TEMA 11

- CAMPOS LXICOS Y SEMNTICOS EN LA LENGUA INGLESA.

- LXICO NECESARIO PARA LA SOCIALIZACIN, LA INFORMACIN Y LA EXPRESIN
DE ACTITUDES.
- TIPOLOGA DE ACTIVIDADES LIGADAS A LA ENSEANZA Y APRENDIZAJE DE LXICO
EN LA CLASE DE LENGUA EXTRANJERA.
If language structures make up the skeleton of a language, vocabulary provides the vital
organs. Grammar allows us to generate sentences, but at the same time words are needed to
express meanings. Thus, the acquisition of the vocabulary of a language is as important as the
acquisition of grammar since the words a person chooses when conveying a message are of
crucial importance for the appropriate understanding of the message.
Based on this view, the present essay aims to study the concept of Semantics and the
lexical items that students need in the process of socialising and communicating. In
order to do so, I will divide this topic into three main sections. In the first part, I will develop the
concept of semantics. To do so, I will first explain the difference between lexical and semantic
fields in English. Then I will concentrate on the semantic field theory and later on the sense
relationships of words. In the second part, I will focus on the selection of the vocabulary
items to teach in the FL classroom, suggesting the lexicon that our students need to learn in
order to socialise, deal with information and express attitudes. Finally, in the third part of the
essay I will consider the different techniques and activities used in learning and teaching
vocabulary, taking into account the introduction of new vocabulary as well as the different
ways to practice it and some learner-centred techniques.
We deal with an essential topic since the main goal of FLT established by LOMCE 8/2013 in
Primary Education is the acquisition of CC, and this involves communicating appropriately.
Therefore, students need to learn not only what words mean, but also how they are used. In
addition to that, the FL Curriculum for Primary Education emphasizes the significance of this
topic by including in one of its block of contents and assessment criteria the identification
and use of lexical aspects of the FL.
FIRST
After this brief introduction, I will start to develop the first part of this topic by explaining the
concept of Semantics. We understand Semantics as the branch of Linguistics that studies
meaning in language. As we know, the meaning of a word is also inextricably linked to its
contexts.
The unit of Semantics is the lexeme. Lexemes can be grouped into semantic fields, which
are concerned with communicative functions, or lexical fields, which are concerned with
sense relationships.
On the one hand, we understand semantic field as an area of meaning containing words
with related senses. For example, the various lexemes for parts of the body (leg, head...) form
a semantic field. In this sense and from the structuralist point of view, rooted in Ferdinand de
Saussures work, language can be understood as a network of systematic relationships
between units.
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This view of meaning is the starting point of the semantic field theory whose main ideas are:
Firstly, words define themselves against each other. E.g. in the semantic field of fruit, apple is
not an orange or a banana.
Secondly, words can belong to more than one field. Orange can belong to the field of fruit or
colours.
Thirdly, fields are constantly expanding and contracting.
On the other hand, we understand lexical fields as the ways in which the words of a
language relate among themselves in a logical way concerning meaning. The internal
organizing principles that create these lexical fields are known as sense relationships and
these relationships (between lexemes) can be analysed under two main headings:
syntagmatic relationships and paradigmatic relationships. This is illustrated in Saussures
example of the game of chess in which the value of individual pieces depends completely on
the relation to other pieces. In what follows, I will explain what these sense relationships
consist of:
On the one hand, syntagmatic relationships can be understood as the relationships
between lexemes which collocate. We speak of collocation when two or more lexical items can
co-occur or are often used together, for example rural life, green area...
On the other hand, paradigmatic relationships can be understood as the relationships
between lexemes which can replace each other. There are several types of paradigmatic
relationships:
Firstly, synonymy is the relationship of sameness of meaning, for example the words
mad and insane. English is particularly rich in synonyms because of the influence of words
from a variety of languages. However, most linguists agree that total synonymy is very rare:
there are usually stylistic, emotional or other differences to consider.
Secondly, antonymy is the relationship of oppositeness of meaning. There are different
types of antonyms such as: gradable antonyms, which allow the expression of degree, for
example big / small; ungradable antonyms, which are mutually exclusive and do not allow
degree, such as alive / dead; converse antonyms, which denote a reciprocal relationship,
such as husband / wife.
