Vocabulary [Second edition, 9 printing] 0194421864, 9780194421867

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RESOURCE B @ K SF O R TEACHERS series editor A l a nM a l e y

JohnM organI MarioRinvolucri

OXTORD

Vocabulary

Titles in the Resource Books for Teachersseries Beginners Peter Grundy

Teaching !earner-based Colin Campbell andHanna Kryszewska

Dynamics Classroom JillHadfield

Letters Levy, andMario PetaGray, Sheila NickyBurbidge, ucri Rinvol

Conversation andLoisArthur RobNolasco

Listening Goodith White

Awareness Cultural Stempleski Literature BarryTomalin andSusan AlanDuffandAlanMaley Dictionaries Wright Jonathan Drama Wessels Charlyn ExamClasses Peter May

MusicandSong TimMurphey Newspapers Peter Grundy ProjectWork 2ndedition

D r a n aL .t n e 0 - b o o l n Film andBarryTomalin Pronunciation Susan Stempleski Laroy Clement Globallssues

Hillyard andSusan Ricardo Sampedro Dictation Grammar Wajnryb Ruth Homework Painter Lesley TheInternet David Hardisty, ScottWindeatt, Eastment andDavid

RolePlay Porter Ladousse Gillian 2ndedition Vocabulary Morgan andMario Rinvolucri John Writing Tricia Hedge

Primary Resource Books Art andCraftswith Children AndrewWright

withYoungLearners Proiects Sarah Bunruood, andHelenDunford DianePhillips,

YoungLearners Assessing with Children Storytelling andPavlos AndrewWright loannou-Georgiou Sophie ravtou Learners VeryYoung Creating Storieswith Children Vanessa Reilly andSheila M.Ward AndrewWright Writingwith Children Dramawith Children Sarah Phillips Games for Children Bedson Lewis withGi.inther Gordon TheInternetandYoungLearners Gordon Lewis

Reilly andVanessa Reilly Jackie Young-Learners Phillips Sarah

Resource Booksfor Teachers series editorAlanMaley

Vocahulary Second edition J o h nM o r g a n MarioRinvolucri

OXTORD IJNIVERSITY

PRESS

OX.FORD \JNIVERSITY

PRESS

Great Clarendon Street, Oxford oxz 5op Oxford University Pressis a department ofthe University ofOxford. It furthers the University's objective ofexcellence in research, scholarship' and education by publishing worldwide in Oxford NewYork Auckland Bangkok BuenosAires CapeTown Chennai DaresSalaam Delhi HongKong Istanbul Karachi Kolkata Kuala Lumpur Madrid Melbourne Mexico City Mumbai Nairobi SioPaulo Shanghai Singapore Taipei Tokyo Toronto oxFoRD and oxrono BNGLISHare registered trade marks of Oxford University Press in the UK and in certain other countries @ Oxford UniversitY Press zoo4 The moral rights ofthe author have been asserted Database right Oxford University Press (maker) First published zoo4 A11rights reserved. No part ofthis publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means,

You must not circulate this book in any other binding or cover and you must impose tltis same condition on any acquirer

Photocopying The Publisher grants permission for the photocopying ofthose pages 'photoiopiable' according to ttle following conditions. Individual marked purchasers may make copies for their own use or for use by classesthat ihey teach. School purchasers may rnake copies for use by staffand students, bufthis permission does not extend to additional schools or branches Under no circumstances may any part ofthis book be photocopied for resale Any websites referred to in this publication are in the public domain and their addresses are provided by Oxford University Press for information only' Oxford University Press disclaims any responsibility for the content rsBN o 19 4421864 Printed in China

Acknowledgements

We should like to thank the following people:stLrdentsfrom Cambridge,the New School,Cambridge,and Davies's/Eurocentre Pilgrims, Canterbury;the many colleagueswho have suppliedus with ideas,who are individually acknowledgedwhere possible; Michael Rundell,for inspiration and practical guidancein using corpora;Yvonnede Henseler,who edited the first edition of the book, and Simon Murison-Bowie,who solvedmany of the problems thrown up by the second;our families in their participation in writing and testing. The authors and publisher are grateful to thosewho havegiven permissionto reproducethe following extractsand adaptationsof copyright material: BereavementPublishing,Inc. (www.bereavementsources.com ) for permissionto reproducethe poem 'The Elephantin the room' by TeryzKettering. Blackrazell and Mott for permissionto reproducean extract from GrooksllbyPietHein. BloomsburyPublishing,McClellandand Stewart(Canada),and RandomHouse(Alfied Knopf) for permissionto reproduce 'Fugitivepieces'by Anne Michaels. Committee on Povertyand the Arms Tradefor an extract from Bombs by CampaignAgainstArms Tradein 1978. forBreakfastpublished CedricRobinsonand David Charlesfor an extract flom SandPilotof (79801. MorecambeBay Daniella Cammackfor an extract fiom an email. David HighamAssociatesfor permissionto reproducean extract from'The SecretPilgrim'byJohn Le Carr6.@1990DavidCornwell. Publishedby Hodder & Stoughton,1991. Faberand Faberfor an extract from TherNhitsunWeddingsby Philip Larkin. Farrar,Strausand Giroux, LLC,and Faberand Faberfor permissionto reproduce'Home is so Sad'fr om Collected Poemsby Philip Larkin. Copyright@1988,1989bythe Estateof Philip Larkin. The Guardiannewspaperfor 'Viaduct rescue'published in the Guardian,23 February1980. 'You Guy Browning for permissionto reproducean extract from section,9 June talking to me?'published in the GuardianWeekend 2001,@GuyBrowning. Acknowledgements Iv

Hodder and Stoughtonfor an extract fromTheSecretPilgrimby John Le Carr6. Julius Nyerereand Oxford University Pressfor an extract from Ujamaa (1e68). 'Drive-thru destroyedby Kent MessengerGroup for an extract from 15 March 2002. inferno' ftom Kmt Messenger, Little, Brown and Co.and Mclntyre Managementfor permissionto reproducean extract ftomGridlockbyBen Elton. NicholasBrealeyPublishingfor permissionto reproducean extract fromBreakingthroughCulhreShock:lNhatyouNeedtoSucceedin byElisabeth Marx. @ElisabethMarx 1999. InternationalBusiness Publishedby NicholasBrealeyPublishingLimited in 1999. andl SheilaHocken and Victor Gollanczfor an extract fromE;rnrna (79:77\. Times Newspapersfor'Charlie Cairoli the clown diesaged70' publishedin TheTimes,l8February1980. Although every effort has been made to trace and contact copyright holdersbefore publication, this has not been possiblein somecases. We apologize for any apparent infringement of copyright and if notifled, the publisher will be pleasedto rectify any errors or omissionsat the earliestopportunity.

vi I Acknowledgements

Contents

The authors and series editor Foreword Introduction Activity

Level

Time Aims (minutes)

Page

1.1 What'sinthetext?

Elementary to advanced

20-30

Tomotivatestudentstoreadatextby 13 getting themtospeculate beforehand aboutitscontent.

