Masaryk University In Brno

Faculty of Education

Department of English Language and Literature

ADULT STUDENTS:
TEACHING VOCABULARY

Diploma Thesis

Supervisor Written by
PhDr. Alena Kašpárková Bc. Renata Bočková

Brno 2007
Acknowledgements

I would like to thank PhDr. Alena Kašpárková for her valuable advice and suggestions
as well as for her methodology seminars, which were a source of inspiration for my
final work.

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Declaration

Hereby I declare that I have written my diploma thesis by myself and that all the sources
of information used are listed in the enclosed bibliography.

…….....……………………………
Renata Bočková

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CONTENTS_____________________________________

PREFACE…………………………………………………….….… 6

THEORETICAL PART …………………………………………… 7

1 LEARNING A FOREIGN LANGUAGE ……………..………… 7

2 VOCABULARY ………………………………….………………. 9
2.1 VOCABULARY VERSUS GRAMMAR ………………….… 10
2.2 TEACHING METHODS / APPROACHES ……………...…. 13
2.2.1 GRAMMAR-TRANSLATION METHOD (GTM) ...………. 13
2.2.2 DIRECT/BERLITZ METHOD (DM) .………………..….…. 14
2.2.3 AUDIO-LINGUAL METHOD (ALM) ………………...……. 16
2.2.4 TASK BASED LEARNING (TBL) .…………………….…. 17
2.2.5 SUGGESTOPEDIA .……………………………………..…. 18
2.2.6 TOTAL PHYSICAL RESPONSE METHOD (TPR) …….. 20
2.2.7 TEACHING APPROACHES .…………………………..…. 21
2.2.7.1 Communicative Approach .………………. 22
2.2.7.2 Lexical approach .……………………….…. 22
2.2.7.3 Eclectic approach .……………….…….….. 24
2.2.8 CONCLUSION .…………………………………………...... 25

3 ADULT STUDENTS …………………………………………… 26

3.1 CHARACTERISTICS …………….……………..…..……..… 26
3.2 WAYS OF TEACHING ADULTS ………...……………….... 27
3.2.1 PRIVATE TEACHING SECTOR ………………..……..…. 27
3.2.2 ONE-TO-ONE LESSONS .………………………..……….. 27
3.3 MOTIVATION .………………………………………….…….. 29
3.3.1 INTRINSIC / EXTRINSIC MOTIVATION .………..………. 30
3.3.2 SHORT / LONG-TERM GOALS ..………….……………... 31
3.3.3 ATTITUDE TOWARDS GOALS …………………....…….. 32
3.4 FEEDBACK …………………………………………..…....…. 33

4 GENERAL WAYS OF TEACHING VOCABULARY ..….….. 34

4.1 VOCABULARY NOTEBOOKS ………………...………...… 34
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 4.2 PRESENTING VOCABULARY ……………………...…...… 36
4.2.1 SELF-EXPLANATORY APPROACH .………………..…. 36
4.2.2 PRESENTING VOCABULARY WITH A DICTIONARY .. 36
4.2.3 CONTEXTUAL APPROACH .………………………..…… 37
4.2.4 PRE-TEACHING UNKNOWN WORDS .…….……..……. 38
4.2.5 PRESENTING VOCABULARY THROUGH ACTIVITIES ……. 38
4.2.6 WORD-FOR-WORD TRANSLATION ………….……..…. 39

PRACTICAL PART ………………………………………….….. 40

1 TEACHING ENGLISH TO ADULTS ……………..………..… 40

2 A SHORT INTRODUCTION OF THE SAMPLE STUDENTS .. 41

2.1 STUDENT 1 – IVA ………………………………………....… 41
2.2 STUDENT 2 – LENKA ………..…………………………..… 41
2.3 BEEING A PRIVATE TEACHER …………………………... 42

3 IMPORTANT ASPECTS OF SUCCESSFUL TEACHING

ENGLISH ……………………………..…………………….… . 43
3.1 GETTING TO KNOW A NEW STUDENT ……………….… 43
3.2 FINDING OUT STUDENTS’ AIMS ……………………….… 43
3.2.1 IVA .………………………………………………………..…. 44
3.2.2 LENKA .……………………………………………….……... 44
3.3 STUDENTS’ ATTITUDE TOWARDS LEARNING …......... 46
3.3.1 MOTIVATION ……………………………………….………. 46
3.3.2 FEEDBACK .………………………………………..………. 48

4 VOCABULARY TEACHING / LEARNING ..……..……….… 49

4.1 LEARNING HABITS ……………………………………….… 49
4.1.1 IVA ………………………………………………..….………. 49
4.1.2 LENKA ……………………………………….…..….………. 50
4.2 WORD STOCK ………………………………….………….… 52
4.2.1 IVA ………….…………………………………………..……. 52
4.2.2 LENKA ……………………………………………..…..……. 52
4.3 PRONUNCIATION ……………………………..…………..… 54

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 4.3.1 IVA ………….……………………………………………..…. 54
4.3.2 LENKA ………….……………………………..……….……. 55
4.3.3 MNEMONIC STRATEGIES / MNEMOS ……..….………. 56
4.4 FUNCTIONAL VIEW OF LANGUAGE …………………..… 57
4.4.1 IVA ………….…………………………………..……………. 57
4.4.2 LENKA ………………………………………..……..………. 59
4.5 COLLOCATIONS …………………………………………..… 60
4.5.1 IVA ………….……………………………………………..…. 62
4.5.2 LENKA ………………………………………….….……..…. 63
4.5.3 TEACHING A WORD / WORDS A DAY ……….…..……. 63
4.5.4 BRITISH NATIONAL CORPUS ……………..….……..…. 64
4.6 USE OF A MONOLINGUAL DICTIONARY …………….… 64
4.7 NOTEBOOKS ……………………………………..………….. 66
4.7.1 IVA ………….……………………………………………..…. 66
4.7.2 LENKA ……………………………………………..…..……. 67
4.8 REPETITION ………………………………………………..… 68
4.9 CONVERSATION ……………………………………………. 69
4.10 MAKING MISTAKES ……………………………..….…....… 70

5 IDEAS HOW TO TEACH ENGLISH VOCABULARY

EFFECTIVELY …………………………………….…………… 72
5.1 FLASH CARDS ………………………………………….....… 72
5.2 WORD WALLS ……………………………………………..… 72
5.3 INSIGHT PICTURES ………..……………………………..… 73
5.4 MEMORY PICTURES AND WORD ASSOCIATIONS …... 74
5.5 CHARTS FOR WORD BUILDING ………….….…….......... 74
5.6 MNEMONIC STRATEGIES …………………….………..…. 74
5.7 TEACHING A WORD A DAY ……………………..…...…… 74
CONCLUSION …………………………………….…………..… 75

RESUMÉ ………………………………………………….…....… 77

BIBLIOGRAPHY ……………………………………………...… 78

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PREFACE_______________________________________

English plays a key role in human lives. It is nowadays considered to be an inevitable

part of general education for people practically all over the world. Having at least basic
knowledge of it is more or less necessary for everyone. People meet English everywhere
and every day. They need it for their job when they are dealing with their foreign
business partners; they need it for their study because many specific articles are written
in English for its wide international usage; they need it in their personal lives because
they want to meet other cultures, travel abroad and that requires the ability of speaking
another language, English preferably, because English has become an international
language - a language which is communicated and understood in nearly every part of
the world.

The thesis deals with teaching English and its difficulties in private ‘one-to-one’
lessons. It is focused on vocabulary because vocabulary is essential for building
knowledge of a new language. It provides basis for learning structures and grammar.
Without vocabulary it is not possible neither to communicate nor improve in language.
Well acquired vocabulary ensures a good start to a successful learning process
culminating in good knowledge of language and ability to use it well in real life.

The target group is adult students. The constant need to satisfy language (especially
English) demands stipulated by potential employers affect everyone. Nowadays
children usually start with English or some other languages in very young age.
Sometimes they acquire a relatively high level before the end of their compulsory
education. On the other hand older generations are in a huge language disadvantage.
Learning English is not easy at all for them unless they dispose of at least basic
knowledge of it (or some other Germanic language) or of general talent for languages. It
is not easy at all to learn in mature age. Certain psychic barriers might negatively
influence learning. To avoid that it is necessary to select the right and efficient learning
strategy for adult students taking into consideration various important aspects arising
out of their specific needs. The aim of this work is to discuss adult students’ vocabulary
teaching possibilities and outline suitable ways of effective and comfortable dealing
with them.

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THEORETICAL PART_____________________________

1 LEARNING A FOREIGN LANGUAGE

It is not easy at all to learn foreign languages. People have various reasons for learning
them. It can be a possibility of getting a better job, an interest in reading original books
or to understand song lyrics. People may learn languages for pleasure or they can have
many other different reasons for that. Jeremy Harmer specifies in his Practice of
English teaching the most usual reasons as the followings:

• Language is on the school curriculum – therefore the greatest number of

language students learns it compulsory.
• There occurs a chance of advancement in professional life with new language.
• People live for some reason in a target language community where the
knowledge of the language is necessary.
• Very often there is a specific reason for wanting to learn the language. Examples
of that could be e.g. the need to be able to communicate with foreign customers
or business partners (English for Occupational Purposes - EOP), the need to
write reports or essays and to function in seminars (English for Academic
Purposes - EAP) or the need to be able to read articles and textbooks about
special subjects in English (English for Science and Technology - EST).
• Students are attracted to the culture of one of the English speaking countries and
want to know more about its people, places or writings.
• There are many other possible reasons for learning a language like tourism, fun
from the learning activity itself, friends….
(Harmer, 1993:1-2)

But the basic reason for learning foreign languages that all people have in common is
communication – communication in any mode. It is a two-sided process, which requires
the ability to understand each other, to be able to code a message that someone wants to
convey to someone else in a way, which will be comprehensible to the receiver and also
appropriate to a concrete situation and status of all participants. Vice versa the person
should be able to interpret a message that someone else is conveying to them. To

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acquire a good skill of communication in foreign language it is necessary to be familiar
not only with vocabulary (single words and their meanings, collocations, phrases and
phrasal verbs etc.) but also with language structures and above all with strategies for
using them in right context according to concrete situations. The functional aspect of
language is the most important one and teachers should be well conscious of that to be
able to pass this sense of priority on their students.

Although some people have a gift of learning languages there are still many people who
quite struggle with it. When taking into consideration the second group, which has a
‘problem’ with learning languages, it should be stressed that there are again many
different reasons for that. These will be mentioned further in the thesis. But what is
essential without any question for all students learning a foreign language is acquiring
VOCABULARY. To build a good stock of vocabulary is the first and most important
step when starting to learn a new language. Well mastered ability of using the right
expressions, phrases, grammatical structures and functions ensure students to be
successful in their communication.

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2 VOCABULARY

What exactly is ‘Vocabulary’? Very simplified explanation could be that vocabulary is

knowledge of words and their meanings. Monolingual dictionary specifies it more
properly. It says that VOCABULARY means:

“1. all the words that a person knows or uses,

2. all the words in a particular language,
3. all the words that people use when they are talking about a particular
subject,
4. a list of words with their meanings, especially in a book for learning a
foreign language.”
(Hornby, 2000:1447)

Chambers Dictionary (1986:845) offers other explanations:

“1. words in general,

2. words known and used by one person, or within a particular trade or
profession,
3. a list of words in alphabetical order with meanings added as a supplement to
a book dealing with a particular subject.”

All the definitions are right with no doubts. But vocabulary is not as simple as that. It
does not only mean to understand the definition of single words or collocations but it
also requires the knowledge of how words fit into context. Therefore it is very difficult
to be fully mastered by students. Vocabulary learning does not officially count among
the language skills (which are listening, speaking, reading and writing) but it might be
included there as there is no way of making progress in language without building
vocabulary that can be then applied into grammar and create meaningful utterances
through which people communicate among themselves. It is difficult for students to
communicate without developing their own lexicon. This idea then leads to an
everlasting argument, which all language teachers are concerned with: What is more
important aspect to focus on to be successful and accurate in acquiring foreign
language? Is it vocabulary or grammar?

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2.1 VOCABULARY VERSUS GRAMMAR

Many people have spent much time thinking it over, discussing it and looking for the
truth answer. I have myself argued about it with my colleagues, schoolmates, friends
and even students many times. Drawing on my own experience there seems to be five
attitudes towards this issue.

• A strong group insists on their opinion that grammar is essential for acquiring
language, that it means basis of language.
• To a certain extent smaller group believes that vocabulary is more important and
should be given more attention to. Their point is that with no (or poor)
vocabulary there is no basis for building grammar knowledge.
• Other people think that grammar and vocabulary are of the same importance.
Not only vocabulary is important for building grammar structures but also
grammar knowledge is necessary for the ability to express oneself properly and
to be understood.
• The rest of the people are of various opinions. Some of them think that neither
vocabulary nor grammar is that important and highlight comprehension. In their
eyes the most important think is to be able to comprehend what has been
communicated from context (which can often cause serious misunderstandings).
Expressing oneself then depends on nonverbal skills as vocabulary and grammar
are somehow missing.
• Some people also believe in natural acquiring the language. They would teach
neither vocabulary nor grammar at all. They would rely on real life situations
when students are integrated into society using the target language and would
have to deal with the language their own way. Such a way of learning new
language can of course bring some success but this will certainly be very rare
and dear-bought.

I used to belong to the second group – the one persuaded that there is no more important
thing than a good range of vocabulary. I was convinced that all what is needed for
communication is solely vocabulary. As long as students have sufficient knowledge of it
there should be no serious problem to make them understood. As children we used to be

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able to communicate by using simple gesture simulating past, future, agreement,
disagreement, question, imperative etc. I was positive that it is more reasonable to build
grammar structures on basis of good vocabulary knowledge rather than the other way
round. Then I slowly started to realise that it might not be the right presupposition.
Single words or phrases taken out of context can be very misleading and
incomprehensible for an inexperienced student of English. It is always more effective to
teach specific expressions in the right context. Expressions should be incorporated into
complete pieces of utterance. Such utterances will of course be made of grammatical
items (general sentences put together according to certain grammatical rules). Teaching
vocabulary through complete grammatical structures can be then effective on both
sides: it will provide the right situational context for the learned expressions and phrases
and it will also introduce pieces of grammar in advance before its own explanation and
deliberate practice, which is very useful thanks to easy memorizing of short phrases or
sentences. These can be later pointed out as model examples for certain grammatical
structures and will simplify the process of learning new grammar patterns. In other
words it is certainly important to build both vocabulary and grammar because they
depend on each other and it is very hard und unwise to separate them.

