PRACTICAL IDEAS

Target vocabulary
training and practice
Andrew McInulty describes his approach to vocabulary activation and development.

T he present situation in English

education in schools in Japan is
that The Ministry of Education, Culture,
Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT
2018) has declared that all new courses
of study will be asked to carry out a new
English curriculum from 2020 to 2022.
This is a trend that is being observed
in many countries around the world
in their English teaching methods. The
new course of study states that English
classes will be incorporated as a proper
curricular subject in fifth and sixth grades
in elementary schools and will also
endeavour to introduce foreign language
activities in third and fourth grades
in elementary schools. Furthermore,
in English classes more English will
be conducted in class, and activities
will have a significant active English
approach in both junior high schools and
senior high schools. Especially in senior
high schools, advanced active English
linguistic activities such as presentations Japan, has been a regular method for Educators are not in agreement
will be a main part of the curriculum. native vocabulary and kanji learning. as to which method is superior.
Therefore, as teachers we must be trained However, this is an explicit learning Decontextualised word lists may aid
in different strategies that can extend our technique, but it does not transmit to students towards exam achievement,
students’ vocabulary knowledge that does any context (Schmitt, 2000). Schmitt but as McCarthy & O’Dell (1990)
not just require rote memorisation, which (2000) also refers to word knowledge. explained, vocabulary learnt in context
can be boring and can easily demotivate This knowledge attempts to relate through a variety of practices are more
our students. Vocabulary learning has a vocabulary item to its frequency, likely to be remembered in the long-
been a key part of English education in pronunciation, its collocation ability and term memory and consequently are
many Asian contexts, where it has been its grammatical carriage. These and other not as easily forgotten.
traditionally seen as an important aspect properties provide a comprehensive
of learning the language. There is a need coverage of vocabulary items, whereas Is it a coincidence that it is quite obvious
for more student-centered approaches a dictionary definition provides only a that learners have dictionaries in their
that improve both retention and usage in basic meaning. Moreover, vocabulary bags and not grammar books? Below
a progressive fashion that goes beyond understanding is the key that every I have developed eight vocabulary-
rote memorisation (Nation, 2005). student needs to convey meaning. As learning activities that I believe will
Wilkins (1972) precisely elucidated, not only enhance vocabulary learning
Over the course of the last two knowledge of grammar can express what but will provide stimulation as well
decades, vocabulary acquisition has you want to say in a foreign language, as motivation. They can be used from
been scrutinised very deeply. Rote but without knowledge of vocabulary elementary school to college level with
memorisation, especially here in you can express nothing. both young adults and adults.

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 PRACTICAL IDEAS

Activity 1 Ranking Activity 2 Brainstorming parts of speech

Students are asked to rank the words Students are asked to make lexical sets using adjectives, nouns, adverbs and verbs,
(from the given lexical field in the
Task 1 Brainstorm adjectives to practise Task 3 Brainstorm verbs to practise
textbook) in order of importance,
nouns (from the first lexical set). adverbs.
usefulness, etc.

Task 1 Which words are the most personality cheerfully

important in the ‘Friends’ set?

Friends

crazy spacey
energetic interesting
friend from
personality
high school
advice popular
ambitious impulsive Task 2 Brainstorm nouns to practise Task 4 Brainstorm adverbs to practise
adjectives. verbs.
open-minded silly
chatty study trustworthy study

optimistic travel
shy

Task 2 Compare with your group

members and justify your decisions.
This task gives learners a chance
to recycle two or three times the
adjectives they have chosen.

Activity 3 Circumlocution
Students make sentences describing target words. Other students guess these words from
the descriptions given. This example uses the same adjectives as Activity 1.

Definition/example Target word

E.g. This is another word that
can describe your character and personality
behaviour.

1.

2.

3.

4.

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PRACTICAL IDEAS

Activity 4 Big board game Activity 6 The word

Put target vocabulary in the boxes and play an expanded game of nought and crosses.
association wheel
Put target words on this wheel and go
Task 1 Groups of three. Take turns being the judge.
round the wheel making connections.
Make statements using the words in the boxes (from the lexical field created in Activity
1). If the judge regards the statement as correct, then you can award yourself an X or O. Task 1 Connect words on this wheel.
The first one is done for you.
a good listener lazy karaoke unique

open-minded
1.

nice meet often naive open-minded impulsive optimistic

6. 2.

gives me advice the same age energetic fashionable 5. 3.

ambitious great
personality

4.
chatty
elementary get along shy secret
school
1-2
My friend is so open-minded he will
try anything, and this is the main
reason why he is so optimistic
about life.

Activity 5 Consequences
Dictate statements with target words and have students discuss the consequences. 2-3

Task 1 Give the consequences of these friendship issues..

Statement Consequence

That person is not a true friend and

E.g. Your friend tells someone that you 3-4
you should finish your relationship
are lazy and boring.
with him/her.

1. M
 y friend always gives me
good advice, but I have a really
embarrassing problem and I don’t
know how to ask him/her.
2. M
 y friend is an impulsive shopper, 4-5
but he/she has to be careful with
his/her money.
3. I want to introduce another friend to
my friend. How do I do this without my
friend feeling jealous?
4. R
 ecently, my friend got a really bad
haircut. How can I tell him/her in a 5-6
nice way that his/her hair is a mess
and embarrassing?
5. M
 y best friend is a bit of a playboy
and I don’t want him to meet my
girlfriend.

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 PRACTICAL IDEAS

Conclusion
Activity 7 Word association stories
Interpreting the above activities and
Students make small stories using the target words.
then comparing them to rote learning,
Task 1 Make a learning parable with six words from the lexical field given in Activity 1. the notion of intentional vocabulary
Start with: learning (rote) and incidental learning
is alarmingly obvious.
Friend from high school.
If one takes the two educational practices
separately, intentional vocabulary
learning is easily the speediest process.
However, the vocabulary item retained
contains no context, is isolated and so
this process is insubstantial in providing
a learner with a clear idea of how to
positively use the lexical item. The
learner will clearly not be able to use the
vocabulary appropriately. On the other
hand, as Aitchison (2003) points out,
vocabulary acquisition in an incidental,
informative and instructive way informs
the learner as it provides them with every
form and usage of a word and so the item
is clearly more easily embedded into the
long-term memory.

References
Aitchison J (2003) Words in the Mind: An
Introduction to the Mental Lexicon.3uppl.
Oxford: Blackwell.
Kenny T & Woo L (2011) Nice Talking with You.
Activity 8 Questionnaire dictation Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Dictate problem-solving questions to students using target words. McCarthy M & O’Dell F (1994) English
Vocabulary in Use. Cambridge: Cambridge
Activity 1 Listen and write down the question. In pairs, discuss then write your solution University Press.
to the problem. Nation P (2005) Teaching vocabulary. Asian
EFL Journal September 47–54.
Example: My oldest friend can be a little bit silly sometimes. What advice can I give her? Schmitt N (2000) Vocabulary in Language
Teaching. Cambridge: Cambridge University
a) Press.
Wilkins D (1972) Linguistics and Language
Teaching. London: Edward Arnold National
Middle School Association.

b)

Andrew McInulty has been teaching

at Shiga University in the Department of
c) Education, Otsu City, Japan for the last
nine years. He has taught in Abu Dhabi,
Spain and New Zealand. He is currently
investigating strategies for supporting the
learning of reading and vocabulary learning
at tertiary level and particularly lower level,
non-English course/major students.

n Volume 29 n Issue 2 www.modernenglishteacher.com 77