THANH HOA DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING
NGUYEN MONG TUAN COMPREHENSIVE SCHOOL

EXPERIENCED INITIATIVE

SUBJECT:

SOME EXPERIENCES IN TEACHING
VOCABULARY OF COMPREHENSIVE LEVEL

Writer : Ha thi Thanh Tam
School’s post : Teacher
School: Nguyen Mong Tuan comprehensive school
Experienced initiative of subject: English

THANH HOA, 2016


TABLE OF CONTENTS
1. INTRODUCTION

page 1

2. CONTENTS

page 2

2.1. Introducing Vocabulary

page 2


are big problems. But in this paper I only mention my some experiences in
teaching vocabulary that I have approached from my Diploma in TESOL
Course to teach my students in Nguyen Mong Tuan Comprehensive School.

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2. CONTENTS
We saw some of the many ways we can explain meaning, and when
teaching vocabulary this is a major part of the teacher’s art. Students need to see
words in contexts to see how they are used. As for me, the best way of
introducing new words is for students to read texts or listen to audio tracks and
see or hear those words in action.
A major reason for reading texts in class is to give students new language
input. And whenever teachers ask students to read or listen, the teachers will
want them to see how words are used. That is why when students read texts, the
teachers will have them to do exercises such as matching words form texts with
their definitions, or asking them to find a word in a text. The teachers may get
the students to say what a word means, or ask them which word in the text is the
opposite of given word, etc.
However, at other times we set out teaching or practicing a specific aspect
of vocabulary, and the examples in the paper showing some ways in which can
be done. I want to introduce some my activities designed to have students to
research words for themselves using reference.
2.1. INTRODUCING VOCABULARY.
When the teachers introduce new vocabulary, there is always a chance, of
course, and it is not new to some students in the class. That is because elicitation
is so important. By the time students get to upper intermediate level or beyond,
the teachers can be sure that some of them will know some of words and ask
them to focus on. Examples below are clearly designed to focus the students’

Complete the sentences.
1.

He…very fast.

2.

The girl…to school.

3.

The bird … in the sky.

4.

He…a bike every day.

5.

The girl…too high.
(Table 2)

Finally, the students can be asked to write new instructions using the new
words, as in table 3
Write instructions for this fitness exercise.
Use words from the box.
1. Sit down
2. ….
3. stand…
4. …



Peter: Hi, Mary.
Mary: Hi, Peter.
Peter: Would you like to (1)…rowing?
Mary: Rowing?
Peter: Yeah. Rowing. You know. In (2)…
Mary: (3)…it’s ‘in a boat’. It’s just that, well, you have a (4)…
Peter: You’re right! (5)… I thought you could (6) … the actual
rowing.
Mary: Oh no.
Peter: No? (7) …
Mary: I’m not (8) … rowing, actually. I’m not (9) … at it.
Peter: Oh… right. Well, how about a walk?
Mary: I’m a bit tired.
Peter: Or… a coffee?
Mary: Now you’re talking!
(Table 4)
When the students have compared their possible answer, they hear the
dialogue spoken on an audio track so that they can see if they were right. (The
answers are: go, a boat, Of course, broken arm. That’s why, do, Why not?
crazy about, very good). We can then get them to practice speaking the dialogue.
We can get the students to repeat the different some phrases both chorally or
individually.
Invitation phrase stems:
Do you fancy…
Do you want to …
How about …
Would you like to …
They now look at a list of phrases and have to decide whether they

helping them if necessary.
Finally, the students read out or act out their dialogues and the teachers
give them some feedback. It is worth to notice that the level of original dialogue
is somewhat higher than the language the students are being asked to produce.
That is why I think the students can deal with more language when they read
and listen than they can when they have to come out with it themselves. When
the teachers teach functional language like this, they almost always end up
getting the students to use phrases rather than individual words, it is because
certain common exchanges tend to use these pre-fabricated chunks (I’d love to,
I’d rather not, Would you like to…) as a matter of course.
Example 3:
EXPAINING WHAT YOU MEAN(Focus:Type, Kind, Something you use…)
Helping the students with vocabulary problems that they can use as they
do not know the words what are or to express things. The sequence begins when
the students talk to each other in pairs or groups and discuss situations in which
they need to explain things to visitors, family and friends, etc. They read some
descriptions and have to say or guess what is being described. (Table 5)

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1. ‘It’s a type of sport which you do in the sea. You need a board and big
waves. It can be dangerous, but it’s really exciting.’
2. ‘It’s a kind of meal you get in Indian restaurant. It’s hot and spicy and
usually has meat in it. You eat it with rice.’
3. ‘It’s the stuff you find under grass. It’s brown. You see it when it rains.’
4. ‘It’s something you use for cleaning the house. It’s a machine that pick
up dust and small pieces of dirt.’
5. ‘They are usually made of wood. They are a useful thing to have in the
house, because you can put books on them.’


