Plan:
INTRODUCTION 3
THE AIMS OF FOREIGN LANGUAGE TEACHING 4
THE IMPORTANCE OF TEACHING VOCABULARY 5
HOW TO TEACH VOCABULARY IN SCHOOL 7
GUIDELINES ON GIVING EFFACTIVE EXPLANATIONS 9
WHAT IS ANTONYMY 10
WORDS THAT ARE THEIR OWN OPPOSITES 12
HOW TO TEACH ANTONYMS 13
ANTONYM QUESTIONS TEST KNOWLEDGE OF VOCABULARY 14
WORD RETRIEVAL ACTIVITIES FOR CHILDREN 16
ABOUT THE ACTIVITIES 16
PLAYING GAMES INVOLVING ANTONYMS 17
( ANTONYMS QUIZ 19
(MATCHED PAIRS. 20
(DEVELOP CHILDRENS’ UNDRESTANDING OF E MEANINGS 21
( CHOOSE THE CORRECT ANSWER 23
CONCLUSION 24
THE LIST OF LITERATURE: 26
INTRODUCTION
It is generally known that school leavers’ vocabulary is poor. They have troubles with hearing, speaking, reading and writing. One of the reasons is poor teaching of vocabulary.
At all stages of teaching vocabulary the teacher should constantly use all kinds of vocabulary testing to see how his pupils assimilate the form, the meaning, and the usage of the words. For testing the retention if the written form dictations may be suggested. For testing the meaning special tests may be recommended such as writing synonyms, antonyms, derivatives, identification, and some others. For testing the usage of the words the teacher may administer such tests as composing sentences using the words given, composing a story on a picture or a set of pictures, and some others. The teacher should bear in mind that most of the exercises offered for the stages of presentation and retention may be fruitfully utilized for vocabulary testing.
Learning may take place without conscious teaching, but teaching is
intended to result in personal learning for students, and is worthless if
it does not do so. In other words, the concept of teaching is understood as
a process that is intrinsically and inseparably bound up with learning.
There is no separate discussion of language learning; instead, both content
and process of the various modules consistently require the teacher to
study learners’ problems, needs and strategies as a necessary basis for the
formulation of effective teaching practice and theory.
It is necessary to distinguish between “teaching” and “methodology”.
Foreign language teaching methodology can be defined as ‘the activities,
tasks and learning experiences used by the teacher within the language
teaching and learning process’. Any particular methodology usually has a
theoretical underpinning that should cause coherence and consistency in the
choice of teaching procedures. ‘Foreign language teaching’, on the other
hand, though it naturally includes methodology, has further important
components such as lesson planning, classroom discipline, the provision of
interest – topics.
THE AIMS OF FOREIGN LANGUAGE TEACHING
The aims of foreign language teaching are threefold: practical, educational and cultural.
Its practical aims are consequent on the basic function of language, which is, to serve as a means of communication.
International intercourse is realized directly, through the spoken language, or indirectly, trough the written language, that is through printed, or hand-or type-written, texts. Therefore the school programmes set forth the following practical requirements: the instruction must be such as ensure that the graduates can observe on the foreign language on simple every day subjects, using the speech material dealt with in the course, cab read and understand without a dictionary an easy text in the foreign language, and with the occasional help of a dictionary a text presenting moderate difficulties, and can express in written form simple thoughts (write a short letter).
The educational aims of foreign language teaching in schools consist in inculculating in the children through instruction in the foreign language the principles of morality.
The cultural aims mentioned on school programme of foreign languages imply the following tasks: widening the pupils’ general outlook, developing their powers abstract thinking, cultivating their sense of beauty and their appreciation of art. The reading of English texts acquainting the pupils with the life and culture of the English-speaking nations, and with their manner and customs, will contribute to the mental growth of the pupils.
Later the ability of reading English and American authors in the original and texts in the English language reflecting the culture of the countries where that language is spoken will likewise serve the pupils as a mean of attaining a higher general education level.
Reading good authors in the foreign language will develop in the children a feeling of beauty.
A widening of their philological outlook will result from the unconscious and conscious comparison of the foreign with the native language.