1.2 Predictingmeanings

Elementary to advanced

'10-20

toworkoutfrom 15 Toencourage students themeanings ofunfamiliar words. context

1.3 Predictingwords

Intermediate 2O-25 to advanced

Toreviewareasofvocabularywithwhich 16 thestudents already have some familiarity, inthese areas sothatnewitems canmore in'andremembered; easily be'slotted to interest ina dulltext. stimlate

1.4 Criminalrecords

Elementarv to advanced

30-40

Tofocus thestudents' attention onthe 19 words bymeaning ways theyassociate or onthepositive context, andespecially connotations words have andnegative forthem.

1.5 Ungrammaticalgender

Intermediate to advanced

30-40

Toencourage students toexplore their 20 particular preconceptions about words before meeting themina context, so more thattheirreading becomes directed andcritical

1.5 Look,remember,and completethe set

Elementary to advanced

30-40

attention onhow Tofocus thestudents' words, andonhow theytrytoremember context mightinfluence theirmemory.

1.7 Wordson a map

lntermediate to advanced

20-30

I Pre-text activities

Tomotivate andfocus thestudents' the reading ofa textbyfirstexploring ' personal ofsome ofthe connections words andohrases used.

22

23

Contents I vii

Activity

1.8 Cardson the table

Level

Time Aims (minutes)

Intermediate

20-30

to advanced

Page

Toqetthestudents toclarifv theirideas

25

abouta topicor attitudebeforereading a text,especially onethatwillbeusedasthe basisfordiscussion or essay-writing.

2 Working with texts 2.1 Customizinga text

Intermediate to advanced

20-30

1 Tofocus thestudents' attention by 28 giving thema specific task,rather telllng thansimply them toread thetext. 2 Toencouragethem tolookclosely atwords andphrases incontext.

2.2 Favouritephrases

Beginnerto advanced

15-30

Togivestudentsachancetosharetheir 30 vocabulary feelings about and,perhaps, personal overcome dislikes.

2.3 Cotrecttheteacher

Elementary toadvanced

25-35, 45-60

1 Togiveatask-basedfocustolistening 31 2 Toencouragestudentstobuildupa widersetofvocabulary choices.

2.4 Deletingwords

Post-beginner 15-20 to advanced

Tofocus onwhether a wordisnecessary33 ornotasa wayofexploring itsmeaning incontext.

2.5 Marginalia

Intermediate to advanced

20-45

Togetstudents to lookclosely at 33 vocabulary incontext, andtoexpress their ownunderstandings meanings ofspecific andconnotations.

2.5 Huntthe misfits

Intermediate to advanced

20-35

Todevelop students' critical awareness of 34 meanings incontext

2.7 Ghostdefinitions

Elementary 20 to intermediate

Tofocus ontheexact meanings oflexical 37 items, andhowtheycanbeexpressed by definitions orparaphrases.

2.8 Patchworktext

Elementarv to advanced

2040

Toscan andre-contextualize text fragments.

38

2.9 Thewords in your past

Elementary to advanced

20-30

Tomake newvocabulary memorable by linkinq it to imoortant memories inthe students'own lives.

39

2.10 Towardslearningatext by heart (a)

Beginner to advanced

15-40

Toencouragestudentstoremember 40 contexts aswellassingle words and phrases.

2.11 Towardslearningatext by heart (b)

Beginner to advanced

15-30

Toencouragestudentstoremember 41 contexts aswellassingle words and phrases.

2.12 Cross-associations

Elementary to advanced

15-25

Tousecreativeword-associationasan 42 aidto memorv.

viii I Contents

Page

Level

Time Aims (minutes)

2.13 Be someoneelse

Intermediate to advanced

30-40

about words and 43 Togetstudents thinking phrases context. intheircultural/historical

2.14 Emaillanguage

Upper-intermediate 40-50 to advanced

tolearn from'informal',45 Togetstudents native-speaker texts unconected

Elementary

toreflect onanduse Togetstudents

47

Activity

3 Writing activities writing 3.1 Invisible

10-20

to advanced

'known' vocabulary, andto learnfrom what anddiscussing eachotherbyreading othershavewritten.

3.2 Theoracle

15-20 Lower-intermediate to advanced

vocabulary in a newlv-learnt Topractice andsituations widerangeof contexts

49

3.3 Addingwords to a story

30-40 Elementary to intermediate

anopportunity to Togivethestudents creativelv within a safe, startwritinq fiame. controlled

49

3.4 Expandinga sentence

10-15 Lower-intermediate to advanced

to anopportunity Togivethestudents a safe, creatively within startwriting frame. controlled

50

4 Bilingual texts and activities words more 52 Tomake target-language personal byevoking strong memorable themother tongue. through associations to useall Thestudents areencouraged inthis. their senses

4.1 Sensoryvocabulary choices

40-50 Lower-intermediate to advanced

4.2 Changingthe order of the words

Elementary to upperintermediate

15-20

practice incontrastive Toglveguided translation.

53

4.3 Focusingon difficulty

Intermediate to advanced

40-50

awareness of Toprovoke contrastive intwolanguages vocabulary

54

4.4 Culturalkeywords

40-50 Lower-intermediate to advanced

of 55 thecultural resonance Toexplore andtheways inwhich specific vocabulary, important items canrepresent vocabulary ofa culture aspects

4.5 How many letters in the word?

10-20 Beginner to intermediate

tovisualize thelookofa 56 Togetstudents asanaidto memory wordonthepage, andspelling.

4.6 Two-language texts

All

15

oftarget-language 57 themeaning Todeduce context. words froma mother-tonque

ContentsI ix

Page

Level

Aims Time (minutes)

4.7 learning by associating

Beginner to elementary

15-20

wayof 58 students toa practical Tointroduce quickly ontheirown. learning vocabulary

4.8 Two-facingwords

10-15 Upper-intermediate to advanced

59 Toexplorelexical ambiguityinafocused way,looking athomonyms, butamusing andwords thatcanbeused homophones, parts ofspeech. asdifferent

4.9 Onthe walls

Beginner to elementary

15

61 Topractise skimming andscanning forequivalents of target-language texts mother-tong ueexpressions.

Elementary to advanced.

20-30

62 Touseasimpleboardandsomepieceso inwhich cardasavocabulary exercise, cantranslate most theplayeiwho hasthebestchance of accurately wtnntnq.

Activity

4.10 Translationreversi

5 Using corpora and concordances 5.1 Reciprocalverb phrases

30-40 Upper-intermediate to advanced

canhighlight65 Toshowhowcorpus analysis patterns ofgrammar andmeaning.

'Tend to': using with concordances students 'tend to': using 5.3 More on a corpusand softwarein class

Intermediate to advanced

3G40

andpractise thelanguage 67 Topresent patterns words associated withparticular andPhrases.

Intermediate to advanced

40-60

the Toworkwltha corpus todiscover patterns with language associated particularwords andphrases.