The truth is that words put together without proper grammatical connection can still
carry some meaning: ‘he - go - cinema – yesterday’. Everyone would probably
understand the intended information that a male went to the cinema a day before. Using
gesture, fingers or simply pen and paper the meaning can change a little and the words
can mean that a certain number of people (two, five, ten…) went/will go to the cinema a
few (three, seven, fourteen…) days ago/later. But to be able to create a meaningful
sequence of words it is still necessary to have at least the most basic knowledge of
grammar - especially the knowledge of word order of an English sentence, which has in
comparison with other languages (e.g. Czech language) quite fixed rules. In Czech it is
possible to exchange the sentence elements’ order without complete change of the
sentence meaning. A good example of that is a simple sentence about people and dogs:

People walk dogs.

The only possible translation of it carries the meaning there are people (SUBJECT) who
do the action – walk (VERB) to dogs (OBJECT). It is clear and simple for

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understanding. There is no ambiguity in it. Whereas in Czech the same sentence can be
expressed in two ways using different word order and still not changing the meaning at
all:

Lidé venčí psy. / Psy venčí lidé.

The reason is that word order in Czech sentence is not fixed, which is enabled by a
complex system of nouns and verbs inflection. This is common subconscious
knowledge of every Czech native speaker. But imagine that this Czech person decides
to translate an English sentence. They will look up single words and compose a
sentence with them – according to a Czech pattern because they are not aware of any
English rule at all. What will happen?

They may be lucky to produce the right sentence: People walk dogs.
But they may be not and will follow the Czech word order: Dogs walk people.

In the second case the meaning would be changed and will actually become quite
strange for an English speaking person who is in return completely unaware of Czech
way of forming sentences. He would understand it the following way: dogs are the ones
(SUBJECT) who does something (VERB) to people (OBJECT) – walk them.
It would of course be possible to put ‘dogs’ into the first position in the sentence but
there would have to be used a different grammar to make the same sense – passive
voice:

Dogs are walked by people.

Without knowing the grammar it would be completely impossible to create such a

sentence. Therefore I have myself become convinced that vocabulary and grammar
belong to each other inseparably and should be taught as an integrated complex.

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2.2 TEACHING METHODS / APPROACHES

There exist various ways of teaching language that are used in various courses. The
reason for this variety is that English is learned for many various reasons requiring
various aids as has already been mentioned above. With respect to that variety there is a
wide choice of teaching methods (concrete techniques) that can be used for various
purposes. Some of them would work with beginners; some with advanced students;
other will be more suitable for EOP or EAP students and some for students with specific
needs. To get a general idea about the main differences between the individual methods
find below a short summary of their main features according to what has been taught at
the University. I myself experienced only a very few of them therefore my knowledge is
mostly theoretical. But despite the fact I believe it is not difficult to sense the main
principles of separate methods.

2.2.1 GRAMMAR-TRANSLATION METHOD (GTM)

Grammar-translation Method is very old. It was used in the past for teaching the
classical languages and was called Classical Method. It is based on translation from one
language into another. Students work individually, student-student interaction is
missing. Students are given grammatical rules and they memorize them. Later they
should apply the memorized rules into other examples in form of translation. Students
mostly work with literary texts focused on culture. Very little attention is paid to content
of texts, which are treated as exercises in grammatical analysis. Vocabulary and
grammar are emphasised but students only memorize native language equivalents for
foreign language vocabulary words. Reading and writing are the prioritized skills, there
is almost no attention paid to speaking, listening, pronunciation. Classes are taught in
mother tongue with little active use of the target language. Correcting errors is
considered to be highly important. The aim is to be able to read literature written in the
target language. Sub-aim is to develop students’ minds through good mental exercise.
Role of the teacher is very traditional – teacher is the authority.

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Vocabulary is taught in the form of isolated words, which completely inhibits
development of accuracy. Constant translation encourages students to believe that each
term and structure has an exact equivalent in the new language, which is rarely the case.
Some structures must be transformed into the native language by using totally different
expression to keep the original meaning. (Imagine a girl looking out of a window,
watching something interesting in front of the house. She says: “It is cool.” You can see
through the window that this is happening in the hottest summer. Obvious meaning of
the uttered sentence is “It is interesting/good/even exciting”. But the literal translation
would be “It is cold.” - meaning it is not warm/hot.) Students loose the ability of
‘reading between lines’. They get the feeling that what is said / written is actually meant
the literal way. Grammatical accuracy is then more important than developing the
ability to communicate. Actually speaking is not being developed at all. The only
emphasis is concentrated on memorizing rules in order to be able to understand written
(spoken) texts. This method can work quite well for EST students who only need to be
able to read scientific texts, articles or textbooks in foreign language with no intention
to be able to communicate or produce speeches and writings.

2.2.2 DIRECT / BERLITZ METHOD (DM)

Motto of Direct Method is that native language should not be used in the classroom.
Second language learning should be more like first language learning – through
conversation. Spoken word is emphasized from the beginning and is considered to be
the primary form of language. Grammar is studied through examples and associations of
ideas. Teacher neither explains nor translates. He presents the subject by acting or
(visual) demonstrations, by practical objects and entertaining illustrations and pictures
closely connected with the subject teaching to avoid dry instructions in theoretical
grammar, which is not presented in the form or rules. Vocabulary and grammar are
learned in a natural conversational context. Textbook explanations (the same as the
ability to read and write) come later. Vocabulary is preferred to grammar, only everyday
vocabulary is taught. Students should not memorize. They learn to speak by listening
and interacting with their partners. Speaking in class is natural, normal and students
should be made to speak much. Emphasis is put on speaking in sentences rather than on

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using single words. Correct pronunciation also receives considerable attention. Speech
and listening comprehension is taught. Grammar mistakes are corrected by asking the
students to make choice between offered possibilities. Students are encouraged to self-
correct themselves whenever it is possible. New items are introduced in appropriate
sequences leading from last to next. Knowledge is built on what has been learned
before. Students should master a particular language item before they continue to the
next one. It is like building constructed brick-by-brick. This strategy is commonly
referred to as a Building–block Approach. Teacher does not go through too fast but
always keeps the pace of the students. A tool for developing speech habits between
teacher and students is question-and-answers exchange. It requires an active student’s
participation, which is very good for repetition. Direct method uses a plan (developed
by Berlitz) divided into three main sections: Introduction, Practice, Student Initiative.
During Introduction a new concept is presented to students. Its meaning becomes clear
thanks to the context in which a word or a structure are used. Proper introduction
contains a good arrangement for the new item to occur in the proper context. Practice-
section works with a system of graded questions checking whether the students
understand the structure. Questions of “Is it…?”, “Is it ….. or …..?” and “Who is it?”
type are used in give-and-take conversation. Teacher is always careful to provide a
contextual framework for the questions. In the third and final phase control is turned
over to students. They may be asked to assume the role of the teacher and ask questions
of their own or they may be invited to make a summary of the context within which the
previous practice has just occurred. The summary consists of brief but complete
structures. Students can also role play simulated real-life situations and cope with them
by using their knowledge acquired so far. A native-fluent teacher ensures that students
learn not only correct pronunciation, sound and melody of the language but also both
the formal and the informal ways of target language use. Teacher directs the class
activities but his relation to students is more like partners. The aim of direct method is
to think in the target language to develop a good communication skill.

Direct method presents many useful features of learning language. Through its constant
and exclusive use of the target language a good chance of successful acquiring the
language is offered. Nevertheless I am convinced that strict rule against using mother
tongue in lessons is not sensible. There may occur (in my lessons do) moments when
the use of mother tongue is necessary and not using it is extremely unwise. E.g. when

15
students are tired, not feeling well or just unconcentrated a few Czech words can make
miracles. On the other hand I also prefer description and demonstration to a simple
translation for its better learning effect. Constant communication also influences good
speaking and listening comprehension. Using complete sentences is another valuable
feature of this method. Students learn and practice more words and structures through
that. The given choice is also useful when identifying a mistake and correcting it. What
I practice on my students is encouraging them to self-correction. We have developed a
range of special ‘looks’ and when they make a mistake I use some of them and they
know they should correct themselves. It works well. What I cannot agree with is the
lack of linguistic theory and purposeful grammar building. I do not think language can
be properly mastered without that. And besides, most of my students insist on proper
grammar building. Generally DM seem to be sensible and with a few adjustments
useful. Unfortunately there can be trouble with finding appropriate native-speaker or
fluent-like teachers who are required to adhere to the principles of the method. It is not
always easy to find one disposing of the skills essential for success in Direct Method
teaching.

2.2.3 AUDIO-LINGUAL METHOD (ALM)

This method was developed during the World War II for military purposes. There was a
need for people to learn language at a satisfactory level of ability to communicate in as
short time as possible. It was a reason for an extreme solution. The overall goal was to
create communicative competence in learners in short time. The way became an
extensive repetition and a variety of elaboration. The idea was to project linguistic
patterns of the target language in a way to make responses automatic and habitual. The
only language used is the target language. Teacher has a central and leading role. They
modify drills of the exercises practised. All work is based on listening and responding
over and over to teacher’s stimuli. Students’ responses should become automatic, fixed.
The reaction time gets accelerated by reducing the need of thinking about the problem
as students respond partly unconsciously. However their answers are expected to be
correct. Language is presented through conversations divided into lines that are drilled
and then turned into questions or negatives and drilled again. Mostly teacher-student

16
interaction is used for it is the teacher who is supplying sentences or their parts to be
‘learned’ by drill. Learning (in ALM) means forming habits. It is dependent on
mimicry, memorization of phrases and over learning. Vocabulary is strictly limited and
learned in context. Importance is given to pronunciation. There is a great effort to
produce error-free utterances as they make bad habits. Typical techniques closely
associated with ALM are above all dialogue memorization and drill in many variations.
Teacher’s work is very demanding in accuracy, activity and control.

ALM could have been effective when it was formed and it most probably had its results.
That time students were not trained for everyday conversation but for specific
situations. I am quite surprised that it is still used in some courses nowadays and it also
confuses me because ALM methods are in complete contrasts with mostly every
principle that is nowadays considered to be prior. In the first place the lesson
organization must make the students feel quite humiliated (at least I felt that way). In
the second place students do not learn to communicate in the meaning of exchanging
information. And finally in the third place students do not think about what they are
drilled. I once experienced an ALM lesson and I actually felt physically tired after that.
The tremendous effort to concentrate on what has been repeated or answered was
frustrating. In my eyes this method might work for total beginners, who need to
properly fix the basis of the target language, but not for more. Even thought the patterns
are (over)memorised they are not fixed through properly built system of knowledge and
if a student forgets particular pattern then it must be difficult to find it without any
connection in their mind.

2.2.4 TASK BASED LEARNING (TBL)

Tasks are central to the learning activity. They are meant to be the practical part of
language use compared to exercises that focus on linguistic features. The idea is that
students learn more effectively when their mind is occupied with a concrete task
offering besides concentration on language, its structures, functions or vocabulary also
other practical experience - e.g. sharing personal experience and exchanging them,
fulfilling tasks which contain problem-solving elements (like analysing real or

17
hypothetical situation) or making decisions… For solving the problem students need to
communicate in the target language and therefore use wide range of language items, not
only particular structure, function or vocabulary group. Framework for TBL suggests
three main stages: Pre-task, Task cycle and Language Focus. In the Pre-task stage
teacher introduces the topic and task. Useful words and phrases may be highlighted.
During the task cycle students plan solving the task and work on it. When it is
completed student prepare a report about their work to be presented to the whole class.
In language focus stage students analyse and discuss specific features of used or
produced texts or utterances, which are then practised. Students fulfil the tasks, produce
reports and discuss them with others. What is specific for TBL is the unusual order of
learning process, which is reversed: students start with a task and as lately as it is
completed their attention is drawn to the language used. Tasks include projects for
producing posters, brochures, presentations, dramatic performances, videos etc. Teacher
selects tasks, encourages, facilitates, regulates and monitors.

This method is very useful and works very well thanks to the above-mentioned reasons.
Communicative activities improving students’ ability to communicate and solving real
problems are highly motivating and offer students real reasons for learning the
language: to be able to communicate - receive or produce needed information. A good
balance between using receptive and productive activities is applied, which is very
useful. Sometimes managing to keep the whole class using only the target language
might be difficult, especially with low level students. It is much easier when students
are actually incorporated into target language community. If they need to solve a
problem there is no other option than to communicate with the local people. Results are
great. Students can acquire many structures and phrases in relatively short time and
such knowledge is well remembered.

2.2.5 SUGGESTOPEDIA

Suggestopedia is based on the power of suggestion in learning. It is connected with

systematic study of non-rational and non-consciousness influences. It is supported by
the use of music and comfortable and relaxed environment (decorations, furniture,

18
classroom arrangement…) that evoke relaxed (but focused) state. Various tones and
rhymes of presented materials should help to avoid boredom and monotony and should
dramatize and emotionalize meaning of linguistic materials and evoke positive
atmosphere. Relaxed students should acquire new language naturally and easily. There
is no obvious order in which items of language are presented and no apparent theory of
language. Students can learn from what is present in the environment. Emphasis is put
on memorization of vocabulary pair – a target language item and its translation into a
native language. Lexical translation is stressed over contextualization. Suggestopedia
course directs students to acts of communication rather than to acquiring habits of
speech and vocabulary memorization. The principle of this method is to work with a
unit text. The text is listened to and discussed. Then it is read from distributed texts
containing printed dialogue with a native language translation in the parallel column.
Text is read and discussed over. Students are then encouraged to produce similar
dialogues themselves. The mentioned process covers about 3 lessons. Teacher behaves
authoritatively. Relationship between a teacher and a student is more or less of a parent
– child nature with respect to the hypothesis that students remember best and are more
influenced by information coming form an authoritative source. In the child’s role
students take parts in role playing, games, songs etc. in order to regain self-confidence
and spontaneity of children. The aim of Suggestopedia is to break psychological barriers
and to increase confidence.

The idea of relaxed environment is very tempting indeed. Also for students with law
self-confidence in speaking it is undoubtedly very beneficial. I quite like the idea of
students choosing new identity for a lesson to become more relaxed through speaking
for someone else than themselves. Unfortunately I am afraid that not every student is
actually able to concentrate with even silent music played from background and not to
fall asleep with their eyes shut while listening to a conversation over a relaxing tones
flowing out of a CD player. Regarding the teaching method memorizing of specific
dialogues can certainly be good for acquiring language but mainly for building
vocabulary in respect of showing the right context for usage of particular words. I
would never think of this method as of basis for teaching grammar. Experiencing such a
teaching method once personally it would probably make me feel very nervous. I need
an order in building my knowledge to be able to connect new knowledge into a system
of previously acquired ones (Building-block Approach) and I also need quiet for

19
concentration. Even the over-friendly and relaxed environment would make me feel
uncomfortable not speaking about behaving childish in order to satisfy the idea of
regaining my childhood spontaneity (which I dare to say I have never lost). In my eyes
this method is extremely specific and suitable for a limited group of students.

