Students are greatly influenced by the media for their vocabulary base. As teachers, we can have a large impact by modeling new and relevant words to our students.
Student’s vocabulary base is rich if you are talking about music and computer lingo. Student’s know the meaning of bling bling, and lol but will give teachers blank spaces with words such as polygon and verbose. Students pick up words quickly if they are able to relate the word.
However, students retain little scientific, mathematical, or proper English because many are unable to relate to the language and it is used sparingly in the classroom and in the home. Students will build their vocabulary base unconsciously if they continually hear a word in an assortment of scenarios.
The word bling bling was introduced about 10 years ago and is know found in many dictionaries. The word only became popular because it was being used in a variety of settings even though the meaning is the same.
Before introducing new words to students begin to improve their vocabulary by using the words on a more continual basis in everyday conversation. At the time, you do introduce new words they may have a vague idea of the word and be more willing to use it in their everyday language.
As well, dust the dictionaries and thesauruses and have them on the students’ desk. The old saying ‘out of sight, out of mind’ is very true. Students need to be continually encouraged to use the dictionary. There are a variety of interesting and fun ways to improve students’ dictionary skills.
Students are sponges that will develop their language based on the language being used on a daily basis. It is imperative teachers use a well rounded vocabulary base in formal and informal settings with students. If a student does not know a word, introduce the dictionary or have them guess based on how it was used in the sentence.
