In teaching vocabulary, teachers are normally faced with questions from the students, to explain the meaning of the words. Generally, students expect the teachers to give its definition or a word that can conveniently substitute the word in a sentence. Researchers have become pessimistic about the effectiveness of simple definitions in building one’s knowledge of vocabulary. Studies demonstrate that two-thirds of sentences created by students using vocabularies based on their simple definitions do not make sense. This is because students tend to exchange unknown words in familiar contexts, leading to sentences that are awkward and nonsensical. To teach vocabulary, I intend to use a strategy developed by Beck and her colleagues (2013) known as Student Friendly Vocabulary Explanations.
Student Friendly Vocabulary Explanations is a strategy for constructing word knowledge as networks for personal connections and useful associations. In this strategy, students get to learn the multiple facets of the new words meaning, practice using the words in various acceptable contexts and then integrate the words into their existing background and knowledge. Becks and her associates introduce three categories of words, i.e., Tier 1, Tier 2 and Tier 3 words. Tier 1 words consist of the basic words which commonly appear in spoken language and thus rarely require explicit instruction in school. Tier 2 words consist of a more sophisticated vocabulary of written texts. They are more common to mature language users, and students rarely encounter them as listeners. Tier thee words are words that are central to building knowledge and conceptual understanding within the various academic disciplines. These words are integral to the instruction of content and rarely surface in general vocabulary usage. Each discipline has its own Tier 3 words that require explicit instruction.
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Teaching Tier 3 Words in Chemistry
Chemistry, being a science, tends to have words with letter combinations that are not common in other disciplines. These words are normally long and appear to be complex. These words are sometimes familiar but have new meanings or words combined in phrases to generate new meanings. Teaching these words tend to be difficult as these words appear in several lessons. Thus students tend to hear the words in different ways. It requires demonstration, manipulation and visual representation for the students to fully understand the vocabularies. The complexity of these words may affect the students’ comprehension of the words. It is therefore important to understand the students’ level of unfamiliarity to the concept terms while teaching the concept. Most Tier 3 words in chemistry have little variations between what is taught in the classroom. Their specific meanings are also often provided in textbooks and other curriculum guides. To make my students understand Tier 3 vocabulary in the chemistry discipline better, the following strategy will be implemented:
Use of different curriculum materials to understand the different ways in which the vocabulary is used. According to Beck and her colleagues, reviewing the different ways in which a word has been used helps to improve the understanding of the vocabulary. Therefore, when different chemistry curriculum materials are used helps the students to understand the meaning of the specific vocabulary words.
By making use of symbols together with the vocabulary more frequently. Chemistry contains more symbols to present words. In most cases, both symbols and words are used together. A symbol tends to have a more lasting impact on the students' memory as compared to a new word. Combining the two will ensure that students have a more lasting memory of the vocabulary.
Use of diagrams to teach new vocabularies. Chemistry as a science makes use of diagrams to improve a students’ understanding of the content. When teaching new vocabularies to the students, diagrams will help improve the students’ understanding of the vocabulary.
Using visual representations such as physical chemistry apparatus. A visual representation is more effective in ensuring that a student understands the content of the subject discipline. Most chemistry-specific vocabularies have visual representations in terms of chemical apparatus which helps improve the students’ understanding of the vocabularies.
Engaging the students in activities that make students to repeat the vocabularies more frequently. There exists a certain power of understanding and comprehension in repetition. I plan to provide my students with classical examples of the vocabularies in the form of exercises for them to review individually and in groups. Working in books helps to understand other people’s understanding of the complex vocabulary terms thereby improving understanding.
Word Awareness Activities
These are activities geared towards encouraging the students to learn new words and vocabularies. Chemistry Students require in-depth knowledge of the content-specific words for them to understand the discipline better. Before the beginning of each unit, I will require my students to preview the topic before the classroom lesson on the topic and identify the words that they deem difficult. They will then present their understanding of the words in class in the form of assignment. Once we have covered the topic, the students will then repeat the same exercise using the words that they had identified, and also add new words that they have learned in the lessons covered.
How to Support Learning of Tier 2 Words in Chemistry
As mentioned earlier, Tier 2 words are sophisticated words used in different texts and are rarely common in speeches. Therefore, students have minimal chances of learning these words in the classroom. My plan for enhancing the learning of these words involves usage of different course and curriculum materials in teaching the chemistry content. Tier 2 words are mostly contained in written texts. Using different texts will provide different words that are not common in speeches. Different course materials will also have different ways of using the words. Therefore, different coursework materials will be provided to the students to enhance their learning of the Tier 2 words.
How to Make Vocabulary Learning Fun for the Students
Most teenagers are highly addicted to the world of internet. This is as a result of increased technological advancements of mobile phones. Fortunately, the internet acts as a good resource for any content area. Part of the activities for my students will include researching over the internet on the new terms used and their uses on the internet. Students can, therefore, use their cell phones to research on the different meanings and the uses of the new terms learned in class. These activities will occur every time we come across a new term.
