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5. Using New Words in Sentences

If students have mastered the use of new words with associations, they should be ready to use words in sentences. To test students' ability to do this, I make up multiple-choice or matching exercises where students have to choose the correct word to use in a sentence. For instance, in testing the students' mastery of the words tasty, bitter, and sweet, I would use the following multiple-choice questions:

1. Cake, ice cream, and cookies all taste _________.

a. salty

b. bitter

c. sweet

d. vanilla

2. French fries, steak, and cake are all _______ food.

a. tasty

b. bitter

c. sweet

d. vanilla

3. She thinks medicine, coffee, and tea are ________.

a. sweet

b. tasty

c. bitter

d. vanilla

6. Making Sentences Using New Words

This is the final step in gaining mastery of the use of new vocabulary. After my students can correctly use new vocabulary in sentences, I will have them make sentences using the new words. For example, in making sentences with the newly acquired vocabulary of tasty, bitter, and sweet, the students should be able to at least generate sentences such as:

The cookies are sweet.

Medicine tastes bitter.

This steak is very tasty.

Teaching vocabulary with associations was very effective in my classroom, and most of my students enjoyed this teaching and learning experience. Unless students have a mental image of the word they are learning, they will never be able to acquire its meaning and use the word effectively in speaking and writing. Also, as students increase their vocabulary, they must be aware of connotations as opposed to the denotations which they find in dictionaries.