. My grandparents _______ (live) in a small village.
2. I ____________ ( buy) a new car yesterday.
3. She _____________ ( not read) that book.
4. They ________________ (see) the same jacket everywhere .
5. _____ you_____ (go) on holiday last year?
(5x2p= 10p)
5.Write questions to the underlined words from the following sentences :
1. I am taking this home for my sister.
2. Mary lives about five miles away.
3. All of us liked the film.
4. She is a very handsome woman.
5. That car is mine .
6. They will get up at 7 o’clock.
7. He goes to the gym twice a week.
8. My dad works in a bank .
9. He left the house to meet his friends .
10. They lost lots of money in that casino.
(10x1p=10p)
PART II (30 points)
Write a letter to your friend Jane telling her about you and your family. Do not use more than
80 words . Start and end yo ur letter in an appropriate way .

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WORKSHEET
Mean s of Transport
Annex 2
1. Put the means of transport into the right column:
van, aeroplane, bicycle, boat, lorry, ship, helicopter, tram, yacht, hot air balloon,
motorboat, school bus, double -decker, parachute, submarine, canoe
BY AIR BY LAND BY SEA

2. Cross out the incorrect word in these sentences:
1. You mustn’t ride/drive a motorbike without a crash helmet.
2. She told him to get in/on the car and fasten his seat belt.
3. Bus fares/tickets are getting more expensive.
4. Trains to the airport travel/run every half hour.
5. The pilot couldn’t fly/drive the plane in such bad weather.
6. Have a look at the train schedule/timetable to find out when the next one arrives.
3. Read and unjumble the words:
1. If your car isn’t working well, this is where you take it f or
repairs…………………………………………………………………………..EGGARA
2. Lots of planes take off from this place…………………………….POTRAIR
3. Ships can shelter in this place where they are protected from winds, waves or
currents…………………………………………………………….RA BHOUR
4. You stay here and wait for your train and after you arrive, this is where you get
off…………………………………………………………………PLORMATF
5. On this road you can drive very fast…………………………….TOWAYMOR
6. An underground passage…………………………………………LENNUT

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4. Are these statements true or false in your experience :
1. Trains are more reliable than buses.
2. Train fares are more expensive than bus fares.
3. Train journeys are more interesting than bus journeys.
4. Railway stations are nicer places than bus stations.
5. You get to the place you are going faster by taxi than by car.

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WORKSHEET
Clothes
Annex 3
1. Finish this sentence with six different item clothes :
I need a pair of

2. Find a logical order for these sentences:
1. He took off his trousers.
2. He put his shoes back on.
3. He tried on the suit.
4. He went into the changing room.
5. He took it off.
6. He paid for the suit.
7. He took off his shoes.
8. He went back to the sales assistant.
9. He put his trousers on again.
3. Match the questions to the answers:
1. What size are you? a)Yes, they are $5 a pair.
2. Do you have this in blue? b) Sorry, we only take cash.
3. Are these on sale? c) Just in red and yellow, I’m afraid.
4. Can I pay with my credit card? d)I’ll bring you a shorter one in a minute
5. Can I try these on? e)Yes. Have you got a matching scarf?
6. Have you got anything cheaper? f)Sure, the fitting rooms are over there.
7. Would you like to buy anything else? g) I’m size 12.
8. Oh, this is too long for me. h)Yes there is. May I see your student ID?

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9. Is there a discount for students? i) Of course. Is this blue ribbon ok?
10. Could I help wrap it up, please? j) This pair looks almost the same, but it’s only
$7.
4. Describ e what people are wearing :

5. Write down:
1. a list of clothes you like and don’t like wearing.
2. five more items of clothing you have at home in your wardrobe.

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DECLARAȚIE DE AUTENTICITATE
A AUTORULUI
LUCRĂ RII METODICO -ȘTIINTIFICE PENTRU
ACORDAREA GR ADULUI DIDACTIC I

Titlul lucrării : MODERN TECHNIQUES IN TEACHING VOCABULARY TO EFL
CLASSES

Autorul lucrării : SARCA – CRIȘAN RALUCA – DANA
Instituția de învățământ superior : Universitatea din Oradea
Centrul de perfecționare : Departamentul pentru Pregătire a Personalului Didactic

Prin prezenta, subsemnata declar pe proprie răspundere că această lucrare a fost
elaborate de către mine, fără nici un ajutor neautorizat și că nici o parte a lucrării nu conține
aplicații sau studii de caz publicate de alți autori.
Declar, de asemenea, că în lucrare nu există idei, tabele, grafice, hărți sau alte surse
folosite fără respectarea legii române și a convențiilor international privind drepturile de
autor.

Data predării lucrării Semnăt ura