Best Vocabulary Teaching Strategies

My dear language tutor, I understand your struggle. Teaching vocabulary in the way your students remember requires some tricks.

I remember myself, when still not so experienced tutor teaching vocabulary to my poor students. I would give them a new text. I knew there were so many words buried within those paragraphs, that would make my students forrow their brows.

I would give them a task to learn those words by heart at home. And the next lesson I would give them some exercises to repeat those words. Total disaster.

Those words were becoming stumbling blocks instead of stepping stones for my students. A long time has passed since I found, practiced, and saw amazing results using specific vocabulary teaching strategies.

There are many strategies for vocabulary teaching. Below, I will share with you the ones that I see as most effective and practice daily.

Why Vocabulary Matters

Vocabulary is far more than just a list of words your students need to memorize. They are the basis of every language, the currency of thought, if you may. And it has a wider impact than only a beautiful and florid speech.

They help our students understand what they read. In a world where most of the information exists in written form, it is crucial to have a rich vocabulary.

Also, the more words students know, the better they can comprehend complex texts. Besides, they can dive deep into different subject areas.

A rich vocabulary also allows students to express themselves more precisely and effectively. It develops both their written and speaking skills.

Interesting to know, that academic achievement researches consistently show the following. There is a strong connection between vocabulary knowledge and academic achievement.

It is not only for language arts, it also benefits students in science, math, and social studies.

Vocabulary also improves critical thinking and confidence. As the more words your students know, the more nuanced their thinking processes.

Contextual Teaching Strategy

One of the most effective ways to teach vocabulary is through contextual learning. This approach involves the introduction of new words within a meaningful context.

How does it work?

Rather than in isolation, words in context are easier to remember. The context provides a “hook” for memory. And it increases chances for your students to remember them later.

When you present the words in context, you allow students to see real-world examples. They see where they can use them and try to come up with other combinations.

This allows you to show not only the definition of a word but also its meaning and appropriate usage.

In addition, context clues can help your students derive the meaning of unfamiliar words.

I like using context clues when my students do not know the meaning of a word. Usually, I do not give them direct translation or explanation at once.

First I want them to look at the whole sentence. They can also look at the words surrounding the unfamiliar one, and try to guess its meaning.

Most of the time my students come up with either the correct meaning or close enough. And only after I provide the definition.

However, do not introduce multiple meanings of the word at once as it can confuse your students.

After we clarify the meaning, I like to ask my students to create their sentences or even stories with the new word.

It works in the following way. Since a student uses the word in his context, he memorizes it better. And it is more beneficial than I would just give my own examples.

However, using words a couple of times during the lesson is not enough. Students need repetition to memorize them. Hence, try to choose the materials that would include the targeted vocabulary.

The Frayer Model

The next strategy for vocabulary teaching is the Fryer Model. This is a graphic organizer that helps students develop a deep understanding of vocabulary terms.

This model requires students to think about words in multiple ways. In other words, students understand and retain new words by breaking down their meanings.

How does it work?

You start by presenting the new word in context. You can provide a definition or use any other way as I described above.

Let’s take the word “meticulous” as an example. I chose to provide a definition since we do not have any context here.

Meticulous: showing great attention to detail; very careful and precise.

Then you ask your students to list the key characteristics of the word. It might include specific features or qualities that define it.

• Careful and thorough in every detail

• Pays close attention to accuracy

• Often involves a lot of planning and checking, etc.

After this, you ask them to provide examples of the word in use. This could be any sentence or a story where they use the word correctly.

Example: The engineer’s meticulous planning helped prevent mistakes in construction.

Also, you ask them to give you non-examples that do not illustrate the word.

Non-Example: A person who completes a project without checking for errors is not meticulous.

After completing the Fryer Model, discuss each part of it with your students. This review will help them understand the word more and correct any misconceptions.

As the last step, you encourage students to use the word in their writing and speaking.

As you can see, this model is effective because students participate in active learning. They are not passively receiving the information, but actively building their understanding of the word.

Word Walls Strategy

The meaning of a word wall is a systematically organized collection of words. You can display them in large letters on a wall, or board in the classroom even virtual.

This strategy turns vocabulary into a constant visual presence.

You can make interactive designs out of those words and allow students to contribute. They can add words, illustrations, or examples.

By doing that you will reduce your work as a tutor. And on top of that, you will increase engagement and ownership of the learning process for your students.

You can also group words by theme, or root words, even by part of speech. This organization will help students see connections between words. And will also positively influence their understanding of language structures.

Also, include the word wall in each lesson and activity. Encourage your students to use those words on the wall when they are speaking or writing.

Finally, make sure to regularly add new words to the wall and remove the ones your students mastered.

Storytelling

Storytelling is one of the strategies that always works. It helps students learn the words by putting them in a memorable context.

Stories provide a rich context for vocabulary. It helps your students understand how to use those words in real-life situations.

Moreover, people remember stories. They are enjoyable and motivating and they provoke emotions. And that is what makes them memorable.

How does it work?

Let’s say you are teaching the word “mysterious”. Here is how you can use storytelling:

- Write a short story about a detective who is investigating a series of mysterious events in a small town. And use the word “mysterious” in different parts of the story to describe unusual incidents.

- Next, read the story aloud, or better ask your students to read it. Discuss how this word is used throughout the plot. And what other words in the story add to the mystery?

- Ask your students to write or create a short story using the word mysterious to describe a character or event.

Storytelling makes vocabulary learning even more engaging and helps faster retain new words. Usually, in my practice students retain around 80% of the new words through storytelling.

Spaced Repetition Strategy

Spaced repetition is a very powerful technique when it comes to vocabulary teaching. The principal behind it is based on the concept of spaced learning.

It helps to fight the forgetting curve. This phenomenon means that if you do not repeat or revise the information, you will forget it over time.

How does it work?

First happens the initial word learning, where you introduce the word. It includes understanding its meaning, usage, and context.

Shortly after learning this word, there is the first review. It normally takes place when your students do their homework. This review helps to reinforce the word in memory.

The next stage is a review of the word at gradually increasing intervals. For example after three days, then a week later, and so on.

You can adjust the intervals based on how your students memorize the words or according to your lessons. And grow the intervals as they become more and more familiar with the word.

One of my favorite spaced repetition techniques is flashcards. You can encourage your students to do their own. They may either use apps for it or paper. For the apps, you can check and recommend Quizlet or Anki.

In turn, I usually prepare my own flashcards as well to regularly repeat the words with them.

Additionally, you can implement vocabulary games like vocabulary bingo, word charades, and crossword puzzles. Everything that combines fun with repetition.

One of my favorite websites is vocabulary.com; they offer fun games and activities for word learning, but it is paid.

And for the students who love the etymology of words, I recommend etymonline.com, a great free source for word origin.

Teaching vocabulary is all about giving your students the tools to understand and communicate with others. You can mix these strategies as you wish.

The most important is to make learning new vocabulary for your students fun and easy. Happy teaching!