A SOURCE-BASED APPROACH TO VOCABULARY TEACHING: HOW CAN WE DISTINGUISH BETWEEN PUNS AND METAPHORS?

The basic assumptions of a source-based approach to vocabulary teaching include the following: English is constantly changing because of inventions, discoveries, social changes, paradigm shifts, etc. English is enriched by words from other languages. Nouns, Verbs, Adjectives and Adverbs have dozens of meanings. Words move from literal to “metaphorical” meanings. Words follow regular patterns as they acquire new meanings.

The Source Based Approach to Vocabulary Instruction also encourages intelligent guessing, and this includes speculating on the history of words as they relate to other words. In order to determine if words are historically related we must deal with the following issues:

Phonological Similarity

But we have to contrast puns & metaphors, so we must also consider:

Spelling Similarity

Because spelling systems are conservative, spelling shows word histories. For example, the old English word “cniht” (aka “knight”) lost its k, because the kn cluster is difficult for English speakers. It dropped the velar fricative /x/ (a difficult sound for English speakers). This lengthened the short vowel into a long vowel, which was then diphthongized by the Great English Vowel Shift).

Meaning Similarity

Note: Antonyms are mostly Synonyms. “Man” and “Woman” are exactly the same except for one feature (sex, or gender).

Pragmatic Similarity

We have to be aware of rules of assimilation and dissimilation. We should also be aware of how words could have been influenced by language and culture contact situations.

We must also be able to use metalanguage. This is the language that we use to talk about language. It’s ironic that an English speaker never learns how to talk about English grammar and vocabulary until they learn another language. And then` they say “Oh, that’s the same as (or different from) English.