Content: Introduction Mainpart

Extending children’s vocabulary beyond the textbook
Most of the textbooks for young learners start with words connected to the family, the house, the school. But children are getting more and more global in their interests through the Internet, television and video, and computer games. Their worlds are much bigger, form much younger ages, than used to be the case. So difficulties in learning vocabulary can arise since the vocabulary is insufficiently connected to pupil’s real lives. To extend the vocabulary beyond the textbook, the teacher can give words which are thematically connected to the words given in the unit. Vocabulary learning around a topic could begin from the learners rather than from the book, by asking them directly what words they already know and what words they would like to learn about the topic. For example, the book has a unit on wild animals. The teacher could write ‘wild animals’ on the board and ask learners what they already know and which words they would like to know. The words are then written on the blackboard and translated into the foreign language. · Teachers can show how to find clues to the meaning of a new word in a picture or in other words in the same sentence
· Teachers can teach the sub-skills needed to make use of strategies. For example, to use a dictionary efficiently requires knowledge of alphabetical order and lots of practice with it.
· When reading a story, teachers can explicitly encourage prediction of the meanings of new words
· Children can be helped to prepare lists of words they want to learn form a lesson, can be shown ways of learning form lists and later can be put in pairs to test each other.
· Children can be helped to reflect on their learning process through evaluating their achievements. For example, at the end of a lesson they can be asked how many new words they have learnt, and which words they need to learn more about. Through regular self-evaluation, children can come to understand more about what they are learning and how.