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Jacobson - Vocabulary

This document discusses vocabulary development and instruction. It notes that K-12 texts include over 180,000 words and students learn 3,000-4,000 new words per year in school. By 8th grade students know around 25,000 words and by 12th grade around 50,000 words. Effective vocabulary instruction incorporates integration of new words with known concepts, repetition, and meaningful use of words. Teachers should provide explicit instruction in word learning strategies and encourage students to take an inquiry stance and engage in independent reading.

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125 views9 pages

Jacobson - Vocabulary

This document discusses vocabulary development and instruction. It notes that K-12 texts include over 180,000 words and students learn 3,000-4,000 new words per year in school. By 8th grade students know around 25,000 words and by 12th grade around 50,000 words. Effective vocabulary instruction incorporates integration of new words with known concepts, repetition, and meaningful use of words. Teachers should provide explicit instruction in word learning strategies and encourage students to take an inquiry stance and engage in independent reading.

Uploaded by

junkblick
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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10/2/14

Vocabulary
Development and
Instruction

Key Figures
K-12

texts include 180,000 different words

Children

learn 3,000 - 4,000 a year once they


are school age

By

8th Grade: 25,000 total words

By

12th Grade: 50,000 total words


(Graves, 2006)

10/2/14

What Does It Mean


To Know A Word?
Suggested levels of knowledge

No knowledge

General sense

Narrow, context-bound definition

Having knowledge but not always able to recall it quickly enough


to use

Rich, decontextualized knowledge of a word's meaning, its


relationship to other words, and its extension to metaphorical uses
(Beck, McKeown, & Kucan, 2002)

Additional Dimensions of
Word Knowledge
Word

knowledge is incremental

Words

have multiple meanings

Word

knowledge is multidimensional

Word

knowledge is interrelated

(Spencer & Guillaume, 2006)

10/2/14

Learning Tasks

Learning a basic oral vocabulary

Learning to read known words

Learning new words for known concepts

Learning new words representing new concepts

Learning new meanings for known words

Clarifying and enriching meanings of known words

Moving words into students' expressive vocabularies


(Graves, 2006)

Risk Factors for Learners


Level

of parents' education

Level

of parents' literacy skills

Family

income

English

language learner status

(Harmon & Hedrick, 2005; Grissmer et


al., 1994; lots of others going back
decades)

10/2/14

Risk Factors for Learners

Students who engage in wide reading develop


extensive vocabularies (Nagy & Anderson, 1984;
lots of others), while learners who don't

Secondary students prefer to work things out for


themselves, but many don't have the skills or
strategies to do so (Alvermann, 1996), so

Only 1.4% of classtime in content areas other than


language arts focuses on vocabulary (Scott,
Jamieson-Noel & Asselin, 2003), which means

Math

Key Issue: Math has "more concepts per word, per


sentence, and per paragraph than any other area" (Schell,
1982, p. 544).

Four Categories of Math Vocabulary


technical - trapezoid, rational number
subtechnical - value, degrees
general - negative, simpler
symbolic - oz. , in.,
(Monroe & Panchyshyn, 1995)

10/2/14

Social Studies
Key

Issue: Students have limited place


vocabulary and it is neglected in classes and
textbooks (Smith & Larkins, 1990)

Key

Issue: In social studies textbooks, 71% of


terms contained meaning affixes and roots
that could be built on but the exercises in the
book typically require activities like filling in
the blanks or matching terms (Harmon &
Hedrick, 2005)

Science
Key

Issue: Technical vocabulary makes the


textbooks difficult to comprehend (Groves,
1995) so students just try to memorize things
without understanding them (Songer & Linn,
1991).

Key

Issue: Teachers assume students know


non-technical words (e.g., exclude, interpret)
but they may not (Marshall & Gilmore, 1991).

