HEROES Teacher's Guide - Book - Page 11
This combination of approaches enables a well-rounded pre-reading program that ensures
success for all. It develops slowly, with plenty of review and reinforcement, thus enabling
each pupil in a heterogeneous class to progress at his or her own pace.
8. Teaching Vocabulary
The nature of learning vocabulary is dynamic and continues over time (Webb and Nation
2017). Hatch and Brown refer to four essential steps in vocabulary learning:
1.
2.
3.
4.
Sources for encountering new vocabulary
Getting a clear image of new words – visual, auditory or both
Making a memory connection between the form and meaning
Using the word through a continual process (not rote memory) – recycle vocabulary
as often as possible
(Hatch and Brown 1995)
Heroes utilizes nearly all these important steps in introducing and practicing vocabulary.
Making connections between form and meaning will become applicable after this aural/oral
stage of learning, when pupils begin to read.
Like Hatch and Brown, Nation (1990) recommends teaching and learning vocabulary
strategies for young pupils that involve demonstrating lexical items through pictures and
verbal explanations. Specifically, he praises word cards as an “excellent way of quickly
increasing vocabulary.” (Laufer, Meara, and Nation 2005). Heroes includes dozens of visually
attractive flashcards to illustrate the meanings of new words and each is presented with a
verbal cue.
Vocabulary needs to be encountered and re-entered abundantly through various sources
and modes. Each additional encounter with a word creates new understandings and new
connections, enhancing knowledge to encourage higher levels of understanding (Schmitt
2017; Schmitt, Cobb, Horst, & Schmitt 2017). Laufer (2005) suggests that spending “several
minutes per lesson devoted to reviewing ‘vocabulary oldies’ will improve the retention
of…words.” (Laufer, Meara, and Nation 2005: 3). Therefore, through each activity in Heroes,
words are strategically recycled. The program incorporates vocabulary through a myriad of
sources including flashcards, songs and chants, communicative games, stories, drama, and
multi-sensory tasks in the Course Book.
Vocabulary learning and the acquisition of lexical chunks is a continual process. The dynamic
process presentation of vocabulary, combined with re-entry and the mental activation of the
pupils through experiential activities, results in long term language development. This
prepares pupils for the later stage of beginning reading, when pupils will create a stronger
visual association with the vocabulary based on the form and shape of the written word.
a. How to Introduce Vocabulary
Vocabulary should be introduced through pictures, flashcards, gestures, actual
objects, and/or through the context of the stories. Pupils should repeat chorally
after a new lexical item is introduced while looking at the flashcard picture or
representation in order to establish visual association with the phonetic form. When
appropriate, include any gestures that may help illustrate the word. Say the word
clearly and allow pupils to repeat it a number of times (loudly, softly, with gestures).
11
