An Effective Technique for Learning New Vocabulary
Very often, when language learners learn new vocabulary, they only learn one form of the word. This means that they can often get tripped up, especially when speaking, because they only know the noun form and don't know the adjective form of a word, for example.
Word Form Charts
I like to use word form charts to teach vocabulary. The chart clearly demonstrates different suffix endings for the different parts of speech.
This is a great opportunity to discuss the different suffixes that create nouns, verbs, adjectives, etc. If you highlight the various suffixes that form nouns, such as -MENT or verbs, such as -ATE, students will be more likely to recall the different forms of the various parts of speech even for any future vocabulary items they might learn.
However, you can't stop there! It's very important to practice the different forms. I have students write each word in its various forms in sentences. You can have them copy from a dictionary, but I like to have them write their own sentences to see if they are using them correctly.
- I went to my friend's engagement party.
- The teacher engaged the class through a variety of interesting activities.
- My friend got engaged last week.
- The class activities were very engaging.
Sharing student sentences with the class is also a great way to reinforce the vocabulary. No names attached, of course!
