Rationale for Systematic Vocabulary Development: Antidote for State Mandates

Abstract

The authors assert that vocabulary development is one of the most important things teachers can promote for students—cognitively, culturally, socially, and in preparation for standardized tests. A broad‐based review of the literature reveals solid reasons for using systematic vocabulary instruction, which is especially helpful with youngsters from second‐language or disenfranchised backgrounds. Yet, in U.S. schools, systematic instruction in vocabulary has been cyclical rather than sustained. The authors note that learners from Latin‐language backgrounds likely have an unappreciated advantage in learning difficult words. The specialized, Latin‐derivative terms that occur infrequently in common usage tend to occur frequently on standardized tests. Several research‐supported ways to improve vocabulary acquisition are highlighted, including one that uses a variation on signing. The authors offer a “community of language” approach and show how wide reading can be amplified by intentional, frequent, day‐to‐day use of specific terms by school faculty and staff.

Towards a dialect-neutral assessment instrument for the language skills of Afrikaans-speaking children: the role of socioeconomic status

“…This limited vocabulary size is seen to be directly related to the environments in which poverty-situated children are raised. These children : (i) generally do not experience a '' rich and rewarding culture of talk'' (Sinatra, 2008 : 173), with parents often not conversing about everyday matters and during routine tasks (Wright, Diener & Kay, 2000) ; (ii) have limited access to books (Neuman & Celano, 2001) and are not often read to (Adams, 1990 : 85) ; and (iii) thus have limited opportunities to learn vocabulary items (Manzo, Manzo & Thomas, 2006). Furthermore, poor children appear to develop general language skills more slowly than do middle-class children (Hart & Risley, 1995).…”

Creating a culture of vocabulary acquisition for children living in poverty

“…Words of high frequency are used in general conversation and appear throughout written texts, especially in the primary grades (Manzo, Manzo, and Thomas 2006). For the written language this viewpoint gave rise to a continuum of how often words appear in print (from high frequency, to less frequent, to rare), and frequency counts of words in various contexts and genres were studied.…”

“…The major handicapping condition is the size of their vocabularies. In their home and environmental situations, children reared in poverty have not experienced a rich and rewarding culture of talk (Dickinson and Tabors 2001;Hart and Risley 1995;Hoff 2003), have been limited in their opportunity to learn vocabulary (Biemiller 2001;Manzo, Manzo, and Thomas 2006), and have limited access to books (Neuman and Celano 2001). Vocabulary, as discussed in this paper, refers to the knowledge of word meanings and the ability to both understand and use words appropriately in the differing language contexts of listening, speaking, reading, and writing.…”

Using Explicit Instruction to Promote Vocabulary Learning for Struggling Readers

“…Vocabulary instruction has not received attention as a ''hot topic'' in surveys conducted by the International Reading Association (Cassidy & Wenrich, 1998Nagy & Scott, 2000) and has received less attention in reading journals (Rupley, Logan, & Nichols, 1999). Some have pointed out that an emphasis on methods for achieving effective vocabulary instruction has declined, even though research supports the contention that inadequate vocabulary knowledge exacerbates learning difficulties faced by already disadvantaged students (Manzo, Manzo, & Thomas, 2006). However, research also suggests that explicit support for vocabulary learning can help less skilled readers learn new and challenging vocabulary (Coyne, Simmons, Kame'enui, & Stoolmiller, 2004;Goerss, Beck, & McKeown, 1999) and is vital for second language learners (Lee, 2003).…”