21 Therefore, this part will discuss about types of techniques and activities in
vocabulary teaching. Thornbury 2002 suggests some techniques and activities, namely:
1. Using Mnemonics
Mnemonics are strategies to help retrieve items or rules stored in memory and that are not retrievable. The best mnemonics are those which have visual
elements and are self-generated - not borrowed from another learner or the teacher.
The best mnemonics technique is keyword technique. In this technique, an image connects the pronunciation of the second language word and the meaning
in the first language. Using this technique, teacher has to give the students a few moments to digest. However, this technique, sometimes, cannot work well for
some students because they do not have ability to create an image.
2. Using Word Cards
The word card technique involves these steps: a
Learners write down an English word on one side of a small card and its translation on the other side.
b Depending on the difficulty level, on set consists of 20 to 50 cards.
c The words do not have to belong to lexical sets – to avoid the interference
effect. d
Learners test themselves by first recalling the meaning of new words – by looking at each new word and checking their understanding of each one by
looking at the word’s translation.
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22 e
They then reverse the process. They use the translation to recall the new word’s form.
f Words that cause difficulty must be moved to the top of the piles. The piles
must be moved periodically to avoid serial effects – that is, remembering the words because of the order they come.
g The sequence of learning and review must be spaced.
h As words are learned, they have to be discarded and new words are made and
added. The followings are other activities that can be done in class to encourage the
independent use of word cards. a
Peer Teaching and Testing Pair the students to compare their card sets. Then, encourage them to teach
each other the words in their sets that they do not share and to test each other. b
Association Games Each student put one card with the L2 word face up. Then, learners have to
make a sentence associates those two words. The first students who can make a coherent sentence involving those two words gets one point. If no association can
be made by either player, put those cards aside and deal two more. Continue this process until all cards are used.
c Guess My Word
When learners are already familiar with each other’s word card, each takes a word at random, and the other has to guess the word by asking yes no
questions.
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23 d
De-vowelled Words Each of a pair selects a card from their sets, then rewrite the word by
omitting the vowels. Then, the other has to guess the word. e
Ghost Writing Each of a pair selects a word and write down the word in the air or on their
partner’s back. Their partner has to guess the word. f
Categories In pairs or small group, learners organize their cards into some categories. For the
example whether the words have hot or cold, masculine or feminine, good or bad, or sweet or sour.
3. Guessing from Context
