As language teachers, you understand the importance of vocabulary in language acquisition. But do you know why focusing on vocabulary is so crucial, what words to concentrate on, and how to introduce them in a memorable way?
In this week’s post, I’ll share my answers to those questions, and I will take it a step further with two bonus activities to help make those words stick. To hear even more about this topic, listen to episode 19 of Growing with Proficiency The Podcast above or on your favorite podcast player.
Why Vocabulary is Important
Vocabulary is important because it’s essential for comprehension. If we understand some words, we can then understand more. If we have a text and we understand like 90% – 95% of the words, we will comprehend a lot of that text. I talk more about comprehending our first language in episode 19. Listen above.
Also, instead of worrying so much about grammar, we should worry about vocabulary. For example, imagine if we try to initially start teaching students multiplication and division without them knowing the numbers. Our students need to know the vocabulary, and then the grammar will follow. Acquiring vocabulary can be really slow, and it requires a lot of repetition.
We also have to have realistic expectations. As teachers, we can not expect students to acquire 1,000 words in a year. If we try to do this, it creates a lot of frustration for ourselves and our learners.
What vocabulary should we focus on?
I believe we should focus on frequent structures. If students acquire these frequent structures, they will understand, comprehend, and acquire more. I talk more about this in the episode, but what I like to do is to use frequent vocabulary that applies to my students.
What does this mean? For example, I live in Florida. My students go to the beach, the pool, camping, etc. Vocabulary that goes along with these activities are what my students will use more of. Interests should really drive our vocabulary. Also look for what is happening in their community and the world right now.
You can pick words from a curriculum or textbook that relates to your students or a story you are telling. In episode 19, I give an example of a unit I created that explains this more. When we use words in context, our students are going to not only get the meaning of the word, but also are going to get all the grammatical information that the word carries.
Introducing Vocabulary
I used to give my students a list with the English and Spanish words on it and have them create flashcards, or we played games with them. I found that my lists were too long, and they didn’t really comprehend the vocabulary.
Jason Fritze was in my Spanish Teacher Academy last year and talked about vocabulary. He said that when he looks at a vocabulary list, he divides it into three sections. One is words to use for TPR, total physical response. The second are words that can be used for PQA, personalized questions and answers. The third are words that you can add visuals, draw, or just write on the board. I also explain a little more about TPR in episode 19.
Use the Words Often
We also need to make sure we are using the words often. So, be aware of this. If you are not using the words often enough, your students will not acquire the vocabulary. Frequency and repetition is huge.
When we really stay intentional in our class and try to stay in the target language as much as possible to communicate with our students, a lot of vocabulary is going to be used. In the podcast this week, I am also sharing three bonuses with you. Head HERE to listen and get the links to the resources I mention in episode 19.