10/2/14

Vocabulary Instruction
Teaching should focus on

Integration - connecting new words to other words


and concepts

Repetition - repeated opportunities to engage


with the new word in different ways

Meaningful use - activities that accomplish valued


communicative tasks
(Graves, 2006; Nagy, 1988; Lots of others)

Vocabulary Instruction
Learning/Teaching should be
Interactive

Students should be discussing


and collaborating with both
the teacher and each other

Hands-On

Students should work with


realia and other manipulatives
(Spencer & Guillaume, 2006)

10/2/14

Vocabulary Instruction
Learning/Teaching Should be Explicit
Teachers should give direct instruction about meaning making and
word learning strategies, including

Selecting key words to pre-teach

Demonstrating structural analysis

Modeling the use of precise and engaging vocabulary

Providing guidance for productive uses of the dictionary and


thesaurus

(Harmon & Hedrick, 2005; Graves, 2006; Yates, Cuthrell and Rose, 2011)

Vocabulary Instruction
Learners should be encourage to

Take on an Inquiry Stance / Develop Word Consciousness

Engage in Independent Reading

Engage in Wide Reading

Self-select terms to be studied

(Harmon & Hedrick, 2005; Graves, 2006; Yates, Cuthrell and


Rose, 2011)

10/2/14

References
Alvermann, D. E., Young, J. P.,Weaver, D., Hinchman, K. A.,
Moore, D.W., Phelps S. F., Thrash, E. C., & Zalewski, P. (1996).
Middle and high school students perceptions of how they
experience text-based discussions: A multicase study. Reading
Research Quarterly, 31, 244267.
Grissmer, D. W., Kirby, S. N., Berends, M., & Williamson, S. (1994).
Student achievement and the changing American family.
Santa Monica, CA: RAND, Institute on Education and Training.
Graves, M. (2006). The vocabulary book: Learning and
instruction. Teachers College Press: New York
Groves, F. H. (1995). Science vocabulary load of selected
secondary science textbooks. School Science and
Mathematics, 95(5), 231235.

References
Harmon, J. & Hedrick, W. (2005). Research on vocabulary
instruction in the content areas: Implications for struggling
readers. Reading and Writing Quarterly, 21, 261-280
Hayes, D.P. & Ahrens, M. (1988). Vocabulary simplification for
children: A special case of 'motherese"? Journal of Child
Language, 15, 395-410.
Marshall, S. & Gilmour, M. (1991). Words that matter in science
and technology: A study of Papua New Guinean students
comprehension of nontechnical words used in science and
technology. Research in Science and Technological
Education, 9(1), 516.
Milligan, J. L. & Ruff, T. P. (1990). A linguistic approach to social
studies vocabulary development. The Social Studies, 81, 218
220.

10/2/14

References
Monroe, E. E. & Panchyshyn, R. (1995). Vocabulary
considerations for teaching mathematics. Childhood
Education, 72(2), 8083.
Nagy, W. E. (1988). Teaching vocabulary to improve
reading comprehension. Newark, DE: International
Reading Association.
Nagy, W. E. & Anderson, R. C. (1984). How many words
are there in printed school English? Reading Research
Quarterly, 19, 304330.
Schell, V. J. (1982). Learning partners: Reading and
mathematics. The Reading Teacher, 35(5), 544548.

References
Scott, J.A., Jamieson-Noel, D. & Asselin, M. (2003). Vocabulary
instruction throughout the day in twenty-three Canadian upperelementary classrooms. Elementary School Journal, 103, 269-286
Smith, B. & Larkins, A. G. (1990). Should place vocabulary be central to
primary social studies? Social Studies, 81(5), 221226.
Songer, N. B. & Linn, M. C. (1991). How do students views of science
influence knowledge integration? Journal of Research in Science
Teaching, 28, 761784.
Spencer, B. & Guillaume, A. (2006). Integrating curriculum through the
learning cycle: Content-based reading and vocabulary instruction.
The Reading Teacher, 60, 3, 206 - 219.
Yates, P, Cuthrell, K., & Rose, M. (2011). Out of the room and into the
hall: Making content word walls work. The Clearing House, 84, 31-36

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