Designing some kinds of synonym/antonym exercises in order to help 10th grade students widen their range of vocabulary

Part 1. INTRODUCTION
1.1. Reason for the study 
	English is the most popular language in the world as well as in Vietnam. Therefore, a good command of English will be a huge advantage for global integration. In order to meet the requirement of this, each student while still learning at school needs to have a certain level of English. 
The Synonyms and Antonyms form an integral part of the English language. Acquaintance with the vocabulary of the English language is a necessity for effective expression either in the written or in the oral from. In the latest format of the national examinations for GCSE, the kind of questions related to antonym/synonym or closest/opposite in meaning makes up about 16% (8/50 questions). What’s more important, key words in reading comprehension questions often appear in its synonym form rather than the exact words taken from the reaing text. Having a wide range of synonym/antonym is very important for students to score well in reading comprehension section, which accounts for 30% of the whole test (15/50 questions). However, this kind of vocabulary is not usually taught and reviewed as other ones. As a result, students’ knowledge of this part is rather limited and they don’t have much experience in doing related exercises.
In practice, there are few exercises related to synonyms and antonyms in students’textbooks, workbooks. In addition, there are not many useful references for teachers about this kind of exercise.
From the rationales mentioned above, I have decided to write my own experience initiative on the topic “Designing some kinds of synonym/antonym exercises in order to help 10th grade students widen their range of vocabulary”.
1.2. Aim of the study
	With this experience initiative, I wish to help my students enrich their vocabulary, especially the one about synonyms/antonyms. Besides, I would like my students to familiarize with these kinds of exercises gradually, then become skilled in doing them and finally score better in all examinations. Furthermore, through this experience initiative, I hope to contribute some ideas on issues related to the teaching of the synonym/antonymm to the teaching experience sources for my colleagues to use as a reference in their teaching English.
1.3. Objective and Scope of the study
	In this experience initiative, I provide variety of exercises on ‘closest/opposite in meaning’ to help students practise and revise. 
	The topic was studied in the English programme at high school level - the basic English textbooks. It is applied to grade-10 students at Yen Dinh 2 High School in the school-year 2016-2017 to prepare them for the national high – school examination and other ones.
1.4. Methodology of the study:
	The experience inititative has been studied based on my own practical teaching experiences, referring to documents related to the research topic, observing other teachers’ lessons, and consulting my colleagues.
Part 2. CONTENT
2.1.Theoretical background 
	It is said in an article on “The essentials of vocabulary teaching: from theory to practice” by Aleidine J.Moeller, Olha Ketsman, Leyla Masmaliyeva from University of Nebraska Lincoln:
“Vocabulary is central to the learning and teaching of a second language as it affords learners access to all forms of oral and written communication that includes literature, music and content knowledge. Word knowledge is power as words serve as building blocks to learning... One of the major roles of the teacher then becomes to assist students to learn vocabulary as well as to equip them with strategies for learning words.” [1].
	Teaching vocabulary through using similar/oppposite words is effective as it helps students to learn two (even three or four..) words at the same time. It is also easy for students to remember the words/phrases as they are associated in meaning.
2.2 The state before applying solution
Through conversation and discussion with colleagues, as well as 50 students surveyed in class 10B5; 10B9. I realized the state of foreign language teaching and learning in Yen Dinh 2 school as follows: 
 + The teachers
 In general, most teachers are enthusiastic in their work and eager to learn and use new methods in teaching new lexical items. However, some teachers are still timid in innovation, or lazy in designing the lecture in different methods, they just teach vocabulary in the traditional ways, also the simplest ans easiest: presentation and translation. 
 + To the students
 According to statistics from the survey at the beginning of the school year, 70% of the students said that English is difficult; especially its vocabulary is very difficult to remember and apply. Exercises on synonym and antonym are rather new to grade 10 students. 
2.3. Solutions to solve the problem:
2.3.1 Defition of the synonyms and antonyms	
Synonym is nothing but the similar meaning of a particular word or its semantic relation. So, it is a word or a phrase that means the same as another word or a phrase in the same language. 
Antonyms are the negative connotation of a particular word. An Antonym is a word or phrase that is opposite in meaning to a particular word or a phrase in the same language. 
(1) From “The essentials of vocabulary teaching: from theory to practice” by Aleidine J.Moeller, Olha Ketsman, Leyla Masmaliyeva
Both synonyms and antonyms are divided into two categories: complete synonyms/antonyms and partial ones. The former are completely the same/opposite in meanings and can replace each other in most contexts. The latter consists of the 
words which are similar/opposite in meaning but different in style, manner or grade When using the words in the second group; students have to take these factors into consideration.
