Fifty Ways to Teach Vocabulary : Tips for ESL/EFL Teachers

Published 2018.

Without grammar, you can't say much; but without vocabulary, you can't say anything.

Vocabulary is the foundation of successful language learning. ESL/EFL learners need to be familiar with a great many words if they want to read, write, listen, or speak with ease. In addition to the sheer number of words and phrases students need to learn, what makes vocabulary acquisition so tricky is that one ?pass? is never enough. To really 'know' a word, learners need to know, among other things, how to spell it, how to pronounce it, what other words it collocates with, what prefixes and suffixes it takes, what grammatical patterns it fits with, and what positive or negative associations it may have.

Research shows that students learn the most easily when they are interested and having fun. Games and activities that engage students, whether they are adults or children, will help them create stronger memories and store these memories for longer.