词语教学外文翻译一.docx

词语教学外文翻译一.docx

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词语教学外文翻译一

外文翻译一：

Excerpt

wordstomoreandmorecomplexphrases.Childrenlearntolistenandtotalklongbeforetheylearntoreadandwrite.Thesamesequenceshouldbefollowedinclassroomteaching.ExtradifficultywouldbecreatedifonewouldtrytodevelopEnglishreadingandwritingskillsbeforechildrencanspeakthelanguage.Inordertobeabletospeakthelanguage,studentsneedtoknowsomevocabularyfirst.InthispaperIwillfocusonhowtoteachvocabularythatenablesstudentstoconstructarichvocabularybank.Guidingmethodsareintroducedandsampleactivitiesareprovided.

II.MainPart

1.TheImportanceofTeachingVocabulary

1.1.VocabularyDevelopmentinthePrimaryGrades

Thefindingsofthe“NationalReadingPanel”indicatethatvocabularyinstructiondoesleadtogainsincomprehension,butthatmethodsmustbeappropriatetotheageandabilityofthereader.Usingbothindirectanddirectteachingmethodstobuildstudents’oralandreadingvocabulariesshouldbeapartofabalancedreadingprogram.Indirectmethodswouldincluderead-alouds,sharedreadingandwritingexperiences,andindependentreading.Directteachingofvocabularyshouldrespondtotheneedsofthestudentsandshouldactivelyengagethemintheprocess（NationalReadingPanel,2000）.

Allwordlearningtasksarenotequalindifficulty.Achildmayunderstandtheconceptbehindaword,butnotknowtheworditself.Forexample,thewordceaserepresentsaknownconcepttomostchildren;however,ayoungchildhasprobablynotheardthiswordusedforstop.Learninganewwordthatrepresentsaknownconceptisnotasdifficultaslearninganewwordthatrepresentsanewconcept.Teachersintheprimarygradesintroducemanynewconcepts,anddirectinstructionisnecessarytobuilduptheunderstandingoftheseconceptsandthevocabularywordsthatrepresentthem.

Whenteachingvocabularywordsthatrepresentknownconcepts,theemphasisshouldalwaysbeonthecontextinwhichthewordappears.Discussingthemeaning

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ofthewordfromthecontextofthereadingselectiontogetherwithsupplyingadefinitionofthewordwillhelptobuildmeaningforstudents.Ifstudentsaretoacquirethiswordaspartoftheirvocabulary,thentheymustbegivenrepeatedexposureofthewordinavarietyofcontexts.Theymustalsohaveopportunitiestopractiseusingthewordinconversationand/orwriting.

Bythetimechildrenentersecondgrade,theyarelikelytoknowbetween2,000and5,000vocabularywords.Thisamazinggrowthcontinuesthroughouttheelementaryyears,asmostchildrengain3,000-4,000newvocabularywordseachyearthattheycanreadandunderstand（TeachingReadinginthe21stCentury,2001）.Byencouragingindependentreadingandprovidingbothindirectanddirectinstructioninvocabulary,studentscanbehelpedtodevelopthevocabularyknowledgetheywillneedforeffectivecomprehension.

1.2.EducatorsViewonTeachingVocabulary

"Teachingonewordatatimeoutofcontextistheworstwayofteachingvocabulary,withrapidforgettingalmostguaranteed,"assertsFrankSmith,authorof"TheBookofLearningandForgetting"（1998）,recentlypublishedbyTeachersCollegePress.AccordingtoSmith,peopleassimilatenewvocabularywordsfromcontextthefirsttimetheyreadthem,"providedthatthegistofthematerialbeingreadisbothinterestingandcomprehensible.Withinfivemoreencounters,thewordanditsconventionalmeaningareusuallyfirmlyestablishedinthemindofthereader."

Othereducatorswhosharethisviewaddthatwhenreadingmaterialisn'tinstantlyinterestingorcomprehensible,it'stheteacher'sjobtobuildcontextbyactivatingstudents'priorknowledgeofthetopic.Withregardtovocabulary,thatmeanshavingstudentsidentifydifficultwordsthemselvesandpooltheirknowledgetogetthemeaning.AnnMarieLongo,directoroftheBoysTownReadingCenter,arguesthatteenscan'tusecontexteffectivelywhentheirvocabulariesarelimited.Limitedvocabularyisthemostcommonproblemamongweakreadersshe'sworkedwith.Longobeginswithindirectinstructioninwordsandtheirmeaningsandthenprovideshigh-interestopportunitiestousethewords.VocabularyexpertIsabelBeckoftheUniversityofPittsburghembracesbothapproaches.Forher,thereare

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fourwaystolearnvocabulary:

widereading,hearingunfamiliarwordsinspeech,directinstructioninwordsand"gimmicks"tobooststudents'interest.

Becksuggeststeachersincorporatedifficultwordsintotheirclassroomroutinesandencouragestudentstolookforthewordsinreadingoutsideclass.Longoagreesthatstudentsneedtoputnewwordstouseinwritingandconversationaswellasreading."Forvocabularyinstructiontoincreasecomprehension,"saysLongo,"youhavetoseethosewordsoverandoveragain"（WhenAdolescentsCan´tRead:

MethodsandMaterialsthatWork,1999）.

