Two Approaches for Teaching Vocabulary

Today we learned about two approaches for teaching vocabulary: the present and learn and the Learning through Input Approach. You can see a PowerPoint presentation of the approaches here. I would like to tell you about the strengths and weaknesses of each approach as well as the approach I would use as a Junior High School English teacher.


First, I will talk about the strengths and weaknesses of the Teaching and Learn Approach.

◇the strengths
・ It is little time that teachers explain and a lot of time that students practice and talk.
・ Students can understand with Japanese.
・ If teachers use flash cards, they can use many times .
・ Students can repeatedly see the new words.

◇the weaknesses
・ Students are immidiately bored by memorizing and studying.
・ There is no variety things , so the classes are unchanging if teachers take up various teaching materials.

Second, I will talk about the strengths and weaknesses of the Learning through Input Approach.

◇the strengths
・ Students can understand easily because of using cards or charts.
・ If teachers use simple things or contents, they can guess and translate new words.
・ They can repeatedly listen to new words.

◇the weaknesses
・ Teachers talk too much in the foreign language and the class is like a lecture in university. So, some students who aren't interested in it may be passive.
・ It is a lot of time that teachers explain and little time that students practice and talk.

Lastly as a junior high school English teacher I would fovor the Learning through Input Approach a hybird.

Improving Activities

I am going to review two of the "typical Japanese junior high school"communicative activities presented in ETM 3.
The activities I am going to improve are the matching game and the questionnarie.

First, we had better use the macching game with any clear sense of perpose.
For example, when children have to decide a camping schedule which is a school event, they look for a person who has same ideas using the game.
But, we have to change easily if children use and do like this.

Second, the questionaarrie is too simple.
So, we must add more activities to it.
For instance, after this activity, a teacher asks, " Which baseball team does Ken like?" (Ken is a class mate.)
If Hirosi answers the question, he asks, " What color does Kumi like?"
Then, a person who answers a question makes questions.
Students have to talk and conversation with a lot of classmates to answer.
In this way, they can ask and answer well.

My Important Things

I am so sorry to be late the HW, because my computer was not working well.


I have three things which are important.

First is family.
My family members are powerful and have each hobbies.
Father's is recreation for children and old people, mother's is running after my younger brother to watch his baseball games, and brother's is playing baseball. He is a captain of the club.
They live freely, but they think each other so much.
Basically, one person thinks, decides and does by oneself.
But, we help when mother is busy with making dinner, we consider when brother doesn't speak.
We give indirect aid each other. I love them.

Second is a friend.
Because I like to communicate with a lot of people, I have many friends.
They have various personality, especially clear own ideas.
If I was puzzled or worried, they listened to my talk and told me some advices.
They are like my teacher in my life.

Third is experiences.
This is essential to my life, too.
When I was JHS student, I underwent great pain for me.
Those days, it was too painful.
But it is a good experience now.
So, if it happened bad occurrences, these will become good in the future, I think.