2.3.2. Some principles of teaching synonyms/antonyms
	Teaching vocabulary is a daily activity, which happens in almost all English lessons. To help students enrich their range of synonyms/antonyms, teachers have to make their teaching meaning with synonyms/antonyms become a frequent activity. There are some principles teacher need to remember when teaching synonyms/antonyms:
	+ Teachers should teach only a limited number of lexical items at one time.
	+ New words should be provided in various contexts so that students know how to use the them appropriately.
	+ Teachers should make clear to students about the strategies to do the tasks on synonyms/antonyms, among which the most important one is to guess meaning from context. The teacher should always assist students in learning to recognize clues to guessing word meaning from contexts.This vocabulay learning is effective for learning low-frequency vocabulary.
Here are the methods in assisting students guessing meaning from contexts.
Definition : a definition gives the meaning of words. The writer may use phrases or statements to define something. The key words used to provide a definition are: “is/are known as”, ‘is/are described as”, ‘/is/are defined as’...
Restatements: The writer may use other words, phrases or sentences to provide meaning of difficult words. The key words used in restating somethings are: “in other words”, “that is” and “that is to say”.
Punctuation marks: the writer uses punctuation marks to describe the meaning of unfamiliar words. The writer will write unfamiliar words and then use punctuation, words, phrases or sentences to explain new word. Punctuation marks such as comma (,), parentheses (), semi-colon (;) and colon (:). E.g. Family members (siblings) should always stick together.
Examples: Examples help learners to understand the meaning of new words. Key words: such as, like, for example, for instance, is/are, are used by the author.
Contrast: -constrast show the opposite meaning of new words. Key words – but, instead of, even though, in contrast to, yet, in spite of ... are used by the author.
Similarity: -the writer uses the signal words of similarity. Key words: like, similarly, in the same way, as and just as.
Surrounding words: Words surrounding the new vocabulary might provide clues to the meaning of new words. For example: The alarm goes off at 4.30. I get up and go down to the kitchen... (Unit 1)
Background knowledge: -experience and background knowledge about the text play an important role in vocabulary comprehension. For that reason it is important for teachers to do schema-building before learners read the text.
2.3.3. Designing different kinds of exercises
	Designing different kinds of exercises is the duty of every teacher after lessons in class to help students revise and reinforce what they have learned. While planning exercises, teacher must focus on what students learn in class and the exercises should be diversified from low level to higher ones in order to be suitable for different students and draw thei interest. 
Type 1. Matching exercise.
This is the simplest kind of exercises. It is also quite easy for teachers to design. 
Unit 1: A DAY IN THE LIFE OF 
Exercise 1. Match the word in column A with its synonym in colum B.
A
B
1. arrive
a. buy
2. contented
b. joyful
3. purchase
c. relaxed
4. modern
d. keen
5. comfortable
e. full
6. crowded
f. terrifying
7. cheerful 
g. appear
8. panic
h. rather
9. frightening
i. contemporary
10. interested
j. weary 
11. tired
k. satisfied
12. quite
l. horror
Key. 1.g	2. k	3. a	4.i	5.c	6.e	7.b	8.l	9.f	10.d	11.j	12.h
Exercise 2. Match the word in column A with its antonym in colum B.
A
B
1. arrive
a. central
2. contented
b. never
3. local
c. boring
4. boil
d. loosen
5. interesting
e. finish
6. purchase
f. safety
7. begin 
g. freeze
8. fasten
h. expensive
9. danger
i. unhappy
10. cheap
j. late
11. always
k. leave
12. early
l. sell
Key: 1.k	2.i	3.a	4.g	5.c	6.l	7.e	8.d	9.f	10.h	11.b	12.j
Unit 3: People’s background
Exercise 1. Match the word in column A with its synonym in colum B.
A
B
1. happen
a. inquire
2. comprehend
b. require
3. establish
c. assist
4. chance
d. some
5. receive
e. occur
6. anser
f. doctor
7. several 
g. found
8. physician
h. opportunity
9. need
i. telephone
10. help
j. response 
11. ask
k. understand
12. call
l. get
Key: 1.e	2.k	3.g	4.h	5.l	6.j	7.d	8.f	9.b	10.c	11.a	12.i
Exercise 2. Match the word in column A with its antonym in colum B.
A
B
1. build
a. open
2. correct
b. imaginary
3. succeed
c. minor
4. difficult
d. lose
5. start
e. refuse
6. real
f. demolish
7. defeat 
g. easy
8. major
h. fail
9. accept
i. end
10. shut
j. wrong
Key: 1.f	2.j	3.h	4.g	5.i	6.b	7.d	8.c	9.e	10.a
Unit 5: Technology and you
Exercise 1. Match the word in column A with its synonym in colum B.
