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Vocabulary plays a very important role in the English classroom. It is central to learning a second language, because it carries more meaning than grammar. A person can communicate more successfully with little grammar and an advance vocabulary, than with advanced grammar and poor vocabulary (International Teacher Training Organization, 2001). Until recently, however, research on Second Language Acquisition (SLA) has not given importance to vocabulary acquisition. Modern research has focused on reading texts, since text comprehension is not possible without knowledge of the vocabulary in the text, though other elements such as background knowledge and reading strategies are also necessary (Coady & Huckin, 1997). Some studies have found a strong correlation between vocabulary knowledge and text comprehension (e.g. Anderson & Freebody, 1981; Beck, Perfetti, & McKeown, 1982; Laufer, 1991), and not only to the field of SLA, but in other areas as well, such as mathematics (e.g. Seethaler, Fuchs, Star, & Bryant, 2011; Van der Walt, 2009). Now, being vocabulary teaching a central element in language acquisition, what are the best ways to teach it to ESL students? Seal (1991) classified vocabulary teaching strategies into planned and unplanned. The first kind refers to strategies used when words may be learned “accidentally” in the classroom, like when students ask for the meaning of a word, or when the teacher notices a word being difficult for a particular group of students, for example. Planned strategies include lists of target words for a particular lesson, or words marked by a particular textbook as part of the syllabus. Most teachers use a combination of the two. Analyzing strategies in more detail, Oxford and Crookall (1990) classified them in four groups: a)decontextualized, such as using dictionaries and flashcards, b)semi-contextualizing, such as word grouping or visual association, c)fully contextualizing, like reading or listening, and d)adaptable, such as a structured review. All these strategies are necessary for learners to acquire new vocabulary (Shen, 2003). The objective of a vocabulary presentation should be to present words in an accessible manner so that learners can effectively and meaningfully use those new lexical items and provide opportunities for learners to demonstrate understanding of those elements. Therefore, EFL teachers need to present vocabulary so that learners are able to meaningfully use the new words on their own (International Teacher Training Organization, 2001). Effective teaching also has to be based more on the development of skills and practices than on knowledge and content (Byalistok, 1985), and helping students choose strategies to learn new words. For Sternberg (1987), a main function of teaching vocabulary should be to teach students to teach themselves, since it does not matter how many words are taught in the classroom, those words will be a small fraction of the words students will need to know. If learners do not acquire effective strategies for learning new words, they will become disappointed and may lose their self-confidence (Nation, 2001). I have developed a ESA patchwork lesson focused on teaching vocabulary, in order to apply it in the classroom, based on Nam`s strategy (Nam, 2010) for vocabulary teaching. The sample lesson focuses on vocabulary for everyday objects, in an A1 class. Engage: Play a game. Put students in teams of three or four, and aske them to write as many words for objects in English as they can in one minute. After that time, ask a representative of each team to write their words on the board. Ask comprehension questions, such as Is the dog an animal? Or Can you eat a book? To ensure Students know the words. The team with most correct words is the winner. Study: Ask Students which of the words on the board are similar to words in their language, and what are the differences between them, such as stress or spelling. Present a worksheet with a series of pictures and words. Students pair the words with the correct object. Then, listen to a recording of a person saying the words and check their answers. Activate: Ask students what are the three objects that are more important for them. They write their choices on their notebooks and then share with a partner. Study: Show various ads (from a newspaper or magazine) to the class. Elicit the meaning of the word “ad”. Present the worksheet with three ads and explain they are from a community board. Make sure they understand the term “community board”, as well as the term “for sale”. Ask the students what the items for sale in the ads are. Review vocabulary for numbers from 0 to 100. Ask students for the prices of the different items. Activate: Elicit the information present in the three ads from the previous exercise (name, contact information, items for sale, price). Ask Students to write an ad for an item, similar to the ads from the worksheet. When they finish, they hang the ads on the wall or the board and read their classmates’ ads. Ask them to take notes on important information for any items they want to buy. Conduct a class survey to find the most popular items. References: Anderson, R. C., & Freebody, P. (1981). Vocabulary and Knowledge. En J. T. Gutrie, Comprehension and teaching. Research review (págs. 77-117). Newark: International Reading Association. Beck, I. L., Perfetti, C. A., & McKeown, M. G. (1982). Effects of text cnstrution and instructional procedures for teching word meanings on comprehension and recall. Journal of Educational Psychology, 506-521. Byalistok, E. (1985). “The compatibility of teaching and learning strategies. Applied Linguistics, 255-262. Coady, J., & Huckin, T. (1997). Second Language Vocabulary Acquisition: A Rationale for Pedagogy. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. International Teacher Training Organization. (2001). ITTO trainee`s manual. Guadalajara: IMAC. Laufer, B. (1991). How much lexis is necessary for reading comprehension? En P. J. Arnaud, & H. Béjoint, Vocabulary and applied linguistics (págs. 126-132). Basingstoke: McMillan. Nam, J. (2010). Linking Research and Practice: Effective Strategies for Teaching Vocabulary in the ESL Classroom. TESL CANADA JOURNAL, 127-135. Nation, P. (2001). Learning vocabulary in another language. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Oxford, R. L., & Crookall, D. (1990). Vocabulary learning: a critical analysis of techniques. TESL Canada Journal, 9-30. Seal, B. (1991). Vocabulary learning and teaching. En M. Celce-Murcia, Teaching English as a Second or Foreign Language (2nd Ed.) (págs. 296-311). Boston : Heinle & Heinle. Seethaler, P. M., Fuchs, L. S., Star, J. R., & Bryant, J. (2011). The cognitive predictors of computational skill with whole versus rational numbers: An exploratory study. Learning and Individual Differences, 536-542. Shen, W. (2003). Current Trends of Vocabulary Teaching and Learning Strategies for EFL Settings. Feng Chia Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences, 187-224. Sternberg, R. (1987). Most vocabulary is learned from context. En M. McKeown, & M. Curtis, The Nature of Vocabulary Acquisition (págs. 89-106). Hilsdale: Lawrence Erlbaum. Van der Walt, M. (2009). Study orientation and basic vocabulary in mathematics in primary school. South African Journal of Science and Technology, 378-392.