THE IMPORTANCE OF TEACHING VOCABULARY
To know a language means to master its structure and words. Thus,
vocabulary is one of the aspects of the language to be taught at school.
The problem is what words and idioms pupils should retain. It is evident
that the number of words should be limited because pupils have only 2-4
periods a week; the size of the group is not small enough to provide each
pupil with practice in speaking; schools are not fully equipped with
special laboratories for individual language learning. The number of words
pupil should acquire in school depends wholly on the syllabus requirement.
The latter are determined by the conditions and methods used. For example,
experiments have proved that the use of programmed instructions for
vocabulary learning allows us to increase the number of words to be learned
since pupils are able to assimilate them while working independently with
the program.
The vocabulary, therefore, must be carefully selected in accordance with the principle of selecting linguistic material, the conditions of teaching and learning a foreign language in school.
Scientific principles of selecting vocabulary have been worked out.
The words selected should be:
1. frequently used in the language;
2. easily combined (nice room, nice girl, nice weather);
3. unlimited from the point of view of style (oral, written);
4. included in the topics the syllabus sets;
5. valuable from the point of view of word-building (use, used, useful, useless, usefully, user, usage).
The first principle, word frequency, is an example of purely linguistic approach to word selection. It is claimed to be the soundest criterion because it is completely objective. It is derived by counting the number of occurrences of words appearing in representative printed material comprising novels, essays, plays, newspapers, textbooks and magazines.
Modern tendency is to apply this principles depending on the language
activities to be developed. For developing reading skills pupils need
“reading vocabulary”, thus various printed texts are analyzed from the
point of view of word frequency. For developing speaking skills pupils need
“speaking vocabulary”. In this case the material for analysis is the spoken
language recorded. The occurrences of words are counted in it and the words
more frequently used in speaking are selected.
The other principles are of didactic value, they serve teaching aims.
The words selected may be grouped under the following two classes (M.
West):
1. Words that we talk with or form (structural) words which make up the form (structure) of the language.
2. Words that we talk about or content words.
In teaching vocabulary for practical needs both structural words and content words are of great importance. That is why they are included in the vocabulary minimum.
The number of words and phraseological units the syllabus sets for a pupil to assimilate is 800 words.
The selection of the vocabulary although important is not the
teacher’s chief concern. It is only the “what” of teaching and is usually
prescribed for him by textbooks and study - guides he uses. The teacher’s
concern is “how” to get his pupils to assimilate the vocabulary prescribed.
This is a difficult problem and it is still in the process of being solved.
The teacher should bear in mind that a word is considered to be learned when:
1. it is spontaneously recognized while auding and reading;
2. it is correctly used in speech, the right word in the right place.
HOW TO TEACH VOCABULARY IN SCHOOL
The process of learning a word means to the pupil:
1. identification of concepts, that is learning what the word means;
2. pupil’s activity for the purpose of retaining the word;
3.pupil’s activity in using this word in the process of communication in different situations.
Accordingly, the teacher’s role in this process is:
1. to furnish the explanation, that is to present the word, to get his pupils to identify the concept correctly;
2. to get them to recall or recognize the word by means of different exercises;
3. to stimulate pupils to use the words in speech.
Teaching and learning words are carried on through methods you are familiar with; the teacher organizes learning and pupils are involved in the very process of learning, that is in the acquisition of information about a new word, its form, meaning and usage; in drill and transformation to form lexical habits; in making use of the lexical habits in hearing, speaking and reading, or in language skills. Various techniques are used to attain the goal- to fix the words in pupils’ memory ready to be used whenever they need them[1].
Presentation of new words. Since every word has its form, meaning and usage to present a word means to introduce to pupils its forms (phonetic, graphic, structural and grammatical) and to explain its meaning and usage.
The techniques of teaching pupils the punctuation and spelling of a word are as follows:
1. pure orcoscious imitation;
2. analogy;
3. transcription;
4. rules of reading.