10-20

Toshowhowcorpora andconcordance 71 (andstudents) software canhelpteachers classroom materials. to oreoare

5.2

5.4 Whichword are we after? Elementary to advanced

68

5.5 Barefacts,nakedtruth

Intermediate to advanced

20-40

73 Touseacorpustofindoutwhichoftwoor toa more apparent synonyms isappropriate context. Darticular

5.6 Workingwith student texts

Elementary to advanced

2C-4:5

software can 76 Toshowhowconcordance owntextsto beused withthestudents' ofvocabulary discover orhighlight features andstyle.

5.7 Quarryingthe lnternet for words

Intermediate to advanced

30-60

students tolearn howwords 78 Toencourage areused bysearching the andphrases lnternet torexamDle texts.

x I Contents

Activity

Level

Time Aims (minutes)

Page

6 Words and the senses 5.1 Wordsandoutsenses

Lower-intermediate 25-40 to advanced

Tomakestudentsawareoftheirown 82 preferences through thewords sensory theyrespond theychoose andthetexts to. moststrongly

5.2 Notionpictures

Beginnerto intermediate

20-30

Toreviewandrecallvocabulary.83

6.3 Machinesand scenes

Elementary to advanced

30-40

visual ways of 84 Toprovide andkinaesthetic presenting newvocabulary. andlearning

6.4 Elephants

Elementary to advanced

40-50

85 Toencouragepeer-teachingbothof subject-matter andoflexis.

6.5 Exploringvocabulary kinaesthetically

Beginnerto advanced

15-30

vocabularythrough movement 87 Tolearn

5.6 Coinsspeak

Elementary to advanced

15-25

Toexplorethespatial andhierarchical88 associations ofwords, asanaidto understanding andmemory.

6.7 Picturegallery

Elementary to advanced

35-50

(orhalf- 89 1 Togetstudents to useknown vocabulary innewsituations, known) vocabulary fromeach other. andtolearn towritetexts thatother 2 Togetstudents students willwantto read.

5.8 Listeningincolour

Elementary to advanced

15

T o l e a r n v o c a b u l a r y t h r o u g h s p9e0c i f l c visual associations.

6.9 Getas muchwrongas you can

Upper-intermediate 10-20 to advanced

head-on thechallenge oflinking 91 Tomeet ofwords withtheirvisual themeanings andauditory representations.

5.10 OHPlists

Beginnerto advanced

10-15

T o b r e a k u p t h e o r d e r a n d v i s u a l9 3 monotony oflistsasanaidtomemory.

5.11 Wordsroundthe circle

Beginner to intermediate

10-15

Topractise saying words using thefull vocal range.

94

5.12 Fillinga landscape

Beginner to advanced

3,10

Toencourage students todiscover forthemselves andtoteach it vocabulary toothers.

95

5.13 Fishyadjectives

Intermediate to advanced

30-40

ina creative, memorable way, Touse, people. thatdescribe adjectives

96

5.14 Objectsroundthecircle Beginnerto 10-12 upper-intermediate

Toencouragestudentstoexpress 98 them meaning inanywaythatsuits (visually, etc), and through movement, thespecific thentoaskforandlearn theyneed. vocabulary

6.15 Picturingwordsand phrases

visualization Tousedetailed, creative to 99 words the associate withtheEnglish students arelearninq.

Elementary to advanced

20-30

Contents xi

Activity

Level

Time Aims (minutes)

Page

7.1 Intelligencetest

Beginnerto intermediate

10

Toexploretheideaofa'wordset'and 102 different themanv wavsinwhich one cancategorize vocabuiary.

7.2 Unusualword families

Elementary to advanced

10

Toencourage students togroup words in 102 unusual, memorable categories.

7.3 Chains

Elementary to advanced

20

Toencouragestudentstogroupwordsi 103 imaglnative andmemorable ways.

7.4. Collectingcollocations

Intermediate to advanced

5,30-40 Toexpand students'understanding and 104 ofabove-the-word acquisition vocabulary.

7.5 How strongis the collocation?

Upper-intermediate 20-30 toadvanced

Toexpand students' understanding and 105 acquisition ofabove-the-wordvocabulary.

7.5 Diagonalopposites

Beginner to intermediate

10

Togetstudents to lookclosely atthe 107 semantic andsituational associations ofa firmly. word,andthusfixnewvocabulary

7.7 Theegg exercise

Beginner to , advanced

20

Toexplore thevarious meanings and associations ofawordorphrase.

7.8 Prototypes

Beginnerto advanced

20-30

Togetstudentstoconsiderhowword108 questions setsarebuiltup,byasking such as'How strongly does thiswordbelong to itsset?', andinsodoing toconsider how forthemsuch effective categorizations are inorganizing andremembering vocabulary.

7.9 Wotdsfrom the homestayfamily

Beginnerto advanced

2-3, 20-30

Toprovide a simple 110 research toolfor students studying inanEnglish-speaking environment andliving inhost families,

Post-beginner 15-20 to advanced

Todifferentiate items ina'word field', 111 which mayeasily beconfused witheach ina personal, other; memorable way.

7 Word sets

7.10 Mappingone'smood

7.11 A hierarchyof association Intermediate to advanced

I

107

20-35

wordsetsasa hierarchy. 112 Toorganize

Personal

8.1 Yougivemytalk

Elementary to advanced

5-10, 30-'45

Tomotivatestudentstolistento,and 113 learn therefore from,each other.

8.2 lifekeywords

Elementary to advanced

2540

Topractiseandsharevocabularywhich 114 personally important.

8.3 Turnoutyourpockets

Elementary to upperintermediate

20-35

Tousepractical,day-to-dayvocabular 115 personally relevant conversations.

xii I Contents

Level

Aims Time (minutes)

8.4 SCarS

Elementary to upperintermediate

40-60

lackof 115 toovercome Tomotivate students whennarrattng. vocabulary

8.5 Wordsmy neighbour knows

Intermediate to advanced

20

each students toteach Toencourage other. fromeach otherandlearn

8.5 Aletterfromtheteacher

Post-beginner 10-15 to advanced

8.7 Thesecretdictionary

Elementary to advanced

15, 10-15

118 Theprivateconnotationsawordor phrase mayhave canbeverystrong 'definition'. asa toexpress strong enough

8.8 PhrasesI like

15-25 Lower-intermediate to advanced

toacquire a wider 119 students Toencourage choice ofexpressions.

Activity

15-20 8.9 Whathaveyougottenof? Beginnerto lower-intermediate

Page

116

117 Topresentvocabularytostudentsina direct,'l-Thou'context.

120 Togetstudentstodiscoverandusenew things thatareimportant words toexpress tothemnow

9 Word games 9.1 Circlegames

Beginnerto advanced

10-1 5

T o p r o v i d e a b a n k o f g a m e s w i t1 h2 a1 variety purposes in thatcanbeplayed oflearning players. toseven circles ofthree

9.2 Theprefix game

Intermediate to advanced

30-40

negative and 123 Toworkonthevarious prefixes pejorative inEnglish, especially preparing foranexamination forstudents orT0EFL. such asFCE

9.3 Definitionsdictation

Intermediate to advanced

20-30

game using 125 topractise Tousea guessing definitions

9.4 Crosswords

Intermediate to advanced

20-30

students to EnglishTointroduce ways in crosswords andshow language andmade which theycanbeadapted more creative.

9.5 Pivotwords

20-30 Lower-intermediate to advanced

9.5 Hidingwords

10-20 Lower-intermediate to advanced

9.7 Treasurehunt

Intermediate toadvanced

10-20

words withthe identifying Topractise help ofdefinitions.

133

9.8 Storyboard

Elementary to advanced

20-30

relating words tocontext. Topractise

135

126

and 131 semantic Toexplore thedifferent grammatical uses ofwords. 'buried' inother words 132 words Todiscover text. orsurrounding

.

l

LOnlents I x||l

Activity

Level

Aims Time (minutes)

Page

lO Dictionary exercises and word history 10.1Worddip

Elementary

15-25

135 Tofamiliarizestudentswiththestru andlimitations ofdictionaries. uses,

to advanced 10.2 Fromword to word

Intermediate to advanced

15-25

practice 137 intheuseof Togivefurther withtheemphasis onthe dictionaries, given. used inthedefinitions language

10.3 Writeyourselfin

Elementary to advanced

10-15

elementto Toaddastrongpersonal dictionary Practice.

10.4 Whatdolmean?

1G-l5 Lower-intermediate to advanced

10.5 Borrowedwords

Intermediate to advanced

20

138

139 Tointroduceandpractisewordsand phrases used indefining andexplaining meanrngs. 140 Toshowhowwordscanchangeform across languages. andmeaning

20-30 10.6 Commemorativewords Upper-intermediate to advanced

Toexplorewordswithahistory 141

10.7 Datingwords

15-30 Upper-intermediate to advanced

more words witha history, 142 Toexplore onmorerecent withtheemphasis c0lnages.

10.8Thesauri

30-45 Upper-intermediate

143 Toshowhowwordsmaybegroupedby

to advanced

to introduce and meaning andcontext; practise using a thesaurus; and, to showhowwordscanbe incidentally, meaning. anddistort usedto disguise

11 Revision exercises 149

11.1 Opencategorization

to Beginner advanced

15-20

tocategorize Toallowstudents inanywaytheywant. vocabulary

11.2 Guidedcategorization

Beginnerto advanced

15-20

149 Togetthestudentstoforminteresting andto wordgroups, andmemorable ofwords by deepen theirunderstanding categorizations. comparing

11.3 Wordson a scale

Intermediate to advanced

15-20

attention 152 Toconcentrate thestudents' under revision byfocusing onthewords reactions. ontheirown,subjective

11.4 Lexicalfurniture

Elementary to advanced

15-20

153 byvisualizing Tofixvocabulary inmemory withfamiliar obiects and connections olaces.

11.5 Leapingwords

Beginnerto advanced

10-15

a 154 Togetstudentsto'draw'wordsas butcreative wayofremembering simple vocabulary visually.

11.6 Findthe word a picture

Beginner to advanced

20-40

andvisual 155 Togetstudents to linkwords imaqes.

xiv I Contents

Page

Activity

Level

Time Aims (minutes)

ll.7

Rhymingreview

Elementary to advanced

20-30

ll.8

Drawtheword

Beginnerto advanced

156 5,15-20 Togetstudentstovisualizewordsasa means ofremembering them.

ll.9

Matchingwords

Elementary to advanced

15-30

157 Toreviewwords,focusingonmeaning andcontext.

Giftwords

Beginnerto adJanced

20

158 Toreviewvocabularyandatthesame orimprove rapport timetoestablish withina group.

ff.f 1 Forcedchoice

Elementary to advanced

15-25

Togenerate conversation bya fastand energetic review ofwords.

I f .f 2 Questionand answer

Elementary to advanced

15-25

review 160 Topractise thevocabulary under interactively andinnewcontexts.

ll.l3

Wordstostory

Elementary to advanced

20-30

151 Touseoral storytellingtoreviewwords.

It.l4

Wordrush

Beginnerto intermediate

10

inanenergetic, Toreviewwords way non-wordy

t1.15 Comparingrandom words

Elementary to advanced

5,15

a somewhat surreal wayof 162 Toprovide words reviewing'hard-to-remember'

f 1-f 6 Multi-sensoryrevision

Elementary to advanced

30-40

whether to 162 Togetstudents tochoose kinaesthetically, revise linguistically, orvisually. auditorily

11.17 Writingto rule

Elementary to advanced

30-40

164 Toencouragestudentstoextractas much meaning astheycanfromwords theyare bylimiting thenumber allowed touse.

fl.l0

lrnotated Her

bibl iography

156 Toprovideasimpleauditoryreviewof on vocabularv. which alsofocuses pronunciation andspelling.

159

161

155 158

Contents I xv

T h ea u t h o r sa n ds e r i e e s ditor

John Morgan has worked in EFLsince 1966,as a teacher, teacher trainer, coursebook and resource book writer, and lexicographer. He has been associated with Pilgrims English Language courses since rgZS. With Mario Rinvolucri he has written )nceupon aTime and TheQBook,as well as contributing to many Pilgrims publications. At present he divides his time between teacher training and setting crosswords. Mario Rinvolucri is founder member of the Pilgrims netvvork and e dits IIum anisingLanguageTeaching,htt p ://www. h It m a g .co. u k, a webzine for teachers. In addition to this title, Mario has co-authored LettersandVideo in the ResourceBooks for Teachersseries,as well as Challengeto Thinklwith Berer and Frank, OUP,r98z). A frequent contributor t o TheTeacherTrainer, h tt p ://www.tttj o u r n a l.co. u k, Mario's most recent publications arc Ilumanising your Coursebookand, with Sheelagh Deller, UsingtheMother Tongue(both with ETp-Delta, zooz). Alan Maley worked for the British Council from 196z to 1988,serving as English Language Officer in Yugoslavia, Ghana, Italy, France, and China, and as Regional Representative in South India (Madras). From 1988 to r99g he was Director-General of the Bell Educational Trust, Cambridge. From 1993to 1998he was Senior Fellow in the Department of English Language and Literature of the National University of Singapore, and from 1999 to zoo3 he was Director of the Graduate Programme at Assumption University, Bangkok. He is currently a fieelance consultant. He has writtenLiterature,inthis series, BeyondWords,SoundsInteresting,SoundsIntnguing, Words, in LanguageLearning Variationson a Theme,and Drama Techniques (all with Alan Duff), TheMind's Eye(with Franqoise Grellet and Alan Duff ), Learning to Listen and Poeminto Poem (with Sandra Voice,and Shortand Sweet. Moulding), TheLanguageTeacher's

Theauthorsand serieseditor | 1

Foreword

'vVhen the first edition ofVocabulary appeared in 1986, some of the ideas it presented seemed outlandish to many teachers. It is a measure of the successof the book that these ideas have now entered 'way the mainstream. What was then considered out' now forms part ofaccepted practice. Vocabularyhasplayed its part in the more general movement towards giving greater prominence to the teaching of vocabulary that has taken place since its initial publication. Current thinking, based in large parl on the analysis of computer corpora, has emphasized the importance of collocation, and therefore the fact that vocabulary is largely phrasal. Words hang together in typical clusters rather than exist in splendid isolation. Lexico-grammar-the zone where syntax and lexis cooperate to forge meaning-has become a key consideration in the way vocabulary is taught. Another trend has been the revival of interest in the role of the mother tongue in the acquisition of a second language. Bilingual associations in vocabulary in particular clearly have a part to play. Perhaps the other single most important development has been the recognition of learner differences, as evidenced through work in learning styles, multiple intelligences, and neurolinguistic progrumming (NLP).Learners apprehend the world differently, have different preferred modes of learning, and therefore need learning materials which take account of these differences. Altogether we are now better placed to understand the nature and functions of vocabulary what it means to know a word, and how best to acquire vocabulary. This new edition builds on its former strengths by incorporating activities based on the ideas outlined above. If anything, this has tended to reinforce the beliefs of the authors tfrat learning takes place through the personal associations formed by learners. It is 'depth of processing' that matters most. The activities included here all seek to promote the key quality of engagement. The authors have retained their freshness and originality of approach, and have again challenged teachers to renew themselves. This new edition should be at least as influential as the old one was. AlanMaley

Foreword| 3

Introduction

Forty thousand schools, institutions, and teachers have bought the 1986 edition of this book since publication, which means that several million students will have experienced actMties from its pages. Many teachers will have used it, too, and will have brought its approaches into their own teaching of vocabulary. t986 is a long time ago, however, especially in a fast-changing field such as language teaching and learning, which is influenced increasinglyby new thoughts, new practices, and new disciplines. We greatly welcomed, therefore, the invitation to revise and update this book. But first, what was our thinking behind the first edition of Vocabulary?When we asked students back in the r98os about their feelings on learningvocabulary two-thirds of them said theywere not taught enough words in class.Teachers seemed keen to teach grammar and pronunciation, but learning words-particular words that they needed in everyday life-came a very poor third. There seemed to be an assumption that it was enough for teachers to specify which words wete to be learnt-the when and the how was up to the students. 'vVhyshould this be so?Whenwe 'do' a reading passageor a listening comprehension with our students, surely we are teaching vocabulary? Sadly, in many classrooms this is not the case. 'understanding' a word are seldom enough; as Encountering and when we meet people, depth and interaction are necessary if the encounter is to be meaningful and memorable. If teachers have not always recognized the need to devote time to the teaching of vocabulary students themselves feel a very real need to devote time and effort to the process.Many students, indeed, develop their or,rrnmethodologies for making words stick. \Mhether it is that of listening to successivenews broadcasts on television or keeping words in matchboxes-examples we cited in the introduction to the first edition of this book-students intuitively bring to bear the commonsense understanding that for something to be effective it must be effective for them.Attention must be paid not to a generalized view of learning but to the variety of the individual process of learning. This book has grown out of our attempts to work with that process,and this second edition seeksto incorporate new understanding of the factors that influence it.

Introduction| 5

Making new Howhave things changed,then, in the two decadesthat separatethe editions of this book?We still seea need for practical activities of the kind offered here, and still hold to our view that vocabularylearning is best carried out interactively within the classroom,but we no longer feel tlat we are mapping uncharted waters.Many new theoriesand insights have emergedwhich have direct impact on what it is to 'know' a word. To stick with a nautical metaphor,we havein the past sailedbefore the wind of many new trends and ideas, and someof the new chaptersin the book continue to stem from this newthinking. Onereasonwhy somestudentsexperiencelanguagelearning asa chore is becausethey find themselvesaskedto do againand again what they are alreadyable to do with their eyesshut in their mother tongue.We strongly maintain, aswe did twentyyears ago,that a good secondlanguageexercisewill offer the student an experience that is to someextent new that they have never found themselves doingin their Lr. When this kind of freshnessand element of surprisecropsup in lessonafter lesson,then the languageclassroombeginsto be an interesting place.We alsofeel that a good Lz activity, at leastfrom elementarylevel up, is one that would alsowork adequatelyand maintain a reasonablelevel of interest among studentsif done in their mother tongue.This is why you should put this book in the handsof the teachersof tJe mother tongue in your staflroom.

A relationship with words Another principle that underpins this book is the realization that Iearningwordsis a relationalprocess.You could describethe processas makingfriendswith thewordsof thet argetlanguage. We do not sub scrib e to the view that a word is merely a 'signifier' that actsasa label for a 'signif,ed' in the real world. It is much more than that. If a word is simply a label, whywill secondlanguagelearnerspick up and remember one word apparently effortlessly,while another word, met at the sametime and place,will be refuseda placein their mind?Just asa look, a movement, a chanceremark, a tone of voice.or somethingin the setting can influence our flrst impressionsof a person,so our perception of a word can be affectedby, for example: - its sound - the kinetic sensationofthe lungs, throat, mouth, tongue, and nose when sayingthe word - its tune - its pitch - its speedof enunciation - the other word companyit keeps(collocatingability and breadth) 5 | Introduction

- its spelling - its shape on the page or screen - conventional associations: semantic and syntactic categories to which the word appears to belong - literary associations ('pail of water' in the context ofJack andJill) - the associations the word has for the individual learner - the circumstances of meeting the word. All these factors play a part in'learning' a word. If you take them all into account, then meeting a word is a process of befriending, of coming to terms with a complex, self-standing reality. We would like to round offthese opening paragraphs with a paraphrase of part ofAlan Maley's foreword to the 1986 edition: The acquisition ofvocabulary is: o a branching process rather than a linear one. Words are not learnt mechanically, as little packets of meaning, but associatively; . an intensely personal process.The associationsand vibrations depend on our own past and present felt experience; . a social process, rather than a solitary one. We expand our understanding of word meanings by interchanging and sharing them with others: . not a purely intellectual, effortful process, but an experiential hands-on process too. An over-intellectual approach causesthe language to be seen as an object, rather than to be incorporated within the subject-the learner.

New trends In the years between the flrst edition of this book and today, there has been-as we have already suggested-signiflcant work done which impacts upon the lexical component of language. This has fed into curricula and coursebooks, while mainstream teaching has been influenced by work on a host of theories: multiple intelligences, learning styles, neurolinguistic programming (NLP),and so on. It is easy,too, to forget, or not take account of, the fact that back in the r98os computers had yet to have a major influence on our thinking. The computer explosion and the Internet have transformed the environment in which language is used and learning takes place. These are some of the factors that have informed the updating of this book. We will conclude this introduction by summarizing under three headings how they have advanced our understanding ofthe teaching ofwords.

