The effective ways of learning lexis in secondary school

Learning the words of a foreign language is not an easy business since every word has its form, meaning, and usage and each of these aspects of the word may have its difficulties. Indeed, some words are difficult in form (daughter, busy, bury, woman, women) and easy in usage; other words are easy in form (enter, get, happen) and difficult in usage. Consequently, words may be classified according to the difficulties pupils find in assimilation. ln methodology some attempts

have been made to approach the problem¹

The analysis of the words within the foreign language allows us to distinguish the following groups of words: concrete , abstract, and structural.

Words denoting concrete things (book, street, sky), actions (walk, dance, read), and qualities (long big, good) are easier to learn than words denoting abstract notions (world, home, believe, promise, honest). Structural words are the most difficult for Russian-speaking pupils.

In teaching pupils a foreign language the teacher should bear this in mind when preparing for they vocabulary work during the lesson.

The process of learning a word means to the pupil: (1) identification of concepts, i. e., learning what the word means; (2) pupil's activity for the purpose of retaining the word; (3) pupil's activity in using this word in the process of соmmunication in different situations.

Accordingly, the teacher's role in this process is:

(l) to furnish explanation, i. e., to present the word, to get his pupils to identify the concept correctly;

(2) to get them to recall or recognize the word by means

ol different exercises;

(3) to stimulate pupils to use the words in speech.

"The true art of teaching is not the application of the 'best' system, but the ability to stimulate pupils to worth while activity." (Morris. The Teaching of English as Second Language).

Teaching and learning words are carried on through methods you are familiar with; the teacher organizes learning and pupils are involved in the very process of learning, i, e. in the acquisition of information about a new word. its form, meaning and usage; in drill and transformation to form lexical habits; in making use of the lexical habits in hearing, speaking and reading, or in language skills. Various techniques are used to attain the goal - to fix the words in pupils' memory ready to be used whenever they need them.

Presentation of new words. Since every word has its form, meaning, and usage to present a word means to introduce to pupils its forms (phonetic, graphic, structural, and grammatical) and to explain its meaning, and usage.

The techniques of teaching pupils the pronunciation and spelling of a word are as follows: (l) pure or conscious imitation; (2) analogy; (3) transcription; (4) rules of reading.

Since a word consists of sounds if heard or spoken and letters if read or written the teacher shows the pupils how to pronounce, to read, and write it.

^l See: Общая методика обучения иностранным языкам в средней школе.M., 1967. с. 286-304.

However the approach may vary depending on the task set (the latter depends on the age of pupils, their progress in the language, the type of words, etc.), For example, if the teacher wants his pupils to learn the word orally first, he instructs them to recognize it when hearing and to articulate the word as an isolated element (a book) and in a sentence pattern or sentence patterns alongside with other words. (This is a book. Give me the book. Take the book. Put the book on the table. etc.)

As far as the form is concerned the pupils have but two difficulties to overcome: to learn how to pronounce the word both separately and in speech; and to recognize it in sentence patterns pronounced by the teacher, by his classmates, or by a speaker in case the tape-recorder is used.

lt the teacher wants his pupils to learn the word during the same lesson not only for hearing and speaking but for reading and writing as well, he shows them how to write and read it after they perform oral exercises and can recognize and pronounce the word. The teacher writes down the word on the blackboard (let it be Spoon) and invites some pupils to read it (they already know all the letters and the rule of reading too). The pupils read the word and put it down in their notebooks. ln this case the pupils have two more difficulties to overcome: to learn how to write and how to read the word; the latter is connected with their ability to associate letters with sounds in a proper way.

Later when pupils have learned the English alphabet and acquired some skills in spelling and reading they may be told to copy the new words into their exercise-book and read and write them independently; this work being done mainly as homework. The teacher then has his pupils perform various oral exercises during the lesson, he makes every pupil pronounce the new words in sentence patterns and use them in speech. Since this is the most difficult part of work in vocabulary assimilation it can and must be done during the lesson and under the teacher's supervision.

There are two ways of conveying the meaning of words: direct way and translation. The direct way of presenting the words of a foreign language brings the learner into direct contact with them, the mother tongue does not come in between, it establishes links between a foreign word and the thing or the concept directly. The direct way of conveying the meaning of foreign words is usually used when the words denote things, objects, their qualities. sometimes gesture and movements, which can be shown to and seen by pupils.

for example: a book, a table, red, big, take, stand up, etc. The teacher should connect the English word he presents with the object, the notion it denotes directly, without the use of pupils‘ mother tongue.

