Communicating Vocabulary

1
Communicating Vocabulary

• EJ 417

2

• Do you know what these words mean? We will look
  at ways to define them.
• squire irate
• abhor be in hot water
• herpetologist hazardous
• a steal

3

• Today we are going to look at ways to answer the
  question from students
• What does that mean?

4
The police had a suspect in custody and were
interrogating him, but he denied killing anybody.

Teacher, whats a suspect?
How do you respond when a student asks you what
a word or a phrase means?
5

• What do you do?
• Do you . . . ?

6

• (1) Try to define the word or expression in
  English?
• A suspect is somebody that the police
  think
• may have committed a crime, but they are
• not sure.

7

• (2) Tell them to go look it up in a dictionary.

8

• (3) Translate the word into Korean?
• In Korean, you say, ???.

9

• (4) Try to use it in a context that illustrates
  the meaning in English?
• When the police found Jacks fingerprints on the
  door he became a suspect in the murder of his
  boss, so the police took Jack to the police
  station and asked him questions.

10
Pair Work

• Task Take a moment to discuss the advantages and
  disadvantages of each way of communicating
  vocabulary to your students. Also discuss how you
  would deal with this situation.

11

• We will look at this problem for the next
  three weeks.
• For one week we will discuss ways to define
  vocabulary items and phrases using English only
  definitions.
• For one week we will look at ways to build
  vocabulary presentations that put vocabulary in
  context.
• Finally, you will give a vocabulary Power Point
  presentation project with a partner.

12
Defining Vocabulary For Your Students

• There are many ways to define vocabulary for
  your students. Here are a few of the easiest ways
  to define vocabulary
• (1) synonyms
• (2) antonyms
• (3) relative clauses
• (4) noun clauses
• (5) conditionals

13
Synonyms

• We already looked at synonyms when we discussed
  word skills at the beginning of the semester.
• Synonyms are words that have the same (or nearly
  the same) in the context given.
• Quick and fast are synonyms.

14
Language for Synonyms.

• Here are some useful patterns for describing
  synonyms
• . . . is another word for . . .
• . . . mean the same thing as . . .
• . . . means . . .
• . . . is similar to . . .
• . . . is another way of saying . . .

15
Language for Synonyms

• Clever is another word for smart.
• Irate means the same thing as angry.
• Ideal means the best you can imagine.
• Abhor is similar to despise or hate.
• You are in hot water is another way of saying you
  are in trouble.

16
Antonyms

• We also already looked at antonyms when we
  discussed word skills at the beginning of the
  semester.
• Antonyms are words that have opposite meanings.
• Large and small are antonyms.

17
Language for Antonyms

• The most common way to discuss antonyms is to use
  the following phrase
• . . . Is the opposite of . . .
• Hazardous is the opposite of safe.

18
Relative Clauses (Adjective Clauses)

• Another good way to define a noun is to use a
  relative clause.
• . . . is a person who . . .
• . . . .is a place where . . .
• . . . is a time when . . .
• . . . a thing that . . .

19
Word/Category/Description

• Another way to define vocabulary is to use the
  word/category/description model. This is a very
  powerful method for defining nouns and
  adjectives.
• (word) is (category) that/who/where/when
• (description)

20

• A squire is a young boy who helps a knight with
  weapons and armor.
• A herpetologist is a scientist who studies
  reptiles.
• A prison is a place where criminals are kept.
• Halloween is a time when children wear costumes
  and go trick-or-treating.
• A herbivore is an animal that eats only plants.

21
Adding Detail to the Word/Category/Definition
Model

• We can also slip in an adjective to add detail to
  our definition in this model
• The Cyclops was the one-eyed monster that ate
  most of Odysseuss men.

22
Relative Clauses for Defining Adjectives.

• Relative clauses are also a great way to define
  adjectives because you can group them with nouns
  that the adjectives collocate well with.
• An extinct animal is an animal that does not
  exist anymore because all the members of its
  species have died off.

23
Conditionals

• Conditionals are useful for defining idioms,
  phrases and phrasal verbs.
• If you are fed up with something then you cant
  stand doing it anymore.
• If you are on cloud nine, then you are very
  happy.
• If something is a steal, then it is a bargain or
  it costs less than it is really worth.

24
That Means

• We often use that means when defining terms
  with conditionals. This a good way to distinguish
  between the words being defined and the
  definition.
• If you run into someone (that means) you meet
  them unexpectedly.

25
Shades of Meaning and Use

• Another benefit of this model is its easy to
  distinguish between various shades of meaning and
  use
• If you take care of someone, (that means) you
  look after them.
• If you take care of a problem, (that means) you
  solve it.
• If you take care not to do something, (that
  means) you try not to do it.

26
Using Nouns Clauses to Define Words

• You can also use noun clauses to define terms but
  we wont cover that this semester.
• Smuggling is when you bring something into a
  country illegally.
• A strainer is what you use to get rid of water
  from spaghetti noodles.
• A factory is where things are made such as
  computers and cars.
• The jury is who decides if somebody is guilty of
  a crime or not.

27
Task 1

• You will be given a list of vocabulary to teach
  your class. In pairs come up with definitions for
  each of the vocabulary items using the strategies
  presented in class (or any other strategies that
  you can think of).

28
Task 2

• Working in pairs, make a Dictionary of Korean
  Culture. Define some interesting aspects of
  Korean culture to somebody who has never visited
  Korea before.