2.2.6 TOTAL PHYSICAL RESPONSE METHOD (TPR)

TPR Method is based on children acquisition concept, on a principle that a foreign

language should be studied in a similar way as children learn their mother tongue: they
only listen to it first and do what they are asked for. Students’ understanding to the
target language should be developed before speaking. They are not forced to speak until
they are ready to do so. Therefore the main skill to begin with in TPR is listening with
focus on listening comprehension. Mother tongue is not used in lessons or very rarely.
Students are allowed to use it when necessary. All explanation is done through voice,
body movement, gestures and actions. Students learn from observing actions as well as
from performing the actions themselves. Teacher is a director, students are imitators.
The following process is used in lessons: teacher issues an order to direct behaviour to a
few students and then performs the action with them. After that students demonstrate
their understanding of the commands by performing them alone. Teacher evaluates
students immediately after their reaction to a command. At last phase the issued
commands are slightly changed and recombined in order to develop students’ flexibility
in understanding new combinations of familiar connections. At this stage students
respond nonverbally. After learning to response to some oral commands students start to
learn to read and write them. The final step is to start speaking. Students are given as
much time as needed before they start to talk. Errors are expected to be made at the
beginning and teacher should be tolerant of them (only the major ones should be
corrected). Detailed correction is postponed till students become more proficient. Most
important is to use right grammatical structures and vocabulary. They become fixed by
imperatives. When students start talking it is useful to use classroom objects (books,
pens, furniture…) and for advanced students supporting materials (pictures, tapes,
videos, games, charts…) focused on specific topics – home, shopping, restaurant etc.
Students can e.g. listen to a tape while looking at accompanying materials that help to

20
understand the meaning from context. The aim is to reduce stress in speaking, make
lessons enjoyable and fun and encourage students to feel confident and successful.

This method is certainly great for beginners of all ages with no use of native language
when getting instructions they do not understand. I can also easily imagine this method
being used in particular moments when students forget, mishear or do not know a
particular instruction or word and teacher does not want to disturb either the others or
the activity by description. In such cases it is a good idea to show or signal what the
word, phrase or sentence means as it is simple, fast and effective. I use it quite often in
these situations and it works very well. But generally this method is in its substance
rather supportive and requires association with other methods.

2.2.7 TEACHING APPROACHES

Teaching methods are closely connected with teaching approaches. What is the actual
difference between a method and an approach? Methods are collections of individual
technique, systematic sets of teaching practices that are based on particular theory of
language learning. They are used in lessons with the aim of a good language
acquisition. Approaches are then the ways through which the methods are achieved.
Similarly to methods approaches vary in their ideas and contents but there can also be
included a few of them into one method.

We have already introduced the Building-block Approach and as examples of some

other approaches there should be mentioned Communicative Approach, Lexical
Approach, Eclectic Approach, Contextual Approach and Self-explanatory
approach (for the two latter see section 4.2).

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2.2.7.1 Communicative Approach

New teaching methods (TBL, TPR, Suggestopedia,) have brought new ideas that
originated in today most widely used Communicative Approach. It is a way of teaching
that puts the impact on usage of the target language. Jeremy Harmer offers the
following characteristics:

“Because of the focus of communicative activities and the concentration on language as

a means of communication such an approach has been called the communicative
approach.”
(Harmer, 1993:41)

Not only structures and vocabulary are stressed but also the ability to be
communicatively competent. Generally speaking this approach uses graded series of
communicative tasks and activities working with various situations (greetings, advising,
dis/agreeing...) communicative activities have three main features: information gap (a
person knows something that other person does not), choice (students have a choice of
what they will say and how – open-ended activities) and feedback (as true
communication is purposeful, students should have the chance to evaluate whether or
not the purpose has been achieved or not). Through these activities students are taught
when and how to use the language. A wide range of authentic language in real context is
introduced to students, who should be able to work with it and use it. Grammar and
structures are acquired naturally, fluency is stressed.

2.2.7.2 Lexical Approach

Using words of the ‘Father’ of Lexical Approach, Michael Lewis:

“The Lexical Approach can be summarized in a few words: language consists not of
traditional grammar and vocabulary but often of multi-word prefabricated chunks.”
(Lewis, 1998:3)

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His idea is that an important part of language acquisition is the ability to comprehend
and produce lexical phrases in such unanalysed ‘wholes’ – chunks (any pairs or groups
of words which are commonly found together or in close proximity). Language consists
of chunks and they, when combined, produce continuous coherent text. Language is
viewed as lexis rather than a combination of grammar and vocabulary. On the other
hand value of grammar is not denied but communication of meaning is central.
Emphasis is put on the main carrier of meaning, vocabulary, but its concept is extended
from words to lexis. The aim is to achieve fluency through acquisition of a large store of
fixed and semi-fixed prefabricated items. Grammatical knowledge should be applied
later into a sufficiently large mental lexicon. Lexical approach gives great emphasis to
spoken language than to writing, which is also connected with grammar, as written
grammar is different to that of spoken language. Task and its process is emphasized
over exercise and its product. Therefore the usual PPP (Present – Practice – Produce)
cycle is rejected in favour of another cycle: Observe – Hypothesis – Experiment.
Activities used are based on target language / native language comparison and
translation (chunk-for-chunk rather the word-for-word) with looking for equivalent
expressions from native language. Meaning of vocabulary is often guessed from
context. Language patterns and collocations are noticed and well noted into carefully
organized notebooks. Key is the accurate recording, which supports self-repetition.
Students are encouraged to work with monolingual dictionaries, which provide good
resource for active learning. Listening is emphasised at lower levels while at higher
levels it is reading (intensive reading – short texts read in class and extensive reading –
texts chosen on the basis of personal interest, read outside of the class and for pleasure).
Texts of different types are used for different purposes. Teaching procedure involves
four main sections:

1. teaching collocations
2. making students aware of them
3. extending present students’ knowledge by adding new collocations into already
known vocabulary
4. storing collocations in lexical notebooks

The motto is: Without grammar little can be conveyed, without vocabulary nothing can
be conveyed.

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2.2.7.3 Eclectic Approach

‘Eclectic: not following one style or set of ideas by choosing from or using a wide
variety.’

This is a definition found in Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary (2000:399). In

other words Eclectic approach incorporates valuable techniques and elements of other
different approaches and systems and benefit from them. This combination should be
made to succeed best with students, to suit their specific teaching situations. It is
extremely flexible. It opens boarder for teachers to experiment with techniques and
activities of various approaches and methods to find out for them the one that might
work well with their students at a given time. Consequently teachers should be aware of
the responsibility given into their hands while creating new learning concepts. The idea
of choosing from different methods to suit specific teaching purposes and circumstances
should not be misused or underestimated. It should allow teachers to choose the most
appropriate well-known and tested teaching methods and imply them into their
classroom procedure. It should not become an alibi for teachers not using any particular
approach at all saying they are ‘eclectic’. It offers great possibilities to concentrate on
individuals’ needs.

There are of course other approaches used in language learning (Natural A., Functional
A., Structural-situational A., Global A. etc.) but the above presented are probably the
ones most commonly used nowadays. To me the Communicative Approach seems to be
very useful and appropriate as I put strong emphasis on the ability of communication. I
personally use many of its features in my lessons. However, Lexical Approach is also
very close to my idea of teaching / learning English. I go all the way with its idea of
teaching lexical chunks and practice it in my lessons. It is the same with the Building-
block Approach and actually with the Contextual Approach too. Sometimes I prefer one
kind of activities to others but generally it depends on concrete circumstances.
Therefore I allow myself to state that in a way I am using an Eclectic Approach. To me
it is most important to use the right activity at the right time. I do not actually think
about approaches but I adhere with principles that are useful and suitable from my pint
of view.

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2.2.8 CONCLUSION

It is obvious from the above-mentioned characteristics that compromises in using

teaching methods and approaches are needed to be done because there exists none
hundred per cent effective teaching method or approach. There are of course methods
and approaches that are more effective, more suitable for specific usage, unusual ones
etc. Each of them has got its pros and cons. But generally it is possible to say that every
method contains at least some feature, technique, principal or activity that is worth to be
applied into particular lessons. If the above-mentioned methods get modified they will
for sure meet actual requirements of particular students. The same is true for
approaches. It is always necessary to consider what is suitable for students according to
their needs and their already acquired abilities. A good combination of items used from
various methods and prepared directly for a concrete course can create an excellent tool
providing endless scope of possibilities. Such a composition can be further adjusted in
connection with development of the class. Even original methods alter – e.g. Direct
Method. Mr Maximilian Delphinius Berlitz, a founder of this method, made spoken
language the most essential. He believed that reading and writing should be excluded
from the classroom completely and students should first master the material orally.
However nowadays ‘Berlitz’ students practice reading from the very first lesson.

The goal of a chosen/adapted method should be to teach students how to use the target
language and how to communicate it. It usually is very convenient not to use students’
native language in lessons to explain meaning of words and structures assuming that a
proper description, demonstration or other non-translating explanation is provided. It is
possible to say that in general it is good to teach structures commonly used in daily-life
but the choice of method and language items used in certain courses depends on the
purpose of learning the target language. Students and their needs should be put to the
first place and considered the main priorities. Teaching methods should be adjusted to
them. On the other hand students should understand that responsibility for learning the
language is their duty and that teacher is ‘only’ an ‘assistant’ helping them to master the
required knowledge and skill. As soon as they realize that their attitude towards learning
will get the right direction.

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3 ADULT STUDENTS

3.1 CHARACTERISTICS

Adult students are completely different form children or adolescent students. Compared
to younger group of students, adults do not need that much demonstration but ask for
more explanation and formulation of principles. They are matured, their intelligence has
already developed. They went through a whole educational system and they dispose of
rich personal experience. They have also developed specific habits and have specific
expectations. Adults are in many cases not really interested in language, but in what
they do through it. That is to say, adult students view language as an instrument for
doing other things. It is not always easy for them to make a decision of enrolling to a
language course. They know they need to learn English for some reason - they dispose
of a high degree of extrinsic motivation. But they also know that they will be in the
same class with other students. This fact can be quite stressful for some of them. They
are sure that “others’” level of English will be different from theirs, that they might not
be good enough and the “others” might see it. It is not a pleasant idea and can play a key
role in their final decision to “go for it” or not.

The basic solution to avoid creating mixed ability groups is to start with an entrance
exam that covers all areas of English; listening, speaking, writing and reading. After
checking the results students should be grouped accordingly to their knowledge. The
trouble is that people are not necessarily on the same level in all four areas. Sometimes
they are fluent in speaking, because they have spent some time in an English speaking
country but are very week in expressing themselves in writing. Or they are capable in
comprehension to reading texts because they do a lot of reading in English but cannot
understand to spoken English at all as they are missing practice. It is then very difficult
for the teacher to decide which group/course will be the most suitable for them and it
can easily happen that a wrong decision is made. It can lead to the above-mentioned
situations then. If the group of students is of very mixed abilities then problems arise
quite soon after the beginning of the course. The trouble is that adult students when
feeling insecure in their lessons mostly start to reconsider their further attendance.

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3.2 WAYS OF TEACHING ADULTS

3.2.1 PRIVATE TEACHING SECTOR

Thanks to the above-mentioned aspects it has become very popular lately to attend
private lessons of English. The style of private lessons is much more suitable for
students who have specific demands, expectations, learning difficulties or problems of
any kind (time organization, health problems, anxiety…) or who simply prefer to have a
teacher all for themselves. Usually the lessons are prepared for one student only but
upon an agreement or demand more students can attended a lesson. Usually it is up to
three students in private sphere and up to seven to ten students in lessons organized by a
company for their employees, managers or other specific groups of people. The
‘company sector of private teaching’ (bigger groups) can sometimes be similar to the
classical compulsory education because it is not always the students’ self-determined
decision to attend the lessons but an order from the headquarters. Not all students are
interested in taking lessons and stagnate. A risk of creating a mixed ability group is too
high and usually comes to reality. Therefore it will not be dealt with in this work as with
a main part of a private teaching sector.

3.2.2 ONE-TO-ONE LESSONS

The biggest advantage of one-to-one lesson is the fact the lessons can be adjusted to
specific needs of a student and as much time as needed can be spent on every single
item. If a student has trouble with understanding some grammar structure, it is possible
to spend more time on its practise than in usual classes where the needs of a single
student cannot be prioritised to other students’ needs. All students must be taken into
consideration and a single student cannot restrain the others. In one-to-one lessons a
student also has their long-term goal (to be able to understand non-subtitled English
speaking films) divided into many short-term goals (acquiring a certain piece of
grammar, finishing a unit) that should be fulfilled in an appropriate period of time. The
goals are usually suggested by a student and modified by a teacher’s judgement of their
attainability. It is necessary to determine priorities in the aims of what should be learned
(fulfilled) at what stage. But what is great is the possibility to adjust these single aims to
27
the actual student’s situation and needs. If the student asks for practice of an ‘Airport
conversation’ because he is going to fly abroad for a business trip then it is no problem
to stop practicing e.g. countable/uncountable nouns, move to a completely different
topic and prepare the student for the wiles of an airport. But it is not only that. Teacher
is in such an arrangement of lessons responsible only for one student (or a few more
ones) and gets to know them much better than it would be possible in usual lessons with
many more students attending. They can easily recognize where their student needs a
proper explanation of grammar or structures and when only a lack of practice or
opportunities causes making mistakes. Students can provide with learning experience
that is just of the right level then. There is no need to be in a hurry to make a student
familiar with particular pieces of grammar to catch up with other students, which
provides a very good chance for the student to improve the skills and knowledge, which
really need to be improved, and concentrate on them as much as necessary. All language
skills should be acquired to master a language well. But no students have the
opportunity to practice exactly what they need. In private lessons this is of course
possible.

Thanks to a close contact between a teacher and a student a very good relationship can
develop and it has a beneficial effect on the learning process. It must be taken into
account that adult students are fully engaged and have duties in their private lives to be
done. They have their job, family, and other business to manage. Every now and then
they may feel that all of that is too much for them. A hesitation whether to continue in
learning a language is one of the first to be reconsidered. The decision will then depend
on the student’s relationship with their teacher. If the teacher does not show their
interest in a student, lack of supporting them or behave demurely then a student has no
motivation for continuing. But once a student feels comfortable and supported by a
friendly teacher they will be inclined to clear all the difficulties and persist in learning.

“A teacher’s good humour and sympathetic understanding of his problems have

stopped many a student from withdrawing from a course when faced, as many are, with
a pressure of a full-time job and English classes several nights a week.”
(Broughton, 1988:193)

28
A good relationship between teacher and student it is one of the first break points on a
very long way in acquiring a language and is highly motivating.