(A)

(B)

(C)

(D)

( F)

(E)

( G)
(Table 6)

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The next stage of the lesson sequence is for the students to compile lists
of things so that they can use these things in subsequent exercises. In groups,
they have to a) draw things which are rectangular, oval, round or square, b)
name animals that are enormous/huge, tiny, etc. and c) name things that are
rough, smooth, sticky, soft or hard. They can compare their choices with the
teachers.
The students are in a position to describe things for each other. They have
to do this by taking part in an information-gap activity where one student in each
pair has the crossword for student A and the other has the crossword for student
B. they take turns describing the words by explaining what they are rather than
naming them. (See Table 7: Information – gap crossword)

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possible, then the teachers go through the answers with class, the teachers can
show some of compound words on the board and have students to check with
their dictionaries to see if they are right. Besides that the teachers can ask the
students to use them in new sentences or let class play game Noughts and
Crosses squares or have students to choose any of three the compound words to
write a questionnaire to find out about people’s attitudes or habits worrying
BOOKS or TV.
Example 2: WORD MAP ( Focus: Houses, Rooms, Objects )
This activity is designed to engage students to set up vocabulary
knowledge as well as to provoke students into regaining and using what they
know.
The students will work aspects of houses and the things in them. The
teachers start by showing the beginnings of a map on the board. (See Table 9)

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(Table 9: The word map stage 1)
After that the students go to the board and add some rooms to the map as
in Table 10. And the teachers can elicit words for one of the rooms. (See table
10B)

(Table 10A: Word map stage 2)

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Gas stove

fridge

When I have taught vocabulary, I have applied this game and my students
are involved the game and their vocabulary improved. The teachers should let
students play in pairs or groups. The game is useful for simple word-meaning
recognition. Two students have a pack of words. One pack has a picture and the
other has words that relate to the pictures. The students deal their cards and put
down each card. When a picture card (e.g. a picture of a house) matches the
word card (house) put down at the same time the first person to say SNAP! Keep
pairs of cards. The object of the game is to collect as many pairs as possible.
(See Table 11)

FRUIT

Check
(Table 11: Fruit matching game)
Example 2: BACK TO THE BOARD (Focus: Explaining word meaning)
In this game, students have to explain the meaning of a word or phrase to
other in their group so that she or he can guess what the word is. The teachers
should let students play in small groups. One student of in each group has to sits
with their back to the board. Then the teacher writes a words or phrase on the
board. All of the members in groups can see this word or phrase and they have
to explain what it means. (without saying the word or phrase itself) to the
student whose back to the board. The first student can guess the word or phrase
gets a mark for their group. The game is designed more formal in structure if the
students with their backs to the board and they have to get information from
their group by asking yes/no questions only, e.g. Can you find it in the
classroom? Is it more than one word?
Example 3: GOT IT

( Focus: Word enjoyment/ recognition )


for them. I cannot start the lesson by giving them tasks, then ask them to work
in groups and finish by listening and taking notes to comment their writing at the
end of the lesson. As I have employed the teachers’ roles from my teaching
process, the teacher is not only a ‘organizer’, a ‘knower’ or a ‘counselor’, but
also the teacher as a ‘controller’, a ‘prompter’, a ‘participant’, a ‘tutor’, and an
‘observer’. As for me, the students play a vital role in the teaching and learning
process, this role is fulfilled in the classroom as the students are the centre of the
teaching and learning process. The teachers have to help students in their
studying in the classroom and after class as well, to guide them how to learn
beneficially, the teachers have to become awareness of their roles to their
students, when the students understand what and how they to do they will love
working in the classroom, and they realize their important studying they will
success in studying.
I personally think that to learn a foreign language well, learners have to
know the need and the value of learning, because language learning process is to
acquire knowledge and skills. So, learners can learn to improve their study and
learn to solve complex problems. Teachers should help learners to rise up and
success their language learning as well as help them enjoy and ready to learn.
Through the paper I have marked a key point in my teaching is that: all
students are different, so teaching vocabulary programs should be sensitive

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and suitable to the differences. Moreover, a teacher is not only a guide, but
also as a participant or tutor during class and after class.
Above are just a few ideas small experience of myself, certainly will not
avoid errors or confusion. So I am looking forward to the suggestions of
colleagues to my initiative be applied more effectively in the next years.
I sincerely thank you!