Best Practices for Learning Words, Research Paper Example

Language acquisition involves performance of a variety of activities, and includes acquisition of basic skills in vocabulary learning, grammar, syntax, word formation etc. However, some constituent parts of the language possession seem to be found in accumulating a substantial number of vocabulary items to be further used in grasping grammar and syntax, and word formation that helps manipulate the existing vocabulary and fit the words to the intended role in the sentence. There are many practices in learning words, and pedagogy has made a great move forward in finding techniques for facilitating the process, but there are some most popular and effective ones that will be discussed in the present paper. They are derived from professional literature, tested in the classroom, and concluded to have a certain impact on the children’s vocabulary comprehension.

The first technique for facilitating vocabulary learning is to include the process of learning words into every aspect of the children’s activities, to make it an indispensable element of playing, eating, shopping, and relaxing, not only learning. Children often perceive classes as an obligatory part of their activities; hence some resistance may be seen in their response to the teacher’s attempt. As soon as the process of learning words is intermingled with all other activities, not so dull and demanding, children will memorize words much better. The reason for this is that the process of learning occurs naturally and quickly in the early age of a child, so even not understanding this, he or she will learn the words come across. The main task of the teacher is to point those words out to the child and to make him/her aware of the fact that the word is a new one, and it may be useful. Further on, when accounts of playing or listening to some song, or watching a cartoon are made, the teacher may ask questions about the new images, impressions, objects they came across in the process. Giving some hints is appropriate for the first time of recollecting the new words, and later children will get a firm association of the event with the word, and will remember it quicker and without hints.

Another useful technique for learning words is surely the short verses with rhythmic and memorable words that need to be learned (Children’s Songs and Nursery Rhymes, 2010). It is good to train phonetics using them, but at the same time children acquire the knowledge of new words without realizing that fact. Singing songs and reading verses is truly entertaining for children, and they memorize a song much quicker than a set of words needed to be learned. Therefore, practicing singing a thematic song (especially when it may be connected to some topic in vocabulary studies, e.g., fruit, vegetables, flowers, food etc.) may be highly relevant for the class. In case children forget the word and cannot recollect it even with the help of hints, the teacher may always suggest singing a song together and initiate assistance of the whole group in remembering the necessary words.

If words are learned separately, then it is surely effective to repeat the words in a group, support the studies with visuals like situations or pictures of the objects learned (Words + pictures > words alone, 2005). At first the object should be shown with the word written on the picture as well, and pronounced at the same time – this practice will give children a chance to acquire the graphical, the visual and the sound form of the word at once. Later on, in case children see only one or two forms, they will be able to reconstruct the third one without complicity because all of them have been studied altogether. The beginning of training with the newly learned words may be held in a supportive way, not to frustrate the children who have difficulties remembering the word; the teacher should make some cards with objects learned, and omit only some letters in a word, giving children not the direct hint, but some guidance. Seeing the familiar letters, children are likely to insert the missing letters, which is the initial stage of learning. Later on the whole word may be left out, or only the starting or ending letters may be left, to let children reconstruct the words on their own, without substantial help. As soon as they manage to do this, the teacher may stop referring to visuals, and continue to form the children’s mental perception of the objects (this transition is essential for the formation of abstract thinking in children that will be mandatory for learning abstract notions and distinguishing them). The teacher may draw a red circle for a tomato, or a green oval for the cucumber, making the scheme of the word, letting children guess and giving them the hint about ‘vegetables’. Later on, the teacher may use only words like: “It is round and red, it grows on a small bush” or “It is green and long, mother cooks salad with it” etc.

Finally, one of helpful techniques in building the supportive and effective vocabulary learning system is to involve children in thinking with associations or synonyms (here such games as antonym, oxymoron, analogy and other games may be helpful) (Games to Build English Vocabulary Skills, 2010). Explanations, contrasts and comparisons are surely too complicated for children, but still it is important to start engaging them in such thinking processes. The useful exercise may be as follows: after children have learned several topics, for example, flowers, fruit and vegetables, objects in the house, the teacher gives a card with an object to each child and divides them into pairs. Once this is done, children should not show their cards to each other, but they should tell their partner about the card. They may explain what shape it has, where it is used, and what it looks like, but they should not indicate the very name of the object. An example of such responses (about a dog) may be: “It is big and brown. We have him in our home, his name is Lord. Mr. Brown also has him, but his name is Lile. I walk with him, wash him and play”. The children understand each other’s language better than adults do, so it is highly possible that they will guess the meaning of the explanation. In addition, the exercise is emotional and funny, giving much entertainment and impressions to children, which intensifies memorizing as well.

References

Children’s Songs and Nursery Rhymes (2010). Retrieved September 30, 2010, from http://bussongs.com/

Games to Build English Vocabulary Skills (2010). Vocabulary Building Games. Retrieved September 30, 2010, from http://www.vocabulary.co.il/

Words + pictures > words alone (2005). Creating Passionate Users. Retrieved September 30, 2010, from http://headrush.typepad.com/creating_passionate _users/2005/10/words_pictures_.html