How to present vocabulary effectively to promote motivation for grade 12 students at upper secondary school

INDEX
Page
PART I: INTRODUCTION

2

1.1. Rationale

2

1.2. Aims of study

2

1.3. Scope of study

2

1.4. Methods

2

1.5. New points

2

PART II: CONTENTS

3

2.1. Theoretical background

3

2. 2. Practical background

3

2.3. The solutions

3

2.3.1. Procedure

3

2.3.2. Application

3

a. Showing the meaning of words visually

3

a.1. Using mine

3

a.2. Using pictures and cards

4

b. Using synonyms or antonyms

5

c. Using examples and situations

6

2.4. The discussion

7

*The effects of the study:

7

* My colleagues' comments:

7

PART III: CONCLUSION

7

3.1. Summary of the study

7

3.2. Limitations of the study and suggestions for further study

8

REFERENCE

8

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PART I: INTRODUCTION
1. 1. Rationale
Nowadays, in Vietnam, the demand for foreign languages, especially English
is on the increase. English, which has played an important role in work and study,
has become a means of communication as well as a compulsory subject at schools
and universities. However, to learn English vocabulary effectively is still a problem
for students at school because most students who do not understand the importance
of vocabulary become bored with learning English vocabulary or have no habit of
using it often. It is no exception to grade12-students. How to make students
interested in learning vocabulary in English is essential. That's why I have spent a
great deal of time studying the topic: "How to present vocabulary effectively to
promote motivation for grade 12-students at upper-secondary school"
1.2. Aims of study
The study is aimed at:
- investigating the situation of teaching and learning vocabulary.
- investigating the effectiveness of applying the new ways of presenting the
meaning of vocabulary
1.3. Scope of study
The study focuses on teaching the grade 12- students the vocabulary in
lessons in the basic textbook "Tieng Anh 12".

1.4. Methods
I use the knowledge of the methods from methodological books I learned at
university as well as the experience in watching my colleagues' lectures in class.
Meanwhile, I compare the results of my students' interest in learning vocabulary.
1.5. New points
These are some methods I apply to teach in school which depends on each
lesson and time. In my initiative experience I focus on 3 main methods
1.5.1. Showing the meaning of words visually
a. Using mine
b. Using pictures and cards
1.5.2. Using synonyms or antonyms
1.5.3. Using examples and situations

PART II: CONTENTS
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2.1. Theoretical background
It means my lesson plans designed for presenting vocabulary which appear
lessons of the basic textbooks " Tieng Anh 12".
The situation of presenting vocabulary is shown in the survey result.
2.2. Practical background
For some year of teaching, I realize that most of my students studied English
vocabulary enthusiastically, which brings about their lack of certain words to
understand a text, to listen to a tape or to use English in speaking and writing.
They only focus on grammar learning, which is the easiest part in English learning.
Thus, more than 80 percent of students felt bored with learning studying as well as
having limited vocabulary to complete assigned tasks in the lessons of Reading,
Speaking, Listening and Writing. These interfered with my lessons.
2.3. The solutions

2.3.1. Procedure:
In the school year of 2016-2017, I taught two classes of the same level
(12A8, 12A6) . Class 12A6 was applied with normal methods of teaching while
class 12A8 was with my new methods. Of course, I maintained the steps of a lesson
of teaching vocabulary such as
- Use a suitable technique to elicit or show the meaning of the
new vocabulary .
- Model the pronunciation clearly ( three times )
- Ask students to repeat the word in chorus and individually.
- Correct students’ s pronunciation
- Write the words on the board and students copy down on their
notebooks.
- Check that students clearly understanding the meaning and
pronunciation.

2.3.2. Application
I applied my new techniques in the steps of show the meaning of the
vocabulary as follows:
a. Showing the meaning of words visually
a.1. Using mine:
This is the way of using body actions or gestures to show the meaning of
words. Some action verbs and adjectives showing feelings and states can be taught
using mine.
*Illustrated lesson:
Unit 3: Ways of socializing (Reading - page 31)
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The teacher shows the meaning of some words through body actions or
gestures: wave, clap, point at, raise one's hand, nod.

- Wave: the teacher waves and makes Ss understand the action.
- Clap: the teacher claps in front of people and asks Ss what it means.
- Point at: the teacher uses the hand and points at one student and asks Ss what it
means.
- Raise one's hand: the teacher raises the hand and asks Ss what it means.
- Nod: the teacher also nods and asks Ss what it means.
a.2. Using pictures and cards:
In this way, cards with words are used to stick to pictures so that each card
goes with one picture. At first, the teacher has to plan the words he or she is going
to teach and designs the cards for them. Then the teacher collects pictures which
are suitable for words. Below are details.
*Illustrated lesson:
Unit 12: Water sports (Speaking - Task 1- page 131)
Task 1: Look at the pictures and match the names with the suitable water
sports.
Cards:
A
B

C

Synchronized
swimming

Swimmin
g

D

Rowing

E

F

Water
polo

Scuba-diving
Pictures :
P1

P2

Windsurf
ng

P3

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P4

P5

P6

Teacher’s activities:
- The teacher divides Ss into two groups.
- The teacher asks Ss to sticks pictures which go with cards.

