Vocabulary Acquisition and Teaching Resources

Vocabulary Acquisition and Usage in the Classroom

1. The Dictionary: An Indispensable Tool

The dictionary is a crucial element in acquiring necessary vocabulary. It makes students aware of the possibilities afforded by consultation. It's an indispensable tool for learning vocabulary and language in general, and it should always be present in the classroom. It provides the student with a high degree of autonomy. It is essential to know how to handle it properly, and we must not abuse its capabilities.

2. Vocabulary Games: Engaging and Effective

Word games, misunderstandings, and jokes are common in everyday language and are part of our popular cultural heritage. They serve to teach how to use a word at the right time and to practice mental agility and the association of ideas.

3. Teaching Resources

Teaching resources provide us with a look at some exercises to work specifically on vocabulary and semantic relationships. They also offer some ideas on play activities, and we must not forget the dictionary. Vocabulary is always present in the listening and speaking activities that we do in class.

• Exercises with pictures.
• Analysis of words (morphology and lexicology).
• Search for products.
• Cloze practice (fill in the blanks in a text).
• Semantic relations.
• Contextual synonymy (textual cohesion exercises).
• Diagrams and charts.

4. Resource Classification

We divide the teaching resources into two blocks: linguistic games and activities with the dictionary. With the first, students expand their vocabulary and develop their mental agility. For example, scrambled letters, strings of words, etc. In contrast, dictionary activities are useful for achieving the objectives set before their use, and they promote active and receptive attitudes towards the use of this consultation tool. For example, sorting words, comparing different dictionaries, etc.

Evaluating Vocabulary Knowledge

To evaluate this process, we must devote attention to all components of the lexicon: form, function, meaning, and use. It is obvious that grammatical activities only provide superficial information about vocabulary. Evaluating the most functional and textual dimension of a student's vocabulary gives us more information about their domain and shortcomings.

Evaluation Options

We define two possibilities:

1. Assessing the understanding and use of a particular vocabulary.
2. Evaluating the use of expressive vocabulary as a resource for the student. That is, the understanding and use of vocabulary in both coherence and cohesion of the text.