3.3 MOTIVATION

One of the factors that have a very strong effect on success or failure in learning is
motivation. It is not easy at all to find the right and most apposite characteristic for
motivation. This is a general characteristic of motivation provided by e-encyclopaedia
Britannica:

“Motivation forces acting either on or within a person to initiate behaviour. The word
is derived from Latin term “motivus” – a moving cause, which suggest the motivating
properties of the process involved in psychological motivation. Psychologists study
motivational forces to help explain observed changes in behaviour that occur in an
individual.”
(http://www.britannica.com)

Zoltan Dörnyei offers another explanation, this time in terms of learning:

“Motivation is related to one of the most basic aspects of the human mind that are
related to what one wants or desires. It has a very important role in determining
success or failure in any learning situation.”
(Dörnyei, 2001:2)

Rod Ellis simplifies motivation to: “Motivation in language learning can be defined in
terms of the learner’s overall goal or orientation.”
(Ellis, 1986:300)

In other words it could simply be said that without motivation there would students
produce no action, activity or doing and consequently there would be no effort
developed to acquire any knowledge. To change such a non-friendly learning situation
students must be motivated by some kind of motivation. The basic kinds are intrinsic
and extrinsic motivation. They are closely connected with short/long-term goals.
29
3.3.1 INTRINSIC / EXTRINSIC MOTIVATION

Intrinsic motivation is usually presented as an internal drive. Something that students

want to do themselves because they are personally interested in acquiring the
knowledge (e.g. they like the language, want to travel and use it…). A typical example
of intrinsic motivation is a hobby – an activity done for its own sake.

On the other hand extrinsic motivation is affected from outside. Students do things
because they are somehow expected or for some reason forced to do them. It may be the
compulsory school curriculum, a need of satisfying parents’/teachers’ expectations,
desire to be praised or a vision of a better position at work. The usual motives are
tangible rewards.

Jeremy Harmer (1993) presents in some respect different characteristic of above-

mentioned motivations. According to him intrinsic motivation is concerned with the
factors taking place inside the classroom while extrinsic motivation is concerned with
factors outside the classroom. Therefore he thinks of them from a different point of
view. Compared to the above-mentioned characteristic taken from the students’ point of
view – learning, he concentrates on the opposite side of the process – on teaching.

In his opinion extrinsic motivation includes situations in which students believe that
mastery of the target language will become an instrument for getting a better job,
position or status (instrumental motivation) or it will help them to integrate into a
particular culture (integrative motivation). This emphasises the fact that students’
attitude to learning can be affected by members of community but not only by them.
Other aspects and factors participating in the learning process – intrinsic motivation, can
also crucially affect it. They are physical conditions, methods, success and especially a
teacher. All of them have an important effect on learning. There might also be added
one more very important and not yet mentioned aspect, which can also dramatically
impact the learning process. It is a family influence. In case family members (parents,
siblings, children…) do not for any reason accept the importance of learning language
and emphasize it by unwise comments, constant disturbing or not paying attention, then
such atmosphere can become very unpleasant and de-motivating. The worst situation
can arise if someone is actually disparaging the language and reasons way it is learned

30
for. The usual end in such cases is complete taking an intense dislike to the subject and
can be very hard if even possible to change the acquired attitude to a better one.

3.3.2 SHORT / LONG-TERM GOALS

Motivation means that a person wants to do something for some reason. This reason is a
goal. If the goal is achievable in short or foreseeable term it is called a short term goal.
In general they are defined as those that may be achieved in one year or less. The
trouble is that they are usually too many. In terms of language learning it might be a
determination to finish a new unfamiliar activity, to learn a piece of new grammar or to
finish a unit in a book or to pass an end-of-term test. It is necessary to make sure that
the most important ones are met at first. For that is it essential to make priorities.

If the achievement of a goal requires acquiring special abilities or experience or if it

simply is not possible to fulfil the requirements for achieving the goal in a short time the
goal becomes a long-term goal. Generally they are described as goals that can be
achieved over a lifetime. These goals are mostly quite demanding therefore people
usually have fewer of them. An example of that could be speaking fluent English,
getting a better job, writing/publishing in English or being able to travel, live and
communicate in English speaking countries. Fulfilling long-term goals requires a good
investment of time and personal dedication.

There exists a very apposite recommendation for setting goals; so called ‘ABCD’ of
goals, which specifies the essential goal features:

Achievable (reasonable for age and level)

Believable (students need to believe they can accomplish them)
Conceivable (clearly stated, measurable)
Desirable (students really want it and others want it for them)
(McCombs and Pope, 1994:69)

The ‘ABCD’ seems to be perfectly expressive and true. I usually check these simple
rules when I feel there is no or very little progress in somebody’s learning and try to

31
find the point that should be changed or somehow stimulated for better result.
Sometimes it is good to change teaching method and activities to reinforce the fading
effort.

3.3.3 ATTITUDE TOWARDS GOALS

Quite interesting is the transformation of an attitude towards goals and their fulfilling in
connection with the age of students and their mental development. Young learners can
learn English with remarkable ease, enthusiasm and naturalness. They do not
understand short/long-term goals as such. What they understand is the final
classification and that it is important. More important are for them everyday activities
presented in a form of games. They understand that there are task to be done, they do
them and learn through them. These tasks represent short-term goals and attract
children’s concentration and attention through providing direct motivation (boring
activity can attract children’s attention only up to 40 minutes). Constant change of
activities is beneficial and ensures fulfilling of the defined goals.

Adolescents are in a very difficult condition as they often mean something completely
different from what they actually feel and do. This ‘disharmony’ is caused by
proceeding physiological change in an individual. They are competitive, they need to be
seen in a good light by their peers and are very sensitive to criticism. They are
extremely impatient and expect the success to come soon after setting the task. The
more fast the cycle ‘Task – Success – Appreciation – New task’ is the more motivating
it is for them. They are not aware of long-term goals. Their inspiration is mere curiosity.
It is necessary to explain why they should learn concrete language items or do concrete
activities so that they are aware of their short-term goals the same as of their long-term
goals. Moreover the goals should be reminded to them regularly during the learning
process as their interest in them can waver.

Completely different situation occurs with adults. Since they usually choose themselves
to be present in English lessons they are also usually highly motivated intrinsically.
Their values have already been determined, they are well aware of their aims and they
want to fulfil them. They are matured and responsible enough to realize that if they want

32
to reach their aim(s) they must sacrifice something to that. They of course need to be
encouraged from time to time to increase their motivation but generally they are easier
to deal with than adolescents. None the less experience of success and praising are very
important for them as well as they are for everyone else, including children and
adolescents. Praising is a proof of success and success is always highly motivating.
Therefore it is wise to increase students’ interest and motivation by sensible use of
praise.

3.4 FEEDBACK

Besides motivation, learning and acquiring vocabulary and grammar there is another
crucial aspect of language teaching/learning. It is a necessity of regular feedback on
development and success in students’ performance of the language.

“Feedback is the response to efforts by the learner to communicate. Feedback can

involve such functions as correction, acknowledgement, request for clarification and
backchannel cues such as ‘Mmm.’”
(Ellis, 1986:296)

Feedback from a teacher acknowledges that student’s response was or was not correct
and to what extent it was a success or a failure. It is important for the student to be quite
clear about correctness of their response as it gives them opportunities for self-
correction. Feedback should also offer some ideas about how their language problems
might be solved. On the contrary a student’s response to an assessed task provides
useful feedback on a level of acquired knowledge for a teacher. It is a necessary
supporting instrument for both sides – students and a teacher.

33
4 GENERAL WAYS OF TEACHING VOCABULARY

4.1 VOCABULARY NOTEBOOKS

First of all, the most essential for teaching vocabulary is the presence of a vocabulary
notebook. I strictly disagree with the opinion that there is no need for students to keep
vocabulary notebooks. Such a notebook is a valuable reference tool for listing words,
phrases, meanings etc. Although I assume this fact as a generally known and widely
used I mention it because I have lately met a few students who asked me for help with
preparing them for exams either for their school or an evening course. They were not
able to present their vocabulary notebooks and even worse they supplied an explanation
that according to their original teachers there is no need for keeping their vocabulary
notebooks as all they need is to be found in their textbooks. As I was not their teacher
and knew nothing about their previous studies it was quite difficult for me to choose the
right expressions and to select or create adequate sentences and examples for practising
and testing these students. If they had had their notes it would have been much easier
for all of us. I would know what expressions to use and which areas / topics to focus on.
They would be able to practice expressions they had studied and possible stress could
have been avoided from an early beginning.

There are many reasons for keeping a private vocabulary notebook. At this point we are
not talking only about a neat list of words that is used by teacher for examining
students’ knowledge. Notebooks should be tools for students in the first place. It is
simple. If the teacher leaves it to students themselves to decide which expressions they
will note into their notebooks (except the given ones) students feel responsibility for
choosing the right expressions and pay more attention to what they actually decide to
write down into their notebooks. This is a very important point. Thanks to this they
even feel responsible for learning the chosen expressions as they noted them on
purpose, of their own will. If a word seems to be important to them and they think it
would be good to know it, they note it. From my own experience it is possible to say
that this strategy usually works well with most of the students.

34
If the responsibility for choosing vocabulary should be shifted to students then they
must be familiar with basic rules. Here are some of them:

• note a word that you do not know

• note a word that you have already met and noted before but you are not sure
about it yet
• note a word that is of a different word category than a word that you have noted
or met before (possibly note its variations next to each other)
• note an expression or collocation which seems to be unusual and can cause
potential troubles
• note phrasal verb and its variations
• note prepositional phrase
• note different meanings of the same word (possibly add a model sentence to
make sure the right meaning is clear)

Michael Lewis has expressed his suggestion about how to record new language into two
points:

• try to learn whole expressions containing useful words, rather than just the
words, even though that seems much more difficult
• when you record a new lexical pattern in your notebook, consciously try to think
of other similar examples to those of the pattern
(Lewis, 1998:78)

All mentioned above is of course just an example of some rules. They can and they
should vary according to many different aspects and definitely according to individual
students and purposes. It should be always teacher’s responsibility to set adequate and
the most useful rules for their students because without a systematically kept vocabulary
notebook it is quite difficult for students to learn up and therefore build their vocabulary
properly.

There is just one more thing students should be explained. It is very useful to arrange
the selected expressions into blocks according to certain principles (units, topics, word

35
categories…). Such an ordering can help them with learning adequate groups of words
somehow connected together and possibly strengthen the inside connection between
them. Individual grouping of words should make sense and encourage the need of
students to learn each of the noted words.

4.2 PRESENTING VOCABULARY

There are various aspects to think about when presenting new vocabulary. Considering
a lesson and its parts vocabulary may be introduced at the beginning or at the end of the
lesson or it can be presented at any point of the lesson. It depends on a method,
approach, circumstances or simply an activity for choosing the appropriate moment.
The most usual situation is that students ask for a meaning of a word just when they
need to know it. Beside that, there is a number of ways how to present vocabulary to the
class. Some of them are shortly introduced below.

4.2.1 SELF-EXPLANATORY APPROACH

There are practically two ways of presenting new vocabulary. In the first one a student
receives a list of English words with their meanings explained in their native language
to learn. The list may or may not be related to the current topic. This way of presenting
new vocabulary is self-explanatory. It does not need much explanation. It is an easy way
for both students and a teacher.

4.2.2 PRESENTING VOCABULARY WITH A DICTIONARY

In a variation of the above-mentioned approach students receive a list of English words

without their explanation. They are supposed to translate the particular words
themselves - in most cases with the use of dictionaries. Using dictionaries is
undoubtedly very contributory for students but unfortunately quite unpopular as it can
be a time consuming procedure taking into account the fact that every unit requires to
learn and therefore look up quite a number of new words. Some help to that could be a
36
use of PC Translator tool which works fast and offers various possible translations /
meanings of a word. This can also later lead to further short but very useful discussions
about the accuracy of choosing the right expression for the concrete situation.

4.2.3 CONTEXTUAL APPROACH

On the other hand there has emerged a new teaching approach lately – so called
contextual approach, which has become very poplar nowadays. It requires an active
cooperation from students, which is very positive for their learning. Students do not
work with any list of words. They are encouraged to use vocabulary they are familiar
with and in case they need to use an expression they do not know or when they come
across a word they do not understand then they should add it into their vocabulary. They
are supposed to find out the meaning of such words themselves or with assistance of
their teacher. This seems to be and probably is a very useful tool for teachers and their
students but unfortunately not for everyone. Students are different and have different
needs and learning habits. It is very important to take into consideration individual
students and their personalities. Generally speaking young students are open to new
teaching strategies, new approaches. But there are older students, adults, who are in
most cases used to certain ways of teaching and more or less strictly insist on keeping
on them. It usually is possible to make them realise that it is more interesting and
effective to do things new ways but this “effort” can sometimes make them feel uneasy,
nervous and uncomfortable. These feelings then affect their attitude to learning and can
be very disruptive as students may build sort of mental blocks that can lead to
frustration and restriction to use the target language. Some of them are even willing to
leave the course and most probably loose their faith in any other courses. This model
can seem to be too catastrophic but it unfortunately happens. Teachers’ responsibility is
to avoid such a situation and on the contrary create students’ friendly environment,
which would inspire them rather than suppress. Teachers should carefully choose right
and suitable activities for such students.

37
4.2.4 PRE-TEACHING UNKNOWN WORDS

There is another possible way of presenting new vocabulary, which seems to be very
reasonable and appropriate. Students are pre-taught unknown words before each
activity. It requires a short preparation from a teacher so that they are aware of the text
and vocabulary used there and can decide which words are new, difficult or key words
and present them before the activity. It is also very positive that through this technique
students are able to manage to go through various levels of texts, which can be very
motivating for them. Every step raising students’ self-confidence is important in
learning language and has positive effect on the whole learning process. It is good to
create situations where students see their success and this is a very useful option for
that.

4.2.5 PRESENTING VOCABULARY THROUGH ACTIVITIES

The previous way is closely connected with presenting new vocabulary through
activities. It practically does not matter if it is reading, speaking, listening or writing.
Students work with single expressions, phrases or model sentences. They are supposed
to get familiar with them, to find out the right context for their usage and use them
finally in a variety of new sentences. It prevents possible future occurrence of
difficulties with using the newly learned words in the right context. It is in a way
inventory learning and is very effective. Whatever students discover themselves it
engraves on their minds and remains there better than things learned mindlessly and
with no connections by heart.

It eventually does not matter which of the ways of presenting new vocabulary is used as
long as it is not still the same one and as it meets the needs of particular students.
Teachers should always keep in mind that they must respond to their class, concrete
situation and atmosphere. They should be able to react flexibly and change their
approach if necessary or appropriate.

38
4.2.6 WORD-FOR-WORD TRANSLATION

The literal word-for-word translation is an unfortunate way of presenting vocabulary

because a structure of an expression from one language may be very different from a
structure of an equivalent expression from the other language. The following examples
well represent the inconvenience of literal translation: receiving utterly different
meanings and usage from the originally intended ones. Students usually do not
understand or admit the important fact that it is not possible to translate English word-
for-word. They cannot imagine that things have different meanings in different contexts.
It is necessary to explain it well or they will not comprehend the importance of using
accurate expressions.