- The teacher helps Ss to discuss.
- The teacher gives marks to the winning group.
- The teacher helps to read.
Students’ activities:
- Ss work in two groups, observe pictures carefully and use cards to paste in the
pictures.
- The class will be exciting.
Suggested answers
A. Synchronized swimming

P5

B. Swimming

P6

C. Rowing

P4

D. Windsurfing

P2

E. Scuba-diving

P1

F. Water polo

P3

*I also applied this way to Unit 13 (Task 1 - Speaking -page 141) when
introducing sports of the 22nd SEA Games, and to Unit 16 (Task 1- Speaking page 175) with flags, capitals and nations of ASEAN.
b. Using synonyms or antonyms:
This is a nice warm up game using synonyms and antonyms. You can make it
as difficult or easy as you wish, depending on the level of your students. Hand out a
list of words to each student. There should be two columns next to each word, label
the heading of each column, synonym and antonym. You can create your own lists
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using words you've already taught. Then read out the synonyms and antonyms of
those words. The students have to write these words next to the word they are the
same or the opposite of.
*Illustrated lecture:
Unit 6: Future Job (Speaking: Task 2 - page 66)
Find each pair of antonym from the following:
Boring
Easy

rewarding
difficult
dangerous
fantastic
interesting
disappointing awful
safe

- The teacher sticks words on the board or give small handouts to ask Ss to match

- Ss guess and match
- The teacher checks corrected answers
- The teacher helps SS to read vocabulary and explains
Suggested answers:
boring

interesting

rewarding

disappointing

dangerous

safe

difficult

easy

fantastic

awful

c. Using examples and situations:
This is also a way of showing what words mean. Most abstract words can be
taught effectively in context. Usually, the meaning can be shown through simple
sentences. The teacher can ask Ss to find the meaning by guessing the meaning of
sentences which refer to common things.
*Illustrated lesson 1:

Unit 1: Home life (Reading-page 12)
- The teacher asks Ss to look at the book and pay attention to the sentences.
''My main responsibility is to wash the dishes and take out the garbage.
I also look after the boys''
- Based on the sentences the teacher asks Ss to guess the meaning of
''responsibility, take out, look after''
*Illustrated lesson 2:
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Unit 10: Home life (Reading-page 107)
- The teacher asks Ss to look at the book and pay attention to the sentences.
"The Red list has been introduced to raise people's awareness of conservation
needs."
"Government have enacted laws to protect wildlife……."
- The teacher asks Ss to guess the meaning of " raise people's awareness, enact
laws".
2.4. The discussion
*The effects of my study:
With the use of my new ways of presenting vocabulary, compared with the
students of class 12A6, those of class 12A8 made great progress in English
learning based on some certain criteria during the school year:
Class

Motivation

Long-term
memory

Doing exercises of Using vocabulary to write

vocabulary well
or speak English well

12A6

40%

40%

35%

30%

12A8

90%

85%

85%

80%

* My colleagues' comments:
After reading my study, my colleagues thought that my ways of presenting
vocabulary were useful in teaching vocabulary effectively. They also added that the
ways could be applied for some lessons in the basic textbooks of Tieng Anh 10 and
Tieng Anh 11.
PART III: CONCLUSION
3.1. Summary of the study

The things above are my ways of teaching based on my own gains from the
teaching experience and my students. I think that teachers should use teaching
approaches flexibly in certain lessons as well as certain students. What's more, it's
important to combine various teaching techniques to motivate students' interest in
English learning, which helps them to get the best result of using the language and
completing the tests or examinations well.
3.2. Limitations of the study and suggestions for further study
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Although this is my teaching experience, it may not become
the best way of presenting English vocabulary. Moreover, the
number of ways is so small. Whether it is successful or not
depends on lots of factors. During the completion of the study,
mistakes are definitely inevitable, so I would hope to get as many
comments as possible from experienced colleagues so that I can
improve myself in teaching process.
REFERENCE
- Textbook (Tieng Anh 12 - basic)
- Teacher's book
- Methodological books of English
STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP
I hereby acknowledge that this study is mine. The date and findings
discussed in the thesis are true, used with permission from associates and have not
been published elsewhere
The confirmation of the Head-Master

Thanh Hoa, 19th May in 2015
I assure this is my experience initiative,
not copying the contents of other people.

The writer

Nguyen Van Canh

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