VOCABULARY DEVELOPMENTR. Grant

Lexical competence is a central part of communicative competence” (DeCarrico, 2001, p. 285)

Questions to ponder about vocabulary

What does it mean to “know a word”?

What are the basic components of word knowledge?

How can we address use, meaning, and function in L2 vocabulary instruction?

Facts About Vocabulary Knowledge Students’ vocabularies grow at an

astonishing rate About 3,000 words per year, or roughly

7 to 10 new words per day By the time students graduate from

high school, their vocabularies may reach 25,000 words or more

Questions to ponder: How many vocabularies do you

have? What role does identity play in

vocabulary utilization? How do school, family, and

community factors influence vocabulary development?

Research:Facts about Vocabulary Vocabulary reflects prior knowledge

and concepts in a particular area There is a strong relationship

between the knowledge of word meanings (vocabulary) and reading comprehension

More Research:Facts about Vocabulary How do children acquire vocabulary?

Through wide reading From context (but need instruction) With the aid of external resources such

as the dictionary From direct instruction in vocabulary

ELL & English vocabulary Learning English vocabulary is a

challenge for ELL students because they are often learning the oral and written forms of a word at the same time.

ELL & English vocabulary Students’ lack of English vocabulary

often adversely affects their reading development in English.

Vocabulary Instruction: The debate Deep processing Incidental learning

Aspects about words

In order to really “know” or “own” a word, students must

Recognize it, Know its meaning, and Understand its function

How and when to use direct instruction Teacher only a few

words central to the content

Teach in meaningful contexts

Integrate with activation and development of prior knowledge

How and when to use direct instruction Teach words

thoroughly by offering rich & varied information about them

Expose words in many ways

Actively involve students in the process of learning

Elements of vocabulary development Awareness of words (self-awareness

and motivation to learn words) Wide reading and extensive writing

(self-selected reading and writing) Independent strategies that lead to

vocabulary learning (direct instruction and independent use)

Condition 1: Unfamiliar words Sight words. Students know the

word and what it means when they hear someone say it, and can use it orally, but they don’t recognize its written form.

Condition: 2 Unfamiliar word New word. Students have a concept

related to the word, but they are not familiar with the word itself, either orally or in written form.

Condition 3: Unfamiliar word New concept. Students have little or

no background knowledge about the concept underlying the word, and they don’t recognize the word itself.

Condition 4: Unfamiliar word New meaning. Students know the

word, but they are unfamiliar with the way the word is used and its meaning in this situation.

Why do students have difficulty with vocabulary? They may not have the relevant

concepts as part of their background knowledge

They may have a different label for the targeted concept

They may have a somewhat different meaning for the label

DEVELOPMENT OF KNOWLEDGE

Stages of vocabulary knowledge I never heard/saw the word before. (I

have never before seen nor heard the word Koran.)

I have heard/seen the word, but I don’t know what it means. (I have seen the word Koran in a news article.)

Stages of vocabulary knowledge I recognize the word in context, or…

it has something to do with… (A dowry has something to do with money.)

I know the word. (Draconian is very harsh or severe application of the law.)

Goals of vocabulary instruction Teach independent vocabulary

learning Teach concepts important for

comprehension Create an environment that

promotes general vocabulary development

Guidelines for vocabulary instruction Relate the new to the known Promote active in-depth processing Provide multiple exposures Teach students to be strategic

Characteristics of good direct vocabulary teaching Short (limited to a few critical words

and concepts) Connect explicitly to the actual text

students are to read

TEACHER BEHAVIORLink Relate students’ past experience with

present ones

Elaborate Add more information about the familiar content, or suggest rewording

Input Introduce new vocabulary & reinforce through constant use

Connect Tie new words to the activity or activity to new words

Clarify Add examples, illustrations, or descriptions

Question Stimulate thinking about terms through questioning

Relate Show how new words compare w/ what students know

Categorize Group new words, ideas, and concepts

Label Provide names for concepts, ideas, and objects

Tiers of vocabulary focus for lower grades

Function words A, an, the (articles) And, but, or (conjunctions) At, into, over (prepositions) Could, run,had snowed (auxiliary

words)

Tiers of vocabulary focus for lower grades

Content words: having concrete meaning

House, car, dog (nouns) I, her, they (pronouns) Hot, sticky (adjectives) Then, neatly, suddenly (adverbs)

Tiers of vocabulary focus for lower grades

Content-specific words: always having specialized meaning within a particular subject area, must be learned within the context of that area

Tiers of vocabulary focus for upper grades

Basic words Building blocks of everyday

language Do not require specific instruction

except in the case of ELL

Tiers of vocabulary focus for upper grades

General utility words More complex terms may be used often in

speech but these words tend not to be specific to any one subject area

Often involves instruction in common root words and affixes

Can help readers to discover the meaning of general-utility words

Tiers of vocabulary focus for upper grades

Low-utility words Words encountered less frequently Found in a particular content Should be introduced prior to

instruction

Types of vocabularies for upper grades

Meaning Vocabulary The sum total of a child’s understanding

of the meaning of words Readers need to draw from this store as

they emerge into reading to learn Readers draw known meanings and use

these to figure out new meanings as they read

Types of vocabularies for upper grades

Reading Vocabulary Is gained when readers learn to

decode words whose meaning they already know

Words are already in their meaning vocabulary

Activity: Same word, different meaning Use the word “conductor” in three

different sentences that convey three different meanings of the word.

Use the word “staple” in two different sentences that convey two different meanings of the word.

Activity:Same word, different meaning Use the word “frog” in two different

sentences that convey two different meanings for the word.

Activity:Same word, different meaning How many definitions do you have

for the word “up”? Write five sentences using the word

“up” in five different ways.

Activity:Same word, different meaning

Copper is a good conductor of electricity.

Give your ticket to the conductor.

The orchestra conductor was quite young

Activity:Same word, different meaning

She wanted to staple the three pages together.

Corn was a staple in the diet of some Native Americans.

Activity:Same word, different meaning

Look up at the moon.Look up the word in the dictionary.Lock up the car.The drain is stopped up.Sam said he’s tied up and can’t come.