Vocabulary
Words constitute one of the most vital components of a language. The English language is very rich in its vocabulary. English being a living language, its vocabulary goes on increasing by borrowing, conversion, compounding, clipping, blending, back formation and neologism. Teaching of words and its meanings are very important, concerning language learning. Vocabulary is a list of words. It the knowledge of words and word meanings. Vocabulary can be defined as the sum of words used or understood by a particular person. It can also be defined as the word bank of a person. Vocabulary of a person is different from that of another. Vocabulary knowledge is difficult to be fully mastered. It is expanded and deepened over the course of a life time.
Types of Vocabulary
According to F. G French the whole vocabulary can be divided into three types:
1) The smaller number of words that a person knows and can be used effectively.
2) The relatively large number of words that one understands but does not normally use.
3) The vast number of remaining words in the language that one does not know.
The words of the first category belong to active vocabulary. Active vocabulary (productive) is the list of words one uses in his daily life. He uses these words to express himself. This vocabulary is made up of words that come to his mind when he wants to use them. Thus it is also called expressive vocabulary.
Passive vocabulary (Recognition) is a term used to refer to the words of the second category. It is a list of words which are not used by a person but understood whenever they come across him. It is called receptive or recognizable vocabulary as they are recognizable in spoken or written contexts. This vocabulary will later change into active vocabulary.
The vast majority of words in the language normally will belong to the third category – the unknown or unfamiliar words. Due to use, lack of use or learning new words the number of words in a category may decrease or increase.
Words can also be classified into two broad categories. They are structure words and content words.
Structure words (Function Words)
Structure words are words used to show grammatical relationship with other words within a sentence. They do not have a lexical meaning or have ambiguous meaning. Structure words are also called function words. They are called closed class words because they are not newly created. They are very few in number when compared to the content words.
Each functional word gives some grammatical information on other words in a sentence or clause. They cannot be isolated from other words. The same word is used for a variety of purposes. Prepositions, pronouns, auxiliary verbs, conjunction, determiners, particles and interrogatives are function words. Function words are not usually stressed.
Content Words
Words that have a definite meaning are called content or lexical words. The nouns, verbs, adverbs and adjectives are usually content words.
Selection and grading of vocabulary:
List of principles in the selection of vocabulary.
English is rich language having more than five lack words. It is written possible not desirable to teach all these words. We have naturally to make a selection. We should aim at teaching 2,500 to 3, 000 words during a sox year course.
i) Universality: the words to be selected should be of a universal use, in almost all walks of life
ii) Frequency: the words which are most frequency used in peach and writing are the best words for the pupils to acquire first.
iii) Structural Value:
a. Words which help in forming sentence but linking content in a word should be thought early in the course. Al the structural words. That is essential for making basic sentence structural is being taught earlier.
iv) Utility: The words should be useful for the learner and should not be above his mental level.
v)Validity:words of current usage are included under this head. Out of date words would hence be rejected.
vi) Popularity: words used in speech. News and those which are very popular should be included.
vii) Regionality: Some words are very important in a particular redefine. While other regions do not require them. A regional usage would be an important guiding principle.
vii)Productivity: Such words, which produce more words, with prefixes and suffixes, like harm, harmful, harmless, and read, cared, readable etc., should be selected.
ix )Applicability:words which can be used in various situations should be selected.
x) Suitability:‘easy to memorize, ready to spell and easy to utter’. Such should have a priority.
xi) Teach ability: words which are easily demons ratable and teachable should have a high priority with the teacher.
xii) Simplicity: words which are simple appear before those which are different in pronunciation, spelling and meaning.
Techniques of Vocabulary Expansion
Teacher can use various techniques to expand pupil’s vocabulary. Some such techniques are as follows:
1. Wide Reading
The best way for speedier vocabulary expansion is extended reading i.e. reading library books, newspapers and journals of the standard conforming to the student’s level. Introducing students to simple speeches, radio broadcasts and telecast will certainly help them for vocabulary expansion. They can almost rightly guess the meanings of new words in such contexts.
2. Word Games
To enrich the student’s vocabulary a number of interesting activities like word games can be given to them:
i) The teacher gives a base and the students derive new words by prefixation and suffixation. For e.g. from the word- sense, sensible, sensibility, insensible, insensibility, sensitive, sensation, sensational etc.
ii) Students can be asked to give words appropriate to the size of a phenomenon, for example pond, pool, lake, sea, ocean etc.
iii) The students may be asked to make lists of various kinds of flowers, vegetables, animals, birds etc.
iv) Ask the students to find out the names of parts of a flower, a bicycle etc.
v)Ask the students to find out synonyms and antonyms of given words.
vi) The ‘odd one out’ exercise will promote vocabulary expression.
Along with these activities certain word games can be given to students:
1. Charades
A student looks at a piece of paper with a word or title written on it, not to be seen by others. He makes gestures or actions to give clues to others who are to guess the word or title.
