V. Kasyanova

Kostanay State University named after A.Baitursynov, Kazakhstan

Teaching a vocabulary with word associations at the English language lessons

To know a language means to master its structure and words. Actually vocabulary is one of the most important aspects of the language to be taught. The problem is what words and idioms a student should keep in mind. It is evident that the number of words should be limited because students have only 3- 4 classes a week; the size of the group is large enough to provide each student with sufficient practice in speaking; the institution of higher learning is not yet fully equipped with special laboratories for individual language learning.

A vocabulary is one of the most difficult things for students to learn. Why? The simple fact is that most learners are only searching for the equivalent of the unfamiliar English word in their native language. They are not associating a mental image of anything to go with the new vocabulary. We acquire our native language through word associations. That is, we get mental pictures of concrete and abstract words through our senses which are associated with new words. For example, when we hear and see the word "sweet," we see, smell, and taste such things as honey, ice cream, candy, cookies, cakes and etc., completely getting the understanding of the meaning of "sweet.” The number of words students should acquire in the course of learning depends wholly on the syllabus requirements that are determined by the conditions and methods used.

It is known that association helps to remember different information and there are methods of teaching foreign languages, based on associations. No one knows who the first author of this method was, but the references to similar method of memorizing foreign words were found a long time ago. The description of one of the first scientific studies based on this method is found in Atkinson's article entitled «Key word method». English-speaking students who participated in the experiment were asked to remember the Russian words using the method of key words (method of phonetic associations) and without it. The experiment has shown high efficiency of this method compared with ordinary memorization. Methods based exclusively on associations did not acquire wide application, as they have a number of disadvantages. Most of these methods are aimed at remembering certain words taken out of the context. Associative relations with the words of the native language do not allow “to dive" into the language environment. However, when learning a foreign language it is not necessary to throw out the rational kernel of the method of associations. This technique can be effective in memorization of vocabulary and grammatical structures. We need to use verbal, visual and sound memory to create a word-association of a student between a word and a picture, sound, taste, etc. The association may be based on the obvious similarities between objects or personal experience of the student. Associations, as a rule, are strictly individual. The method is very useful for creating highly personalized memory while learning new vocabulary. It can also be used as a starting point for the formation of thematic groups of words.

Teaching vocabulary with word associations can be conducted using the following sequence of steps:

1. Oral introduction of a new word. The teacher orally introduces a new word. Then, he instructs the students to listen and repeat the word after the teacher. As they do this, the teacher makes sure that they are pronouncing the word correctly. While the teacher is saying the word, he shows the students a picture representing the meaning. If the teacher doesn't have a picture or can't draw one on the board, he will dramatically act out the meaning. In this case visual association is used.

2. Written introduction of a new word. After the students can hear and pronounce the word reasonably well, the teacher introduces it in its written form. As the students see the word on the blackboard, they repeat it after the teacher two or three times until the pronunciation is correct. If the students are still unsure about the exact meaning of the word, the teacher tries to explain it with simpler English words. If this fails, the teacher asks a student who knows the meaning of the word to provide the translation in the students' native language. If no student can do this, the students look up the meaning in their bilingual dictionaries. At this time, the students all should have copied the word and its meaning into their notebooks.

3. Using new words with associations – this is the step at which the teacher considering a new word, which is being introduced to the students, asks them to think of any words or things they know that are associated with this new word, that is what they see, imagine or think of this new word in their minds. Besides the students should think of other words to add them to their lists of associations which they copy in the notebooks. The period should not be too long. Students should write a really first thing that came to their minds. After reading all the words, the teacher asks the students to explain their associations. The most interesting associations should be discussed, such as: What is the relationship between the words “diligent” and “the best student in the group” etc.

4. Controlling the use of new words with associations. At this stage the students are given exercises and tests which allow the teacher to measure how well they have learned how to use new words with associations. For example, students match new vocabulary with its corresponding associations by writing the words in the blanks.

5. Using new words in sentences. At this step when the students have mastered the use of new words with associations, they should be ready to use these words in sentences. To test students' ability to do this, the teacher makes up multiple choice or matching exercises where the students have to choose the correct word which can be used in a sentence.

6. This is the final step in gaining mastery of the use of new vocabulary. After the students can correctly use new vocabulary in sentences, the teacher asks them to make up sentences using the newly acquired vocabulary.

If teachers follow all these steps, the process of teaching vocabulary with word associations will be very effective in the classroom and, no doubt, most of the students will enjoy this teaching and learning experience.

References:

1. Allen, V.F. (1993), Techniques in vocabulary teaching, Oxford University Press, New York.

2. Bligh, D.A. 2000.What’s the point in discussion? Portland, OR: Intellect Books.

3. Davis, B.G., 2009. Tools for teaching. 2-nd edition. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass