Ways to support EFL learners to extend their vocabulary

尤麗萍

一、The current vocabulary teaching in China

If language structures make up the skeleton of language， them it is vocabulary that provides the vital organs and the flesh. （Harmer， 1993，p153） But in English teaching in China， the vocabulary teaching hasnt got its right position. It is often regarded as the preparation of the text teaching. And the most common way of teaching vocabulary is to read， spell， copy and dictate the words. So most of the Chinese students think it the most difficult to master the vocabulary in English learning. Words have a habit of changing their meaning from one context to another （Labov， 1973）. Therefore vocabulary should be learned through context.

二、Ways to extend students vocabulary

1.Vocabulary and phonics

Vocabulary cannot only be taught by individual words， but its important to pronounce every word correctly at the beginning. By learning and applying the generalizations of letter-sound correspondence， children can expand their reading vocabularies. （Dale D. Johnson， et al， 1984，p113） Here are some examples：

⑴After learning some words like ‘bag， cat， black， stand （Book1）， students grasp the pronunciation of the letter a in stressed closed syllable. Thereafter students can easily read out the new words ‘flag， fat， hand， ran in Book 2.

⑵ Another example is to group words by comparing their pronunciation and spelling. Such as ‘ high， light， night and ‘ know， throw， grow.

⑶Introduce certain words taking account into the meaning， spelling and pronunciation. In Book 2， students learn some nouns about weather， （sun， rain， windy， ect.） then the teacher could offer a short passage or dialogue putting in these words： sunny， rainy， windy， snowy， cloudy and ask the students to guess the meanings of them.

⑷ Quiz： T： What numbers have an [i： n] sound？

S： They are thirteen， fourteen， fifteen， ---

T： What numbers have the sound [ ti ] in the end？

S： They are twenty， thirty， forty， fifty， ---

2.Vocabulary and semantic relationships

In order to help students to achieve meaningful vocabulary development， we should deal with at least five components of vocabulary development： synonyms， antonyms， polysemy， homophones and metaphor. （Harmer，2003， pp18-20 ） I think its really useful for Chinese students because we learn Chinese vocabulary in the same way. But one thing I want to emphasize is that activities about these are more suitable for students in high level.

⑴Synonyms：

For example， junior students in China know ‘film， cinema， movie are nearly the same. But the teacher should teach the students more about the following： the formal way （go to see a film）， American English （go to the movie）， British English （go to the cinema）. Sometimes I ask the students to rank synonyms： big， huge， monstrous， gigantic， large/ afraid， panicky， terrified， scared， frightened. （Dale D. Johnson et al.， 1984， p22）

⑵Antonyms：

There are several kinds of antonyms： complementary， gradable， or relational opposites. （Victoria Fromkin， et al，） Usually giving examples can make it easier for students to distinguish them. For example， always-usually-often-sometimes-occasionally-seldom-never （gradable）

⑶Polysemy：

I think this may be the most difficult one for students to grasp even for those native speakers because numerous words in English have more than one meaning. I find a very interesting narf game in Dale D. Johnsons book that provides enjoyment as well as a good learning experience for students.

*A stuffed narf is the kind of animal you would like for a pet.

*That pear tree should narf fruit this year.

*I cant narf to stay alone. （narf=bear）（Dale， 1984，p30）

Students begin with sentence one and try to solve it and then they can turn to the dictionary.

⑷Homophony：

We should alter our students about these because they are easy to be confused. In junior English， two kinds often appear： with the same spelling （close） and with different spelling （whole， hole）.

⑸Metaphor：

There are few examples of metaphor in junior English. One typical is ‘How times flies！ So far I havent done much work on metaphor.

3.Semantic mapping

Semantic mapping is a very interesting and useful way I often use to expand the students vocabulary. Semantic maps display concepts in categories and indicate how words are related to one another or how they go together. （Dale D. Johnson， et al， 1984，p37） In this way， students learn new words from the old. I use this either in introducing new words or reviewing the words they have already learned.

4.Vocabulary and dictionary

Another good teacher for students is the dictionary. Helping students form a habit of using dictionaries will be definitely good for them to developing vocabulary

5.Vocabulary and reading

Many linguists believe reading is an active way of expanding students vocabulary. Therefore， I always ask my students to read more and keep notes when they are reading. Students who are doing so tell me it does help them a lot with the vocabulary and even add their interest in learning English.

To sum up， teachers should plan carefully in vocabulary teaching and help the students to form a good habit of learning vocabulary at the beginning.

References：

[1]Harmer， J， 1993， The Practice of English Language Teaching， New Edition， Longman， Harlow， Essex.

[2]Harmer， J.2003， The Practice of English Language Teaching， Third Edition， Longman， Harlow， Essex.

[3]Dale D. Johnson， et al， 1984 Teaching Reading Vocabulary， Second Edition， Victoria.