Thirdly, hyponymy is the relationship that exists between two terms in which the meaning of
one is included in the other, for example colour and blue. The general term (colour) is called
superordinate and the specific term (blue) is the hyponym.
Fourthly, homonymy is the relationship between words that have the same form (either the
same sound or same spelling) but have unrelated meanings. For example, train (means of
transport) and train (teach).
Fifthly, polysemy is a sense relationship in which a lexeme can be used to express different
meanings. These meanings are somehow related, for example, branch of a tree and branch of
a company.
Lastly, incompatibility, is the relationship between groups of lexemes that are mutually
exclusive members of the same superordinate category, for example apple and banana are
incompatible lexemes within the category of fruits because we cannot say This fruit is an
apple AND a banana.
Lastly, it is important to note that for language learners, there is a further type of sense
relation: translation. Most learners find it useful to make a conscious effort to link words
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between a FL and their mother tongue, for instance the words television and televisin.
However, this link between the FL words and the first language previous schemas may lead to
problems, because different cultures organise aspects of the world differently.
As we have seen, words and their meanings are connected in syntagmatic and paradigmatic
patterns that create associations in the mind (schemas). These schemas are usually being
constructed throughout childhood, within the first language culture. When foreign language
words are learnt, they are likely to be linked to first language words and to enter schemas that
have already been built. This link between the foreign language words and the first language
schemas may lead to problems, because different cultures organise aspects of the world
differently.
SECOND
After having considered the concept of Semantics and the main sense relationships in a
language, I will go on to develop the second part of this topic, that is, the selection of the
vocabulary our students need in order to express themselves with a certain degree of C.C. in
common situations.
As LOMCE 8/2013 passed on the December 9th establishes, one of the main objectives in
Primary Education is that students acquire basic C.C. in at least one FL to enable them to
express and understand simple messages and get by in everyday situations. The term
communicative competence was coined by Hymes and can be defined as the ability to use
a language in an appropriate way in a variety of situations. The social dimension of language is
also taken into consideration, because as John Rupert Firth states language is interaction; it
is interpersonal activity and has a clear relationship with society. Since words are the building
blocks of a language, the mastery of vocabulary is essential to achieve this C.C. in any
language. For this reason, the vocabulary learnt in Primary Education must be useful from a
communicative point of view: children must learn the vocabulary needed for greeting,
expressing feelings, giving information...When teaching vocabulary, as McKeown and Beck
state, it is important to use both formal and informal vocabulary instruction in order to give the
learners plenty of opportunities to actually use the words.
Considering this, it could be said that the main criteria for the selection of words are:
1.Frequency: In general, the words that are commonly used by speakers of the language
must be taught first. However, function words (articles, prepositions, pronouns) are the
ones more used. Content words carry lexical meaning even out of context. Children will
pick up function words through continued exposure and use in different contexts, while
content words must be explicitly taught. Therefore a syllabus for children must have a
higher amount of content words.
2. Usefulness: A word is more useful if it has more than one specific meaning and can be
used in different contexts.
3. Learnability: Some words are easier to learn because they are similar to the mother
tongue word, they are short, it is easy to transmit their meaning, they have a regular
spelling or they are interesting for the children.
In what follows, I will deal with the vocabulary related to the three main communicative
functions of human beings: socialization, information and expression of attitudes.
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((SOCIALIZATION))
Firstly, there is socialization .This communicative function includes the vocabulary needed
to establish and maintain social relationships such as:
GREETINGS
Hello / Hi
Good morning / afternoon / evening
Nice to meet you
How are you?
Im fine / very well / not too bad
SAYING GOODBYE
Goodbye / bye, bye / bye
See you tomorrow / on Monday
COMPLIMENTING AND CONGRATULATING
Well done!
Thats wonderful!
Congratulations!
ATTRACTING ATTENTION
Excuse me!, May I have your attention, please?, Ladies and gentlemen!
SEASONAL GREETINGS
Merry / Happy Christmas
Happy New Year
Happy Birthday
EXPRESSIONS IN WRITTEN LANGUAGE (LETTERS)
Dear (name)
Please write soon
Yours
Best wishes
SPEAKING ON THE PHONE
Can I speak to John please?
