How to Enlarge English Vocabulary 

                                          Selected by Mr. Tiger

    Teachers should choose proper ways to instruct words. Many teachers often write new words

they want to teach on the blackboard, then explain them one by one. The way is easy for teachers

to teach, while it isn't interesting for students to learn．It makes students feel bored. The following

ways are better on teaching English words.

Part One  Teaching English words by using word-formation

1.Using roots of English words to teach new words. A root is the basic form of a word which can not be further analyzed without total loss of identity. Generally it carries the main component of meaning in a word. After students learn the word "use", teachers can say that "useful" comes  from "use". It means "of use". Teachers also can say that the word "useless" comes from the word "use". It means "of no use" or "not useful".

2.Using prefixes to teach new words. The majority of prefixes are characterized by their non-class - changing nature. Their chief function is to change meanings of roots. Prefixes can be classified into some groups on a semantic basis.（1）Negative prefixes：dis-, non- un-. For instance, "disobey" means "not obey"; "non-smoker" means "not a smoker"; "unfair" means "not fair" ;(2) Prefixes of degree or size：micro-, over-, under-. For example, "microcomputer" means "very small computer"; "overweight" means "weighing more than normal"; "under-developed" means "less developed"; (3)Prefixes of time and order: "foretell" means "tell before happening"; "reconsider" means "consider again".

3.Using suffixes to teach new words. Unlike prefixes which primarily change the meaning of roots, suffixes’primary function is to change the grammatical function of roots. Therefore, suffixes can be grouped into noun，verb，adverb and adjective suffixes.（1）Noun suffixes：-er,- hood, -ese, -ist, -tion. For example,“worker" means "a person who works"; "childhood" means  "condition of being a child"; "Chinese" means "a person from China"; "pianist" means "a person who plays the piano with skill"; "collection" means "the act of collecting"; (2) Verb suffixes: -fy, -ize, -en. For instance, "beautify" means "to make beautiful”,"apologize" means

  "to make an apology". "darken" means "to make dark"; (3)Adverb suffixes：-ly, -wards. For

  example, "badly" means "to a serious degree"; "forwards" means "towards the front". (4)Adjective suffixes：-able, -al, -ful, -y. For example, "acceptable" means "that can be allowed", "national" means "of a nation", "careful" means "showing attention to details", "rainy" means

  "having a lot of rain".

4.Using compounding words to teach English words. Compounding, also known as composition,

is the formation of new words by joining two or more roots. Words formed in this way are called

compounds. So a compound is a lexical unit consisting of more than one root but functioning both grammatically and semantically as a single word. There are three major classes of compounds.

(1)Noun compounds：black＋board---blackboard, bed＋room---bedroom class＋room---

classroom, news＋paper---newspaper. (2) Adjective compounds：man＋make---man-made, blue＋eye---blue-eyed, radio＋active---radioactive. (3）Verb compounds：over＋throw---overthrow,

broad＋cast---broadcast, may＋be---maybe.

5.Using conversion to teach new words. Conversion is the formation of new words by converting

words of one class to another. This is a method of turning words from one part of speech to a

different part. These words are new only in a grammatically sense. Since the words do not change

in morphological structure but in function, this process is also known as functional shift. Pay

attention to the word "round" in the following sentences：（1）He was knocked out in the second

round; (2) Round the number off to the nearest tenth;(3)The women gathered round our room;(4)

The sun was bright and round; (5) People over there came from all the country round. In each

sentence "round" is used as a different part of speech：noun, verb, preposition, adjective and

adverb.

    As we all know word-formation plays an important role in the expansion of vocabulary in

modern English. If students can master the ways mentioned above, their vocabulary can be enlarged. Thus, when students read English books, they can reduce the times of using dictionary.

Part Two   Teaching English words by using their synonyms and antonyms

1.Synonyms are words different in sound and spelling but most nearly alike or exactly the same in meaning. There are two kinds of synonyms. (1)Absolute synonyms：composition---compounding, word-formation---word-building. (2)Relative synonyms：different---various, large---huge, wish---desire, answer---reply, wood-forest, ask--- request, little---small, often--- always, and so on.

2.Antonyms are words which are opposite in meaning. There are a variety of "oppositeness". They can be classified into three major groups.（1）Contradictory terms：dead--- alive, true---false, boy--- girl, same--- different, present ---absent;(2)Contrary terms：rich---poor, old----young, big---small, hot---cold, open---close;(3)Relative terms：wife---husband, parent---child, sell--buy, and so on.

