Филологические науки/1. Методика преподавания языка и литературы

К.ф.н. Полонская И.П.

Киевский национальный лингвистический университет, Украина

Using a word ladder puzzle in teaching Business English

Good communication can be achieved when students have acquired rich vocabulary. Not knowing a specific word can seriously limit communication. In many cases a lexical lapse can actually stop communication completely.

Perhaps the single most important component in learning vocabulary efficiently is a high number of retrievals of the word. What does that mean? The simple answer is that learners must interact with a word multiple times in different ways [1: 16].

There are various activities that help students focus their attention on the vocabulary. One of them is using a word ladder puzzle. A teacher can construct a ladder of word that all have the same number of letters within the ladder, each word differs from the word immediately above or immediately below by only one letter. Here are some examples.

peak

weak

leak

leap

lead

read

reap

These seven words are the answers for this word ladder puzzle.

Word Ladder Puzzle (1)

Instructions: The seven missing words in the word ladder all have four letters. Each word differs from the word immediately above or immediately below by only one letter. Use this information and the clues to solve the puzzle.

1. __ __ __ __ July and August are the _________ season for travel in Europe.

2. __ __ __ __Our ________ financial position will force us to merge with our rivals.

3. __ __ __ __There was a ________ to the press about the government plans on tax.

4. __ __ __ __They’ve made a great ________ forward with their road building in the last few years.

5. __ __ __ __If one bank raises interest rates, all the others will follow their________.

6. __ __ __ __ ________ the instructions before you start the machine.

7. __ __ __ __Losses fell dramatically as the company began to ________ the rewards of cost cuts.

meg

mag

man

map

gap

cap

can

ban

bar

war

These ten words are the answers to the following word ladder puzzle.

Word Ladder Puzzle (2)

Instructions: The ten missing words in the word ladder all have three letters. Each word differs from the word immediately above or immediately below by only one letter. Use this information and the clues to solve the puzzle.

1. __ __ __ This is a 64- ________ memory card.

2. __ __ __ Have you seen a new ________ for teenagers?

3. __ __ __ They ________ the information desk at the store.

4. __ __ __ The campaign has helped put the company on the ________ as a major fashion brand.

5. __ __ __ Her appointment will fill the ________ created when the marketing manager left.

6. __ __ __ The government has put a ________ on local council spending.

7. __ __ __ They ________ the fish in this factory.

8. __ __ __ The government decided to ________ the import of all meat and dairy products for health reasons.

9. __ __ __ At that time, being a women was a ________ to promotion in most professions.

10. __ __ __ There is a fierce price ________ between rival supermarkets.

Students work in pairs or small groups. If they do not know one word, they should skip that clue and go to the words above and below the unknown word. Once they have the answers above and below the word, they can rearrange the letters to discover the missing word. In doing this activity, learners frequently talk about a word several times, thus producing multiple encounters with the word.

Литература:

1. Folse Keith Six Vocabulary Activities for the English Language Classroom// English Teaching Forum.-2008.-№3.-p. 12-20.