ELT365 · Day 161 — Pre-teaching vocabulary — which words to unblock first

Idea — Pre-teach only the vocabulary that would block comprehension — two to four words maximum. Do not pre-teach everything unusual; that removes the inferring work learners need.

Example — For a text about surgery, pre-teach ‘anaesthetic’ if it is key to the gist. Leave every technical term for learners to infer.

Try — Read through a text you use. Identify the one or two words without which learners could not complete the gist task.

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