Revising and recycling vocabulary with higher level students

13 July, 14.00-15.30

Revising and recycling vocabulary with higher level students

Higher-level students must navigate notoriously large amounts of vocabulary, which can leave both students and teachers feeling overwhelmed. The frustration intensifies when learners realize that they not only need to recognize new lexis in texts but also use a wide range of appropriate vocabulary in speaking and writing. The final blow comes at the C2 level, where this must be done with flexibility and precision.

We have all heard our students exclaim in desperation, “I know all these fancy words, but I can’t use them when I am speaking!” So, are we fighting a losing battle when it comes to mastering less obvious vocabulary items?

This is the question I asked myself years ago as I began teaching my first group of advanced learners. Reassuringly, my experience shows that it is indeed possible to achieve consistently correct and appropriate vocabulary use, although it’s not at all plain sailing. There are a number of factors contributing to successful vocabulary mastery, one of which is regular revision and recycling.

To explore this factor further, my talk will address the following questions:
- What is the difference between recycling and revision?
- How frequently should we incorporate them into our classes?
- How do we choose which language to revise?
- Which activities are the most effective?
- How can we reduce the amount of time we spend preparing revision activities?

We will try out several types of revision activities and evaluate them in terms of their effectiveness. As a result, participants will gain a clearer understanding of how to choose activities for their revision classes and how to sequence them within a lesson in order to make it more productive and engaging.

Speaker: Anna Arsenyeva

Anna Arsenyeva is a freelance English teacher based in Moscow. She has Over 20 years of teaching experience and is a CELTA and DELTA holder. Having taught in various contexts, she has spent the last 8 years giving classes of General English and Exam preparation to groups of higher-level students (B2-C1+). Her special interests include effective methods of teaching vocabulary and applying the principles of the Lexical approach to teaching grammar.

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