A
B
1. produce
a. permit
2. perfect
b. comprehend
3. allow
c. tool
4. mysterious
d. neat
5. device
e. phone
6. participant
f. place
7. understand
g. create
8. select
h. artificial
9. put
i. strange
10. tidy
j. choose
11. man-made
k. complete
12. call
l. contestant
Key:	1.g	2. K	3.a	4.i	5.c	6.l	7.b	8.j	9.f	10.d	11.h	12.e
Exercise 2. Match the word in column A with its antonym in colum B.
A
B
1. send
a. mundane
2. foreign
b. ugly
3. miraculous
c. normal
4. personal
d. empty
5. strange
e. native
6. beautiful
f. push
7. helpful
g. clean
8. pull
h. uncertain
9. insert
i. receive
10. sure
j. public
11. full
k.erect
12.dirty
l.unhelpful
Key: 1.i	2.e	3.a	4.j	5.c	6.b	7.l	8.f	9.k	10.h	11.d	12.g
Unit 9: Undersea world
Exercise 1. Match the word in column A with its synonym in colum B.
A
B
1. breathe
a. decrease
2. threat
b. enroll
3. affect
c. attractive
4. way
d. device
5. reduce
e. aquatic
6. litter
f. influence
7. join
g. garbage
8. protect
h. respire
9. tool
i. supply
10. provide
j. manner
11. marine
k. defend
12. fascinating
l. menace
Key: 1.h	2.l	3.f	4.j	5.a	6. G	7.b	8.k	9.d	10.j	11.e	12.c 
Exercise 2. Match the word in column A with its antonym in colum B.
A
B
1. drop
a. worthless
2. precious
b. ordinary
3. major
c. stupid
4. sympathy
d. deliberate
5. special
e. minor
6. dangerous
f. rise
7. intelligent 
g. decrease
8. increase
h. primitive
9. accidental
i. incomprehension
10. sophisticated
j. safe
Key: 1.f	2.a	3.e	4.i	5.b	6.j	7.c	8.g	9.d	10.h
Type 2. “Odd one out” 
To do this kind of exercise, students have to recognize one words/phrase which is different from others in meaning.
Unit 1. A day in the life of.
Exercise 1: Find one word/phrase that is different in meaning from the others.
1. interested in, keen on, fond of, excited about, engrossed in, absorbed in 
2. danger, damage, menace, risk, threat, jeopardy
3. arrive, turn up, reach, get there, go..
4. contented, satisfied, pleased, gratified, disappointed, fulfilled
5. frightening, terrifying, fascinating, scary, 
Key: 	1.excited about	2.damage	3. go	4. disappointed	
5. fascinating	
Unit 10. Conservation
1. Variety, limit, diversity, range
2. Polluted, contaminated, clean, dirty
3. supply, provide, make available, produce
4. protect, shield, guard, attack, defend 
5. preserve,destroy, wipe out, devastate, demolish
6. species, class, sort, type, insect, group
7. at rest, in danger, under threat, at risk
8. eliminate, conserve, kill, do away with, remove
Key: 1.limit	2. Clean	3. Produce	4.attack	
5.preserve	6. insect	7.at rest	8.conserve	
Unit 12: Music
	1.emotions, feelings,sentiments, love
	2. delight,please, sadden, gratify, make happy
	3. integral, vital, insignificant, important, essential
	4. convey, conceal, express, communicate,show
5. means, way, method,road
6. solemn, cheerful, serious, formal.
Key: 1. Love	2. Sadden	3. Insignificant
	4. conceal	5. Road	6. cheerful
Type 3. Multiple- choice questions.
This is the most useful kind of exercise as the target word/phrase appears in its context. Students have to guess the meaning of the words/phrases based on the context. In different contexts, each word has a different synonym/antonym. Teachers should get students to do this type of exercise frequently.
Choose the best word/phrase that is CLOSEST in meaning to the underlined part in each of the following questions. 
Unit 1. A day in the life of  
1 . John isn't content with his present salary.
