As we all know, the importance of vocabulary acquisition in language learning has been shown in various studies - vocabulary is understandably considered the key to developing our students' reading and writing abilities. Our teacher's duty is to "take care" of student success, that is why we must make the process of learning unfamiliar words as engaging as possible.
Since electronic dictionaries were invented and the Ministry of Education permitted to use them in the Bagrut exam, I faced quite a complicated problem. Most of my 4 point students (both 11th and 12th graders), for example, naively believe they do not need to do anything in order to pass their final exam successfully. They only need a good night’s sleep, come on time and bring along their electronic dictionary. Students became too dependent on that little handy device that, in my opinion, has already showed its negative effects.
First, our kids don’t put their heart into learning new words and expressions any more. They don’t get the fact that learning vocabulary leads to progress leads to better comprehension skills and an increased ability to express themselves. Second, every second word in the electronic dictionary has at least four translations into Hebrew, some of them are not accurate. That is why my 4-pointers feel so frustrated! They don’t realize the simple truth – if you need to translate 30-50 words each time you deal with a one-page text, it makes understanding impossible. Although electronic dictionary is a useful tool, it still can not replace the process of studying new words and lexical chunks.
I was happily surprised to hear that the Ministry of Education is considering welcoming a new pilot of the Module E Bagrut exam. Electronic dictionaries will not be allowed any more. Moreover, the listening part will be replaced by vocabulary exercises. To pass this exam our students need to expand their vocabulary. That brings us back to the old school of rote learning!
Fortunately, the world has changed and helpful learning tools like Quizlet, Memrise, Vocabulary, Shahi, Word Hippo, Vocab Ahead (and many others) had been invented. Our students have a great opportunity to do better that we have done. Two things they should never forget though:
1. Hearing and learning new words/chunks are not enough. Since you have come across a new one – add it to the tool you have chosen from the list below and constantly review it (try to add more chunks or sentences than words – learning will be easier and not strange).
2. Get exposed to English – watch TV shows with English subtitles (Netflix is amazing and affordable, to my mind), blog, participate in online discussions and read online magazines. Here is the link to some free magazines.
What do you think?
unfortunately it is not possiblle to read those very long lines. please post it again
ReplyDeleteHi Yehudit,
DeleteI've fixed Anna's post now. Thanks for bringing it to my attention.
L
Hi Anna,
ReplyDeleteI totally understand what you are talking about. Students think that the electronic dictionary can solve all their problems vocabularywise
What’s more important is that as you mentioned English is a language and as such it has to be used on a daily basis, to that purpose one has to be immersed in it, i.e hear it, speak it, make use of it in a meaningful way.
That’s why I like the idea of Netflix and I encourage my students to watch series suitable for them.
One thing I like less though,is the many changes inflicted on us, English teachers, changes that affect our teaching program and sometimes require performing the arts of magic.
Hi Anna
ReplyDeleteI totally agree. In my opinion there should be no electronic devices at all. The learning cycle that includes active testing is the most effective and you cannot rely to much on one thing such as a dictionary.
I happily support any action or activity that enhances our pupils' active, productive vocabulary. As they say, if you don't use it, you lose it.
ReplyDeleteTotally agree with you. Vocabulary learning is highly important. We discussed the new Ministry of Education pilot at our weekly staff meeting and found it useful and positive. It's just one more step to the right direction.
ReplyDelete