Vocabulary
Vocabulary knowledge plays a critical role in children’s ability to read. Not surprisingly, research has shown that vocabulary knowledge is one of the factors that directly determines reading comprehension ability [1].
Beginning readers have great difficulty comprehending words that are not part of their oral vocabulary [2]. Given this fact, with young children through grade 3, it is very important to distinguish oral vocabulary abilities from written vocabulary. For example, a child’s inability to read a word may be caused as much by their lack of oral understanding of the word as their inability to decode the word.
In the primary grades, the emphasis in reading advances from word decoding in kindergarten to comprehension of sentences, paragraphs, and whole stories and texts. Thus, each higher grade should include additional word-teaching strategies that focus on the following:
- oral definitions and oral use of new words
- word retrieval strategies (for instance, use of mnemonics or a classroom word wall)
- semantic knowledge, and
- syntactical features of the sequence of words and phrases.
These four factors predict reading comprehension in grade 2 and beyond [3]. Knowing that students with LDs often have difficulty with word retrieval and using abstract words [4], it is even more important to teach a variety of approaches to learning and retrieving new words.
Teaching Vocabulary
Direct & Indirect Approaches
Young children learn most new words indirectly, through hearing new words used in context – either in direct conversation, listening to adults read, or through television/movies. As they get older, children also increasingly learn new words through reading on their own.
Some vocabulary needs to be taught explicitly and directly – and this is particularly true for students with LDs. There are two types of direct instruction in vocabulary:
- the direct teaching of specific words
- teaching children phonological and morphological strategies for learning new words, as discussed in previous sections of this module
Semantic & Syntactic approaches
By grade 1, teachers should be adding semantic and syntactic approaches to learning new words. During the primary years, these features serve as the primary cues for constructing meaning and are the best predictors of reading comprehension [5]. At this age, semantic approaches emphasize not only the meanings of words but also their connotations.
For instance, a grade 1 teacher might draw students’ attention to the difference between the word tiny, found in a story, and the word little. These differences in word meanings make a difference to the intentions and implications of text and, as part of vocabulary development and reading comprehension, teachers need to explicitly and directly teach children to think about word choice and the implications of the words used.
Vocabulary Instruction Using ‘The Super 6’[6]
Vocabulary instruction should be intentional, explicit, and relevant. Using books to introduce new vocabulary is an effective technique as stories provide a context for new word learning. Prior to reading aloud, the educator selects 3-4 unfamiliar words from the story that will be targeted for instruction. Each word chosen meets the following criteria:
- The children already understand the general concept expressed by the word
- The word is useful as the children will come across it in other contexts
During the read-aloud, the educator reads the unfamiliar word and defines it using simple words. After the read aloud, the educator returns to the page in the story where the unfamiliar word was introduced and follows the 6 steps:
- Say: the word in the context of the story
- Explain: what it means using simple words
- Example: is given from the children’s or adult’s experience
- Repeat: the word after the educator
- Personalize: the word by thinking of a personal connection to the word and sharing with a peer
- Interact: with the word through a multi-sensory, kinaesthetic or concept development activity
Example: The Super 6
Shared Reading Activities
Research shows over and over again that the single most important activity for expanding children’s vocabulary is to read to them and to have them read. For students who are struggling with reading, explicit attention to word meaning during reading is critically important.
Shared Reading may be adapted to explicitly teach vocabulary: the educator reads the text, pausing to explain word meanings and the contexts in which they are used; the students may try constructing sentences with the new vocabulary. With the right intensity and consistency, such story-based vocabulary instruction activities can help students with LDs to learn 8 to 12 word meanings per week, which is enough to maintain average vocabulary gains throughout the primary years [7].
For more information about the importance of vocabulary and strategies for instruction, click here to view the webinar recording Dynamic Vocabulary Instruction In The Classroom. This webinar will show you how to construct dynamic vocabulary routines across grade levels to make sure your students are reading and comprehending texts.
References
[1] Stanovich, 1986
[2] Roth, Speece, & Cooper, 2002
[3] Roth, Speece, & Cooper, 2002; Vellutino, Scanlon, Small, & Tanzman, 1991
[4] German, 1984
[5] Vellutino et al, 1991
[6] The Super Six” is an instructional technique based on the work of Beck, McKeown and Kukan (2002) and the six-step process for building academic vocabulary by Marzano (2005).
[7] Biemiller, 2007