JOIN USWords! Words! Words! I’m so sick of words!” says Eliza Doolittle in My Fair Lady, a musical based on George Bernard Shaw’s Pygmalion. What are these words which are so troubling to an illiterate flower girl? And to our students? Are words a problem at all? Do our students have an excess of them in their repertoire of English or are they upset because they don’t have many? Why is it that the demand for spoken English outdoes the demand for better writing or reading in English? Grammar and vocabulary are the first two stepping stones in the acquisition of any language and while we have numerous aids to teach grammar, I wonder how vocabulary is taught in our schools and colleges today?
Sources of study
Usually, students get to learn new words and their meaning from the word lists given at the end of a lesson in the English textbook. While some teachers allow dictionary use in class, a few students go to the library to find out the meaning. But can vocabulary study or teaching it be made more meaningful and have high returns? At the primary level, vocabulary is acquired with pictures and songs and association of meaning with use. For the young, everything is new and they are quick to link names and objects.
Wall charts, songs and videos are all great sources of vocabulary and many children know their alphabets and numbers even before they join pre-school. But what happens next? The great reading and writing requirements at higher levels create great stress on students who study to pass.
Suddenly, the focus is on increasing knowledge that helps one understand a subject, and there is no time to help with increasing language skills for expression of meaning.
Who is to help? All subject teachers feel that it is the duty of the English teachers who in turn have no time for all this as they have portions to finish. It is often thought that English teachers with literature degrees who should be more sensitive to the use of vocabulary always avoid teaching what is regarded as ELT or English language teaching though words are what make literature so significant anyway! Ultimately the study and teaching of vocabulary take a backseat and students flounder with language use in real life.
Better learning of words
Teachers may be aware about a word list that exists for beginners called Ogden’s Basic English, a 850-word list used as the beginner’s guide to English vocabulary by Charles Kay Ogden. This can be used to teach students new words and learn their meanings. Today, we have an online Advanced Word List (AWL) for professional courses. With the advent of English for specific purposes we also have detailed subject specific lists for subjects like Engineering. But we must keep in mind that Word Lists (WLs) are mere tools. How then do we improve our teaching of
vocabulary? Here are a few ways:
Start by teaching students affixation of words. This helps them to guess meaning without turning to a dictionary each time. Sensitise them to the denotation, connotation and collocation of words, that is, what is the literal meaning of a word? What is it’s associated meaning? How does it blend with other words in the text?
If using a list , advise students to go through the list carefully and cross out the words they know already. Then, ask them to calculate how many words that they need to learn now. Plan to teach 50 words per week and ask them to keep a separate lexicon for themselves. This is an input from teachers and not necessarily to be tested. Students need to enjoy this learning process.
Class time constraints and grading can be solved by assigning group work and homework such as keeping portfolios or hosting workshops.
Help them to create a list of such verbs and use them in their written tasks. Finally, ask students for feedback during the year and at the end of the year, and act on their responses. Collaborate with subject teachers when creating lists. Each subject uses some words differently.