One of the themes that runs through our articles on improving vocabulary skills is: Should teachers teach vocabulary directly or indirectly? That is:
- Should words be targeted for the learners or should they develop naturally through reading and the learner's desire to clarify concepts? (Smith, 238)
The evidence presented in our series on improving vocabulary skills seems to fall on the side of direct learning; direct methods, such as vocabulary lessons, vocabulary word lists, and specifically targeted vocabulary-building software, are generally more effective than incidental learning.
Another theme is the relationship between reading comprehension and vocabulary:
- Messages are composed of ideas, and ideas expressed in words. The richer one's storehouse of vocabulary, the more one is able to deal with a variety of concepts ... An individual's capacity for comprehending depends on the availability and the clarity of background concepts as they are organized in mental schemes (Smith, 238).
Here is a way that combines the benefits of direct learning and incidental learning in the one exercise; it provides a way for students to improve their comprehension and expand their vocabulary. It is a variation of a "word web" or "word map".
Look at the picture below of the "word compass". Imagine the center of the compass holds a word you want to add to the learner's vocabulary. The compass will help you take a 360-degree look at the new word:
For example, let's say the new word is "taxation". Now, ask your class to list out loud words and phrases of the following kinds. Add your own words that the students might not mention:
- Broader (examples: 'revenue raising', 'exaction', 'impost')
- Narrower (examples: 'income tax', 'excise', 'GST')
- Synonyms (examples: 'levy', 'tariff', 'duty')
- Antonyms (examples: 'income', 'spending', 'earnings')
- Closely related words (examples: 'money', 'payment', 'funds')
- Loosely related words (examples: 'assessment', 'valuation', 'debt')
- Procedural words (examples: 'application', 'review', 'appeal')
- Agencies (examples: 'Tax office', 'Bureaucracy', 'Department')
After this exercise, your students should have a much better sense of what taxation is: "It will help prepare them for reading than if the term and its associations had not been brought before the class." (Smith, 238). It will also expand their vocabulary: many of the words listed above will be new to them.
Students are better at improving vocabulary skills when they are directly involved in constructing meaning rather than memorizing definitions or synonyms (Smith, 238). By pooling their ideas, your students will hopefully come up with a word map that improves their comprehension and expands their vocabulary as they listen to one another.
References
Carl B Smith, "Building A Better Vocabulary" (1988) 42(3) The Reading Teacher 238