Teaching vocabulary to primary learners

Vocabulary is a vital component of language learning. Creating a context is crucial as we teach and develop vocabulary. How to choose words to teach actively in a lesson?How to select, teach and recycle vocabulary?How to consolidate new words?What strategies to teach your learners? 

At our lessons we constantly integrate new words and we want our learners to remember them and to use in their speech. 

Context helps our learners to see the meaning, to remember words and to understand in what situation to use these words. 

Memorising lists of words does not ensure that learners know and can use them.

How to choose words to teach actively in a lesson?

Before introducing new vocabulary, think about what your learners may need to know about new words. 

What we should consider when planning the vocabulary we want to teach in our lessons?

The vocabulary we teach should be:

• related to personal interests of our learners. Teach that vocabulary that they are likely to use in their L1
• related to the theme of your lesson and the task you are going to set. The words you decide to teach should be those you know learners will need to complete their task – trying to do a task that needs lots of unknown vocabulary can be demotivating.
• Using groups of words that have a connection, such as animals, colours or adjectives, can help memory retention and create a more natural communicative context in which to integrate the words. 

You may also come across incidental vocabulary. Your learners may need some other words that you didn't plan to teach them. If it happens so that your students ask you to translate some words, to clear up their meanings or they need some words to express their idea, do it. But first, consider whether this new vocabulary is for production or for receptive purpose.

You can put these words on board, and at the end of the lesson, ask your learners to remember these words. 

Ways to teach the vocabulary

• Games, for example ‘The hidden picture’. Get a large picture, cover it with a sheet of paper, then slowly start uncovering bits. The children try and guess the word the picture’s showing.If the children still don’t know the word when the whole picture’s revealed, tell them, then practise the pronunciation before moving on to the next picture;

• Begin your lesson by recycling vocabulary; 

Other ideas of how to teach new words.

After the meanings of the words are clarified, we need to check our learners' understanding of them.

To do this we can:

• use visuals;
• show cards;
• mime ;
• use lexical sets;
• use concept-check questions;

Concept-check questions - these are questions that test learners’ understanding. For example, you have just taught the word "living room". Possible concept-check questions would be: ‘What can you do in a living room?’, ‘Can you eat in a living room?’. 

Or, you have taught the word "scarf" - Do you wear it when it’s hot or cold? Where do you wear it?

Remember that a good concept-check question is short, doesn’t need a complicated answer and is easy to understand. The words in the question shouldn’t be more difficult than the word you are checking.

Consolidating vocabulary

To consolidate vocabulary a teacher can use again visuals, mime, questions etc. 

Games are also a good way out. 

• Divide a class into 2 groups. Ask a volunteer from each group to come up to the board. Give each them a word on a card and they are to draw a picture which represents the word. The first team to guess gets a point. 
• Think of a word but don't tell it. Your learns can ask you up to 20  question in order to guess the word. 

How can a teacher help learners to help themselves to  deal with vocabulary?

Although, these are primary learners, but a teacher should introduce some strategies which will help them in future to develop their vocabulary. 

• Learners can find clues for a word in a picture book by looking at the picture.
• Learners can find clues for a word by looking at the word in the context of the sentence.
• Learners can predict words from facial expressions and the tone of the speaker’s voice, for example, when you're telling them a story.
• Learners can use a dictionary to find the meanings of new words.
• Learners can make their own picture dictionary of new words.
• Learners can categorise new words by making topic lists in a vocabulary notebook.
• Learners can create their own word maps of new words in a vocabulary notebook.

Links:

http://www.cambridgeenglishteacher.org/courses/details/18777/teaching-primary-learners-communicatively