“海外传真”栏目针对外语教学中的焦点问题,介绍国外语言教学专家和一线教师的最新研究成果和实践经验。本期关注词汇教学，向读者介绍国外词汇教学的最新进展。　　---------------------------------　　The Internet TESL Journal　　Using Situation Comedy to Enrich Learners' Vocabulary　　　　摘要 观看情景喜剧是辅助词汇教学的有效方法。本文作者详细介绍了在课堂教学中运用情景喜剧组织学生进行词汇学习的方法。　　IN a college course of reading and vocabulary I used a TV sitcom (situation comedy) show, Everybody Loves Raymond, to build up my students' vocabulary.　　The comedy creates an intriguing and relaxing learning environment in which the students learn not just English words but also culture, humor and body language. After the activity, almost all the students agreed that the activity was an effective way to develop their vocabulary. The following is how I conduct the activity.　　Step 1: Watch the Sitcom　　To start the activity, the teacher plays the DVD with English subtitles and allows students to watch the show on their own computer screens. While watching, each student is required to jot down at least three English words or phrases.　　Step 2: List the Vocabulary　　After watching, the students are asked to list on the board the words they picked out from the show. To facilitate this, the teacher divides the students into halves and divides the board into three portions. The students who sit on the left-hand side of the classroom write their vocabulary on the left portion of the board whereas those at the right write theirs on the right. The middle portion of the board is for the teacher to select vocabulary from the students' lists for a follow-up open discussion.　　Step 3: Discuss the Vocabulary　　The teacher chooses five words from the left side of the board and another five from the right side. The ten words will be discussed by the whole class according to their meanings in the context of the situation comedy.　　Defining Words: What Can Teachers and Students Do? 　　　　摘要 教师教授词汇时，应帮助学生更有效地理解单词的意义。本文作者提出三种方式:提醒学生注意单词用法、指导学生有效利用词典及提高课外学习资源利用率。　　THE process of learning a new word can be a long one. Between encountering a word for the first time and being able to use the word in speaking and writing, students must acquire many different kinds of knowledge about the word. The first step is to look for a definition. How can teachers help students define words?　　Raise Awareness of the Different Parts of Word Knowledge　　While we want students to have a breadth of vocabulary, we also want students to gain a depth of word knowledge. Without knowledge of how to use a word appropriately, students will not be able to produce the word in speaking or writing. So teachers should teach different elements of word learning (Who says this word? Where is it said? What words occur with it?), remind students that word learning is complex and takes time, and have students keep a word log with the different parts of word knowledge (e.g., grammatical constraints of the word, associated words, example sentences).　　Show Students How to Be a Better Dictionary User　　A dictionary can be a powerful vocabulary learning tool, but many students have never been taught how to use one effectively. Teachers can encourage students to choose a dictionary that fits their needs and teach students to mine as much information as possible from a dictionary entry (pronunciation, grammar usage, synonyms or antonyms).　　Push Students to Become Active Word Learners　　The majority of word acquisition will occur outside the classroom. The more one knows about a word, the more one will notice it being used in real world situations. Therefore, teachers should encourage students to take advantage of non-dictionary sources (native speakers, TV, radio, newspapers) and remind students of the effects of word learning on other language tasks; for example, even small gains in a learner's word bank will improve reading comprehension.　　www.teachingenglish.org.uk　　Working With Vocabulary 　　　　摘要 教师在教授词汇时，不仅要让学生了解单词的字面意义，还要让其了解单词的言外之意，以及单词在不同文化中的含义。　　VOCABULARY is crucial for getting meaning from a written or oral text. When teaching vocabulary it is necessary to consider aspects like denotation, polysemy, connotation and sociocultural aspects so that learners are able to get meaning from texts.　　Denotation and polysemy　　The meaning of a word is primarily what it refers to in the real world, its denotation. In fact, one word in English often has more than one denotation. This phenomenon is called polysemy. To solve this problem of polysemy, students need to see and practise words in context, since it is the context that allows them to understand the meaning of a word.　　Connotation　　Connotation, on the other hand, refers to the associations, or positive or negative feelings it evokes, which may or may not be indicated in a dictionary definition. This means that words can suggest different things depending on the context they occur in. Teachers can ask students to give their own connotations for particular words or classify words with positive, neutral or pejorative associations, etc.　　Sociocultural context　　Learning a language involves understanding and interpreting the culture of which it is part. It is important for students to develop the ability to interpret texts from perspectives other than their own. Teachers should ask students to compare words and expressions used in various types of English, focus on sociocultural lexical items or ask them to comment on the sociocultural associations of lexis in a given text.　　Remembering Vocabulary　　　　摘要 遗忘是学生学习词汇时感到十分烦恼的问题。教师应对学生进行一系列训练来帮助其建立对词汇的长期记忆。　　THERE are many things teachers can do to make the learning process more memorable for the learners. Using pictures, interesting contexts and stories can help memory and giving the students the opportunity to practise new vocabulary in personalised and meaningful tasks are also essential tools. The idea is that if the students are asked to analyse and react personally to new information, it will help them process the language more deeply, facilitating their ability to retain it in their long term memory.　　Teachers should raise the students' awareness of the difficulties they will have remembering, and highlight what they can do. You can tell them some of the following:　　* Try to use the new words either in class, for homework or in some other way.　　* Look out for the words and expressions you are trying to learn when you are reading or listening to English.　　* Write short stories or paragraphs connecting the words and expressions that you want to learn.　　* Write personalised sentences using the new words, something that is relevant to your life.　　* Keep the words you want to learn in a small notebook with an example sentence. You can then take it with you wherever you go and when you have a few minutes (whilst waiting for a bus), test yourself.　　It would be very beneficial to point out to the students that they should revise the vocabulary themselves at regular intervals, e.g. looking again the next day, in the next two days, etc.