Controlling your vocabulary
As a new instructor in training it has been suggested by my training manager, and upon reflection I agree, that I should bring the level of my vocabulary down a notch or two. How would you suggest that I find alternatives for the words and phrases that naturally pop into my mind when describing course material?
Hi John,
One of the ways we have found that help with vocabulary is to put the key words and phrases on PowerPoint. Then as you lecture through content you are seeing the words on the screen and you can use these words instead of those that are at a higher level and which you are used to using. As you develop your instructional delivery skills you will get more comfortable with the words that are at the appropriate level of your students.
Your situation is not uncommon with instructors coming right out of the field. The other problem that often occurs is the use of jargon. Each field has it and instructors are so used to using it they overwhelm the students with it before they have developed the basic vocabulary of the field.
Gary
I definitely encounter difficulties controlling my vocabulary, both because I have a habit of speaking formally and because as an instructor of psychology, I'm hampered by a huge assortment of jargon that's confusing even to members of the field! I try to give students lists of terms that I will include on my PowerPoint slides to help them learn and review the difficult terms, and when possible I try to give them mnemonic devices or to break down the difficult terms into their roots to help them remember them. As far as my natural style of speaking goes, I find that if I slow down and think carefully about what I want to express, I'm able to tame the formality of my speech. Best of luck!
Hi Geoff,
Well said. Thank you for sharing your approach to instruction. I know this will be of benefit to new instructors.
Gary
After reading the other comments I believe that there are ways to see how advanced you vocabulary can be in the beginning. I have a tendency to talk wtih the students and get them to talk about things other than school. I listen for the amount of slang they use and try to make a call as to how advanced they are. In my field I have found it much easier to use the same type of terminology the student(s) use to explain what I am teaching. Over the next few classes I lesson the amount of slang I use and it forces the students to ask questions and lose any dependence on slang when speaking about subject matter.
I teach A&P in a rolling modular class setting, so I am constantly getting new students mixed in with my "seniors" who already know all the medical/anatomical terminology that I throw around. What I find works best for me is following any potentially unfamiliar terms with a definition. It's informative to the newer students and a good review for the ones who may already know the term (but possibly forgotten the definition!)
Jamison;
I totally agree with this approach, which is one I practice. I would rather complete the natural flow of my speaking, by breaking in with a definition, that to struggle to use less difficult terminology. Often, when using this method, you may find that you cause students to UNLEARN ( an example of a question that arose during a discussion, if this was really a word) previously acquired erroneous information. This method may also provoke questions that lead to clarification of partial knowledge. In cases of acronyms, one acronym may have multiple meanings, which also require definition of the one relevant to your current course materials. Furthermore, the definition may lead to beneficial class discussions on the data.
I encourage my students to expand their diction even though that is not at all what our class is about. I give a new vocabulary work each day and ask them to keep track of all of the words and try to use them and I do my best to use them while teaching so that the students can learn new vocabulary and understand how it can be used.
This does not work/inspire all of the students, but some of them really enjoy it, it also makes it so I don't have reduce my vocabulary around them quite so much.
I am also a stickler with grammar/wording and sounding like an intelligent human being. I correct my students' mistakes and do my best to express the need to sound like (if not actually be) intelligent individuals and how that will be a major help to them in getting a job, in any field, later in life.
Joseph,
You are providing a valuable service to and for your students. By helping them expand and refine their communication skills you are preparing them to be able to work with colleagues, customers and others with whom they come in contact. Keep up the good work.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
