Teaching vocabulary for A2 level learners with Communicative Approach

Word lists

Several word lists have been developed to provide people with a limited vocabulary either for the purpose of rapid language proficiency or for effective communication. These include Basic English (850 words), Special English (1,500 words), General Service List (2,000 words), and Academic Word List. Some learner's dictionaries have developed defining vocabularies which contain only most common and basic words. As a result, word definitions in such dictionaries can be understood even by learners with a limited vocabulary. Some publishers produce dictionaries based on word frequency or thematic groups.
Visuals and realia
One of the most effective ways of teaching vocabulary is to show students the word. Concrete words (mostly nouns) can usually be conveyed through pictures or realia (real objects). For example, a word like chair (as a noun) is quite easy to teach, by pointing to a chair or by showing a picture. Likewise, related words such as stool, armchair, sofa, deckchair, etc can be taught in a similar way and the distinction between each made relatively clear. Even some abstract words can often be conveyed using visuals – for example, a picture of a man and woman plus a heart could be used to convey the word love.
Mime and anecdotes
Visuals and realia are usually limited to concrete words and are probably ineffectual when it comes to more abstract notions and even some basic areas of vocabulary such as verbs, adverbs and adjectives. However, these three areas of vocabulary do lend themselves to mime and anecdotes.
It is relatively easy to mime words such as run and walk and even to differentiate between words that belong to the same group but have quite fundamental differences in meaning, e.g. run, walk, stroll, sprint, jog, wander, etc. It is also relatively easy to use mime to teach adverbs of manner, i.e. quickly, slowly, happily, etc. Getting students to mime various actions in a particular manner is great fun and a good way of making the adverbs memorable.
Another way of presenting vocabulary is to tell a short anecdote containing the new words. This gives the words a context and helps students understand not only the core meaning, but also how the words might be used. It’s also quite simple to recycle the words within an anecdote so that students hear the same word more than once. The more times students hear a word, the more likely they are to remember it. Repetition is quite natural in anecdotes and so does not seem out of place.