Context and Meaning, Teaching Vocabulary Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Context and Meaning, Teaching Vocabulary - Essay Example The students can be shown separate pieces of silverware, which they know (a fork, a spoon, a knife), and then told that all they are called silverware. That is the teacher goes from particular to general concepts when introducing the word. Using authentic materials can be of a great advantage to teach students word meaning, because they are the real examples of how the word is usually used. However, such materials can be inappropriate for beginners because they may not be ready to understand and comprehend the presented information. In addition, teaching meaning, I believe, should not be separated from teaching other concepts of the language, so it might be more useful to use materials specifically developed to meet the learning needs of the students. For example, if the students have just learnt Present Perfect Tense, it is good to use Perfect structures in the materials for teaching meaning in order for the students to both revise and strengthen the knowledge of Present Perfect, and learn the new vocabulary on the basis of already acquired knowledge. In addition, when authentic materials contain many unfamiliar or new grammatical structures, they are more difficult for the students to understand, and, as a result, t he meaning of the separate words may be more difficult to explain too. The following text can be used to teach vocabulary to beginners. The words to introduce would be the names of the house premises: living room, kitchen, dining room, bathroom, bedroom. The text is accompanied by illustrations: a layout of the house, or pictures of separate rooms. The teacher reads the text showing each room on the