Tips for Helping Your Students Strengthen Their Vocabulary
The bigger a speaker's vocabulary, the more freedom they have to express their ideas creatively and with the precise nuance they're looking for. For this reason, smart students should always be looking for opportunities to increase the amount of words they know and can use comfortably in their conversations.
This time, we'll provide some suggestions for study methods that will help your students with this important task.
Word maps
Word maps — sometimes called "word clouds" — are a visual way to represent a single word and all of the vocabulary and concepts related to it. Challenge your student to list a word's synonyms and antonyms, as well as other parts of speech. For example, does the target word also have a noun or adjective form?
This technique takes advantage of "dual-coding theory," which is the idea that receiving information in two forms rather than only one increases our ability to understand and remember it. In this case, we have information as text and in the graphical form of the "map." Students may also appreciate seeing just how much vocabulary they know clearly presented in front of them.
Themed vocabulary lists
Similar to word maps, themed vocabulary lists are all about coming up with words related to a particular subject or idea. As an example, if the theme is health, a list may include words like "diet," "exercise," "mindfulness" or "fasting."
This is a great way to introduce new words to students. Building vocabulary this way also has the benefit of forming relationships between words that can aid students in memorization.
You can start by working with them to create lists with themes related to their hobbies, but lists can be created for nearly any topic you can think of. Don't forget to take advantage of upcoming holidays or special events in your student's home country to add a bit of uniqueness to the exercise.
Crossword puzzles and other word games
Crossword puzzles are timeless games everyone can enjoy. They are also convenient since you can find a wide variety of games aimed at different levels of English speakers.
Additionally, there are other games, such as Boggle and Scrabble, which are classics themselves. They aren't exactly designed for boosting vocabulary, but they are a great way to test it. After all, they are all about recalling words from memory quickly, and playing against others adds a fun sense of pressure to the experience. It's certainly more engaging than simply studying alone.
Replace common words
An excellent way for students to boost their vocabulary is by taking a break from "very" and adjectives that tend to get overused.
Instead, instruct them to try using more expressive alternatives. For example, they can replace “very” with “completely,” “totally” or “incredibly.” For adjectives, “happy” can become "ecstatic," "cold" can become "freezing," "angry" can become "furious," and "tired" can become "exhausted."
You can start simple and introduce higher-level words for your more advanced students. Challenge them to come up with as many synonyms like this that they can, then encourage them to use them in their stories and comments.
Other vocabulary-boosting methods
All of the suggestions we've listed above are in addition to things your student should already be doing: reading English books and articles, and taking notes on any new words they hear in conversations or through the media.
They should also take advantage of smartphones and apps to quickly look up words and expressions they don't understand. It has never been easier to build vocabulary than it is with today's modern tools — and that goes for both language students and native speakers.
Wrap-up
Whether your student is just starting out or is already at a very high level, there is always more vocabulary to learn. Encourage them to try the suggestions we've highlighted here and see if they can rise to the challenge.
These tips can be used both in lessons and by students studying independently to strengthen what you've covered with them. More vocabulary means more expressive conversations and more accurate communication.