Since a word consists of sounds if heard or spoken and letters if read
or written the teacher shows the pupils how to pronounce, to read and write
it. However the approach may vary depending on the task set (the latter
depends on the age of pupils, their progress in the language, the type of
words, etc.). For example, if the teacher wants his pupils to learn the
word orally first, he instructs them to recognize it when hearing and to
articulate the word as an isolated element (a book) and in a sentence
pattern or sentence patterns alongside with other words. (This is a book.
Give me the book. Take the book. Put the book on the table.).
As far as the form concerned the pupils have but two difficulties to overcome: to lean how to pronounce the word both separately and in the speech; and to recognize it in sentence patterns pronounced by the teacher, by his classmates, or by a speaker in case the tape- recorder is used.
If the teacher wants his pupils to learn the word during the same lesson not only for hearing and speaking but for reading and writing as well, he shows them how to write and read it after they perform oral exercises and can recognize and pronounce the word. The teacher writes down the word on the blackboard (let it be spoon) and invites some pupils to read it (they already know all the letters and the rule of reading). The pupils read the word and put it down in their notebooks. In this case the pupils have two more difficulties to overcome: to learn how to write and to read the word; the letter is connected with their ability to associate letters with sounds in a proper way.
There are two ways of conveying the meaning of words: direct way and translation. The direct way of presenting the words of a foreign language brings the learner into direct contact with them, the mother tongue does not come in between, and it establishes links between a foreign word and the thing or the concept directly. The direct way of conveying the meaning of foreign words is usually used when the words denote things, objects, their qualities, sometimes gestures and movements, which can be shown to and seen by pupils, for example: a book, a table, red, big, take, stand up, etc.
The teacher should connect the English word he presents with the objects, the notion it denotes directly, without the use of pupils’ mother tongue.
The teacher uses various techniques for this purpose.
It is possible to group them into (1) visual and (2) verbal. The first group involves the use of visual aids to convey the meaning of unfamiliar words. These may be: besides, the teacher may use movements and gestures.
E. g., the teacher uses objects. He takes a pencil and looking at it says: a pencil. This is a pencil. What is this? It is a pencil. Is it a pencil? Yes, it is. Is it a pen? No, it is not. Is it a pen or a pencil? It is a pencil. The pupils do not only grasp the meaning of the word pencil, but they observe the use of the word in familiar sentence patterns.
GUIDELINES ON GIVING EFFACTIVE EXPLANATIONS
1. Prepare
You may feel perfectly clear in your own mind about what needs
clarifying, and therefore think that you can improvise a clear explanation.
But experience shows that teachers’ explanations are often not as clear to
their pupils as they are to themselves! It is worth preparing: thinking for
a while about the words you will use, the illustrations you will provide,
and so on; possibly even writing these out.
2. Make sure you have the class’s attention
One of the implications of this when giving the instructions for a
group-working task is that it is advisable to give the instructions before
you divide the class into groups or give out materials, not after!
3. Present the information more than once
A repetition of the necessary information may make all the difference:
learners’ attention wanders occasionally, and it is important to give them
more than one chance to understand what they have to do. Also, it helps to
represent the information in a different mode: foe example, say it and also
write it up on the board.
4. Be brief
Learners-in fact, all of us-have only a limited attention span; they
cannot listen to you for along time with maximum concentration. Make your
explanation as brief as you can, compatible with clarity. In some
situations it may also mean using the learners’ mother tongue, as a more
accessible and cost-effective alternative to the sometimes lengthy and
difficult target- language explanation.
5. Illustrate with examples
You may explain, for instance, the meaning of a word, illustrating
your explanation with examples of its use in various contexts, relating
these as far as possible to the learners’ own lives and experiences.
6. Get feedback
When you have finished explaining, check what they have understood. It is not just enough to ask “Do you understand?” ; learners will sometimes say they did even if they did not, out of politeness or unwillingness to lose face, or because they think they know what they have to do, but in fact completely misunderstood! It is better to ask them to do something that will show their understanding: to paraphrase in their own words, provide further illustration of their own.
