Janet and all:
I think the Language Experience Approach (LEA) could fit in very well
here. And I agree, when doing these activities, learners are very much
invested in the words they use as they describe a shared experience. And
they are likely to find they need new words to do so. They are certainly
invested in these words - to use both orally and in writing.

There is a vocabulary building activity, proposed by Keith Folse in  

-Folse, K. S. (2004). Vocabulary myths: Applying second language
research to classroom teaching. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan

that allows the teacher to focus on vocabulary items that learners have
asked about or that the teacher thinks learners should know and also
allows for learners to become invested in the word. In this activity,
teachers present vocabulary items. It's part of the publication called
Teaching Reading to Adult English Language Learners: A Reading
Instruction Staff Development Program, available at the The Virginia
Adult Learning Resource Center at
www.valrc.org/publications/pdf/teachingreading.pdf

I've excerpted/adapted from that publication the explanation on how you
do this activity:

Word List Activity

In class keep a running list of vocabulary items posted in the class. On
newsprint, write words that are new to most of the learners. These can
be words from instructional 
materials, class discussions, or outside the classroom (i.e., words that

learners have heard at home, at work, or in the community and bring to 
the class to find out the meaning). Have the learners keep their own 
vocabulary notebook where they write down the word and its definition
 and other strategies that help them remember the words (e.g.,
translation 
in native language, drawing, use in a sentence).

 Give the definitions to the learners orally.  Talk about the 
importance of retrieval in learning new words - repeated exposure in 
different ways. 

Every class period, review several of the words in a different way so 
that the learners have lots of exposure to the words..

First time: go back to the list and ask the following: 
	Which word means_________? 
Second time: 
	Which are numbers/something to eat/another property?
Third time; 
	Which could you use to describe something else? 
	What would it describe?
Fourth time: 
	Which words are easy to remember? Why? 
	Which are harder?  Why?

The beauty of the activity is that it works with all levels - depending
on the words selected.

Vocabulary developing is so important for adult English language
learners. What are some other ways of helping learners develop their
vocabularies?
 
Miriam
*********
Miriam Burt
Center for Adult English Language Acquisition
Center for Applied Linguistics
4646 40th Street NW
Washington, DC 20016
(202) 362-0700
(202) 363-7204 (fax)
miriam at cal.org 

-----Original Message----

From: englishlanguage-bounces at nifl.gov
[mailto:englishlanguage-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of Janet Isserlis
Sent: Wednesday, May 31, 2006 5:33 PM
To: The Adult English Language Learners Discussion List
Subject: [EnglishLanguage 405] learning from context

All

I'm wondering in this discussion around using vocabulary and context how
the language experience approach might fit in.  I hadn't thought so much
about context, per se, as about working from the larger contexts of
learners' experiences and then building oral and written vocabulary
through using learners' words in those contexts.

The notion of words/vocabulary *in* context is interesting... both in
oral/aural and written language.

My earliest experiences with learners in basic literacy ESL classes bear
out that recursive learning - using learned words and adding new ones to
them while reviewing those already learned words - helps people feel
some ownership of the words and their use of them.  It also, in my
observation, did increase communication between students and for many,
helped unlock the
key to the 'code' - to reading.   It seems, then, to follow, that
learning
would be enhanced if learners are invested in the words they use and
learn.

I've since learned that for some learners with reading/learning
disabilities, there is something to be said for particular focus on
phonics, BUT I think that we can't separate oral from written language
use and for all learners some degree of context - of words / skills not
being taught in isolation - (if the goal is to accomplish communicative
competency and
independence) is critical.

What are others thinking about?

Janet Isserlis



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