The following is an anecdotal account of teaching a discrete vocabulary module at the University of Hertfordshire which will include a brief description of the aims, class profile, teaching approach, materials and assessment. The aim of the sessions was to enable students to access their main degree course seminars, lectures and workshops more confidently by improving their academic and subject specific vocabulary. In addition, as a few students were unable to attend the ‘Speaking in Academic Contexts’ session because of timetable difficulties, part of the session had to address this need by providing teaching and practice in seminar skills.
The class had the following profile:
Therefore in planning lessons an emphasis was placed on:
A ‘typical’ lesson plan consisted of the following:
GAMES: word card game; word dominoes; student descriptions of realia & pictures; definition game.
CLOZE EXERCISES: of texts relevant to degree course from a variety of course texts and own material.
READING: use of relevant passages/units from a variety of course texts, authentic newspaper & magazine articles; worksheets; and authentic Internet texts from a variety of web sites.
VIDEO/AUDIO TAPES: authentic and material from course texts.
SPEAKING SKILLS MATERIAL: relevant units/language aids from a variety of sources on ‘Giving Opinions’, ‘Comparing’ etc.
DRILLING: of individual words, phrases & sentences.
LISTENING/SPEAKING EXERCISES: description and discussion of paintings, sculpture & designer objects (e.g. furniture); summary and discussion of topics presented in authentic articles, video material and audio tapes from course texts.
READING & WRITING EXERCISES: use of cloze exercises; texts relevant to degree course from a variety of course texts, authentic and own material.
PRESENTATION / INTRODUCTION: of a painting or a relevant article e.g. ‘The work of art I’d most like to own and why.’ leading onto a group discussion.
GAMES: word card games, word dominoes and description and definition games.
PRESENTATION / INTRODUCTION: of a painting / design icon or an authentic article leading onto a group discussion.
TEST: cloze exercises with or without multiple choice answers.
This archetypal plan omits three important elements of learning vocabulary: keeping records, morphology and pronunciation. These were covered in parallel using the same teaching approach throughout the sessions and can be briefly illustrated as follows:
Visual Aids
Grouping of words:
Teaching a subject specific group allowed a programme of lessons to be designed around fundamental degree course themes of colour, light, setting, ‘Art and Society’ etc. Thus, the basic lexis by which students could express themselves orally and in writing was provided, although for this class the emphasis was on speaking skills. Later in the course students main course work guided the choice of lexis covered. This need for relevance illustrates the importance of liaison between departments.
Students cooperated well in providing art material in the form of texts and prints, researching information regarding artists and styles, and preparing short talks and/or descriptions to lead onto a group discussion. Most students appeared to respond well to the visual and inductive learning approach by producing their own explanatory diagrams and relevant vocabulary. The use of authentic video material provided students with an opportunity to listen to native speakers using the lexis in context while the individual presentations and/or introductions provided students with speaking practice in a ‘safe’ environment.
On the other hand students were reluctant to read passages and most did not complete such a task when set for home study. Assessment was problematic and an in class test given half way through the course produced very disappointing results. Perhaps this suggests a problem in memory and recall which highlights the need for testing to defining the specific difficulties of individual students. However, when reviewing lexis with games etc. students seemed more confident. For example, without the use of their electronic dictionaries/translators they were able to define given words in games with an increase in the number remembered from week to week.
Some difficulties for the teacher included: the discovery and selection of appropriate subject specific material and its adaptation for use; limiting the number of new words presented; encouraging students’ to read; and assessment.
To sum up, uniquely for the English Foundation and Bridging programme at the time, all students in this class were studying Art and Design albeit on different degree programmes; therefore, they shared a subject specific lexis, interest and probable learning style. A PPP/PPU (Presentation/ Practice/ Product/Use) teaching model was followed with oral work providing the main means of practice and use. Students were reluctant readers and assessment was problematic. The use of video and audio material for presentation with games for review and consolidation appeared to be successful in maintaining student interest and enabling learning to take place. Obviously an evaluation of students subsequent confidence in understanding and utilising subject specific and academic lexis would be of interest. Perhaps this could be organised in liaison with the Art and Design department.
Atkins, R. (1990). Artspeak: a guide to contemporary ideas, movements and buzzwords. Abbeville.
Chambers, E. & Northedge, A. (1997). The Arts Good Study Guide. Milton Keynes: The Open University.
Gairns, R. & Redman, S. (1996). True to Life: Intermediate. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Gower, R. (1987). Oxford Supplementary Skills: Speaking – upper-intermediate. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
McDermott, C. (1997) Designmuseum C20th Design. London: Carlton Books Ltd.
Murray, P.& L. (1983.) Dictionary of Art & Artists. Hammondsworth: Penguin.
Rinvolucri, M. (1984). Grammar Games. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Schmitt, N. (2000). Vocabulary in Language Teaching. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Willis, D. (1990). The Lexical Syllabus: a new approach to language teaching. London: HarperCollins Publishers.
Web sites
http://www.cde.ca.gov/shsd/arts/stdAsm.html (February, 2003)
http://www.kn.pacbell.com/wired/art2/ Eyes on Art (February, 2003)
http://www.kodak.com (February, 2003)