WHAT IS ANTONYMY
Traditionally antonyms are defined as words that have opposite meaning. This definition is open to criticism. The latest linguistic investigations emphasize that antonyms are similar as words belonging to the same part of speech and the same semantic field, having the same grammatical meaning and functions, as well as similar collocations. Like synonyms antonyms are interchangeable at least at some contexts (hot in its figurative meaning “angry, excited” is chiefly combined with the names of unpleasant emotions: hot resentment, hot scorn; its antonym cold occurs with the same words). Unlike synonyms antonyms do not differ in style, or emotional colouring (they express, as a rule, emotional characteristics of the same intensity).
So antonyms are two or more words belonging to the same pat of speech, contradictory or contrary in meaning, and interchangeable at least at some contexts.
Almost every word can have one or more synonyms; comparatively few
have antonyms because not all notions can be opposed to one another.
Antonyms are primarily found in adjectives, nouns expressing quality and
state.
It should be noted, that as words are polysemantic ones and the same words may have different antonyms (light bag-heavy bag; light wind-strong wind; light colors-dark colors).
Generally we may divide antonyms into 2 groups: absolute and derivational.
Absolute antonyms are subdivided into antonyms proper where opposition is gradual (cold (cool)-(warm) hot; large-little or small), complementaries having a binary opposition (dead-alive, single-married), conversives denoting one and the same referent from different points of view (to sell- to buy, to give to receive).
Derivational antonyms may be affixal (happy-unhappy, logical- illogical) or suffixal (hopeful-hopeless).
It is not always possible to replace a word by its opposite. Where it is possible you may notice that some words have several opposites depending on the context.
The opposite of “old”, for example, can be “new” or “young” depending on the situation.
WORDS THAT ARE THEIR OWN OPPOSITES
There are some antonyms that are called auto-antonyms - words that have two opposite meanings. For example, to "clip" may mean to cut a little piece off, or to put a little piece on. To "look over" may mean careful scrutiny or that you missed an important detail. Sometimes the antonymy may be historical: "nice" used to denote an unpleasant quality. There is a discussion of whether any generalities could be made about such pairs. Are they regularly motivated, or always a coincidence? Meanwhile, here are more auto-antonyms that got left out of last post: One auto-antonym is "moot", which at once means "suitable for debate" and "not worth discussing".
Impregnable: able to impregnated or inable to be pregnated,
cope(s)mate: used to mean antagonist and now means partner or comrade, It
turns out that they were having a week celebrating "fence-setters",
evidently another term for what is calling auto-antonyms. BRUCE NEVIN
reminds us of an intercontinental auto-antonym pair: "public school" in
Britain is "private school" in the USA and vice versa.
Infer: historically (and now, informally) this means "imply" as well.
Rent, lease: several pointed out to me that these means both lend and
borrow. In addition, Chinese operates similarly with respect to this pair,
and WOLFGANG LIPP notes a similar auto-antonymy to represent "give" and
"take" in pronunciation but not in writing.
Learn/teach: in "sub" - Standard English, these two meanings fuse into
“learn”, as they do in standard Russian “uchit'” Here is “sensitive”: this
may describe either someone with profound understanding for the feelings of
others, and tolerates differences of opinion (thus "sensitivity training"
for group leaders) as well as a paranoid who doesn't listen to what people
are really saying, and decides to take everything as a personal insult.
Hole/whole: Spelled the first way, an entire absence of matter; the
second, entire presence. This reminds me of "pit" which can be either a
hollow or the stone of a fruit. Which reminds me of "seeded" oranges
(insert your favourite fruit here) - oranges with seeds (as opposed to
navel oranges, which have no seeds), OR oranges that have had their seeds
removed. If you think you're beginning to see some patterns here, you're
not alone! There were received a few theories on the ultimate essence of
auto-antonymy, historical, psychological, and sociological approaches.
These theories show that auto-antonymy comes about for a variety of
reasons.
“I've been enjoying the discussion of words that are their own
antonyms.
At first I thought the classic example of Latin Altus "high" or "deep"
might fit in, but as I thought about it I figured it was just unmarked
for point of view (say when cleaning out an empty swimming pool then
"Deep" becomes "high") so I just looked to see if it was on the list and got a comment. No. Good. But one that I have long wondered about is
"risk" as in "he risked winning the game". I was shocked (as a teenager) the first time I saw "he risked losing the game" (or something like that) in print, because I previously thought (and am still inclined toward) the complement of risk being the desirable result, not the undesirable one. Whether or not this fits into this discussion, I wonder if anyone else has had a similar (or opposite) reaction or any thoughts
about what's going on in the case of "risk"[2]”.