The examples may seem to be too exaggerated but they were chosen on purpose.
Students always better remember things that are somehow interesting for them, that are
funny or “real” (things that can easily happen to be said by themselves). They are
usually open to such information. It easily attracts student’s attention and they
remember it well.

Examples of literal translation:

Phrases:
She is lubricated like a fox. Je mazaná jako liška.
He vomited a long postcard on her. Vrhl na ni dlouhý pohled.
Your eyes September. Tvé oči září.
She was sitting on between. Seděla na mezi.
I am not smelling myself in my leather today. Necítím se dnes ve své kůži.
World champion in tanks on ice. Mistr světa v tancích na ledě.

Sayings:
Damage to speak. Škoda mluvit.
Don’t wake up a swan. Nebuď labuť.
Relax in the living room. Odpočívej v pokoji.
Where she married herself, here she married herself. Kde se vzala, tu se vzala.
Sausage of lovers. Párek milenců.

39
PRACTICAL PART________________________________

1 TEACHING ENGLISH TO ADULTS

It has always been satisfactory for me to teach adult students. When they decide to learn
English they are highly enthusiastic to do so. They spend a lot of time and energy on
learning and practising and students of any level often succeed in a relatively short time.
Later the progress might become less obvious and students might start loosing their
optimism and relent. The trick is to keep their enthusiasm at the constant level.

The trouble is that adult students (considering the age over 30) do not always have
much experience with languages of Germanic origin (like English) and its general
principles. They used to be made to learn Russian language, which is of a Slavonic
origin and thus is very similar to Czech language. In other case they might have been
learning German language at higher grades of their studies. If they were lucky they
might have been studying English but that would have usually happened under quite
unprofessional guidance of Russian teachers who were transformed into English
teachers after revolution. With my students I always take this fact into account. In a
usual course there is not much space to consider that and deal with such students in a
more perceptive way. On the other hand dealing with individual personalities and their
needs, fears and abilities is a main feature of private teaching. It is the reason for which
adult students often prefer private lessons.

I have chosen two of my private students who I have observed for some time and who
performed noticeably good progress. Lenka has been my student for about 20 months
and Iva has been my student for about 10 months. They are completely different
personalities and their attitude toward learning English is also quite different. To a
certain extent it is given by their reasons for learning English and it is also connected
with the ways of learning they have been trained for and which they have accustomed.
Teaching them I have gathered some experience, useful ideas and possible ways of
improving vocabulary teaching and learning. On their examples I would like to present
some of my ideas, techniques and activities connected with it and with a general
development of learning habits.

40
2 A SHORT INTRODUCTION OF THE SAMPLE STUDENTS

2.1 STUDENT 1 – IVA

Iva is a self-employee. She is extremely busy running her business but she still saves
some time for English lessons and sport. She is in her early forties and owes a fashion
boutique with casual wear. She is also designing her models, finding and providing
fabrics for her garments and actually manages the whole company herself. The only
employees are her sale assistant and dressmakers. She is perfectly capable of everything
that needs to be done for smooth functioning of her business. She is purposeful,
systematic, determined and extremely diligent and reasonable. When she defines an aim
she is ready to fulfil it. She is taking English lessons once a week for 90 minutes.
Level: pre-intermediate, textbook: Angličtina pro samouky in combination with New
Headway Elementary.

2.2 STUDENT 2 – LENKA

Lenka is in her late thirties. She is a teacher of first grade pupils at a small basic school
in a little village. Her job is not easy at all as her class contains pupils of a different age.
But she loves her job and her pupils love her. She spends enormous part of her time
inventing and preparing wonderful activities for them. Her ‘No 1’ subject is English.
She is very ambitious and would do anything to make it interesting for her children. But
primarily she wants to be good in English to make a teacher providing an appropriate
level of it. Being involved in nearly every activity concerning their school, logopaedia
courses, village library and of course her family there is only little time left for herself
and her study. Despite that she is taking an English lesson once a week for 90 minutes
and spends fairly every evening studying it. She is very enthusiastic and optimistic, yet
responsible, precise and punctual about her study.
Level: intermediate, textbook: Angličtina pro samouky in combination with New
Headway Pre-Intermediate.

For the purpose of the thesis both students will be further referred to as Iva and Lenka
only.

41
2.3 BEEING A PRIVATE TEACHER

Over some time I have developed a sort of schema how to diagnose my students and
how to decide what would be the best way of teaching them, which methods and
textbooks or handouts will be most suitable for them and how to set the main target and
/ or more little targets to be both challenging and achievable. All of that is closely
connected with getting to know a new student and at the same time with letting the
student make a general picture about my intentions, opinions, ideas and me and
primarily about my attitude towards teaching and towards him. Making things clear
from the very beginning prevents possible future misunderstandings and gives students
a feeling they are a part of the process and that their opinion ‘counts’. They become
more comfortable before we actually start with teaching.

The first lesson is always dedicated to familiarizing the chosen textbook. It is absolutely
necessary for students to know their textbooks well and also all their supplements -
Students’ book, Workbook, vocabulary sections. They need to know its system and the
structure of the whole book and single units. When they know what to expect and
understand the reasons why specific exercises are used there, what is their point and
aim, then they feel more confident and capable of working with it. I also explain that
notebook will be an important tool in our lessons. The usual comment is that it is too
demanding to trans-write all the words presented in vocabulary sections into their
notebooks. My explanation to that is simple: whatever you see and write comes
unconsciously to your mind. It is then much easier to visualize and memorize it later
when you need it. Besides I do not make anyone to sit and copy all vocabulary from a
new unit. We use a bit different system of noting. Finally they are assured there is no
need to worry about it as they will be explained everything when the time comes.

The last thing I always make sure to be clearly enlightened is the point that a student
and a teacher make team and they need to communicate with each other. It is absolutely
necessary to be honest and say if there is any problem with understanding, any
hesitation about a method or a way of teaching or generally anything that could in any
way make a student feel uncomfortable and negatively influence the learning process.
They must know that they should ask for explanation whenever it is necessary. Only
then the teaching process can work.
42
3 IMPORTANT ASPECTS OF SUCCESSFUL TEACHING
ENGLISH

3.1 GETTING TO KNOW A NEW STUDENT

The first step towards good diagnosis of students, their abilities, knowledge, needs and
circumstances is talking to them with the view of answering all the necessary questions
about their opinions on existing language education and their attitude towards English.
It should finally lead to as precise overall evaluation as possible. It is not enough to ask
a student about the course/s they have already went through and then ask them a
question or two in English to find out the actual level of their knowledge. It is necessary
to know all their learning history and details connected with it. When it is clear concrete
decisions can be made.

Looking for the right teaching methods and techniques follows and also looking for the
most suitable materials – whether it is going to be a textbook with its supporting
materials or separate handouts together with authentic materials or combination of both.
This is closely connected with the level of a student, with their previously gained
experience, with their preference of a teaching method and of course with their needs
and reasons for learning English. Other factors are also the age of a student, their
background, number of lessons per week and number of participants in these lessons.
When all of that is thought over and a general strategy is agreed a testing lesson(s) can
begin to find out if the choice was good and if it meets students’ expectations.

3.2 FINDING OUT STUDENTS’ AIMS

Knowing the reasons for learning English is not enough. Another crucial point is to
know the students’ aims. Not until having the complete picture of their motivation to
learn can they be step by step brought to the assigned point.

43
3.2.1 IVA

She has found out recently that it would be highly beneficial to master English
language. She can speak German very well but it seems not to be enough any more. She
started cooperation with other countries and needs to be able to communicate with her
new foreign business partners. She needs to know how to arrange meetings, exchange e-
mails, order materials or negotiate business conditions. She also needs to be able to
make casual conversation about various topics with her business partners and to express
her spontaneous reactions. What is probably the most challenging goal at the moment is
to improve her English to the level of being able to talk on the telephone.

Her reasons for deciding to learn English are perfectly clear. She needs it for her job
which is a strong argument. She is aware of its necessity. She has already pronounced
her long-term goal: to be able to communicate and understand when talking on a
telephone. To achieve it will require a great effort and a lot of practice. Luckily she
understands it and is ready to do so. This is a big advantage of adult students. She has
her reasons for doing things and does them from her own will whilst children or
adolescents usually have to be forced to doing things. Moreover, she seems to be very
enthusiastic about her learning from the first moment but I should be careful and make
sure she will retain her enthusiasm. For that it will be very useful to set more short-
terms goals which will keep her occupied and provide regular experience of success
when fulfilled on her long way to her final goal.

3.2.2 LENKA

Being an English teacher of young children is a very important task. The basics of the
language should be passed on them in a sophisticated and as professional as possible
way. Lenka realizes that and also the fact that there is a lot to be improved on her
English. Therefore she has decided to do something about it. She enrolled into a course
specially designed for English teachers who wish to improve their communicative
abilities and develop their knowledge of the language. She feels it her duty to work on a
subject she likes and performs and which offers other chances to her and consequently
to her pupils.

44
To finish the course successfully she needs to concentrate on speaking and writing as
most of the course is presented in English and a number of written assignments should
be handed over. She is very lucky because although she lacks practice in an active
contact with the language she can make sense from what has been said or written. On
the other hand she insists on learning every English word she comes across and does not
know. It would be good to discuss how to choose the right words for noting and practice
the ability to understand their meanings in particular context. Through this Lenka can
develop a very useful ability. Also practicing the skill to express herself through
available vocabulary by short description of missing words or by expressing herself in
another way could be extremely useful for her. It would actually work well for Iva too.

From my – teachers’ – point of view the goal of learning English for both of them is to
improve their communicative ability. We shall of course be engaged with grammatical
system of the language but we shall be more focused on its functional view which is
variable and depending on specific circumstances whereas the sentence structure and
grammar is stable. Students should be aware of the fact that one linguistic form can
express a number of functions. They should also be able to ‘read between the lines’ and
understand the intended meaning of a particular linguistic form used in different
situations, contexts. From a simple sentence ‘I am hot.’ students should be able to
understand and decode the possible meanings:

a) I am simply expressing my state.

b) I am asking you to do something about it – e.g. bring me a cold drink, open a
window.
c) I want to go to the swimming pool. Etc.

They should be able to respond in the right way to the given references. Through
misunderstanding of the right meaning of what a business partner has told to Iva there
could later occur problems in their communication, which might affect their further
business. The same can happen to Lenka if she does not properly understand to what
has been communicated by certain lines in her study text and gets a wrong idea about
them, which can influence her further progress in the studied subject matter. They
should master this ability as well as possible.

45
3.3 STUDENTS’ ATTITUDE TOWARDS LEARNING

However good and suitable the way of teaching and the aim can seem to be it can be
ruined by a negative attitude of students. The way they look at their issues influences
the whole effect of their learning and success. Saying to my own self that English
spelling is awful and I do not understand why I should learn it is not exactly the right
strategy. With this view there is only a little chance I will acquire it because deep inside
I am not actually willing to do so. It is better to change such a view completely: from ‘I
have to’ to something more tempting. It is important to influence the way of
development to positive motivation among all students, young, adolescent and adult:

I have to do it – I want to do it – I can do it.

(Extrinsic motivation - intrinsic motivation - goal)
(De Carli, 1995)

3.3.1 MOTIVATION

When students ‘have to do things’ it means that these things stand outside themselves.
They are not of their internal decision therefore students do not accept them personally
and usually build up subconsciously a defensive instinct that is in most cases later
transformed into a strong longing to do things the opposite way. On the other hand
when they say ‘I want to’ their attitude is different. They really mean what they say as it
is their own free decision, which they are ready to be responsible for. Such attitude is
very good and positive for learning. But this idea can go even further. There is just one
more little step that can make a crucial change in the whole learning process. The idea is
simple: ‘I can do it.’ Once a person is convinced that they can do something they will
do everything for managing it – for achieving their goal. Under such circumstances it is
a pleasure to teach and a joy to learn. Students want to learn and that naturally create a
learning-friendly atmosphere. In this stage it is more important than ever to determine
the right goals and the appropriate challenge.

46
Once I had a student - a typical businessman running his own prosperous business. He
decided he wants to know English. The trouble was that he expected I would not only
teach him but that I will also learn it for him. In his opinion English was stupid,
complicated and making no sense. He was not doing anything – not even learning
vocabulary although I tried hard. I explained that I could only be of help with theory
explanation, correcting, practising, feedback and opinions on possible ways of learning
and self practising. I stress that it is him who is totally responsible for his learning and
making progress. He did not accept it. After about a year we finished (in Lesson 5). I
did not manage to make him realize the simple true principle of the whole idea.

That is why I lay stress on the attitude to learning from a very first lesson now and
inconspicuously I work on my students’ attitude mostly without their noticing. Luckily
Lenka and Iva are very good. A few motivating or explanatory words make great
changes and even if they loose a bit of their faith they always recover it. Moreover I put
emphasis on using positive rather than negative instruction during the lesson. Simple
‘Be ready for next Monday revision.’ sounds better than ‘Don’t forget the next Monday
revision.’ and ‘Speak in English, please.’ rather than ‘Don’t speak in Czech.’ creates
more relaxed atmosphere.

3.3.2 FEEDBACK

“Feedback is informative response to what learners say or do, e.g. a nod, smile, puzzled
frown, or clarifying question is all useful feedback to learners.”
(Davies & Pearse, 2000:206)

To me feedback represents a source of constructive ‘critics’ focused on two aspects of

learning: correctness in grammar and correctness related to a communicative means.
Students are not sure about their performance in English. Not feeling confident and not
knowing that whatever they have produced is correct and understandable (or incorrect
and unintelligible) or needs to be corrected in a certain way does not benefit them. They
should receive at least some response to what they produce to know how to continue in
their performance.

47
My students understand that there are activities focused on grammar and therefore on
accuracy. But there are also activities focused on communicative means and these
require fluency. I basically correct all mistakes they make but it is done in different
ways according to the situations. When we talk and concentrate on fluency I only make
notes which should be discussed later not to interrupt the speaker. Obviously when we
practice grammar items my response to mistakes or to inappropriate usage of some
items is immediate.

What should be stressed it the fact that feedback is not related only to correcting
mistakes. Feedback should follow any success or failure in student’s development. It
should response to the actual student’s state and inspires them for further learning and
achieving their goals. It should inform them about their weak points and provide
appropriate advices how to improve them. It should primarily help students to be aware
of their progress.

48
4 VOCABULARY TEACHING / LEARNING

To know a vocabulary item means to understand its meaning, to know its pronunciation,
its use in context, if it is of formal or informal register, its spelling, collocations (the
tendency of words to occur with other word/s). But it also means to understand the word
grammar: if the word is regular/irregular, countable/uncountable, what part of speech it
makes and possibly other forms of the word (agree – disagree, agreement). There are
many aspects connected with vocabulary teaching and learning. The ones I found
essential for my teaching will be mentioned in the following sections.

