TEACHING VOCABULARY THROUGH READING By Duygu K

1
TEACHING VOCABULARY THROUGH READINGBy Duygu
KÖKLÜ Ceylan ÇAKIRduygukoklu-fb_at_hotmail.com
piraye_33_at_hotmail.com
Introduction
Types of reading Learning goals vocabulary coverage
Intensive reading Developing language Developing strategy use knowledge Less than 95 coverage
Extensive reading for language growth Incidental vocabulary learning Reading skills 95-98 coverage
Extensive reading for fluency development Reading quickly 99-100 coverage

• Reading is one of the four basic skills in
  language learning and teaching. It helps us
  broaden our perspectives, learn new facts and
  come to a better understanding of the world.
  However, there is another important benefit that
  reading provides it increases our vocabulary
  knowledge. Texts introduce us new words, and in
  many cases, we can deduce their meanings from a
  written context. That is, we remember some of
  these new meaning associations, especially if we
  continue to read and meet the new items in
  context again( Nation, 2001) .
• Research Questions
• What kind of vocabulary exercises used with
  reading texts?
• How much vocabulary is learned form context?
• What is the role of intensive and extensive
  reading in teaching vocabulary?
• How can teachers help learners improve learning
  vocabulary from context?

2) Collocational matching Learners
have two lists of words which they must match to
result in a set of collocations. The goal of the
activity is collocational use. This activity,
when done as group work, makes good use of
learners with different first languages, because
they can use a variety of first language
parallels to predict English collocations. 3)
Answering questions After reading the
text, learners answer comprehension questions
which encourage use of the target vocabulary. The
learning goal is strengthening the meaning-form
conneciton. If the answers requires the learners
to use the information from the text in a
creative way, then the learning condition becomes
productive. If the answers are shared, this makes
good use of learners at different levels of
proficiency in the same class( Artley, 1943) .
Intensive reading involves the close
deliberate study of short texts, sometimes less
than a hundred words long, but usually around
300-500 words long. Extensive reading involves
reading with the focus on the meaning of the
text. In extensive reading learners have the
opportunity to keep words that they have met
before. Types of reading and vocabulary coverage
is seen in the table above( Nation, 1994) .
The Role of Teachers in Improving Learning from
Context
Conclusion
It can be clearly understood that instead of
using traditional vocabulary teaching methods(
memorizing, listing, etc.), teachers should make
use of the new activities which would be more
beneficial. At this point, the importance of
learning from context through reading becomes
more necessary and essential.

• Teachers can help learners improve
  learning form context in different ways
• helping them to find and choose reading and
  listening materials
• encouraging them to read a lot and to gain a lot
  of comprehensible spoken input
• improving their reading skills so that they read
  fluently and with comprehension
• providng training in guessing from context(
  Grains, 1986) .

Learning Vocabulary Through Reading
Vocabulary Exercises With Reading Texts
Many successful learners find that
reading is an excellent way of extending
vocabulary and learning new phrases. Small
amounts of incidental vocabulary learning can
become big if learners read large quantities of
comprehensible texts.
Usually, a distinction is made between intensive
reading and extensive reading.
1) Matching definitions to words in the
texts This activity involves finding
words in the text whic match definitons given
after the texts. Often the definitions are listed
in the same order as the aords occur in the text.
The activity has a meaning goal linking form and
meaning. The activity is suited to individual
work, and can easily be adapted to learners with
a wide range of proficiency levels.
REFERENCES Nation, P. (1994). New Ways in
Teaching Vocabulary,Pantagraph Printing, 175-
176. Nation, I., S., P. (2001).
Learning Vocabulary in Another Lnaguage,
Cambridge University Press, 144-160. Gairns,
R. , Redman, S. (1986). Working With Words,
Cambridge University, 115-116.
Artley, A., S. (1943). Teaching Word-Meaning
Through Context, Elemantry English Review,
68-74.