Introduction| 7

The relationship of the mother tongue to the foreign language Overthe pastten yearsthe EFLcommunity, particularly in the UK, hastalked increasinglyof the major importance of the mother tongue in the learning of a secondlanguage.There is a growing revolt againstthe belief, held by proponentsof the Direct Method, that the mother tongue shouldbe excludedfrom the secondlanguage classroom.In our view this revolt is common sense.In the caseof adolescentsand adults,the mother tongue is the launch pad for the secondlanguage.Theselearnersnaturally referencenewwords in Lz via the mother tongue.To take an example:a rz-year-oldTurk meeting the Englishwordhousewill not go direct fiom his feelings about his home, from the sightsand soundsof his home tohouse;he will go fiom the conceptand feeling to the Tirrkish word evand from there make an equivalencewith house. This is natural, inevitable, and linguistically effi.cient,sinceevis for him a brilliant, zipped-up synthesisof all his thoughts and feelingssurrounding the conceptof house. Interestingly,the UK EFLvoiceswho haverecently advocated sensibleuse of the mother tongue include university academicsand practisingteachers.On the one hand you haveinfluential writers like ProfessorGuy Cook from ReadingUniversity writing articleswith titles like 'Is there Direct Method in our Madness?'( ELGazefi.e,Isste 239,19gqand on the other Andrew Morris, a teacherin Bangladesh, writingwhat follows: I can't seethe problemwith judicioususeofthe students'mother tongue-especially at lower levels....asa learner of other languagesmyself I find it necessaryat times to clarify a point of vocabularyor grammar in English,againespeciallyat beginner level.It is absurdto operateall the time in a new secondlanguage, and ignore the many rich and valuablepoints of comparisonthere maybe with their own. (ELTeCS-L Digeston the British Council website http ://www.b ritishcouncil.org) In Chapter4, 'Bilingual texts and activities',we celebratethe lifting of the Direct Method ban on the mother tongue by offering you some exercisesthat we hope will pleasethose of your studentswith strong linguistic intelligences.When we look back, we are amazedthat we only included a coupleof exercisesin the first edition of this book which included the use of the student'smother tongue.We paid little attention to our own natural, contrastiveway of learning other languages.If you flnd the exercisesin this chapter useful and would like somemore, consult the large vocabularysectionin Deller and Rinvolucri zooz.(Seethe Annotated Bibliographyat the end of this book.)

8 | Introduction

Thesensorybasis and ofboth experience vocabulary Work with the technology offered by neurolinguistic programming hasmadeus much more awarethan we were before of the fact that it is through the flve sensesthat we experiencethe external world and the internalworld ofwords. Takethis sentence: Themanwenttothewindowandlooked out. 'representation' Wasyour flrst of the man, a picture, a feeling, or a sound?What sort ofwindowwas it?\ /hat sort of house?Wherein the world did it happen?Did you get a feeling of the light, the weather, the temperature that da12Or was it night? Were there backgroundnoises,sounds?As he looked out, what was outlike? Were you inside the 'space'of the scene,or did you seeit asan external picture? As we use our mother tongue we are continually making unconsciouslexical choicesbasedon sensorypreferencesthat come from our deepprogramming. If you want to expressthe idea that you got angryyou might say: I suwred. (visual) (kinaesthetic) Ilostmy rag. Iflew offthehandle. point. (auditory) I reachedscrearrnng All the abovephrasescar4rthe intended meaning,but they do soin sensorilyvery different ways.To expressourselvesin language,we haveno choicebut to make continuous sensorychoicesaslarge areas ofthe languagesystemare basedon seeing,hearing, orfeeling through the body. This awarenessleadsto a slew of emotionally apt activitiesin the courseofwhich studentsdiscovera whole new area of themselvesand their relationship to words. So,for example, dictate a set ofwords tfrat the students have alreadv studied and ask them to classify them into four columns: eye

ear

bodilyfeeling

taste/smell

With the word sock,for example,in which of thesecolumnswould you get your first representation?And the word mother?Somepeople hear their mother, others know her through bodily feeling,while othersget a mental picture of her. At a later stagein this exercise studentscomparetheir sensory,categorization of the words dictated and the room is fllled with animated,sometimesamazedvoices,as they discoverthat their friend's sensoryprocessis different from theirs. (Herewe chosean auditory representationof the classroom process.) There are, of course,plenty of abstractwords in the languagethat are only etymologicallysensory$ituation,for example,from the Latin word situsmeaningplace)but the cuffent meaning has cometo mean Introduction |9

which in turn originally meant something similar to ciramntance, whatstandsaround).But if you go to 6.15you will flnd an activity in which the teacher dictatesabstractwords and the studentsdo a quick drawing for each.After the first shock of being askedto studentsfind they can easilyvisualize visualizea word llke integritry, analoguesfor or illustrations ofabstract concepts.It is in this way that we 'domesticate'what is abstractinto our own personal reality. Neurolinguistic programming has a great dealto sayabout languageand words that goeswell beyond the sensorysystembut in this bookwe have confi.nedourselvesto this small areaof NLP's insights.To flnd out more, seeO'Connorand Seymour1990.

The discoveries made by

corpus linguists The growth of corpuslinguistics over the pasttwenty-five yearshas led us to new waysof understandingwords.We can now study them in their collocationalenvironment. and we can do this on a massive scaleand acrosshectaresof text. We consciouslyrealize how this coloursand changestheir meaning.Let us take the verb to cause.lt turns out that this is not the neutral unbiasedword you might think. Accordingto one large corpus,ninety per cent ofthe things causedare negative: to causeembarrassment to causehavoc to causechaos to causedistress to causepainto When we first heard thesefactsduring a presentationin 1999,given by Ron Carter,we were assurprisedashe saidhe had been at flrst. He went on to add that corpusstudy had led him to doubt the accuracy of native-speakingintrospection about words. 'If Another example,this time fiom Michael Rundell:his article onlytheyd askeda linguist' (http://www.hltmag.co.uk,zoozlshows 'Consignia'some how wrong the UK PostOff,cewas to re-nameitself yearsago.(In zoozit decidedto go back to calling itself 'The Royal is Mail'.)Accordingto the British National Corpus,the verb consign association: massivelynegativethrough collocational dustbin(6% of alloccurrences,of which half were the consigtrtothe dustbinofhistory) consign to oblivion(5%) thescrap-heap consignto $%) amuseum(3%) consignto Rundellwrites, 'It is almost impossibleto flnd a singlecontext in appearsin a positive light'. Indeedthe LK PostOfflce which consign 10 | Introduction

shouldhave consulteda linguist before renaming themselveswith one of the most negativelycollocatingwords in the language! In Chapter5 we offer two types of exercise:one where students work with evidencefrom corpora,set out on the pagein front of them, and the otherwhere the studentslearn to use concordancing programssothey can make their own discoveriesfrom raw data.This chapterinvites you into the vast new thinking spacethat corpus linguists havebeen creating over the pasttwentyyears.