HOW TO TEACH ANTONYMS
Teaching antonyms requires great skill and practice. For this purpose the teacher uses various techniques and methods.
For example, while teaching antonyms “small” and “big” he uses
pictures for presenting them. He says: In these pictures you see two balls.
(The balls should differ only in size.) This is a small ball, and this is a
big ball. This ball is small, and that ball is big. Now, Sasha, come up to
the picture and point to the small ball (big ball).
Then the teacher shows another picture with two houses in it – a white house and a yellow house, and he asks another pupil to point to the white house, to the u yellow house, and so on.
The teacher may use gestures, for example, for conveying the meaning of stand up, sit down. He says: Lena, stand up. He shows with his hands what she must do. Lena stands up. Now, sit down. Again with the movement of his hands he shows the girl what she must do. The other pupils listen to the teacher and watch what Lena is doing. Then many pupils are invited to perform the actions.
If the antonyms are difficult for understanding the teacher may use the learners’ mother tongue and translate them directly or to give the analogies. For example, the teacher says: антоним слова “широкий” на русском языке будет “узкий”, а по-английски это слово звучит как “narrow”.
ANTONYM QUESTIONS TEST KNOWLEDGE OF VOCABULARY
The teacher must be sure of his vocabulary. . These questions obviously test vocabulary. So if yours could use some work, spend time improving it. Apart from having a great vocabulary, you can also do well on antonyms by using test-smarts and strategy.
Antonyms present you with a single word followed by five answer
choices containing words or short phrases. Your task here is to find the
answer choice that’s most nearly opposite in meaning to the original word.
If you’re stumped about the meaning of a word, try to think of a context
where you’ve heard the word before. You may not be able to recite the
definition of the word covert, for instance, but you’ve probably heard the
phrase “covert operation” to describe some type of cloak-and-dagger
activity. Also, use your knowledge of foreign languages and word roots to
help “decode” the meaning of a tough word. For instance, you may not know
what benediction means, but you may be able to determine that the root bene
means “good” from knowing the more common word “benevolent.” That may be
all you need to answer a question if you spot a word like “curse” among the
answers.
Although antonym questions test knowledge of vocabulary more directly than do any of the other verbal question types, antonym questions measure not merely the strength of your vocabulary but also your ability to reason from a given concept to its opposite. Antonyms may require only rather general knowledge of a word, or they may require that you make fine distinctions among answer choices. Antonyms are generally confined to nouns, verbs, and adjectives; answer choices may be single words or phrases.
Here are some approaches that may be helpful in answering antonym
questions:
1. Remember that you are looking for the word that is the most nearly opposite to the given word; you are not looking for a synonym. Many words do not have a precise opposite, so you must look for the answer choice that expresses a concept most nearly opposite to that of the given word.
2. In some cases more than one of the answer choices may appear at first to be opposite to the given word. When this happens, try to define more precisely or in greater detail the meaning of the given word.
3. In weighing answer choices, it is often useful to make up a sentence using the given word or words. Substitute the answer choices in the phrase or sentence and see which best “fits”. The best answer will be the one that reverses the meaning or tone of the sentence or phrase.
4. Remember that a particular word may have more than one meaning.
5. Use your knowledge of root, prefix, and suffix meanings to help you determine the meanings of unfamiliar words.
WORD RETRIEVAL ACTIVITIES FOR CHILDREN
What is a word-retrieval problem?
The terms “word retrieval problem” or “word finding difficulty” imply
that the person knows and understands the word, and has used it correctly
before. However, they have difficulty retrieving such known words at times.
Children and adults with language disorders are frequently found to have
word retrieval difficulties. Often when a person (child or adult) is having
difficulty retrieving a word they will have the sense that it is “on the
tip of their tongue”: a state of affairs familiar to all of us; at other
times they seem simply to “go blank”.
