THIS BOOK (Vocabulary in Context) follows basically the same linguistic and pedagogical principles that were followed in earlier editions of the Lessons in Vocabulary of the Intensive Course in English. Thus, it embodies much of the methodology of Charles C. Fries, Robert Lado, and their many co-workers, who produced the original Institute textbooks. The application of the structural approach to the design of oral drills in vocabulary was mainly the work of Edward M. Anthony. As a result of the revision that has been going on without interruption since 1956, the present volume must be considered an entirely new work. All of the material has been thoroughly tested in the classroom. The chief aim has been to bring these lessons into closer coordination with the revised editions of the Grammar and Pattern Practice books, which are published separately as part of the Intensive Course in English.
The Introduction for the Teacher summarizes the principles on which the lessons are based and provides specific suggestions for their use.
[/B]Teacher's Introduction][/B]
This text is one part of "An Intensive Course in English." The other three parts emphasize the mastery of English sounds (Pronunciation), grammatical structures (Sentence Patterns), and the formation of automatic habits (Pattern Practices), This one emphasizes the development of skill in using those sounds, structures, and habits in everyday situations. It should, therefore, be used in conjunction with the other three. One of the principles of "An Intensive Course in English" is that the teacher should begin with a structural point and work toward situations in which it occurs. This structural approach has two advantages. First, the lessons can deal primarily with such things as tense, verb categories, noun categories, and groups of function words. Second, the lessons can follow a systematic development of the essential grammatical framework. In this text one of the main roles of vocabulary is to provide a few situations in which the structural points learned in other parts of the course occur. Another is to anticipate the items that will be needed in teaching grammatical structures. The third is to review and expand the use of items and structures already taught, adding additional lexical material within this framework. The primary device for presenting vocabulary material in these lessons is the dialogue. It not only provides flexibility in combining structures and lexical items to form situations but also is a very effective device for stimulating conversation. The procedure regularly followed in presenting new material is as follows: attention pointer, presentation, generalization, practice. The attention pointer is used to call attention to the lexical area or patterns that are taught. The presentation is a conversation in which the items being taught are illustrated and defined by context.
A "Situation" often provides the setting. The structures in the corresponding grammar lesson generally form the underlying framework of the conversation; structures taught previously may also be included. As for lexical items, in addition to those being taught, there may also be items taught previously, items being anticipated, items closely related to another item, and conventional phrases.
A generalization is included as a "Note" when it seems necessary to bring out a specific point about the lexical items being taught. When the items are either defined in the presentation or are groups of words related to a special topic, such as foods, professions, or sizes, the generalization is omitted. The practice is usually a drill exercise. It is aimed at increasing the student's fluency in using both the grammatical structures being reinforced and the lexical items being taught. For the most part, the practice is a conversation between the teacher and a student, the teacher asking questions that apply to the student's own situation. When a special problem is taught, one based on contrastive analysis (make-do, try-intend, know-meet), it is usually followed by a test exercise, one in which the two items are contrasted in various contexts. Each lesson consists of three or more different teaching points. In addition, the first nine lessons contain review and summary dialogues; the student should be encouraged to memorize these. Beginning with Lesson XI, review questions replace the dialogues. Lessons X, XX, and XXX are review lessons.
The first lessons treat general cultural areas; the last lessons treat such large technical areas as the university, geography, government, and politics. The focus shifts from simple conversations in the first lessons to comprehension passages in the last lessons. Several word-building affixes are taught and two-word verbs are given special emphasis, particularly in the last ten lessons. Written homework is suggested at the end of the first ten lessons to encourage the student to think in English and develop his command of the material and situations covered. The review questions provided in the remaining lessons may also be written out by the student or gone over in class. The last ten lessons provide topics which can be used as a basis for elementary compositions. There are a few guidelines that the teacher might keep in mind.
First of all, only a minimum of vocabulary items (and only the principal meanings of each) have been treated; the teacher is encouraged to expand this minimum to meet the requirements of his specific teaching situation. Second, the lessons are not word-centered nor definition-centered. They emphasize usage, that is, development of the student's ability to use vocabulary items in free and meaningful conversation. Third, the lessons are written for intermediate students who have had some contact with English, visual or otherwise, but who have had little opportunity to converse in it. Accordingly, classroom work should be entirely oral. Fourth, the style of English presented is polite colloquial, not formal and not slang.
Student's Introduction
1. These lessons are different from most vocabulary lessons. They do not teach words. They teach HOW TO USE words. They teach CONVERSATION.
2. The lessons are not for a particular language background They teach situations that every student must learn.
3. The lessons are for intermediate students. They are for students who have learned some English, but who have had little opportunity to use it.
4. Your other classes teach sentence patterns and pronunciation. This class teaches you to use those skills in specific situations-greeting friends, eating, shopping, asking directions, etc.
5. You may think, "I already know these words." BUT, can you use them? You have, of course, seen or read or heard some of the words taught in these lessons, but have you spoken them? Have YOU used them in conversations? There are probably a few new expressions in each lesson that you do not know. There are probably a few more that you think are the same as words in your language; you will discover that they are quite different.
6. The lessons provide only a few expressions for each situation. You can help your teacher and yourself by studying the situations and asking questions.
7. You should memorize the Summary Dialogues and the Review Dialogues. You should also learn the conversations; these have lines drawn around them. When you learn the conversations and memorize the dialogues, always practice them with your classmates and your friends. Conversation requires at least TWO people.