4.1 LEARNING HABITS

Although adults have been trained in learning for many years it is always very good to
spend some time on discussing how to organize their learning habits - materials,
schedules and also possible ways of learning including strategies which could be helpful
and supportive.

4.1.1 IVA

She has already been learning English for some time but it was a kind of “super fast
educating lessons” taken with an idea of absorbing masses of concentrated grammar in a
very short time period. The strategy was successful in a way. Iva has memorized quite
wide range of English grammar - but only theoretically. It was easy for her to learn what
she needed to know about the language (words, rules, principles) but it was (and partly
still is) very difficult for her to actually use the particular knowledge in practice. She
was able to provide great theoretical rules and explanations but she could not apply
them into the language itself. She used to be very surprised when I asked her after a
very impressive explanation of a particular piece of English grammar to provide
examples - either the ones from her textbook or her own ones. She could not understand
why she should do it. I asked her questions and she did not know how to answer and she
did not understand what I have said. She simply was not used to work with the language

49
at all. And yet she insisted on the fact that she knows the principles therefore she knows
this part of language.

Her attitude perfectly acknowledged William Littlewood’s opinion that compared to

children who thanks to their growing mental capacity and communicative means are
content to let ‘acquisition’ help them learning language adults rely too much on
‘learning’. It is due to the fact that

“The adults’ tendency to analyse and apply conscious thought to the learning
experience may obstruct some of the natural processing mechanism through which the
new language is internalized.”
(Littlewood, 1992:66)

I took it as one of my preferential aims to make Iva realize that not only increasing her
knowledge capacity is important but also developing the ability to integrate it into
relations and use it right are essential aspects of learning English.

4.1.2 LENKA

Lenka is a teacher and is very good at Czech language. It is a great advantage because
she can deduce many principles and rules herself. She understands of how the Czech
language works, she knows the terminology of its grammar (often using Latin
expressions) and she is aware of reasons why is certain grammar applied in certain
situations and what exact effect it has. Therefore it is much easier for her to understand
English grammar. There is no need to explain and formulate the basic things e.g.:

Second conditional

The second conditional is used to express an unreal or improbable condition and its
probable result in present or future. The conditional is unreal because it is different
from the facts that we know. We can always say ‘But…’.

If I lived in a big house, I would have a party. /But I live in a small house./

(Soars, 2000:141)

50
Usually it is completely necessary to explain students the above-mentioned
characteristic of this language item and supply a number of examples. When they
realize what the idea of this grammar is and what exactly is expressed by it in what
situation then we can move to its structure. The trouble is not that student do not
understand the reasons of such a language item usage and what communicational effect
is going to be achieved by it. They know the structure and use it in their mother tongue.
But they do it subconsciously, they do not think of it at all. It is then too complicated to
understand its characteristic and imagine its usage.

With Lenka it is different. As she works with language every day and is trained in
thinking about it from a language point of view she orients herself in it. In her case we
use one or two examples and she insists on trying to provide the next ones herself. The
important thing is that we do not practice on single sentences. We always practice in
context. I cannot agree with traditional textbook exercises where students are supposed
to translate single sentences without knowing the context. The instruction usually says
something like ‘use present simple/present perfect tense or active/passive voice’ etc. But
it does not make students think about the structures on the whole. The grammar is
mindlessly applied to sentences and the meaning disappears. But it is very difficult to
use the structures in real conversations without earlier realizing them. That is why we
practice with couple of sentences that do not have to be necessarily translated all into
English in case the translation would draw the attention away. Lenka can ‘set the scene’
in Czech and then provide the requested structure in English. We both find this
technique very useful.

The thing we should concentrate on with Lenka is to understand properly what is being
explained and taught. When she concentrates completely on one item each time and
moves to another one only when she is sure she knows the first one well would have
much better effects on her than trying to manage as many items as possible at the same
time. She wants to be good and precise in English but she is also impatient. Slower pace
could make a difference not only in her perceiving but also in her mind.

51
4.2 WORD STOCK

4.2.1 IVA

A situation very similar to the one of learning grammar afflicted her vocabulary. She
knew loads of words but she did not know how to pronounce them right or how to put
them together to produce a meaningful utterance. I was curious about her way of
learning vocabulary and she shocked me with her explanation. Iva’s way of learning
vocabulary was very simple. She has bought a small bilingual pocket dictionary and she
has started to learn the words one by one trans-writing them into an exercise book in an
alphabetical order. She systematically went from ‘section A’ further. That was a reason
for me to reconsider my strong belief in a simple fact that a disposing of a wide range of
vocabulary is a guarantee of successful (though most probably not grammatically
precise) communication. I do realise now that this might be true but only under
condition that a person uses right words with right pronunciation and is aware of the
importance of providing context for the deficient information.

It took me some time to convince her that there are two totally different aspects: a
theoretical knowledge and an ability to use it in real situations. Finally she realized what
was meant by that and opened herself to a different way of looking at her learning. Now
she is aware of necessity to learn the language actively and when learning anything she
always looks or asks for examples demonstrating any theoretical knowledge. On the
other hand it sometimes gives me a hard time to compose simple yet clear example
sentences at the time being.

4.2.2 LENKA

The situation is completely different with Lenka. She disposes of good vocabulary and
whenever she is learning a new item she wants to understand it well. In case she is not
sure about the meaning or usage of a word she asks, which I appreciate a lot. Lenka
likes working with a monolingual Students’ dictionary, which provides definitions
introducing the meaning of English words by means of other (simple) English words
(more in section 4.6). She is fond of its charts offering explanatory comparisons of
52
words that are of a very similar nature but mean different things (see Appendix 1). We
are also concentrating on word formation and word grammar. It is extremely useful to
be aware of English affixes (specifically prefixes and suffixes1) and to know how they
work and how they can change the meaning of a word turning it into an opposite
meaning (able: dis-able-d, ability: disability) or into a different word class (late: lately).
Such knowledge is easily applicable to other words e.g. it is possible to guess the right
form (in most cases) of an unfamiliar adverb knowing the form of an adjective. We go
through a list of affixes, add them to certain words and use the new forms of words in
sentences. It is very interesting and Lenka likes the activity of producing new sentences
containing particular words. We also make charts of different word forms (skill –
skilled – skilfully) to make it nice and transparent and work with them in a very similar
way.

A CHART FOR WORDBUILDING

BASE NOUN ADJECTIVE VERB ADVERB

Danger Danger Dangerous To endanger Dangerously

Safe Safety Safe To save Safely

Consider Consideration Considerate To consider Considerately

Value Value Valuable / valued To value Valuably

Skill Skill Skilled/ skilful x Skilfully

Achieve Achievement Achievable To achieve x

1
Affix is a morpheme that is attached to a base morpheme such as root to form a word. Affixes
are derivational (like -ness and pre-) or inflectional (plural -s and past tense –ed). We
distinguish prefixes (attached before another morpheme: bilingual) and suffixes (attached after
another morpheme: happiness).
Morpheme is the smallest linguistic unit that has semantic meaning.
Root is the primary lexical unit of a word, which carries the most significant aspects of
semantic content and cannot be reduced into smaller constituents.
http://en.wikipedia.org

53
Considering the word class of individual word forms they represent we focus on their
different positions in a sentence:

A skill is the ability or talent to perform a task. / Reading is a skill. Noun

He is skilled in reading.
Adjective
The text was read skilfully.
Adverb

4.3 PRONUNCIATION

I always prefer spontaneous response of my student which is totally contrasting to drill

replies – intensive mechanical repetition of a particular item – a word, a phrase, a piece
of a sentence. But drill can sometimes make a very useful method for learning the right
pronunciation. There are many words or sounds that students have problem with and
they are necessary to be trained for proper fixing. At the beginning I usually start with
pronunciation of separate sounds and familiarization of their graphemes (symbols for
sounds of alphabetical letters in writing) : , , , , , , , … For that we use a
table of phonetic symbols’ explanation which introduces graphemes on basic ‘sample’
words (see Appendix 2). Such a table can be commonly found in any English textbook
and also in most of good dictionaries. They are using the International Phonetic
Alphabet (IPA) to indicate pronunciation. But basically we focus on words that are
pronounced a wrong way whenever they come across in our lessons.

4.3.1 IVA

Unfortunately Iva has learned some words with wrong pronunciation and it is now very
hard to relearn them right. ‘Bottle’ and ‘battle’ is one example of many. She knows both
the words and their meanings but every time she uses the wrong one. After a few
unsuccessful tries and a lot of practice I offered her simple help to distinguish the words
and it proved useful:

54
 BOTTLE – O – for: Oh, yummy! – Good wine.
BATTLE – A – for: Ah, yippee! – It hurts; injured solders.

Before using the words she shortly thinks the help over in her mind and then she
produces the right word. Iva likes this technique and often asks for new mnemos. We
are inventing them in English, which provides a good chance for practicing natural
communication without any barriers and thoughts over the language and expressions
used. It is also quite fun, which is a great bonus. Iva has started using ‘mnemos’ (more
in section 4.3.3) and what is positive she has also started to invent her own ones.

4.3.2 LENKA

Lenka is precise and that also includes learning pronunciation of every single word.
Any word she is learning is being carefully learned also with the stated pronunciation.
The trouble is that not every transcription of pronunciation is written the right and clear
way. Sometimes she acquires wrong pronunciation due to its form badly presented in a
dictionary. It is quite difficult to relearn the words again and as I did not find any trick
how to do it we simply go through words she is not using right. We have a special list of
such words and I try to use them in our lessons as often as possible for a good fixation
of their pronunciation. We use mnemos the same way as with Iva, of course. But
surprisingly Lenka is keener on explanations of any kind. E.g. for correcting her
pronunciation of the word “horrible” being pronounced as / / she was simply told
the following:

Horrible does not come from the word “Haribo” – do not pronounce it that
way…

This explanation seemed to be good enough for her as its pronunciation has got much
better and so have other words. Then we use mnemos for better remembering things.
The process of acquiring right pronunciation is slow but it has its results. It is worth to
remind once again that pronunciation of a word is better remembered when we do
something with the actual word, when we use it in a certain sentence. I have found out

55
very useful ‘sample’ sentences used in one of my first courses when I was a student.
They were of a type:

‘I think this is Mr Smith. Say thank you to Mr Smith.’

The sentences are not interesting at all but they are easy to be kept in mind and to be
recollected anytime needed. When Lenka or Iva mispronounces a word, which we have
already been working on, I signal that. They are encouraged to slow down and tell the
learned sentences over quietly. The improvement is immediate as they realize the right
pronunciation at the same moment they say the word.

4.3.3 MNEMONIC STRATEGIES / MNEMOS

Mnemonic strategies are systematic procedures that help to increase memory. They are
very useful when students are faced with a lot of difficult instructional materials. E.g. it
is a convenient method for remembering the meanings of vocabulary words. It is very
effective with learning difficult words and it also has a great effect on students with
learning difficulties. The name comes from Greek mythology where Mnemosyne was a
goddess of memory. Mnemonics use the principle of an association between a cue and
the memory, which was made during the original experience. When the cue appears
again the memory returns. Mnemonic can be a word, rhyme, sentence, poem, acronym
etc.

Although there exists many interesting web pages on the Internet offering ideas and
examples of mnemonic help (http://www.fun-with-words.com/mnem_example.html) I
do not use it often because it usually works better if a specific ‘mnemo’ is discovered
for a concrete situation and even better if students are the ones who actually work on
discovering the mnemo themselves.

Here are a few examples of mnemos I use with my students for commonly occurred
problematic words.

56
 • ‘Cross-rule’ How to remember which letter (A / E) belongs to which word?
It is simple, the letters get exchanged: A should go with E and the
other way round.
A => E thAn => nEž
E => A thEn => pAk
• ‘VIEW’ As the view gets wider looking to distance as the ‘V’ becomes
wider and turns into ‘W’.
• ‘WAVE’ With a wave it is different. It is strong in the beginning (W) and
gets weaker when it meets the shore (V).
• You ‘LOOK AT’ static things but you ‘WATCH’ things that move.
• If you ‘BORROW’ you have more, if you ‘LEND’ you have less.
• ‘Never Eat Shredded Wheat’ the initial letter of each word represents a point of
a compass: north, east, south and west.
• The word ‘BELIEVE’ has a ‘LIE’ in it.
• When you eat ‘DESSERT’ you always want to comeback for the second ‘S’.
• Fro word like ‘OAT’ and ‘EAT’:
When two vowels go walking the first does the talking.
Oat - /O/ Eat - /E/

(The latter three are taken from

http://www.betterendings.org/Homeschool/Fun/mnemonic.htm)

4.4 FUNCTIONAL VIEW OF LANGUAGE

4.4.1 IVA

For Iva it is also necessary to learn to distinguish if a word is of formal, informal or

neutral style. Once we came across a simple problem how to express that Iva needs to
order new goods from her supplier. Her request was simple – to provide her with the
simplest way of asking for a new shipment. From our already mentioned ‘example
strategy’ she gained a wrong feeling that there exists a sort of a ‘sample sentence’ for

57
any language function. At this point I tried to explain to her that there are different
styles of English the same as in Czech and that it is sensible to use appropriate styles in
different social situations. I have explained it on an example I found in William
Littlewoods’ book Communicative Language Teaching and I have noticed it down for
its simple explanation. It says that a single communicative function can by expressed by
a number of linguistic forms. An example of a speaker who wants somebody to close
the door demonstrates is clear:

Close the door, please. informal

Could you close the door?
Would you mind closing the door?
Excuse me, could I trouble you to close the door? formal

(Littlewood, 1981:2)

Different ways of how to express this simple request differ according to our intended
meaning and also according to situations in which they are used. Formal structures are
used in socially careful, distant and polite situations, which consider different status of
participants (teacher – student, employer – employee, old man – child). A student would
talk differently to his peer or to his teacher. On the other hand informal language is used
in intimate and casual situations and contains more personal and emotive expressions
(schoolmates taking to each other). We have started to compare different ways of
expressing the newly learned forms in various situations like a request, apology or an
offer made among family, at the theatre, at the airport, at a business meeting… This
kind of practice is very useful. Iva is associating the phrases trained in these sentences
and starts using them in the right context. I have actually applied this technique into
Lenka’s lessons too and it proved even more useful. At the beginning it seemed to be
very difficult for both of them but after some practice both students started to respond
well. They are now more interested in knowing the right situations for using certain
words and ask me to provide context examples to their questions and particular words /
phrases. Their interest increased markedly and their knowledge improves with every
given example.