    The way is commonly used in teaching. By this means students can learn many English words which are relevant in meanings and memorize them quickly.

Part Three  Teaching new words by offering homonyms

   Homonyms are generally defined as words different in meaning but either identical in sound

 and spelling or alike only in sound or spelling. Homonyms can be divided into three classes：

 perfect homonyms, homographs and homophones．

1.Perfect homonyms are words identical both in sound and spelling, but different in meaning. For

  example, "over" prep. directly above, "over" adv. downwards from an upright position, "over"

  adj. ended; "excuse" v. to forgive somebody for a small fault, "excuse" n. a reason.

2.Homographs are words alike only in spelling but different in sound and meaning. For instance,

sow [sau] n. female adult pig; sow [səu] v. to scatter seeds;bow [bəu]n. a weapon for shooting

arrows, bow [bau] v. to bend the upper part of the body forward, showing respect.

3.Homophones are words alike only in sound but different in spelling and meaning. For example,  hear [hiə]v. to receive sounds with ears; here [hiə] adv. in this place; meat[mi:t]n. the flesh of four- footed animals and birds used for food; meet[mi:t]v. to come together. Of the three kinds, homo- phones have the largest number and are most common.

Part Four  Teaching English words by offering words which have the same semantic field of

function

    For example, when instructing "feel", teachers can offer "sound, taste, smell and look" because they all can be used as link verbs. When explaining "cost", teachers also teach“have, last, hold, fit, belong to, agree with" because they all cannot be used in the passive voice.

Part Five  Teaching new words by offering different parts of speech

    Words can be classified into many parts of speech: noun, verb, adjective, adverb and so on. For example, care (n.)—care (v.)一careful (adj．)—carefully (adv.); wonder (n.)一wonder (v.) wonderful (adj．)—wonderfully(adv.); agree (v.)agreement (n.); govern (v.)一government (n.); develop (v.) —development(n.) During the time teachers instruct words, if students can master a word’s different parts of speech, they can use it freely in future.

Part Six  Teaching English words by making sentences

   For instance, Monday comes after Sunday; Wednesday comes after Tuesday; Friday is between Thursday and Saturday. When students use these sentences, they can easily remember the seven words from Sunday to Saturday. It also helps students write compositions in future.

Part Seven   Teaching new words by asking students to read additional English articles                 Teachers first hand out some English articles and ask students to finish them in time. Then check up by asking students some questions on new words occurring in the articles. Last, remind students not to look up new words in dictionaries and should try their best to guess the meanings of the new words by the contexts．

Part Eight  Teaching new words by learning texts in English textbooks

   All the articles are composed of sentences and all the sentences are made up of words. New words teaching should be connected with texts of English. Teachers cannot teach new words separately. When new words are taught in texts, students can memorize them easily by reciting texts and feel interested in them. Thus new words can be learned quickly.

Part Nine  Teaching new words by listening to the tapes for English textbooks

   Tapes of English usually have standard pronunciation. When teaching new words, teachers can use English tapes. Tapes can make teachers feel relaxed and make students like listening to them. English tapes also make classes lively and interesting. Thus students can remember new words quickly. With the help of tapes, students also can imitate pronunciation of tapes. Of course, English tapes also help students to memorize texts of English and to learn singing English songs.

Part Ten  Teaching English words by stick drawings, models, slides, films, videotapes, radios and TVs

   For example, when two prepositions "into" and "onto" are taught, teachers can use two stick drawings to show that "into" means "so as to be in" and "onto" means "to a position on". Teachers can also give two sentences with the two stick drawings一He jumped into the water; He jumped onto the desk. Thus students can easily learn the two prepositions.  

   In short, vocabulary teaching is not an isolated activity. It ought to be closely connected with the teaching of grammar and phonetics. Vocabulary teaching is also a cooperation between teachers and students. Teachers instruct students some essential ways for vocabulary learning. And students find some proper ways to enlarge their vocabulary. Of course, the purpose of English vocabulary teaching is to help students develop the abilities of using English for communication and of acquiring knowledge in the future.

References：

   Zhang Weiyou,（1997）On English Vocabulary, Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press 

   Li Tingxiang,（1983） On English Methodology，Higher Education Press

   Lu Guoqiang,（1983） On Modern English Vocabulary, Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press

    Pan Neng, (1998)  Skills for College English Study，Xi’an Communication University Press

   N.G. H.Grant，Liu Daoyi（1995） Junior English for China (Book 3), The People’s Education Press

   C.Jacks，Liu Daoyi（1998） Senior English for China (Book 3), The People’s Education Press