What Every Vocabulary Teacher Needs to Know

What Every Vocabulary Teacher Needs to Know

Susan Verner
by Susan Verner 32,078 views


Vocabulary is a subject that every ESL teacher has to handle in class, but not every teacher knows all the top moves for introducing and practicing that vocabulary with his or her students.

This set of articles, though targeted for the vocabulary teacher, is applicable to any ESL teacher. Once you take in all these articles have to offer, you will know just how to introduce, practice and review new vocabulary with your students in new and traditional ways.

Teaching Vocabulary? Here's What You Need to Know

  1. 1

    Teaching English Vocabulary – Ten Fabulous Ways to Teach New Words

    “Did you know that a student needs to encounter a new word 10 to 16 times to effectively "learn" it according to recent research?” After reading this article, you will know how to meet that need in your students. Here you will find practical ways to handle vocabulary instruction at every point along the path.

  2. 2

    Four Fresh Ways to Introduce New Vocabulary

    Sometimes teaching words the same old ways is just not enough. You want your students engaged in the lesson and having a good time, too. These not so typical methods of introducing vocabulary to your students will liven up your vocabulary class, for both you and your class.

  3. 3

    Five Best Ways to Introduce New Vocabulary

    Your curriculum may hand you a list of vocabulary your students need to learn by the end of the semester, but where do you go from there? This article will teach you the techniques you need to introduce any unit of new vocabulary to your students.

  4. 4

    How to Elicit Vocabulary – Top 6 Techniques

    You know that your students are familiar with a certain vocabulary term, and they can probably give you the definition, but how do you draw it out of them? This article will give you the top 6 methods for drawing vocabulary out of your students when they may not even know that they know it.

  5. 5

    Six Absolutely Essential ESL Games for Vocabulary Review

    You and your students have worked hard, given blood, sweat and tears to enrich and expand their vocabularies. Unfortunately, that is not enough when it is time to give a grade and it is time to test what your students remember. When it is time to review for the upcoming exam, here are some fun games your students can get enthusiastic about and still help them get ready for the vocabulary test.

  6. 6

    Digging Deep: Fresh and Creative Tips for Teaching Word Roots

    Vocabulary is one of the cornerstones of instruction in English as a second language. Every day, every class touches on some aspect of vocabulary development. One way to tackle new words is breaking them into the pieces that give them meaning – word roots. This article will help walk you through teaching word roots with your ESL students so they can decode the meaning of new English words as soon as the first time they see them.

  7. 7

    Opposites Attract: Having Fun with Antonyms

    Teaching your ESL students antonyms can be a great way to increase their vocabularies. Not only that, it helps them make important associations between words in English. This article offers practical ideas for teaching antonyms in your classroom, and your students are also sure to enjoy them as well.

  8. 8

    How to Teach Phrasal Verbs

    English is littered with phrasal verbs. The myriad combinations of prepositions and verbs can seem overwhelming to the ESL student. When it is time to take on phrasal verbs with your ESL class, take a look at this article, which will take you through the process of teaching phrasal verbs.

  9. 9

    Simon Says You’ll Love These Games for Teaching Anatomy Vocabulary

    One of the earliest set of vocabulary second language learners tackle is the unit on anatomy. Even beginning students practice this concrete set of words and learn their meaning quickly. These fun games focus on anatomy vocabulary and give your students a chance to use the words they have learned.

  10. q

    You Know What They Say: How to Teach Idioms

    Are your students familiar with English idioms? Do they understand the nontraditional English that makes up so much of a native speaker’s conversation? This article will help even the most intimidated teachers get started teaching idioms to their classes so your students can get learning these oh so common English phrases.

  11. w

    How to Teach English Idioms and Their Meanings

    Some ESL teachers may avoid teaching idioms to their students, but idiomatic expressions are a real and common part of native speakers’ language. If your students are to become truly fluent, they will have to learn idioms in English. Never fear, though, Busy Teacher is here. This article will take you step by step through the process of teaching idioms to your students.

Whether you are purely a vocabulary teacher or you cover the gamut in your ESL lessons, you will benefit from these articles on how to teach vocabulary to your class.

As your students’ vocabulary banks increase, their overall language skills will improve, too. Using these articles for inspiration, you can help your students move a little further along the road to fluency in English!

P.S. If you enjoyed this article, please help spread it by clicking one of those sharing buttons below. And if you are interested in more, you should follow our Facebook page where we share more about creative, non-boring ways to teach English.

Like us!
Related Categories








Entire BusyTeacher Library
Get the Entire BusyTeacher Library:
Dramatically Improve the Way You Teach
Save hours of lesson preparation time with the Entire BusyTeacher Library. Includes the best of BusyTeacher: all 80 of our PDF e-books. That's 4,036 pages filled with thousands of practical activities and tips that you can start using today. 30-day money back guarantee.
Learn more

Popular articles like this

4 Fresh Ways to Introduce New Vocabulary

0 73,177 0

Digging Deep
Fresh & Creative Tips for Teaching Word Roots

0 28,267 0

5 Must-Know Tips on Teaching Idioms

0 92,032 0

How to Teach English Idioms and Their Meaning

0 240,424 0

7 Best Ways to Introduce New Vocabulary

0 245,764 0

9 New Tips for Using Literature in the ESL Classroom

0 84,497 0