	A. excited about	B. satisfied with	
C. disappointed about	D. interested in
2. We seldom see each other anymore.
	A. sometimes	B. occasionally	C. frequently	D. rarely
3. She purchased a number of shares in the company.
	A. invested	B. sold	C. exchanged	D. bought
4. She got up as soon as the alarm clock went off
	A. rang	B. broke	C. called	D. shouted
5. We had a nice chat over a cup of tea.
	A. formal talk	B. informal talk	C. serious talk	D. long talk
6. It was a difficult tune, but we never gave up hope.
	A. stopped	B. continued	C. had	D. offered
7. The station has just announced that the train will not arrive until late in the afternoon.
	A. made a speech	B. decided	
C. made known publicly	D. apologised
Key: 1. B	2. D	3.D	4. A	5. B	6. A	7. C
Unit 9. Undersea world
1. Dolphins are fascinating to many people.
	A. threatening	B. attractive and interesting
	C. dangerous	D. frightening
2. There have been many stories about dolphins rescuing people at sea.
	A. saving	B. carrying	C. helping	D. protecting
3. Some scientist believe that dolphins should be left to live in their natural habitat.
	A. behaviors	B. population	C. ecology	D. environment
4. Playing with dolphins is believed to help improve the life quality of people with health problems.
	A. increase	B. prolong	C. make better	D. strengthen
5. Some specialists say that contact with people changes dolphins’ behavior, and this is not good for them.
	A. eating habits	B. way of thinking	C. way of acting	D. actions	
Key: 1. B	2.A	3.D	4. C	5. B 
Unit 10. Conservation
1. Try to eliminate fatty foods from your diet.
	A. limit	B. get rid of	C. move	 	 D. add
2. This channel allows rainwater to run off.
	A. keep inside	B. move around	C. flow into	D. flow out of
3. Water can be held on the land by vegetation.
	A. plants used as food	B. grown trees
	C. the growth of plants	D. plants and trees
4. The cattle drank from a river polluted with toxic chemicals.
	A. waste	B. colorless	C. odorless	D. poisonous
5. When the wastes are poured into the atmosphere, the air becomes contaminated and unpleasant to breathe.
	A. dense	B. dirty	C. upon	D. with
6. Many people come to the national parks to see the work being done to protect endangered species.
	A. plants or animals that may be dangerous to people
	B. plants or animals that disappeared from the world
	C. plants or animals that are about to die
	D. plants or animals that may soon become extinct
7. This park is the orphanage where lots of orphaned and abandoned animals are taken care of.
	A. looked after	B. involved in	C. dealt with	D. moved in
8. The hydroelectric plant provides electricity for half the island's population.
A. using hydrogen to produce electricity
B. using radiating energy to produce electricity
C. using water power to produce electricity
D. using tidal power to produce electricity
Key: 1. B	2.D	3. D	4. D	5. B	6. D	7. A	8. C
Unit 14.
1. The Federation International de Football (FIFA) was founded in 1904.
	A. established	B. discovered	C. made up	D. completed
2. Teams from some 200 countries participated in the games.
	A. about/take place	B. a few/ join	
C. certain/ take part	D. about/ take part
3. The women’s World Cup has gained popularity since 1991.
	A. found	B. obtained	C. lost	D. experienced
4. The team was eleminated from the game in the semi-finals.
	A. given up	B. defeated	C. excluded	D. prevented
5. Scotland met Wales in the final at Twickenham.
	A. at the end	B. in the closing, match
	C. in the last match 	D. in the decisive match
6. The tournament is to be jointly hosted by India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. 
 	A. combining many people or groups 
	B. connecting two or more people or groups
	C. becoming a group of people.	
	D. involving two or more people or groups
Key: 1. A	2. D	3.B	4. C	5. C	6. D
Unit 16. Historical places.
1. Kyoto became the new base of the Japanese imperial family.
A.royal	B. wealthy	C. noble	D. powerful
2. All the pillars of the old house were carved with ornamental designs.
	 A. written	B. engraved	C. painted	D. decorated
3. Few businesses are flourishing in the present economic climate.	
	A. growing well	B. setting up	C. closing down 	D. taking off
4. President Ho Chi Minh's Mausoleum was built in September 1973 and completed in August 1975.
	A. a large impressive tomb	B. a house on stilts.
	C. a very large building	D. a catacomb.
5. His novels were originally published in serial form in a magazine.
	A. actually	B. unusually	C. truly	D. initially
Key: 1. A	2. B	3. A	4. A	5. D
Type 4. Replacement
Students have to remember the synonyms and their spellings.
Unit 1. A day in the life of 
Exercise: Replace the underlined word or phrases with its synonyms
1. When did the plane take off? 	
2. The thieves ran away when the burglar alarm went off.	
3. Let's take a break. We'll go on when you are ready	
4. She laughed and chatted happily with other women
5. Did anyone see Sue getting on the bus?	
6. I've given up trying to understand her.	
7. We had trouble putting up the tent in the dark.	
8. Fire fighters soon put out the fire
Key:
1.leave the ground	2. Rang	3.continue	
4. talked in a frienfly way	5. Getting into	6.stopped	
7. building	8. Made stop burning
Unit 4. 
Exercise: Replace the underlined word or phrases with its synonyms
1. Some of the more time consuming jobs can now be done by machines.
2. The President expressed his deep sorrow over the bombing deaths.
3. In spite of her deafness, she played the violin very well.
4. The child seemed unable to speak because he was in fact deaf.
5. It’s a remarkable event that you and your father weren’t killed in the tragic accident.
6. The boy was unable to us