Context and Meaning

What techniques would you use to teach the following?
Smooth- Bring in realia example soap bar, hand lotion.
To go out on a date- Using pictures illustrating couples on a date night at the movies, fancy restaurants etc. Harmful- Using pictures illustrating a man smoking, or other hazardous liquids that may be ingested by accident. Silverware- Bring in realia and pictures of the silverwares. To dance- Use own body example select a student to dance briefly with you.

Watermelon- Bring in realia and pictures of the watermelon
What are some advantages and disadvantages of using authentic materials to provide contexts for teaching meaning? Using authentic materials in the classroom is significant for many reasons, amongst which, students are exposed to real discourse, as in videos of interviews with famous people where intermediate students listen for gist. Authentic materials can keep students informed about what is happening in the world, so they have an intrinsic educational value too. Books, articles, newspapers etc. also contain a wide variety of text types and language styles not easily found in conventional teaching materials. They can encourage reading for pleasure because they are likely to contain topics of interest to learners, especially if students are given the chance to have a say about the topics or kinds of authentic materials to be used in class.

On the other hand, the disadvantages of using authentic materials are, the vocabulary might not be relevant to the student’s immediate needs and there may be too many mixed structures so lower level students may have a hard time decoding the texts. Finally, special preparation is also needed when authentic materials are used, so it can be time consuming for the teacher. Find an article, story or create a text of your own (a paragraph is sufficient) that could provide a context for teaching vocabulary. Identify the level for which it would be appropriate. Then identify 5 to 8 vocabulary words and describe how you would teach them. Flappy Bird creator removes game from app stores

(excerpt taken from http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology)
Flappy Bird is flapping its wings no more.
The popular game for mobile devices was removed from online stores on Sunday by its Vietnamese creator, who said its fame “ruins my simple life”. Dong Nguyen, who created the game in just two to three days, was making as much as $50,000 (£30,482) a day from the game’s advertising revenue. Topic: Flappy Bird

Level: Intermediate
Vocabulary: 1. bird
2. wings3. game4. mobile5. popularIn order for me to teach the words, it is vital for me to get across the meaning of each item clearly and to ensure that my students have understood correctly with checking questions. The students also need to know how to pronounce it properly. In terms of presenting the vocabularies, I will use a combination of these techniques to ensure that it is helpful and memorable to my students. IllustrationThis is very useful for more concrete words (mobile, bird, wings, game) and for visual learners. It has its limits though, as not all items can be drawn. Synonyms/Antonyms

Using the words a student already knows can be effective for getting the meaning across. DefinitionMake sure that it is clear (maybe check in a learner dictionary). Remember to ask CCQ questions to check that they have understood properly. ContextThink of a clear context when the word is used and either describe it to the students or give them example sentences to clarify meaning further.