VOCABULARY THROUGH ITCS

When we start learning a new language, vocabulary is one of the main things that we should take into account. Of course we have to learn how the grammar works, but the first step is to learn vocabulary. According to Jill Hadfield and Charles Hadfield (2008), a vocabulary item can be:

- A single word, like light, window.

- Two or three words that go together to make one meaning, or a phrasal verb.

- A multiword phrase like never mind, by the way.

When we learn new words, we have to think on the spelling and pronunciation. This can be a difficult task, especially for those who have started learning this new language short time ago. In English, pronunciation can be something difficult, because just with reading a new word, you cannot know how to pronounce it. An example of this could be: Door and book, in the first one, the two “o” are pronounced like an o, but in book, the two “o” are pronounced like a u.

After this basic explanation, I will focus on learning vocabulary through the ITCs. According to Rouse, M (2005) ICT (information and communications technology - or technologies) consists on teaching through any communication device or application, such as phones, computers… ITCs can be a great tool to teach vocabulary, but they could be a problem for some teachers because they must know how this technological tools work before using them with their students. This is why it is so important that teachers who do not control these tools take preparatory courses. 

Nowadays, we can find ICTs inside of the classroom in almost all of the schools, and for this reason, we should learn to use these tools in our advantage. The digital board is a great tool, and we can find it in most of the schools in Spain. One good exercise that we can do in it is to learn vocabulary through songs with video. This is very interesting, and children will learn easily because is motivating for them. A good example of this could be a song to learn the animals: First, you put a video with the song. When an animal (that is the new vocabulary to learn) appears, the children have to do a movement to represent that animal. After repeating the song two or three times, we can put the picture of the animal and the name of it, so we can see if they have learnt this new vocabulary or not.

To conclude, I would like to give my personal opinion about this topic. During my internship, I went to a school which focuses a lot in English and in the new technologies. I found it really interesting because I did not know that I could find that many technological resources in a school. I really liked the digital board, especially because my tutor knew how to use it very well, and the students enjoyed it a lot and learnt many things with it. I think the ICTs gives new and different possibilities, and if we combine it with some of the traditional methods, teaching will improve a lot in the next years.    

REFERENCES

·         Book reference:

- Hadfield, J & Hadfield, C (2008). Introduction to teaching English. New York: Oxford University Press.

·         Web references:

- Lukawa (2013, January 31). The usage of ICT in vocabulary teaching [Web log post]. Retrieved from http://lukawa11.wordpress.com/2013/01/31/the-usage-of-ict-in-vocabulary-teaching/

- Rouse, M (2005). ICT (information and communications technology - or technologies). Retrieved from http://searchcio-midmarket.techtarget.com/definition/ICT