Course Description:

Certificate Course in Vocabulary Building is a programme that focuses on helping students learn and understand new words and build up a strong working vocabulary. The course tries to achieve this by:

• introducing students to the Greek and Latin origins/ etymological or root meanings of words
• enabling students to recognise word parts such as prefixes and suffixes
• facilitating students to recognize the relationships between words (synonyms and antonyms) and master difficult or confusing words (homonyms, homophones, etc.)
• exposing students to the common idioms and phrases

Course Objectives:

• To engage students to actively think about word meanings, the relationships among words and how words could be used in different situations.
• To inculcate in the students skills/opportunities to learn words independently.
• To facilitate students to know and understand the meanings of specific words and their connotations in diverse contexts.
• To imbibe in students a love and appreciation of words and their use.

Expected Learning Outcomes:

Upon completion of this course students will be able to:

• Recognize word parts: prefixes, suffixes and base/root words.
• Define and differentiate between synonyms, antonyms, homonyms, homophones, etc., and become proficient in their usage.
• Identify the connotative and denotative meanings of words and develop the capability of applying them in different contexts.
• learn how to use appropriate idioms and phrases and improve their ability to express themselves creatively and succinctly.
• become adept in the art of suitable word substitution and add variety to their communication skills
• develop the skill of using appropriate jargon in specific contexts and hence demonstrate self confidence in using English as an tool in speaking, reading and writing situations.

Target participants: UG students, PG students, anyone who wishes to better his/ her vocabulary

Duration of the Course: About 5 months (30 hours)

Course Content:

Unit – 1 (2 hours)

1. Introduction to Vocabulary

1.1 Video Lecture on:

1. What is meant by vocabulary?
2. Why is development of a good vocabulary important?
3. How can one improve one’s vocabulary?
4. Vocabulary Categories with Illustrations

1.2 Diagnostic Test for Assessment

1. MCQs on Synonyms, Antonyms, One word substitutes and idioms and phrases
2. Exercises (Fill in the blanks) on Words Easily Confused and word forms
3. Exercises (Fill in the blanks) on idioms and phrases

1.3 Writing task

Unit – 2 (4 hours)

2. Synonyms, Antonyms and One word substitutes: Usage

2.1 Video lecture on:

1. What are synonyms, antonyms & one word substitutes?
2. What is the importance of learning synonyms, antonyms & one word substitutes?
3. How can this knowledge help build one’s vocabulary?

2.2 MCQs and exercises (Matching columns) on Synonyms

2.3 MCQs and Exercises (Fill in the Blanks) on Antonyms

2.4 MCQs and Exercises (Matching columns)on One Word Substitutes

2.5 Writing assignment

Unit – 3 (4 hours)

3. Words Easily Confused (Homonyms, Homophones, etc.) and Word Forms

3.1 Video lecture on:

1. What are homonyms and homophones?
2. What are the advantages of becoming familiar with the use of homonyms and homophones?
3. How does the identification and application of homonyms and homophones help build up one’s vocabulary?
4. What are the different word forms?

3.2 Study of common homonyms and the difference in their contextual meanings

3.3 Exercises (Fill in the blanks) on homophones and other words easily confused.

3.4 Exercises (Fill in the blanks) on Word Forms and their interchangeability

3.5 Writing assignment

Unit – 4 (4 hours)

4. Prefixes & Suffixes

4.1 Video lecture on:

1. What are prefixes and suffixes?
2. What are the benefits of learning prefixes and suffixes?
3. How could this help expand one’s vocabulary?
4. Illustrations of prefixes and suffixes and their origin from other languages

4.2 Exercises on the use of prefixes

4.3 Exercises on the use of suffixes

4.4 Word building by using prefixes & suffixes

4.5 Writing assignment

Unit – 5  (4 hours)

5. Words Borrowed From Other Languages

5.1 Video lecture on:

1. What are loan words?
2. Why is it important to know the origin of words?
3. How can learning the origin of words help expand one’s vocabulary and comprehension?

5.2 Word list with information about the language of origin and meanings

5.3 MCQs on words borrowed from other languages

5.4 Writing task

Unit – 6  (4 hours)

6. Idioms & Phrases

6.1 Video lecture on:

1. What are idioms and phrases?
2. Why should one learn idioms and phrases?
3. How can the use of idioms and phrases improve one’s vocabulary?
4. Examples of common idioms and phrases and their idiomatic meanings.

6.2 Inputs on usage of common idioms and phrases and their idiomatic meanings

6.3 MCQs and exercises (Matching columns) on idioms and phrases

6.4 Exercises (Fill in the blanks) on idioms and phrases

6.5 Creative Writing task

Unit – 7  (4 hours)

7. Use of Collocations

7.1 Video lecture on:

1. What are collocations?
2. Advantages of learning collocation of words
3. How does the use of appropriate collocations help hone one’s communication skills?

7.2 List of common words and their collocations

7.3 Exercises (Matching columns) on collocations

7.4 MCQs on collocations

7.5 Writing task

Note: 4 hours has been set apart for Testing/Assessments/End examinations, etc.

Books for Reference:

• Roget, Peter Mark, and Barbara Ann Kipfer. Roget’s International Thesaurus. 8th ed., Harper Collins, 2022.
• Lewis, Norman. Word Power Made Easy. Penguin India, 2015.
• Ayto, John. Bloomsbury Dictionary of Word Origins. Bloomsbury, 2005.
• Oxford Learner’s Dictionary. Oxford University Press, 2014.
• Oxford Learner’s Thesaurus. Oxford University Press. (Latest edition)