ABOUT THE ACTIVITIES
These activities are intended for children .
Not all of the activities will suit all children - so be selective.
Put the emphasis on listening, thinking and speaking.
The activities are aimed at having the child retrieve known words - not at extending the vocabulary by teaching new words.
Use a minimum of visual cues. If the word to be “retrieved” does not come easily for the child, provide an auditory cue (e.g., say the first sound or syllable of the word) or a verbal clue (e.g., “it rhymes with...).
Give the child time to think, but don’t leave it so long that they are
struggling to find the word. Rather than letting them persist
unsuccessfully, tell them the answer, and go on with the next few items.
Then ask them the one that was difficult again.
Aim for a high success-rate to encourage motivation and confidence.
Adapt the tasks to suit the (developmental) age of the person. Talk about words and word-meanings.
As natural opportunities arise talk about such topics as “Why is Big
Bird called Big Bird?” Talk about people being named after other people.
Talk about why certain names might have been chosen for pets and TV
characters (Cookie Monster, Vinny the Poo, Uncle Scrooge, The Fat
Controller, etc). Try to work these conversations in around topics of
genuine interest to the child.
PLAYING GAMES INVOLVING ANTONYMS
Do this as a sentence completion (cloze) activity (e.g., “The opposite
of hot is...”) or use a question-and-answer format (e.g., “What is the
opposite of hot?”), or as a confrontation naming task using pictures in
which the child has to name “opposites pictures” as rapidly as they can
(e.g., hot cold, wet dry, big little, fast slow, deep shallow, apart
together).
( Play word games involving differences
For example, “What is different about a bird and a plane? They can both fly, but they are different because...”
( Checking test
Each of the following questions begins with a single word in capital
letters. Five answer choices follow. Select the answer choice that has the
meaning most opposite to the word in capitals.
1.CEDE:
(A) estimate (B) fail (C) get ahead of (D) flow out of (E) retain
2. ACRID:
(A) surly
(B) vapid (C) damp (D) steady (E) sweet
3. NOISOME:
(A) lurid
(B) healthful (C) peaceful (D) morose (E) rancorous
( Answers
This question type is heavily based on vocabulary. The better your vocabulary, the better you will do. But there are a few tricks you can try to use. For example, if a choice doesn’t have a clear opposite, it can’t be the correct answer. Such words as “hinterland” or “automobile” don’t have very clear opposites and would be incorrect if you were to see them as answer choices. In this case, answer choice (A) does not have a clear opposite and can be eliminated even if you don’t know what “cede” means.
Also, if it’s a tough question and the keyword is really hard,
remember to stay away from choices that are too good to be true. The hard
questions, which are the last few questions of each question type, often
contain choices that are misleading or tricky. For instance, the word
“cede” will remind many people of “succeed,” so they’ll pick (B). But the
test maker will never reward students for making mistakes. (B) can’t be
correct. By the same logic, you could probably eliminate (C) and (D)
because “cede” will remind some people of “recede,” as in “receding tide.”
That leaves you with choice (E) as the right answer. “Cede” actually means
to yield or surrender, which is in fact the opposite of “retain.”
( Note: You will seldom, if ever, be able to eliminate all four
wrong answers to an antonym question just by using these kinds of guessing
strategies. They can help you eliminate a few choices and increase your
guessing odds, but the best way to tackle antonyms is to know what kinds of
words tend to show up on the GRE, make flashcards of them, and improve your
vocabulary.
1. C
Cede is to give up one’s rights or possessions. The most opposite phrase in
meaning is to get ahead of.
2. E
Something that is ACRID is sharp and biting to taste or smell. The word most opposite in meaning is sweet.
3. B
NOISOME can mean harmful or injurious. The best opposite to this is therefore healthful.