Other changesto this edition Readers of the flrst edition will notice that the book is now considerably longer, and is divided into eleven chapters instead of seven. This has enabled us to present the activities in a clearer way and we recommend a close study of the table of contents as a way of flnding what you want. The inclusion of Aims for each activity should 'old favourites'have been further facilitate this process.Some of the updated with new texts and examples. The development of the Internet has led to the inclusion of some net-related activities and to a number ofvariations and additions to others. Web addresses(unrs) have been provided for software sources and sites relating to dictionaries, corpora, and the like, though we cannot of course guarantee that all these unrs will remain valid. The Internet also provides us with an opportunity to establish a dialogue with you, our readers. This book is among the first to be supported by a website devoted to the Resource Books for Teachersseries,to be found at http://www.oup.com/elVteacher/rbt, and we welcome your feedback. There you will find, too, extra activities, downloadable worksheets, author articles, competitions, etc. And there is more still at the OUP Teachers' Club at http ://www. o u p.co m/e lVg Io ba l/teacherscIu b/.

And one other thing ... All the materials in this book are offered as suggestions for exploration and modiflcation by the teachers and students who might use them. We aim neither to present a method to be rigorously followed, nor to specifywhat to teach. We hope on the other hand to provide a rich sourcebook of ideas to be dipped into, transformed, and added to. If you would like to share your ideas and experiences, please contact us via http ://www. o u p.co m/e lVteacherlrbt. John Morgan Mario Rinvolucri

I n t r o d u c t i o|n1 1

Pre-textactivities

Although vocabulary may be learnt flom many sources, for the 'reading passage'found majority of students the in the coursebook or supplied by the teacher is the most usual. Such texts have the advantage that they can be speciallywritten or adapted to suit curriculum needs, to present a steady progression of grammar and vocabulary to be learnt, to form the basis for student assessment and grading, etc. On the other hand, they cannot address the huge variety 'at of individual student needs, even among those who are the same level'. Learners differ in their experience of life, in their beliefs, in their attitude to themselves and others, in their'learning style', in their aspirations, and in countless other ways. Many of these differences will be reflected in how and to what extent, they will learn vocabulary from the text placed in fiont of them. The activities in this chapter have two principal aims: to motivate the students to read the text, and to get them to review and organize their thoughts and language resources before reading. It should be remembered that they concentrate onvocabularyuse and acquisition, not on furthering good reading habits, and that an actMty that is powerful enough to enable the students to learn language from a dull text may also interfere with or swamp the reading ofa rich text.

1 . 1 What'sin the text? Level Elementaryto advanced Time 20-30minutes Aims To motivate studentsto reada text by getting them to speculate beforehandabout its content. Materials One copy of the text for eachstudent. Preparation Chooseand make copiesof a text and from it selectflve to eight items of vocabularyfor presentationasa 'word rose'.(Seethe sampletext below for the kind of text that would be appropriateat upperintermediate level.)Thevocabularyitems shouldbe neither 'contextfree' (for example,structurewords, neutral or very general adjectives),nor 'keywords' that would closelytypify the main Pre-text activities| 13

meaning of the text: the airn should be to allowthe studentsa reasonablechanceof coming closeto the text without restricting their imagination. Procedure 1 Put up the word roseon the blackboard. 2 Tell the sflldentsthat they are going to read a text in which these words appear(not necessarilyin the order presented). 3 Ask them, in groups of four, to speculateon the content of the text. 4 Give out copiesof the text for comparisonand discussion. Example An example of a wordrose,based on thesample textbelow: srgns polite ignore writing

updated

driver carriageway oermrssron Sampletext Thelanguageof road-signs Signsare a greatway of telling peoplethings they don't know, pretend not to know, forget or simply ignore. However,there is a problem with signs,and that is that most of them havebeen around for so long that we're beginning not to notice them, and for a sign that is a fate worse than death. Signswith writing on are particularly at risk becauselanguage changesa lot fasterthan pictures.For example,crvE wev. This phraseis straight out of the era of coachesand horseswith an undercurrent of gentle submission.If this sign were at a polite cocktail party it would sayswooN. Thesedays,no one givesway unlessthey absolutelyhaveto. This sign shouldtherefore be updated to No wAY.Orjust No. Duer cannrAcEwAyis anotherdesignaiionstraightout of the r8th century.Americansthink it is asquaint aswe think their turnpikes are quaint. We all know what one is, but it's very diff,cult to think of what elseit couldbe called.Dousrn IANE or src noao?The AHEADis clearlycHANcETo metatextof ouer cARRTAGEwAv oVERTAKESuNney DRIVERAHEADoI FASTLANEAHEADoT END oF FRUSTRATIoNAHEAD.Sadly,the one thingyou can never, ever do with a road sign is give permission, or even imply, that you can go fast. Even nnrucE spEEDNow is suspect,and sounds like a driving instructor's instruction. This should be updated to slow DowN Now or, a bit oxymoronically, srow DowN quICKry. Maybe we could have them in sequence:srART BRAKTNGNow. BRAKENow. BRAr(E. ron Gop' s sAI(E, BRAI(E! It's an unnecessarysign. Telling people to slow down because there's something in their way is getting perilously close to teaching them to suck eggs. Punctuation can also drift past its sell-by date. One of the most common all-purpose signs is the exclamation mark. This is clearly the 14 | Pre-textactivities

same as cosH ! It implies that something moderately interesting **! Or could happen ifyou're easilyinterested. What is needed is .#@&! Becausethat's what we something flom Captain Haddock like all say when we round a bend at 7o miles an hour and flnd a modern art installation in the middle of the road. (Guy Browning. 'You talking to me?', TheGuardianWeekend,g June zoor) Variation Followr and z above, then ask the classto shout out anywords suggested by the words you have written up. When you hear words that are in the text, add them to the words already on the blackboard. rv\Ihenyou have written, say, twenty more words on the board, carry on with 3 and 4 above.

1 . 2 Predictingmeanings Level Elementaryto advanced Time 10-20minutes Aims Toencouragestudentsto work out from contextthe meaningsof unfamiliarwords. Materials One copy of the text for eachstudent. Preparation Selectfiom the text that you have choseneight to ten words that you think will not be familiar to your students.The sampletext below is an example of the kind of textyou might choose. Procedure 1 Put up the unfamiliar words on the blackboard. 2 Tell the classthat you have selectedthe words fiom a text that they are about to read and give them a briefoutline ofits content. Ask them to take a sheetof paper and rule it into two columns.They shouldwrite dovrn eachof the words on the blackboardin the lefthand column, and then in the right-hand column write three or four other words that are suggestedby eachleft-handword. Tell them that the words they write can be suggestedby sound,spelling,possible meaning, or in any other way. Ask the students,in groups of three or four, to comparewhat they havewritten. Giveout the text. As the studentsread,encoutagethem to work out from the contextwhat the unfamiliarwords mean,before checking with you or their dictionary. Sampletext Magweta After World War II, Magwetafi.ndsitself with a small foreign exchangesurplusand rudimentary armed forcesand police force. Pre-text activities| 15