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4.4.2 LENKA

We even extended the above-mentioned technique with Lenka by rewriting a discussed

or read text in her own words. When reading an article we always put emphasis on the
expressions the author has used and why they have been used. Then we think of other
expressions that could be used in contrasting situations (in an office, in a shop, in a
class, at a formal reception…). Sometimes we write short dialogues for each situation.
This usually leads to an interesting discussion about certain expressions, their semantic
difference and what meanings they convey in different contexts. Such discussions do
not do without a frequent question “Why do you say this?” or “Why cannot you say
that?” It is always very hard to explain. We use model situations for certain expressions
and explain the meaning on them. Then we try to put the same expression into another
context, another situation. This way of explaining mostly works. If it does not then I, as
a teacher, decide that Lenka will have to learn the way of using the particular word by
heart. She usually does not oppose against it.

When we started with it Lenka did not feel confident at all. She could not find the right
words to express herself and panicked a little. But later she became more familiar with
the simple yet so useful technique of paraphrasing words she does not know (instead of
using the word ‘alarm-clock’ she uses explanation ‘the thing that wakes you up in the
morning’) or using different way of expressing herself (‘I prefer…’ instead of ‘It would
be better if…’). All of that is well trained by retelling or rewriting dialogues and stories
using own words (more in section 4.9). Especially rewriting a read text in other words
was one of the activities we have concentrated on with Lenka as she needed it for her
school course. There is a very useful tactic concerning usage of ‘offered’ expressions
when answering questions, which I have found to be known neither to Iva nor to Lenka.
The technique is simple: When somebody asks you a question listen for its formulation
and expressions used. Change them into the right form of
positive/negative/question/statement… and only add the piece of information you were
asked for (Where would you like to go tonight? – I would like to go to the cinema.). It
is simple and it saves many problems with looking for the right expressions yourself.
Even difficult phrasal verbs or collocations are ‘offered’ in their right form and not
knowing their meaning it can be guessed from the context (You look unconcentrated.
Are you with me? – Yes, I am.). In case of e.g. writing letters the technique works too.

59
The phrases are also given and so are the structures. It is only necessary to add different
ideas into the given ‘skeleton’ and adjust accompanying questions to it. It is really
simple but students must be explained the way of using it first. It is much easier to start
practising this strategy with written texts and leave practice in speaking for later.

For practicing we use ‘information gap’ activities. Such activities demonstrate

situations in which certain parts of information are missing and are know to different
people. The principle is to gain the complete information by communication with
others. In our case it means asking and answering questions between Lenka and me or
Iva and me. It is usually fun and they like it because I add comments to some sentences
to make them more interesting.

4.5 COLLOCATIONS

“We use words to give people information. We use words to express our feelings. We
use words to arouse the feelings of other people. We use words to get other people to do
something or to believe something. When we use words in these ways we do not want to
be exact. We want our words to attract attention. We want them to have an effect. We
want them to explode or to be so colourful that no one will ignore them. We speak of:
the biting cold, the pouring rain, the cutting wind to make our speech dramatic.”
(Deighton, 1973:9)

The biting cold, the pouring rain and the cutting wind are collocations. Collocation is a
“Set of items which express often complex ideas very simply and yet precisely.”
(Lewis, 2000:16)

Simply they are words, which often co-occur to carry a particular meaning but non-
native speaker would not expect to find them together. According to Wikipedia e-
encyclopaedia:

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“Collocation refers to the restrictions on how words can be used together, for example
which prepositions are used with particular verbs, or which verbs, nouns and adjectives
are used together.” E.g.:

High collocates with probability, but not with chance:

a high probability but a good chance
(http://en.wikipedia.org)

Learners’ mother tongue knowledge influences the choice of word combinations that a
student would expect to come along (take a cup of coffee instead of have a cup of
coffee). For this reason it is very difficult if not impossible for them to produce
collocations in the right form unless it has been previously introduced or learned.
Examples vary from two word combinations such as heavy smoker to extended
combinations such as I wish I could give up smoking. There are many more collocations
than words since many words occur in several different collocations. Although most of
collocations are combinations of familiar words is it not easy at all to find the right
word that collocates with another one in a particular situation. The most common
mistake in collocating words is connected with a wrong usage of verbs make and do.
Both of them collocate with many various nouns and it is necessary to know which ones
they collocate with and not to use them with inappropriate ones. According to Michael
Lewis there is no particular reason for why we should say ‘make a decision’ rather than
‘do a decision’. It is simply the way things are said in English. (Lewis, 2000).

Make a mistake Make a decision / do research do jobs / work

Make sense Make conversation / do business do homework

It is necessary to introduce the notion of collocations to students in order to make them

realize how important it is to know words that commonly collocate and what difference
in meaning can make wrong use of a collocation as in the following example:

Can I have a question? Meaning: Would you like to ask me a question?

Can I ask a question? Meaning: I would like to ask you a question.

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The lack of competence in using collocations can also lead into producing longer
utterances and therefore more grammatical mistakes. Knowledge of collocations would
help students to express their ideas precisely in a short and clear way. As soon as they
accept the importance of collocations and start to use them they will be able to create
and comprehend naturally occurring utterances.

4.5.1 IVA

Iva is not very good in collocations as she was used to learn masses of separate words
and therefore she knows many of them but without any connection to other words or
contexts. Collocations were very difficult for her and what was worse again she was
trying to learn them all by heart. With her I started from zero point. I had to explain to
her that words are better remembered when learned in context and that we will do it this
way. Presently she has admitted that this method is good and helps her to remember
words better.

For teaching and practicing collocations we usually use set of cards (either ready made
handouts as shown in Appendix 3 or prepared slips of paper). We discuss them and use
them in sentences or try to produce a short story containing the collocations. This way
we practice all the aspects: producing the right collocation, using it in the right context
and putting it into the right word order.

She flicked through the book. (using a noun)

She flicked it through. (using a pronoun)

When we come across collocations in text we pay attention to them and possibly use
them later in our lesson for better acquiring.

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4.5.2 LENKA

With Lenka we go a bit further again. She is used to learning collocations and she
already knows some of them. We use a bit more demanding strategy - texts. She either
gets unfamiliar collocations concerning a particular topic to work with in advance or she
is supposed to find collocations in text and work with them later. Both ways work well
and are very interesting. Lenka likes this kind of activities, as they are not focused on
only a single task. Usually she is forced to produce new sentences and summary or to
talk about what has been done. That requires wider range of knowledge to be used
which she likes. She is always trying to do as much as possible to improve her English.
I even started to add some extra work for her. We have tried with practising the activity
‘teaching a word a day’, which turned out to be a good idea – so I included it into Iva’s
lessons too.

4.5.3 TEACHING A WORD / WORDS A DAY

This is a practice when one new vocabulary item (alternatively a few new words) is
presented to students every lesson. The word is pronounced, read and defined. Then it is
used in model sentences. Very important is to put the word into context. Therefore the
word should be chosen deliberately with a connection to the actual topic. If there is no
connection but it is useful to teach the word for some reason then again context for its
usage must be built. An example is to be found in Appendix 4.

I slightly changed the activity to fit my students’ needs. Firstly we go through more than
just one unfamiliar item (usually it is 3 to 5 pieces considering the fact that no more
than 7 words should be introduced in a lesson) and secondly we use collocations instead
of plain single words as a response to Michael Lewis advice that teaching collocations
has an immediate pragmatic force and makes an expression situationally evocative. By
saying ‘This is a dangerous corner.’ a student immediately associates a corner where
accidents happen often – it is connected with a particular situation, which is more likely
to be remembered and later used in the right context. (Lewis, 2000:15) An example of
collocations noted in a student’s vocabulary book is to be found in Appendix 5.

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4.5.4 BRITISH NATIONAL CORPUS

To extend general awareness of collocations there has been invented a great online tool,
the British National Corpus (BNC), accessing language data. It is a collection of
written and spoken English created from a wide range of sources which helps to
determine correct use of words and phrases by providing information about many
aspects focusing on a given word / phrase. Although it is an extremely useful tool it is
probably not suitable for a common use of my students at present, as they would need
guidance before becoming confident enough to use it on their own. Moreover except of
free demo versions (usually available for about 30 day) a licence must be obtained for
the software.

4.6 USE OF A MONOLINGUAL DICTIONARY

A good way of dealing with appropriateness of expressions is to work with a

monolingual dictionary. I deliberately chose a monolingual dictionary instead of a
bilingual one because of its wider offer of information. A bilingual dictionary is limited
in its explanations of words and provides only equivalents of expressions in student’s
own language, which is not sufficient. It is straightforward to use. Whiles monolingual
dictionary offers a whole profile of a particular word. It provides information about its
meaning, pronunciation, spelling, word formation, metaphoric and idiomatic use. A
very important thing is that it also offers example sentences containing concrete words
or phrases. To realize all aspects connected with a particular word and to see an
example of its use helps to a better understanding of the word and primarily to its more
accurate use in the right context. Monolingual dictionaries also encourage students to
think in the target language and that is extremely useful.

Despite the fact that my students are mostly adult people who are expected to be skilled
in a work with dictionary I pay close attention to introduction of its structure to them
(the same as I do with our textbook). Without the knowledge of how to use the entries
in a dictionary and not knowing what particular symbols represent and what information
they carry the dictionary would be of no use for my students. They would not be able to

64
get the needed information out of them. As a simple demonstration of the overall
information offered in a monolingual dictionary I usually use some entry and we go
through every single note stated after a particular expression and discuss their meaning
and use. Students are often surprised how much information is available there. Working
with a dictionary can become a useful resource of information and I try to encourage my
students to do it – but not at any price. They should look for an explanation only when
they really hesitate over a meaning of a particular word in a particular context. Before
using the dictionary I always tell them to follow a few steps I once found in
“Techniques of Teaching Vocabulary” by Virginia French Allen. Her idea seems to be
very sensible to me and should help students in successful identifying the meaning they
are looking for in a particular context:

1. Think carefully about the entire sentence in which the unfamiliar word appears.
Ask yourself: How much of the sentence can I understand even without knowing
that word?
2. Look carefully at the unknown word. What kind of word is it? A noun? A verb?
An adjective?
3. Think of some possible meaning for that kind of word in that sentence. If the
word is a noun, might it name some thing? Some person? Some idea? Does it
probably represent something good? Something bad?

(Allen, 1983:83)

In some cases it can be very surprising for students when they learn a new meaning of a
word which they assumed to be already known by them (to read a book X to book a
flight). Being familiar with use of a monolingual dictionary is a big advantage and helps
students to become more independent and competent in their work with the language. It
also helps with spelling problems. Some dictionaries contain encyclopedic information
in a form of useful picture displays of various themes and areas (e.g. clothes and fabrics,
musical instruments, fruit and vegetables) which students like to work with.

Both of my students have been becoming quite self-confident in using the dictionary
recently. The only trouble is that although they use Students’ dictionary (a dictionary
using simplified definitions) they sometimes struggle with some expressions used in its

65
explanation and are obliged to use a monolingual dictionary together with a bilingual
dictionary to understand all the main expressions. But it is only a question of time when
they reach the level of full understanding the definitions themselves.

4.7 NOTEBOOKS

The role of notebooks is very important in learning languages. Notebook represents a

student’s everyday tool. A number of very useful information is stored there and
students are (or at least should be) learning and revising it every day. For its being a
necessary part of learning notebooks should be kept in well organised state and possibly
also well ‘designed’ by e.g. grouping words according their use, similarity, difference or
any other logical ‘principal’, which makes the words to be much easier remembered and
visualized. Moreover when there are also used highlighters to emphasise the main
points it is even easier to learn and recollect the items needed.

4.7.1 IVA

Iva’s notebook was in a very poor condition. Despite the fact that she stored an
enormous amount of words in her notebook (trans-writing her pocket dictionary, as
explained in section 4.2) the words were not distinguished at all neither by letters/blanks
nor by anything else. Seeing her notebook I could not imagine myself learning a word
from it. It was only an insignificant hopeless mass of blue ink lost in blue lines. Besides
that Ivas’ handwriting is now very nice and readable therefore it caused troubles to read
it. I carefully pointed out some of my misgivings to her way of organizing it but she
seemed to be perfectly happy about its state. She did not mind her handwriting and
replied that eventually she always figures out what the word means, she did not mind
never-ending columns with words of all kinds mixed together without making any
sense… We were discussing it several times, I have presented someone else’s notebook
to her that was kept the suggested way and she still resisted. As lately as I persuaded her
to make her notes the suggested way for the three coming lessons to see the difference
herself she changed her mind. She admitted that it is more joyful to learn from a nicely
66
organized notebook with words clearly distinguished in a way, which makes sense and
helps with associations of words ‘belonging’ to particular groups. I was really pleased
about the change of her attitude. I accept the fact that notebook is a personal thing but it
should be of a use to its owner and it should be transparent and provide clear
information.

We agreed that she can of course continue in her style of trans-writing from her pocket
dictionary if she insist on it but she has to indicate these sections by leaving adequate
blanks between any other notes taken in our lesson or anywhere else (and possibly
break the long passages into shorter ones for better transparency). She also started to use
highlighters and she actually started to like her notes. Apparently she spends less time
learning separate groups of words than before when she was learning many single
words without any connection. Presently she is working on her handwriting (for
vocabulary purpose).

4.7.2 LENKA

It was a pleasure for me to discuss Lenka’s opinion on organizing her notebook. Her
view is very similar to mine. She understands its importance and she does not like a
mindless straightforward listing of words. She needs a space for her personal notes and
examples and she prefers to make a list of possible synonyms or antonyms (words
having either similar or opposite meaning) and when talking about a phrasal verb then
she asks for more of its variants. She is very punctual in her note-taking and wants to
have her notebook as transparent as possible and also nice (she is of an artistic nature).
Because we usually come across a number of words, which should be noted during our
lessons, and they often occur in different order than in which they should be grouped in
a notebook we developed a simple strategy. During our lessons I write all notes on a
separate sheet of paper and as many sub-notes as necessary are added there in
sometimes not very clear way (using arrows and crosses for added examples etc.).
Lenka is adding her own notes to the paper too and after our lesson she trans-writes all
the notes in a nice and clear way into her notebook. It was actually her idea to make
notes this way as she likes to have her notebook (which she truly uses every day for
learning and repeating) well organized without unnecessary confusing marks or added

67
lines. She is considering it to be a short necessary revision of our lessons and also one
of the most pleasant ways of new items repetition. I cannot do more than to agree with
her. Every time the language is seen, heard, listened or written it becomes more familiar
and saves a lot of further memorizing. Moreover Lenka, being a teacher herself, knows
the basic principles of learning. She knows that it is good to revise newly gained
information within 24 hours time of being exposed to it because later the new
information starts to disappear and up to 80 % of it can be lost. Great effort would have
to be expended to remember all the lost details. After a longer period of time the
information gets lost completely and everything must be learned again. Therefore a
short revision at the end of the lesson or after the lesson (which is our case) is more than
sensible and very good for better remembering.