( ANTONYMS QUIZ
| | |Score |
|FACETS |Handout | |
| |Prefix: | |
|1. What is the prefix that gives the |a) -im b) il- c) in- | |
|opposite meaning of “happy”? |d) ir- e) un- | |
|Write the word | | |
|here:....................................| | |
|................ |2. a) im- b) un- c) | |
|2. What prefix makes the word “possible” |ir- d) il- e) dis- | |
|into something you cannot do? | | |
|Write the word | | |
|here:....................................|3. a) dis- b) im- c) | |
|............... |un- d) ir- e) il- | |
|3. Which prefix creates the antonym for | | |
|“practical”? | | |
|Write the word |4. a) im- b) il- c) | |
|here:....................................|un- d) dis- e) ir- | |
|............... | | |
|4. Choose the prefix that creates the | | |
|antonym for “satisfied”. |5. a) dis- b) ir- c) | |
|Write the word |un- d) im- e) un- | |
|here:....................................| | |
|............... | | |
|5. The prefix that creates the opposite |6. a) ir- b) il- c) | |
|of the word “patient” is... |un- d) dis- e) in- | |
|Write the word | | |
|here:....................................|7. a) dis- b) un- c) | |
|.............. |in- d) im- e) il- | |
|6. What word means the opposite of | | |
|“human”? | | |
|Write the word |8. a) un- b) dis- c) | |
|here:....................................|ir- d) im- e) il- | |
|.............. | | |
|7. And the prefix that creates the |9. a) un- b) ir- c) | |
|antonym for “imaginative” is? |dis- d) im- e) in- | |
|Write the word | | |
|here:....................................|10 a) un- b) dis- c) | |
|.............. |in- d) im- e) ir- | |
|8. What is the antonym of the word | | |
|“legal”? | | |
|Write the word | | |
|here:....................................| | |
|.............. | | |
|9. What is the antonym of “regular”? | | |
|Write the word | | |
|here:....................................| | |
|.............. | | |
|10. The opposite of “responsible” is: | | |
|Write the word | | |
|here:....................................| | |
|.............. | | |
(MATCHED PAIRS.
Purpose: To review vocabulary. Sometimes, new words can be added to the set, as long as the number of new words s small and not disruptive. A second purpose, if the game is played as a team activity, is to stimulate conversation among the team members—“I think 7 matches 23.” “Do you remember where ____ is?” Finally, the game, like all the card games, is fun and contributes to group building.
Targeted Skill: vocabulary development
Preparation: Choose a category, e.g. antonyms. Write a word on each of
15 cards and the matching antonym on another 15 cards. Shuffle the cards
well and then turn the over and number them from 1 to 30 on the back.
Because the purpose of this game is to review something that has been taught rather than teach something new, go over the pairs before the game begins to be sure everybody knows what the 15 pairs are.
( Procedure:
1. Lay the cards out face down with the numbers showing.
2. Taking turns, the students call out 2 numbers. Turn over the called cards. If the cards don’t match (chances are they won’t for the first few turns), the cards are turned back over.
3. When a student makes a match, the matched areas are removed from the lay-out and that student gets another turn, continuing until the cards picked don’t match.
4. When all the cards have been matched, the student with the largest pile wins.
Variations:
1. The game can be played as a team activity. One person from each team is the spokesperson for the team’s collective effort to remember locations. Students can take turns being the spokesperson.
2. When a match is made, the player can be required to use the two card words in a sentence. If the player can’t do this, the cards are retuned to the layout, and the next player gets he opportunity to match and use the two words.
Suggestions:
1. adjective synonyms (big-large; next-following; skeptical-doubtful);
2. antonyms (warm-cool; light-heavy);
3. two-word verbs: separable (find out - discover);
4. two-word verbs; inseparable (come back - return);
5. prefixes (un - believable);
6. idioms (by the way - incidentally);
7. proverbs (Time - heals all things.).
(DEVELOP CHILDRENS’ UNDRESTANDING OF E MEANINGS
The following activity develops the children’s understanding of the
meanings of the above two terms, while increasing their range of
vocabulary.
1) Begin by explaining the two terms, giving examples to illustrate the
point.
2) Have a list of words which have lots of synonyms / antonyms. Some are
listed here:
|strong |big |happy |short |soft |fast |easy |
|fat |nice |new |good |quiet |bright |warm |
3) Split the class into an even number of groups. Label half of the groups
“Synonym” and half of the groups “Antonym”.