The country's economyis basedon agriculture, predominantly small farms run by one family, but alsoincluding a few large estates primarily producing cashcropsfor export. A civilian political grouping hasrecently cometo power with a policy of rapid industrial development,basingits appealon nationalistic sentiment amongst the people. To transform the country the ruling group startsto import large quantities of machinery including small amounts of arms, although the cost of the latter is reducedby a grant of military aid from a Westernpower.Many of the ruling group havebeen educatedin the West and have acquireda Westernlifestyle; they set the paceby purchasingcars,radios,and similar luxuries which others in the higher echelonsthen seekto acquire.The politicians make patriotic speecheswhich justify the expansionand re-equippingof the military. ffier a fewyears the foreign exchangeposition has seriously deterioratedand a loan is obtainedfrom the IMF.Exportsare encouragedand a major effort is madeto expandthe production of cashcropsthrough the use of improved agricultural techniques. Selectiverestrictions are placedon imports in order to stimulate local productionbut arms imports continue to increase. Although there is a short-termimprovement helped by somedirect foreign investment, a steadydeclinein the price of cashcrop exports, relative to manufacturedimports, results in a secondapplication for a loan. This is granted on condition that the currencyis devaluedand import restrictionsremoved.This the government reluctantly accedes to. The result of this policyis the destructionof embryonic local industry aslarge foreign concerns,relying heavily on advertisingand the lure ofWestern image,flood the market. Severallarge tracts of land, someof which were previouslyfarmed under the traditional system,are bought up by a few individuals and fi.rmsand converted to producemore cropsfor export. Employment in traditional agriculture stagnates,and the most vigorousyoung peopleleavethe land to move into the urban areaswhere most of the wealth is concentrated.Rural societydeclinesand shantytowns grow in the shadowof the westernisedcities. (Bombs CampaignAgainst the Arms Trade,r98r) for Breakfast,

1.3 Predictingwords Level lntermediateto advanced Time 20-25minutes Aims

Materials

To review areasof vocabularywith which the studentsalready havesomefamiliarity,so that new itemsin theseareascanmore easilybe'slottedin'and remembered; to stimulateinterestin a dulltext. One copy of the text for eachstudent.

16 | Pre-text activities

q

Preparation Choosea text with a fairly narrow and predictableset of vocabulary,by virtue of its content and/orstyle.Examplesof suitabletexts might be: o advertisements flom coursebooks . passages . news items with a well-known therne (armstalks, earthquakes, sportsreports) o fairy storiesand folk talesknown to the students(for example, Cinderella,Washington and the cherrytree, Nasreddinstories) o instructions, recipes,product descriptions . popular songs The sampletexts below provide examples. Procedure Tell the studentsthat later in the lessontheywill be readinga text/listening to a tapeihearinga story.Givethem a very rough idea of what the piecewill be about:for example,in the samplesbelow tell them they are going to read a short article about the stressesof working for an international companyihearan Ametican cowboy songabout whisky. Ask the students,in pairs,to predict someof the vocabularythey might encounterin the text. Tell them to producea list of eight to ten items.Allow dictionariesand give assistancewhen asked. 3 Ask the studentsto form larger groups (eight to twelve) and explain their lists to one another. 4 Giveout the texts/playthe recording/tell the story. Sampletexts Theinternationalcommuter 'Euro flyer' who commutesbetweenthe UK and An interview with a the continent everyweek showsthe specialchallenges.This manager gavethe following account: 'I feel l can copewith the demandsofbeing in different placesall the time. I have alwaysbeen ableto work strangehours and to juggle a lot of balls in the air, but I can alsoseethat my family needsmore They find it probably more difficult to copewith my reassurance. frantic life. In terms of the company,I would have expectedmore support.They do not realize the effect of short-terminternational travel, despitebeing an international company.Ideally,I would expectfrom my companymore flexibility but alsomore trust. I would expectthe companyto treat me asa mature individual. 'What helped me personallyto adaptto short-term internationawork are the following personality characteristics:independence, selFdiscipline,cultural sensitivity,being open and light-hearted, being positive,being assertive,and not being arrogantbut humble. 'My careerexpectationshavecompletely changedasI now think much more globally.I think nothing of picking up the phone and arranging a meeting in another country or on another continent, Pre-textactivities| 17

whereasbefore this itwould never have occurredto me. The only negativeeffect of my frantic lifestyle is that I havebecomemuch more aggressiveand lesspatient and peoplehavein fact commented on this. I do believeI havebecomelesstolerant of peoplewho want to wastetime and in such situationsmytemper hasbecomeshorter. On the other hand, I believeI have developeda deeperand better understandingof people. 'Another areathat I need guard to for my own developmentis the private life/professionallife distinction. BecauseI have a highly stressfulinternational job, I find it difficult to switch offand therefore my lifestyle hasbecomeextremely paceyand adrenalindriven. I now find it quite hard to slow down in my personallife and I want to pack in all the socialactivities in a very short spaceof time. There is definitely not enoughbalancein terms of relaxation in my life. This is obviouslya risk in terms of long-term stressbut it also puts a certain pressureon my personalrelationships.' (Elisabeth Marx. Br eakLng throughCulnre Sho ck London: Nicholas BrealeyPublishing,1999) Ryewhiskey I'11eat when I'm hungry I'll drinkwhen I'm dry; If the hard times don't kill me, I'11laydown and die. Beefsteakwhen I'm hungry Redliquorwhen I'm dry Greenbackswhen I'm hard up, And religion when I die. They sayI drink whiskey, Mymoney'smyown; All them that don't like me Canleaveme alone. SometimesI drink whiskey, SometimesI drink rum; SometimesI drink brandy, At other times none.

Jacko' diamonds,Jacko' diamonds, I knowyou of old. You'verobbed my poor pockets Of silverand gold. Oh, whiskey, you villain You'vebeen my downfall. You'vekicked me, you've hurt meBut I love you for all. Ryewhtskey, ryewhiskey, Ryewhiskey,lcry. If youdon'tgwemeryewhtskey, Isurelywilldie. (TraditionalUScowboy song)

Variation A Polishcolleague,MalgorzataSzwaj,suggestsputting up the first part of the title of the piece,and then askingthe classto suggestways of completing it, and what their suggestedtitles might refer to.

18 | Pre+extactivities

1.4 Criminalrecords Level Elementaryto advanced Time 30-40minutes Aims Tofocusthe students'attentionon the waysthey associate words by meaningor context,and especially on the positiveand negative connotationswords havefor them. Materials One copy of the text for eachstudent. Preparation Choosethe keywords from a text. Procedure Write up on the blackboarda skeleton'criminalrecordcard'of the type shown below (column r only) 2 Fill in an example 'criminal record' asin column z. 3 Point out that words could alsobe saidto havecriminal records, and give a fairly concreteexamplein column 3: 2

1

J

Name John Smith Place of residence 3 PackerStreet,West Croydon Iftrown associates PeterTackson, Arthur Baines

fat body carbolrydrates, cholesterol robbery terrorism, kidnapping heart disease

Crfuninal record

troline