WORDS TO TEACH
CANDY A. DITAN
Vocabulary plays a great role for learners in acquiring a language. Without sufficient vocabulary, students cannot understand others or express their own ideas. Wilkins (1972) once said, “Without grammar, very little can be conveyed, without vocabulary, nothing can be conveyed. “According to experts, a child needs to learn 1000-2000 new words each year, these words may be learned through incidental exposure and intentional teaching. However, teacher could not possibly teach all these in class. Thus, teachers should know which words should be taught in order to develop students’vocabulary and impact their language acquisition.
It is important for students to have a thorough knowledge of the sophisticated words they are likely to encounter in a wide assortment of texts (Beck, McKeown, &Kucan, 2002). These words are “high-utility” because they are of high use to mature language users. High-quality vocabulary as sophisticated, useful, and appropriate words that students in the elementary and high school grades are unlikely to know but likely to encounter often as texts increase in difficulty. According to experts when evaluating words as possible candidates for instruction teachers should consider: How generally useful is the word? How does the word relate to other words, to the ideas that students know or have been learning?What does the word bring to a text or situation? They suggest that to help identify words for instruction vocabulary can be considered in three tiers. The first tier consists of the most basic words. Words in this tier rarely require instruction for most students. The second tier contains words that are of high frequency for mature language users and are found across a variety of content areas. The third tier is made up of words whose frequency is quite low and often limited to specific content areas. Common words (Tier 1) are basic words used often in everyday conversation. These words do not need to be explicitly taught, especially in upper grades with native English speakers. Sophisticated language use words (Tier 2) are more complex, frequently occurring words in academic settings like compare neutral contrast admire plead represent environment collaborate. On the other hand, Content-specific words (Tier 3) are highly specialised words that are related to a specific discipline.
Vocabulary is considered as a vital role in learning second language. Language teachers must have in-depth understanding of the principle of word selection to ensure vocabulary development and language acquisition.
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The author is Teacher II at Sindalan High School