Speakers
Description
Vocabulary is the cornerstone of language learning, and building a strong lexicon is essential for successful communication. As linguist David Wilkins noted, "Without grammar, little can be conveyed. Without vocabulary, nothing can be conveyed."
Acquiring new vocabulary requires some memorization, and learners must also be able to use their newly memorized words in communicative ways in the correct contexts. Teachers need to give students opportunities to encounter target words and phrases repeatedly and support their use in real-world situations in order to establish a well-rounded learning environment.
The more times a person is exposed to a word, the more likely and quicker they will be to reproduce it on demand, especially if exposures are spaced apart (Criado, 2009; Nation, 2013; Kornmeier et al., 2014).
Numerous engaging, useful, hands-on activities have been implemented and shown effective in a variety of school settings to support long-term vocabulary retention. These activities assist students in encountering and internalizing new words on multiple levels, including form (spoken, written, and its component affixes and stem), meaning (underlying concept, particular instantiations, and associations), and usage (collocations, grammatical patterns, and constraints on its use), which are called layers of information that one must learn in order to truly know a word.
This presentation attempts to satisfy participants with the exciting world of vocabulary building in natural and memorable ways, thus to harbor a stress-free ESL atmosphere which leads to students’ successful growth and eagerness to continue their language learning.