I will phone him later
((INFORMATION))
Secondly, there is information vocabulary. Probably one of the most important reasons we
use language for is to give someone some piece of information which we think they do not
know. This is typically done by using questions and statements, which are very useful to ask,
transmit or receive information such as that concerning:
INFORMATION ABOUT ONESELF
Name (Whats your name? My names ...)
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Origin (Where are you from? Im from ...)

Nationalities (Im English / Spanish ...)
Age (How old are you? Im ...)
Address (Whats your address?)
Marital status (Single, married, divorced)
Job (What do you do? Im a...)
Family (Have you got any brothers or sisters?)
Telephone (Whats your phone number?)
INFORMATION ABOUT PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS
What do you look like?
Im tall
Ive got blond hair
My eyes are blue
PLACES
The house, the shops, buildings... (Where is the station? Its opposite the supermarket)
THE TIME
Oclock / Quarter past / Half past / Quarter to/ What time is it?
THE WEATHER
Whats the weather like? Its rainy / sunny / cloudy
PRICES
How much is it? It is ...
((EXPRESSION OF ATTITUDES))
Finally, expression of attitudes includes the vocabulary used to express feelings, wishes and
opinions:
LIKES AND DISLIKES
I love / I like / I dont like / I hate
Do you like...?
EXPRESSING GRATITUDE
Thank you / Thanks / Thank you very much
Not at all / Thats all right
EXPRESSING APPRECIATION
Nice! / Good! / Excellent! / Great!
APOLOGIZING
Im sorry
GRANTING FORGIVENESS
Thats all right
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Never mind
HOPE
I hope to see you again
REGRET
I wish I were richer
SURPRISE
What a surprise!
THIRD
Now that we are aware of the most important lexical items our students need to express
themselves with a certain degree of C.C., I will go on to develop the last part of the topic, that
is, the different techniques and activities used in learning and teaching vocabulary. In order
to do so, I will first focus on the introduction of new vocabulary, then I will point out the different
ways to practice and memorize it as well as to consolidate and recycle it and finally, I will
consider some learner-centred techniques.
In order to design, select or adapt activities to teach and learn vocabulary, we must bear in
mind the age, level, needs, experience and interests of our students, since the methodology
used in Primary Education is centred on the learners. In this way students will be motivated
and we will ensure their participation in the activities. We must also take into account the
following principles:
1.
The objective of the activity, the instructions and the resources needed must be
clear.
2.
An element of challenge must be introduced since children are naturally
competitive.
3. Social interaction must be enhanced, even if pupils are working individually; they can
ask questions to their classmates, ask for help...
4. There must be a relationship and progression among the different activities planned, so
that pupils assimilate new vocabulary.
Next, I will concentrate on the stages that we need to follow when teaching vocabulary and
the most suitable activities for each one.
When introducing new vocabulary, it should ideally be presented in a context that is
familiar to the child. Visual support is also very important to help transmit meaning and to help
pupils memorize new vocabulary.
As words are often remembered in groups which have something in common, it is helpful to
introduce them in:
1. Lexical sets: shops, fruits, rooms in a house.
2. Rhyming sets: bat, rat, hat.
3. Colour sets: things that are green: lettuce, peas, grass
4. Grammatical sets: adjectives, verbs, nouns
5. Collocations: play the piano, loud noise
6. Opposites: hot/cold, boy/girl.
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Grouping words in that way helps pupils to associate new words with words they already
know, which favours meaningful learning and the development of Learning to Learn B.C. which
is one of the 8 Basic Competences established by The Royal Decree 126/2014.
Let me now explain the main techniques to introduce vocabulary, which are visual and
verbal techniques and translation.
Firstly, there are Visual techniques, as flashcards, photographs, blackboard drawings, wallcharts, mime, gestures and realia among others which have a great communicative power. As
the saying goes One image is worth a thousand words.
Secondly, there are Verbal techniques. We can explain the meaning of new words by giving
a short definition of them. We can also encourage the students to take risks and guess
meanings from context as often as possible. Another efficient technique is
eliciting
vocabulary items from pupils by asking questions or using opposites since sense relationships
between words like antonymy can be very effective to teach vocabulary. We can present the
meaning of tall by contrasting it with short. This technique has two advantages: related words
are learnt more easily and students learn two words instead of one. Finally, Translating
techniques can be used if visual and verbal techniques do not work.