1.3.MemoryandStorageSystems

Understandinghowourmemoryworksmighthelpuscreatemoreeffectivewaystoteachvocabulary.Researchinthearea,citedbyGairnsandRedman（1986）offersussomeinsightsintothisprocess.Itseemsthatlearningnewitemsinvolvestoringthemfirstinourshort-termmemory,andafterwardsinlong-termmemory.Wedonotcontrolthisprocessconsciouslybutthereseemtobesomeimportantcluestoconsider.First,retentioninshort-termmemoryisnoteffectiveifthenumberofchunksofinformationexceedsseven.Therefore,thissuggeststhatinagivenclassweshouldnotaimatteachingmorethanthisnumber.However,ourlong-termmemorycanholdanyamountofinformation.

Researchalsosuggeststhatour“mentallexicon”ishighlyorganisedandefficient,andthatsemanticrelateditemsarestoredtogether.Wordfrequencyisanotherfactorthataffectsstorage,asthemostfrequentlyuseditemsareeasiertoretrieve.Wecanusethisinformationtoattempttofacilitatethelearningprocess,bygroupingitemsofvocabularyinsemanticfields,suchastopics（e.g.typesoffruit）.Oxford（1990）suggestsmemorystrategiestoaidlearning,andthesecanbedividedintocreatingmentallinkages（grouping,associating,placingnewwordsintoacontext）,applyingimagesandsounds（usingimagery,semanticmapping,usingkeywordsandrepresentingsoundsinmemory）,reviewinginastructuredwayandemployingaction（physicalresponseorsensation,usingmechanicaltechniques）.Thetechniquesjustmentionedcanbeusedtogreateradvantageifwecandiagnoselearningstylepreferences（visual,aural,kinesthetic,tactile）andmakestudentsawareofdifferentmemorystrategies.

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Meaningfultasks,however,seemtoofferthebestanswertovocabularylearning,astheyrelyonstudents’experiencesandrealitytofacilitatelearning.Moremeaningfultasksalsorequirelearnerstoanalyseandprocesslanguagemoredeeply,whichshouldhelpthemretaininformationinlong-termmemory.Forgettingseemstobeaninevitableprocess,unlesslearnersregularlyuseitemstheyhavelearnt.Therefore,recyclingisvital,andideallyitshouldhappenoneortwodaysaftertheinitialinput.Afterthat,weeklyormonthlytestscancheckonpreviouslytaughtitems.Thewaystudentsstoretheitemslearnedcanalsocontributetotheirsuccessorfailureinretrievingthemwhenneeded.Mostlearnerssimplylisttheitemslearntinchronologicalorder,indicatingmeaningwithtranslation.Thissystemisfarfromhelpful,asitemsarede-contextualised,encouragingstudentstoovergeneralisetheirusage.Itdoesnotallowforadditionsandrefinementsnordoesitindicatepronunciation.Teacherscanencouragelearnerstouseothermethods,usingtopicsandcategoriestoorganiseanotebook,binderorindexcards.MeaningshouldbestoredusingEnglishasmuchaspossible.Diagramsandwordtreescanalsobeusedwithinthistopic/categoriesorganisation.Theclassasawholecankeepavocabularyboxwithcards,whichcanbeusedforrevision/recyclingregularly.

1.4.WhyVocabularyisImportant

Teachersmaywonderwhyitisimportanttoteachvocabulary.Well,thereisaveryclearanswertothatquestion,namelythatvocabularyiscriticaltoreadingsuccessforthreereasons,whichIwillexplainnowbriefly.Firstofall,comprehensionimproveswhenyouknowwhatthewordsmean.Sincecomprehensionistheultimategoalofreading,youcannotoverestimatetheimportanceofvocabularydevelopment.Secondly,wordsarethecurrencyofcommunication.Arobustvocabularyimprovesallareasofcommunicationwhicharelistening,speaking,readingandwriting.Lastbutnoleast,whenchildrenandadolescentsimprovetheirvocabulary,theiracademicandsocialconfidenceandcompetenceimprove,too.

Inturn,adeficitinvocabularyknowledgecausescomprehensionproblems,andcomprehensionproblemspreventpeoplefromimprovingtheirvocabularyknowledgeontheirown.Intensivevocabularyinstructioncanbeeffectiveinturningthissituationaround.Whatisrequired,though,isaclearanddeliberatefocusonfacilitatingstudents’creationofmeaningfulcontextsforthewordmeaningstheyarelearning,

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andafrequentandconsistentemphasisonhelpingthemmakeconnectionstowhattheyalreadyknow.

1.5.LevelsofWordKnowledge

“Wordknowledge”referstohowwellyouknowthemeaningofaword.Researchshowsthattherearethreekindsofwordknowledge.Firstly,thereisalackofwordknowledgewherethemeaningiscompletelyunfamiliar.Secondly,thereisacquiredwordknowledgewherethebasicmeaningisrecognizedaftersomethought.Andlast,thereisestablishedwordknowledgewherethemeaningiseasily,rapidlyandautomaticallyrecognized（Beck,McKeown,andOmanson,1987）.Wordsfromthethirdcategoryarealreadyestablishedinthepersonalvocabularybankandare