lt is diffcult to cover all the techniques the teacher may have at his disposal to convey the meaning of new words directly without the help of the mother tongue. There are teachers, however, who do not admit that pupils can understand what a new word means without translating it into the native tongue, and though they use some techniques of the direct method for conveying the meaning of new words, they immediately ask their pupils to say what is the Russian for...? Here are a few examples. Teacher N. presented the word ball in the fifth form. She had brought a ball. She showed the ball to the pupils and said: This is a ball…. a ball. The ball is red and blue. What is the Russian for 'a ball', children? Who can guess? Of course everyone could. They cried: Мячик. What is the use oi bringing the ball ii the teacher turns to the mother tongue? So instead of developing pupils' abilities and skills in establishing associations between the English word and the object it denotes, she emphasized the necessity for the use of the mother tongue in learning the word. Then she presented the word football. She used a picture in which some boys were playing football. She said: Look at the picture ,children. You can see some boys in the picture. They are playing football. What is the Russian for “football”? Who can guess? The pupils were not enthusiastic to answer this question because they probably found it silly. (lt does not mean of course, that the teacher cannot turn to the mother tongue to check pupils' comprehension when he uses the direct method of conveying the meaning of some difficult words not like those mentioned above – when he is not sure that everyone has understood them properly.) Consequently, the direct method works well provided that the teacher is good at applying visual aids and using verbal means when he explains new words to the pupils. Moreover, he must do it vividly to arouse his pupils' interest in the work performed, and thus to provide optimum conditions for understanding the meaning of the words and their assimilation through the foreign language. Besides various accessories (objects, pictures. movements, gestures, facial expressions, etc)

should be widely used. It the teacher cannot work with visual aids and is not an actor to a certain extent (alter all, every teacher ought to be something of an actor), it is he, but not the method, who fails in conveying the meaning of new words.

Whatever way of presenting a new word is used should be able to pronounce the word correctly, listen to sentences with the word, repeat the word after the teacher individually and in unison both as a single unit and in sentences. However this is only the first step in approaching the word. The assimilation is gained through performing various exercises which allow the pupils to acquire lexical habits.

Retention of words. To attain the desired end pupils must first of all perform various exercises to fix the words in their memory.

Constant use of a new word is the best way of learning it. For this purpose it is necessary to organize pupils' work in a way permitting them to approach the new words from many different sides, in many different ways, by means of many different forms of work. The teacher can ensure lasting retention of words for his pupils provided he relies upon pupils' sensory perception and thinking, upon their auditory, visual, and kinesthetic analysers so that pupils can easily recognize the words while hearing or reading, and use them while speaking or writing whenever they need. To use a word the pupil should, first, search for it in his memory, choose the very word he needs, and then insert the word in a sentence, i. e., use it properly to express his thought. Thus correct usage of words means the correct choice and insertion of the words in speech¹.

Group II. Exercises designed to form pupils' skills in using the word in sentences.

Group I may include:

1. Exercises in finding the necessary words among those suggested. For example:

- Pick out the words (a) which denote school objects:

(1) a pen, (2) a cup, (3) a blackboard, 4) a desk, (5) a bed, (6) a picture, (7) a car (pupils are expected to take (1).

(3), (4), (6);

^l Жинкин Н.И. Механизмы речи. М., 1958, гл. VI

or (b) which denote size:

(l) red, (2) big, (3) good, (4) small, (5) great, (6) green (pupils should take (2), (4), (5).

- Choose the right word:

The horse is a (wild, domestic) animal.

They (ate, drank) some water.

The (sheep, fly) is an insect.

The (rode, road) leads to Minsk.

- Arrange the words in pairs of the same root: usual, danger, development, usually, dangerous, develop (pupils are expected to arrange the words usual - usually, danger – dangerous…).

The teacher has great possibilities for pictorial and written representation of words on the blackboard. He can use either printed pictures, or pictures drawn by himself or by the pupils for classroom teaching and, finally, pictures cut out of periodicals. He should use slides, film-strips, maps, plans, objects, etc.

All aids and materials (see Chapter IV) may be used in presenting, assimilating, and reviewing the vocabulary at every stage and in every form in teaching a foreign language

within the methods of the acquisition of information about unfamiliar words, drill and transformation and making use of the words in listening comprehension, speaking and reading.

There are three problems the teacher is to deal with in vocabulary retention:

(l) the number of exercises to be used;

(2) the type of exercises to be used;

(3) the sequence or the order of complexity in which the selected exercises should be done.

In modern teaching materials now in use the words pupils are to learn pass through the following stages:

l. Pupils listen to the words in sentences arranged in a structural group.

2. They learn the meaning of the words in various contexts.

3. Pupils learn the forms of the words.

4. They perform various exercises with the words in phrases and structures to assimilate the usage of the words.

5. Pupils use the words in speaking in various situations.

Recommended Literature:

Старков А.П. – Обучение английскому языку в средней школе. М., Просвещение , 1978, с.61-68.

Пассов Е.И. Основы методики обучения иностранным языкам. М., Русский язык, 1977, глава вторая.

Беседы об уроке иностранного языка. Авт.: Пассов Е.И., Колова Т.И., Волкова Т.А. и др. Л., Просвещение, 1975. (Беседа третья.)

Теоретические основы обучения иностранным языкам в средней школе. Под.ред. А.Д. Климентенко, А.А. Миролюбова, М., Педагогика, 1981, с. 328-364