I was going to ease her work a little and prepared pre-designed handouts with group of
words of a particular pattern to work with that could be later glued into her notebook.
But she prefers to talk and focus on words, phrases or structures we find problematic,
unfamiliar or just worth discussing in our lessons therefore it is quite problematic to
prepare such handouts. I must always rely on my experience and possible help of
monolingual dictionary.

4.8 REPETITION

Learning of language items is primary but exercise and activities focused on repetition
are very important too. It is supposed to be the third and last stage of so called PPP
principle (Present – Practice – Produce). Repetition is a very useful way of not only
bringing to mind and revising vocabulary items, which students has already learned, but
it is also a great chance to find out what has already been well mastered by students and
what needs more practice or possibly more explanation to be fixed. When we do
exercises we concentrate on the parts that are not clear or make any kind of trouble
(pronunciation, linking, tenses, collocations, meaning…). The problematic parts are
marked to be easily found for later checking. My students were asked not to write
answers into their students’ books for being able to work on the same exercise more
times. Is it not a problem because the key for the exercises is available and if not we
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note the right answers into their exercise books. This way they can work and practice
with the exercise at home. Doing the same exercise twice might seem to be boring but it
is not and it is very effective indeed. Repetition of a certain exercise can help to
improve the language enormously. Every time a problematic word or phrase is repeated
either in the same or in different context is becomes more clear and familiar.

The types of exercise we usually do are matching parts of collocations, expressions,

lines of dialogues; gap-filling with supplied words/expressions; finishing sentences (I
would like to……); true/false (correct/incorrect) exercises for reading comprehension
or checking grammar used in supplied sentences.

4.9 CONVERSATION

Repetition is closely connected with conversation in communicative means. Students

sometimes find it difficult to express themselves in particular situations or when they
have particular communicative intentions. It has already been mentioned above that the
aim of practice is to be able to modify and adjust the language to the actual knowledge
and communicative ability of students. The improvement is possible only through
practice. I never believed that re-learning the example conversations is a good idea for
developing communicative ability. It may increase a negative feeling of dependence on
the learned lines and inhibit the natural spontaneity of expressing the learner’s own
ideas and reactions. Therefore I make my students to speak as much and as free as
possible and insist on their using English for any comments they make (which is
unfortunately not always observed).

For practicing conversation we use a very effective technique. We pick up words either
accidentally or deliberately and talk about them. Lenka is more advanced in that and can
produce simple definitions of them: ‘Kitten is a baby of a cat.’ or ‘Pen is a thing you
use for writing.’ Through this we manage to practise vocabulary, readiness and the
ability to use familiar words to define sufficiently unfamiliar expressions. Iva is more
restrained in this activity but she usually manages too. Another way to start

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conversation is working with pictures. Pictures showing social situations (a couple on a
bench in a park, a girl on a bicycle, a group of people waiting for their bus…) interest
students as they offer a possibility to imagine who the people are, what are they doing
and why, what happened before and what might happen next. Pictures provide a good
source of topics for speaking.

Another useful way for practicing conversation is to work with texts. It is so-called
learning for comprehension. The teacher firstly reads dialogues and stories so that a
student should listen carefully to get an idea what the text is about and provide a short
content of the story. Second listening is done over the text – students listen and read
consequently. After this reading they should be able to provide more detailed
information. According to the difficulty of the text we either discuss unknown words
and phrases or continue with the final reading – by a student. This final reading should
prepare students to be able enough to retell the story in their own words, to paraphrase it
or summarize it. A role-play activity for further practice sometimes follows. I also try
to play tapes with native speakers reading the text when it is available. Unfortunately
Iva is not able to understand it yet and does not like activities including listening to
native speakers. Also Lenka gets easily upset not being able to understand the tape
properly. Therefore I choose only ‘safe’ opportunities when they seem to be relaxed and
in a good condition for listening as I prefer to play the tape at lease sometimes rather
than never.

The presented scheme is usually more or less successful but there are many aspects
influencing the process like tiredness, health condition, level of the text, weather… The
good thing is that every activity can be simply adjusted to the actual circumstances.

4.10 MAKING MISTAKES

Herein it would be good to mention a role of mistake as I present it to my students.

Mastering a new language is not an easy task at all. It is a very complicated process
which is unavoidably connected with making mistakes. There is a variety of mistakes:
error, mistake, slip of the tongue, fossilised mistake etc. They all are made for various

70
reasons but we will simply use the general term ‘mistake’, which will be sufficient for
this matter.

Whatever activity students do it is always closely connected with making mistakes. That
is a natural rule. The traditional way of looking at mistakes is that they are forbidden.
Students should perform in a way of avoiding them otherwise they are most likely to be
reproached and punished by a bad mark. But this attitude is completely wrong. It is the
other way round. Students should not be afraid of making mistakes at all. Mistakes are
extremely important for learning and making them during their learning process is the
best way of a successful acquisition of the language. When my student makes a mistake
we usually take advantage of it and discuss the particular piece of grammar and
compare it possibly with other ones to see clearly the difference. It usually brings smiles
to the face of my student and the sentence containing the wrong item is well
remembered for a long time, which is highly effective.

My strategy is to encourage students to speak as much as possible in our lessons and not
to be afraid of making mistakes at all. This is agreed at the very beginning of our
course. Students do not get reproaches for their mistakes. They are actually being
‘praised’ for making them by comments of a type: ‘It is very good we have come across
this mistake. Not making it we could have miss an important thing. Now we can look
closely at that particular item and find out where the problem is…’ It usually works.
Students are not stressed by a negative reaction and take mistakes as a normal part of a
learning process. Both Iva and Lenka are making mistakes from time to time and both
of them find our way of dealing with them very constructive and contributive to their
learning.

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5 IDEAS HOW TO TEACH ENGLISH VOCABULARY
EFFECTIVELY

In this section I would like to present some suggestions and possible ways of how to
teach English vocabulary effectively through techniques which I use in my lessons and
which can be further extended into other variations. They were mostly inspired by Craig
Wealand’s ideas presented on the Internet pages
(http://www.mansioningles.com/profesores08.htm). They are based on the fact that
students tend to group words and make associations and connections for better
remembering. It is useful to find out the ways students learn new words, if they use
particular techniques or systems and adjust them to be used in their lessons. The
following techniques can be of good support to that. Some of them have already been
mentioned in previous sections; however, they should be included into the summary.

5.1 FLASH CARDS

Flash cards are well known as a very useful tool for learning language. Yet the general
opinion is that flash cards have a limited use and work well especially with young
learners since they help them to visualize words. I must disagree with that. As cards can
contain various things (words, pictures, phrases, functions, sentences, symbols etc.)
their use is not limited at all and neither is the age of students they are suitable for.
There is probably no reason to explain the principle of working with flash cards, as their
use is more or less familiar to everyone. But it might be interesting to realize that cards
with simple icons can help e.g. with revising when a simple pointing to a requested
gender, tense or sentence form (positive, negative, question, imperative, statement)
indicated on cards can represent a fast and non-disturbing way of instructing the
student’s production. Obviously, many other icons can be invented to indicate certain
requests. Examples of the cards to be found in Appendix 6.

5.2 WORD WALLS

72
A word wall is a systematically organized collection of words, phrases, functions etc.
displayed in larger letters on a wall or other well visible place in the classroom. It is a
tool which highlights significant points and offers a visual reminder and an instant
exposure of contained notes to students. They can refer to them as often as needed and
they usually use them throughout the lesson whenever they are not sure about a certain
language item or just for a simple checking of spelling, correctness of structures, etc. I
have invented a system of big sheets of paper containing individual selections of various
phrases and functions for my students. Whenever we come across a new one, we add it
to our word wall in a form of a strip of paper glued to the corresponding group. E.g.:

Saying god-bye: It was a pleasure to meet you.

Take care and see you soon again.

Disagreeing: I see it a different way.

I see what you are saying but…
I am sorry but I must disagree there.

Expressing somebody’s opinion completely

absolutely
entirely
certainly

5.3 INSIGHT PICTURES

The characteristic of words can be represented the way they are written. Through this
vocabulary gets personalized, which helps with remembering. Students can draw a word
in any way they imagine it or associate it:

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5.4 MEMORY PICTURES AND WORD ASSOCIATIONS

This technique is based on a principle of similarity of words from different languages. If

the sound of a word reminds students of a word from their language it is worth to make
an association, which would help them to remember it.

• The English word ‘cup’ (hrnek) reminds me of a ‘kapy-kap’ the sound that
drops make. I imagine ‘kapky’ (drops) falling into a cup and this helps me to
remember it.

• To remember a word ‘cry’ (plakat) I picture a child crying in front of ‘krajta’ (a

big snake).

• ‘Wait’ reminds me of ‘vejtaha’ (a swank) and I make a sentence: ‘Vejtaho’,

wait.

The sillier, the better and the more personal the association is, the better chance the
word will be remembered.

5.5 CHARTS FOR WORD BUILDING

(See section 4.2.2)

5.6 MNEMONIC STRATEGIES

(See section 4.3.3)

5.7 TEACHING A WORD A DAY

(See section 4.5.3)

In this section have been described ideas that could be useful and very supportive for
teaching English. As long as teachers dispose of a variety of diverse activities they have
a good chance to find just the right one for any situation and increase students’ interest
and motivation. Some of the techniques are great for learning in general and it is very
good to present them to students and make them familiar with such techniques as they
make great teaching support and not only that. They can also be used in real life and
become an everyday tool.
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CONCLUSION___________________________________

English has become an important part of people’s life. Being able to communicate has
been found more or less a necessity, which brings many people of all ages to English
courses. Unfortunately dealing with a class of students of mixed abilities it is not easy at
all neither for teaches nor for students. Therefore some of the students prefer taking
private lessons, which are more convenient to meet their needs. The work was focused
on adult students taking private one-to-one lessons.

There are no doubts that in teaching English it is very important to concentrate on both
grammatical structures and vocabulary for a sufficient acquisition of the language. On
the other hand this thesis has drawn attention to the fact that mastering grammatical
structures does not express meaning unless words are used because using the right
words in certain situations can be explicit enough to balance possible inaccuracy in
structures. Vocabulary has been stressed over grammar.

There were introduced various teaching methods and approaches in the theoretical part
of this work that are being used in teaching English. Their ‘pros’ and ‘cons’ were
discussed and resulted into an assumption that there is no single method that would
perfectly work for a student. It is always a mixture of methods and approaches that
makes the right and suitable method for particular students and it is their teachers’
responsibility to find the right strategy for them.

Some of the most important aspects of teaching adult students vocabulary were
presented in the practical part. These were further discussed in relation to the author’s
own experience with teaching two of her private students and the effect has been
demonstrated on them. A few ideas how to teach English effectively were added. An
emphasis was put on collocations.

Nevertheless, it needs to be noted that there are other important aspects considering
teaching English which were not mentioned and dealt with in this work (e.g. phrasal
verbs). It is not that they are considered to be less important. But they might not be

75
found that problematic for the author’s students at the time being or they might have
been dealing with other more serious problems in their lessons.

However, the author hopes this work will prove useful to anyone who would be
interested in giving private lessons to adult students. Hopefully some interesting ideas
will be found in this work to be applied into their lessons.

“I will be glad if I help my students to improve their English to an extent to be able to

communicate in English without difficulties although making few mistakes. Learning is
a lifelong process and learning English can be only improved when working on it
constantly - mistakes will disappear during the process.”

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RESUMÉ________________________________________

The thesis has called attention to private teaching English to adult students.

The work is divided into two parts, theoretical and practical. The theoretical part deals
with methods and approaches used in teaching English. It also provides a general
characteristic of adult students and teaching vocabulary. Two private adult students are
introduced in the practical part. Effectiveness in dealing with various aspects of
teaching English vocabulary in practice is demonstrated on them.

The aim of the work is to raise the awareness of importance of teaching English
vocabulary.

There are 6 Appendices added to the work.

77
BIBLIOGRAPHY_________________________________

Anonymous. 120 Years of Excellence: 1878-1998 - Berlitz, Berlitz International, Inc.,

1998, ISBN 2-8315-6194-9.

ALLEN, Virginia French. Techniques of Teaching Vocabulary, Oxford University

Press, 1983, ISBN 0-19-434130-5.

BROUGHTON, G., BRUMFIT, Ch., FLAVELL, R., HILL, P., PINCAS, A. Teaching
English as a Foreign Language, Routledge, 1988, ISBN 0-415-05882-1.

DAVIES, Paul, PEARSE, Eric. Success in English Teaching, Oxford University Press,
2000, ISBN 0-19-442171-6.

DE CARLI, Mercedes Indri. Nechce se mi učit, Portál, 1995, ISBN 80-7178-076-6.

DEIGHTON, Lee C. Vocabulary Development, Macmillan Publishing, 1973, ISBN

unknown.

DÖRNYEI, Zoltan. Motivational Strategies in the Language Classroom, Cambridge

University Press, 2001, ISBN 0-521-79377-7.

ELLIS, Rod. Understanding Second Language Acquisition, Cambridge University

Press, 1986, ISBN 0-19-437081-X.

HARMER, Jeremy. The Practice of English Language Teaching, Longman 1993, ISBN
0-582-04656-4.

HORNBY, A. S. Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary, Oxford University Press

2000, ISBN 0-19-431585-1.

KIRKPATRICK, E. M. Chambers Universal Learners’ Dictionary, Richard Clay Ltd,

1986, ISBN 0-550-10634-0.

78
LEWIS, Michael. Implementing the Lexical Approach, Language Teaching
Publications, 1998, ISBN 1-899396-60-8.

LEWIS, Michael. Teaching Collocation, Language Teaching Publications, 2000, ISBN

1-899396-11-X.

LITTLEWOOD, William. Communicative Language Teaching, Cambridge University

Press, 1981, ISBN 0-521-28154-7.

LITTLEWOOD, William. Foreign and Second Language Learning, Cambridge

University Press, 1992, ISBN 0-521-27486-9.

McCOMBS, Barbara L., POPE, James E. Motivating Hard to Reach Students,

American Psychological Association, 1994, ISBN 1-55798-220-1.

SOARS, John and Liz. New Headway English Course, Oxford, 2000, ISBN 0-19-
436670-7.

INTERNET SOURCES_________________________________

http://en.wikipedia.org
http://www.abacom.com/~nathan/eslpage.htm
http://www.britannica.com
http://www.mansioningles.com/profesores08.htm
http://www.oup.com/elt/global/products/headway

79
CONTENT OF APPENDICES___________________________

Appendix 1: Tables from Oxford Learners’ Dictionary

Appendix 2: Phonetic symbols

Appendix 3: Practicing collocations

Appendix 4: Headway ‘Day of the week’

Appendix 5: Noting collocations

Appendix 6: Flash cards

80