Ta'lim innovatsiyasi va integratsiyasi
44-son_1-to’plam_May-2025
ISSN: 3030-3621
195
TEACHING BASIC VOCABULARY AND PHRASES
Scientific supervisor:
Anorboyeva Mahbuba,
Ahmadjonova Gulhayo
student of Andijan
State Institute of Foreign Languages
Abstract:
Vocabulary is understanding
how to use words in relation to their
meaning
. Developing new vocabulary involves more than just looking up words in a
dictionary and using those words in sentences. Students' vocabulary grows throughout
their lifetime through direct and indirect learning.
Keywords:
vocabulary, flashcards, dictionary, comprehension, aspects, indirect,
increasing, productive.
We define vocabulary as knowledge of words and word meanings in both oral and
written language and in productive and receptive forms. More specifically, we use
vocabulary to refer to the kind of words that students must know to read increasingly
demanding text with comprehension. Teaching vocabulary requires nurturing a clear
understanding of words to know what is actually being said. Students need to be able
to carry this knowledge over into the real world in phrases and sentences. Merely
repeating words like a parrot will not assist them in what they are trying to say.
If we merely throw a series of words at students and expect them to stick, then we
have taught them virtually nothing. We have to find meaning behind each word so that
they can fit them together and build sentence structure (grammar) and therefore create
complete thoughts and expressions.
Robert Lado talked about patterns of difficulty in vocabulary teaching. He
highlighted key issues related to words, the native language factor and about patterns.
He stated that while dealing with vocabulary one should take into account three
important aspects of words - their form, their meaning and their distribution and one
should consider various kinds of classes of words in the function of the language. He
said that the forms, meaning distribution and classification of words are different in
different languages. He revealed that these differences might lead to vocabulary
problems [1, p.23].
Vocabulary knowledge is not something that can ever be fully mastered; it is
something that expands and deepens over the course of a lifetime. Instruction in
vocabulary involves far more than looking up words in a dictionary and using the words
in a sentence. Vocabulary is acquired incidentally through indirect exposure to words
and intentionally through explicit instruction in specific words and word-learning
strategies.
Ta'lim innovatsiyasi va integratsiyasi
44-son_1-to’plam_May-2025
ISSN: 3030-3621
196
According to Michael Graves, there are four components of an effective
vocabulary program:
- wide or extensive independent reading to expand word knowledge
- instruction in specific words to enhance comprehension of texts containing those
words
- instruction in independent word-learning strategies, and
- word consciousness and word-play activities to motivate and enhance learning
It was concluded that there is no single research-based method for teaching
vocabulary. It is recommended using a variety of direct and indirect methods of
vocabulary instruction.
- Intentional vocabulary teaching
- Specific Word Instruction
- Selecting Words to Teach
- Rich and Robust Instruction
- Word-Learning Strategies
- Dictionary Use
- Morphemic Analysis
- Cognate Awareness
- Contextual Analysis
The explicit instruction of vocabulary is highly effective. To develop vocabulary
intentionally, students should be explicitly taught both specific words and word-
learning strategies. To deepen students' knowledge of word meanings, specific word
instruction should be robust. Seeing vocabulary in rich contexts provided by authentic
texts, rather than in isolated vocabulary drills, produces robust vocabulary learning.
Such instruction often does not begin with a definition, for the ability to give a
definition is often the result of knowing what the word means. Rich and robust
vocabulary instruction goes beyond definitional knowledge; it gets students actively
engaged in using and thinking about word meanings and in creating relationships
among words [2,67].
Research shows that there are more words to be learned than can be directly taught
in even the most ambitious program of vocabulary instruction. Explicit instruction in
word-learning strategies gives students tools for independently determining the
meanings of unfamiliar words that have not been explicitly introduced in class. Since
students encounter so many unfamiliar words in their reading, any help provided by
such strategies can be useful.
Word-learning strategies include dictionary use, morphemic analysis, and
contextual analysis. For students whose language shares cognates with English,
cognate awareness is also an important strategy. Dictionary use teaches students about
multiple word meanings, as well as the importance of choosing the appropriate
Ta'lim innovatsiyasi va integratsiyasi
44-son_1-to’plam_May-2025
ISSN: 3030-3621
197
definition to fit the particular context. Morphemic analysis is the process of deriving a
word's meaning by analyzing its meaningful parts, or morphemes. Such word parts
include root words, prefixes, and suffixes. Contextual analysis involves inferring the
meaning of an unfamiliar word by scrutinizing the text surrounding it. Instruction in
contextual analysis generally involves teaching students to employ both generic and
specific types of context clues [3, p.351].
In conclusion, when teaching vocabulary, you should inspire creativity as much
as possible to keep the level of interest and excitement high. Get students to create
colourful, bold street signs, posters, billboards, magazine covers, flashcards, calendars,
weather forecasts, newspaper headlines and news presentations using colours,
numbers, shapes and letters. A written, creative project can then be given as an oral
presentation and a class discussion can follow. Reviewing tasks and questions to
analyze and confirm understanding are very important in determining the vocabulary
comprehension.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
1.
Littlewood, W.
Communicative language teaching: An introduction.
Cambridge
University Press 1981.
2.
Nation P, Newton J
Teaching vocabulary
. Second language vocabulary acquisition.
Cambridge University Press 1997.
3.
Oxford R, Crookall D
Vocabulary learning: a critical analysis of techniques
. TESL
Canada Journal 1990.
