What Are the Most Important Words for ESL Students to Learn?
How to Choose and Teach Vocabulary Step-by-Step
Imagine that you are looking at the text for your next ESL lesson. How do you choose the vocabulary you want to teach? Which words will be the most useful for your students to learn? How many words should you include in the list for each text?
All great questions. Vocabulary is the key to understanding another language, and grammar is the context that unlocks the meaning of the vocabulary. The more words your student knows, the more they can comprehend what they hear and read. The more grammar your student knows, the easier it is to unlock and remember the meaning of the vocabulary.
Let’s answer each one of those questions, one by one.
How Do You Choose the Vocabulary You Want to Teach?
This depends on the level of your students. If they are more advanced, definitely give them a more difficult text that will stretch their vocabulary knowledge. If they are beginners, you will help them the most by pulling out common words that they will be able to use in many different situations.
The CEFR Guidelines
There is a standard guideline set by the Common English Framework of Reference for Language Learning (CEFR) which suggests how many vocabulary words the student should know at each language level.
A1 – 500
A2 – 1000
B1 – 2000
B2 – 4000
C1 – 8000
C2 – 16000
These words are generally understood to be base words, also known as lemmas. Native speakers know how to form more words with the base word, as in use, useful, useless, used, using, etc.
Which Words Will Be the Most Useful for Your Students to Learn?
It is a generally accepted rule that if students know 1000 words (the A2 level) they can understand 80% of what they read. That sounds impressive, and you can definitely encourage your students by telling them this!
These are basic words like the, buy, study, and you. These words stand a good chance of being repeated in a text, and are a logical place to start your students’ vocabulary journey. Here’s a link to a sample list of the first 1000 words. (There are many lists, with different ideas of what words are the most used.)
Are 1000 Words Enough?
The problem comes when you need more vocabulary to understand the meaning of a sentence. For example, here is Philippians 4:8 from the Contemporary English Version of the Bible:
Finally, my friends, keep your minds on whatever is true, pure, right, holy, friendly, and proper. Don’t ever stop thinking about what is truly worthwhile and worthy of praise.
Houston, We Have a Problem
Let’s see which of these words are found in our list of the first 1000 words:
…my friend(s), keep your…on what(ever) is true,…right,…friend(ly), and… Do(n’t) ever stop think(ing) about what is…and…of…
You can see three things here:
- First, without more vocabulary, we can’t understand Paul’s intention.
- Second, in the context of teaching the Bible, there will be words you need to teach, like holy and praise, that don’t appear in any conventional list of 1000 words.
- Third, teaching grammar will show your students how to expand their 1000-word list into more words, like how to add –ly to the word friend to make a new word with a different meaning.
The Oxford 3000 and Oxford 5000 Lists
The Oxford 3000 is a searchable list of the 3,000 core words that every learner of English needs to know. It was created and is maintained by Oxford University Press.
3000 words will bring your students to the B1-B2 level, according to the CEFR guidelines. This is borderline for success in everyday interactions. All the words from our sample verse, Philippians 4:8, appear in the Oxford 3000 with the exceptions of worthy and worthwhile.
The Oxford 5000 adds an extra 2,000 words for upper intermediate learners at the B2-C1 levels. Our missing words worthy and worthwhile both appear in the Oxford 5000.
How Many Words Does the English Language Have?
There is no exact count of the number of words in English. Over the centuries, as England was conquered by many different lands, English adopted words from both Latin and Germanic languages. Many times this leads to two different words that mean basically the same thing, like liberty (Latin base) and freedom (Germanic base).
Today, English is still adopting words from other languages, like “spaghetti” and “vice versa.” According to the Oxford English Dictionary, there are around 170,000 words currently in use in the English language. In contrast, the Dictionnaire de l’Académie française lists about 55,000 words for the French language.
How Many Words Does a Native English Speaker Know?
Does the average English speaker know 170,000 words? Hardly! The general consensus is that the average native speaker knows 20,000 base words and uses 5000 regularly. According to our chart, an ELL at the C2 level will know 16,000 words – a difficult task that requires years of study and immersion in the language.
So with the patience of Job, let’s tackle the gigantic task of teaching English vocabulary to our learners!
How Many Words Can You Include in the Vocabulary List for Each Lesson?
A general rule of thumb is to choose no more than five words per lesson. If you try to teach more than this, chances are good that your students will not remember all of them. Choose 5 words or fewer, and repeat them in all areas of your lesson to help your students retain the information.
How to Teach Vocabulary Step-by-Step
1. First, say the word. Since English is not a phonetic language, you run the risk of confusing your students if you write the word on the board before you tell them how it is pronounced. Have them repeat it after you.
2. Second, tell them what it means as soon as you can. If someone were trying to teach you the Swedish word hummer, the pronunciation and spelling would be meaningless unless you are able connect it to its definition and how relevant it is to your life. (Hummer in Swedish means lobster.)
3. Third, drills are always useful, though the students may or may not like them much. Write the words on the board, demonstrate pronunciation, and point to a student to repeat the word after you. (If the word has irregular pronunciation, you may wish to explain this before you go on.)
Do this several times. Move quickly. When you have gone through all the words, just point to a word without saying it. Point silently to a student, who should then say the word. Repeat several times, moving quickly.
4. Fourth, use the word in your grammar, spelling, and writing lessons as much as possible. Repetition and examples of how the word is used in real sentences will help cement the meaning of the word in the student’s mind.
5. Fifth, during your next class meeting, review previous vocabulary.
Have Fun with English Vocabulary!
Vocabulary games
There are a lot of games that students will enjoy as they reinforce the vocabulary they have learned. You can find many online, and here is a link to a few from FluentU.com.
One night, my intermediate adult class was studying suffixes. When we came to the suffix -less, we learned that it means without. We looked at normal words like childless and ageless. One student asked, “If I don’t have a car, I am carless?” We thought that was funny, so we took some extra time out of our lesson to make up words like sockless and computerless.
Take time to have fun with your lessons! Engage your students and find out from them what they need and want to learn. And most importantly, teach words from the Bible that will give them hope and bring them closer to the love of God in Christ Jesus.
Language is so interesting, how it evolves and how it is learned and used. Thank you for your prayers and your kind comments, Paola! Blessings to you and all the students you serve.
Thank you so much for this valuable resource, as an English teacher and non native English speaker, it is truly interesting to understand the process of acquiring new vocabulary and putting it into practice, mostly if you are not in an English speaking context. God bless you and give you more wisdom to help us teach and learn this fantastic language!.