4) Say one of the words on your word list. Each group then has to think of
as many synonyms and antonyms for that word as possible (depending on the
group’s label given earlier). The children can have a fixed time limit to
do this, or can continue until they run out of words.
5) Now count up the number of words each group has produced and award
points to the group with the longest list.
6) Repeat using different words. You could also swap the groups, so the
“Synonyms” groups now find antonyms and vice versa.
7) This would also be a useful exercise in using a thesaurus, so if there
were enough for one per group, the children could use these to add to their
own lists.
Antonyms: Students fold a piece of construction paper in half. They look through the newspaper to find and cut out words or pictures that are antonyms. They write or paste the antonym words or pictures on opposite sides of the construction paper[3].
( CHOOSE THE CORRECT ANSWER
Please check to see if the question is asking for an antonym or synony
|1|Give the antonym for ‘forward’ (1 pt) |
|.| |
| |[A] advance |
| |[B] ahead |
| |[C] backwards |
| |[D] behind |
|2|Are the following antonyms or synonyms? (FEARLESS/BRAVE) (1 pt) |
|.| |
| | |
| |[A] Synonyms |
| |[B] Antonyms |
|3|What is the antonym of ‘no’ ? (1 pt) |
|.| |
| |[A] yes |
| |[B] forget |
| |[C] eat |
| |[D] know |
|4|True or False: An antonym is a word that has the opposite meaning of |
|.|another word. (1 pt) |
| | |
| |[A] True |
| |[B] False |
CONCLUSION
The process of teaching a foreign language is a complex one: as with many other subjects, it has necessarily to be broken down into components for purposes of study: the teaching acts of (1) presenting and explaining new material; (2) providing practice; and (3) testing.
In principle, the teaching processes of presenting, practicing and testing correspond to strategies used by many good learners trying to acquire a foreign language on their own. They make sure they perceive and understand new language; they make conscious efforts to learn it through; and they check themselves.
In the class, it is teacher’s job to promote these three learning processes by the use of appropriate teaching acts. Thus, he or she: presents and explains new material in order to make it clear, comprehensible and available for learning; gives practice to consolidate knowledge; and tests, in order to check what has been mastered and still needs to be learned and reviewed.
These acts may not occur in this order, and may sometimes be combined within one activity; nevertheless good teachers are aware which is their main object at any point in a lesson.
In modern teaching materials now in use the words pupils are to learn
pass through the following stages:
1. Pupils listen to the words in sentences arranged in a structural group.
2. They learn the meaning of the words in various contexts.
3. Pupils learn the forms of the words.
4. They perform various exercises with the words in phrases and structures to assimilate the usage of the words.
5. Pupils use the words in speaking in various situations.
The rules, techniques, methods and structures mentioned in this paper
are available for teaching any unit of vocabulary and antonyms as well.
Following these learning processes you will achieve a step and will be
successful in teaching antonyms and vocabulary in the whole.
THE LIST OF LITERATURE:
1. Общая методика обучения иностранным языкам в средней школе. М., 1967.
2. Методика преподавания иностранных языков за рубежом. Сост. М. М.
Васильева и Е. В. Синявская. М., Прогресс, 1967.
3. Старков А.. П. Обучение иностранному языку в средней школе. М.,
Просвещение, 1978.
4. Программа по иностранному языку для средней школы. М., Просвещение,
1981.
5. Хэкболдт П. Изучение иностранных языков. М., Просвещение, 1963.
6. Костиникова О. А.. Basic English Lexicology. Сочи, 2000.
7. Flower J. Berman M. Build your vocabulary 2. LTP, London, 1998.
8. Ur P. A Course in Language Teaching: Practice and Theory. Cambridge
University, 1997.
9. The All Nations Dictionary (International Phonetic Alphabet). All
Nations Literature, Colorado Springs, 1992.
-----------------------
[1] See: Общая методика обучения иностранным языкам в средней школе. М.,
1967
[2] LINGUIST List 6.86 p.-32/1995/ Dr. Alex Eulenberg USA Department of
Speech, University of Newcastle upon Tyne, UK
[3] This idea contributed by Mrs. Amada Pйrez