After the set of words has been introduced, students must first listen to the word several
times to become familiar with it. To do so, we can do activities such as listen and point or listen
and mime. Then, they imitate the model and repeat individually or in groups.
Once students are familiar with the new set of words in their oral form, the written form must
be introduced. The look, say, cover, write, check technique can be used. The first step is
looking and the word and noticing the letter shapes and the number of letters. Next they say
the word and then the letters out loud. After that, they write the word in the air making it large
and small. Then they cover the word and try to write it correctly on paper. Finally they check if
the spelling is correct.
Once I have considered the different ways of introducing new vocabulary, I will concentrate
now on the main ways of practising and memorising vocabulary.
This stage involves children in activities requiring them to do things with the words, in order
to make strong memory connections by learning them in groups. Some activities at this stage
are:
- Classifying words into categories: red things, farm animals
- Picture dictation: Draw a green car.
- Whats missing? The teacher asks the pupils to look at some pictures carefully and
then tells them to close their eyes. S/he removes an item. Pupils open their eyes and tell
whats missing.
- Word searches: Children enjoy searching for English spelling patterns.
- Sequencing: The teacher or a student gives instructions to sequence some pictures,
such as Put the chocolate cake first.
- Labelling: Students are given a picture and they have to write the name of the objects in
the picture.

Once I have considered the main techniques and activities to practise and memorise
vocabulary, I will concentrate on consolidation and recycling techniques, Children learn new
words relatively quickly but they also forget them quickly. In order for these words to enter their
long term memory they need to practise with them regularly, to consolidate and recycle
words. In order to do so, they can make:
- Vocabulary books: They can be organized alphabetically, by topic or situation, by
grammatical group
- Collages: Pupils collect pictures around a particular theme and stick these to a large
sheet of paper which can be used to decorate the classroom.
- Word networks: Pupils build word networks taking as the starting point a topic and then
writing down words they associate with this.
- Word banks: Pupils can make their own sets of vocabulary cards and store them. Then,
they can consult their word cards anytime they want.
After having considered consolidation techniques, I will examine some learner-centred
techniques. Recent studies have emphasised the importance of equipping our students with
the necessary strategies to deal with activities. In this sense, children need to develop
strategies for vocabulary learning so they understand and memorize words more effectively,
discover patterns with words and know how to make guesses about the meaning of unknown
words. This will help them to become more involved in their vocabulary learning and to be
more independent.
Among these strategies, we could point out asking and answering others in English because it
fosters co-operative learning; deducing meaning from context, which is a predictive skill that
they must use in listening and reading activities; trying to get the general idea of messages
instead of trying to understand every single word; and of course, using a dictionary which is
one of the most important strategies we must teach our students since it is reflected in the FL
curriculum for Primary Education. As we know, a dictionary is an infinite source of language
and it will give them the pronunciation, grammar, spelling and meaning of words.
Conclusion
To conclude, I would like to remark that, as I have proven in this topic, the teaching and
learning of vocabulary, although it is only one subgoal of the range of goals in FLL, it plays a
key role among the language components.
It is highly important for us as teachers to make the best selection of the types of vocabulary
that we want to teach, but it is even more important to choose the best ways to teach it,
being aware of the different semantic characteristics and the needs of our particular group of
students. In addition, we must bear in mind that vocabulary is a means to socialize and
communicate with others, and that the different techniques used in learning and teaching
vocabulary should be aimed to this end.
In this topic I have focused on the difference between lexical and semantic fields in English.
Then I have given some guidelines to the selection of the vocabulary items to teach in Primary
Education. Finally, I have concentrated on the methodology to use when teaching vocabulary,
explaining the different steps to follow and their correspondent activities.

In order to develop this topic, the following bibliography has been used:
BREWSTER, J. et al. (2003): The Primary English Teachers Guide. Penguin English.
HARMER, J. (2003): The Practice of English Language Teaching. Longman.
LARSEN-FREEMAN, D. (2003): Techniques and Principles in Language Teaching. Oxford
University Press.
VARELA, R. et al. (2003): All About Teaching English. Centro de Estudios Ramn Areces.

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