2. Pictionary
Pictionary is a game similar to charades with a difference. In Pictionary pictures are used. The student, who has a secret picture card with him, begins to draw it on the blackboard. Within a few seconds (say 30 seconds) the others are to predict what it is.
3. Synonym and Antonym Cards
In this game, cards with two words which are synonyms and cards with two words which are antonyms are prepared. The player looking at a card speaks one word; the other players are to give its synonym or antonym as the case may be.
4. ‘Just a Minute’
In this game a student speaks for 60 seconds exactly, trying to define a word or title without hesitation or repetition. The other students listen as judges. If the speaker speaks according to the rule, he wins the game.
5. Word Bingo
The students draw a square divided into 9 or 16 small squares. They are asked to write terms connected with games. Then the teacher says 9 or 16 terms connected with games. Each time if the teacher’s term occurs in a square that term is marked with a cross(X). Thus the student whose all terms or maximum terms are crossed wins.
6. Cross Word Puzzles
Cross word puzzles can be of varying difficulty levels. So this should be framed from simple to complicated ones according to the level of the students. Filling out the empty boxes according to the rules is not easy. It requires time, a lot of thinking and reference.
3. Semantic Mapping
Semantic mapping is a strategy for graphically representing concepts. It can be used in all disciplines to demonstrate the relationships between ideas. It is also seen as a visual strategy for vocabulary expansion. It helps students to discover relationships among words. It builds on prior knowledge and is an active form of learning.
Steps involved
1. Write the concept on the board.
2. Ask students to think as many words as they can for the concept word.
3. Write the list on the board.
4. Ask the students to copy that list.
5. Ask the students to put the words into categories.
4. Vocabulary Bank
A vocabulary bank is a collection of new words and phrases that the learner or class builds up as they learn. Learners may carry a collection of small cards with them. Each card has a word on it, with a definition and an example. Vocabulary bank can be kept as a class resource in the form of wall charts and recorded in a permanent area on the blackboard during a series of classes.
SPELLING
One of the several criticisms leveled against English has been related to its chaotic character of spelling. There has been a general tendency among people to support the ideal of concord between sound and character. The difficulty of discord between English sound and spelling will be clear from just one of numerous examples. The following spellings for the sound denoted by ‘sh’ can be identified easily in words: shoe, mansion, mission, nation, suspicion. The letter ‘a’ is pronounced in nearly a dozen different ways in words. One cannot say for certain how to spell an unfamiliar word from its spelling.
Difficulties in Teaching Spelling
One of the main difficulties in learning spelling is due to irregularities in spelling: there are only 26 alphabets to represent 44 sounds in RP. The vowel letter ‘a’ is pronounced in about a dozen different ways. In accept, after, all, ally, age, village, fare etc. the sounds of ‘a’ are different.In the same way the vowel letter ‘e’ is pronounced in the words never, economy, debut, eve, clerk etc. in different ways. Moreover on derivation (affixation) also spelling and pronunciation changes take place.
For example rely +ed relied
Book +ed booked /bukt/
Want + ed wanted /wɔ:ntId/
Some common Rules of Spelling
i. When a suffix beginning with a vowel letter is added to a word ending in a silent ‘e’, the ‘e’ is dropped.
Examples: behave + iour behaviour
Arrive+ al arrival
Advise + ing advising
Exceptions: See + ing seeing, agree+ ing agreeing, sale + able saleable
ii. The silent ‘e’ in words ending in ‘ce’ and ‘ge’ is omitted when a suffix beginning with ‘e’ or ‘i’ is added to them.
Examples: Conduce+ ive conducive
Charge + ing Charging
The silent ‘e’ is retained when the suffices begin with other than ‘e’ or ‘i’
Examples: Service + able Serviceable
Courage + ous courageous
iii. In monosyllabic words ending in a consonant and preceded by a single vowel letter, the consonant is doubled if the suffix begins with a vowel.
Examples: Put + ing putting
Set + er setter
Run+er runner
Hot +est hottest
iv. If the words have two syllables and the stress is on the second, such words come under Rule (iii) above.
Examples: permit + ed permitted
Begin +ing beginning
Control + er controller
Occur + ance occurance
v. If a word ends in a consonant preceded by two vowel letters and if a word ends in a cluster of two consonant letters, the consonant doesnot double on suffixation.
Examples: feed + ing feeding
Wood + en wooden
Mould + ed moulded
vi. Mono syllabic nouns/ verbs containing one vowel letter does not end with the following single consonants s, f,l,z.
Examples hiss, stuff, bull buzz.
vii. Monosyllabic words with one vowel letter does not end in ‘c’ but in consonant cluster ‘ck’.
Vocabulary learning and spelling learning are interrelated. Teachers can adopt effective methods that help the students to learn both vocabulary and spelling. Vocabulary learning is very important as it develops power of communication, Improves speed of reading, facilitates quick reading comprehension and facilitates precise thinking. Spelling is a case of visual, auditory and motor memory. Spelling learning is very important as the mistake in spelling may change the meaning of word.
Reference
English Language Education- Dr.K Shivarajan
Effective Teaching of English- K. Jammaludeen
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