Vocabulary

Development
A Vocabulary Review Activity
Ready to play?
The is…

CELEBRATION
The is…

DANGEROUS
The is…

ENCOURAGE
The is…

ENVIRONMENT
The is…

FAVORITE
The is…

GATHER
The is…

HAMRFUL
The is…

INCREASE
The is…

KINDNESS
Let’s get
engaged!
Component 4 Vocabulary Development
Knowledge of words and their meanings in both
oral and print representations

It is the ability to attach meanings to words,

which are the smallest units of thought in a
language.
Vocabulary development is both an
outcome of comprehension and a
precursor to it, with word meanings
making up as much as 70-90%
comprehension

Bromley 2007
The child should understand the words that s/he decodes
There are
three eggs in
the nest.

Felicitas E.Pado, Ph. D

Why is Vocabulary Development important?

• A TOOL FOR THINKING

• FOUNDATION FOR SUCCESS

Why is Vocabulary Development important?

“Vocabulary knowledge is knowledge;

the knowledge of a word not only
implies a definition, but also implies
how that word fits into the world.”

Steven Stahl (2005)

Differences in Early Vocabulary Development
Young children acquire vocabulary indirectly,
1st : by listening when others speak or read to them
2nd : by using words to talk to others. 

As children begin to read and write,

3rd : they acquire more words through understanding
what they are reading
4th : incorporate those words into their speaking and
writing.
Why do some students have a richer, fuller vocabulary than some of their
classmates?

a.Language rich home with lots of verbal

stimulation
b.Wide background experiences
c.Read to at home and at school
d.Read a lot independently
e.Early development of word consciousness
Why do some students have a limited, inadequate vocabulary
compared to most of their classmates?

a. Speaking/vocabulary not encouraged at home

b.Limited experiences outside of home
c. Limited exposure to books
d.Reluctant reader
e. Second language—English language learners
Children who have been encouraged by their parents to ask
questions and to learn about things and ideas come to school
with oral vocabularies many times larger than children from
disadvantaged homes. 

Without intervention this gap grows

ever larger as students proceed through
school.
(Hart and Risley, 1995).
How Vocabulary Affects Reading Development

 Vocabulary supports reading development and increases

comprehension.
How Vocabulary Affects Reading Development

The complex process of comprehension is critical to

the development of children’s reading skills and cannot
be understood without a clear understanding of the role
that vocabulary development and instruction play in
understanding what is read.

(NRP, 2000).
How Vocabulary Affects Reading Development

Students with low vocabulary development were able

to maintain their overall reading test scores at expected
levels through grade four, but their mean scores for
word recognition and word meaning began to slip as
words became more abstract, technical, and literary.

Chall’s classic 1990 study 

How Vocabulary Affects Reading Development

Declines in word recognition and

word meaning continued, and by
grade seven, word meaning scores
“the fourth-
had fallen to almost three years grade slump”
below grade level, and mean
reading comprehension was
almost a year below. 

Chall, Jacobs, and Baldwin, 1990 

How do we close the gap for students who have limited or
inadequate vocabularies?

There is no single research-based method for

developing vocabulary and closing the gap.

Recommendation:
To use a variety of indirect (incidental) and
direct (intentional) methods of vocabulary
instruction.
National Reading Panel (2000)
Incidental Vocabulary Learning

Most students acquire vocabulary incidentally

through indirect exposure to words at home and
at school—by listening and talking, by listening
to books read aloud to them, and by reading
widely on their own.
Incidental Vocabulary Learning
The amount of reading is important to long-term
vocabulary development (Cunningham and Stanovich,
1998). 

Extensive reading provides students with repeated or

multiple exposures to words and is also one of the
means by which students see vocabulary in rich contexts
(Kamil and Hiebert, 2005). 
Implicit Vocabulary Instruction

1. Engage learners in oral language

experience

2. Expose learners to read-aloud

activities.
Implicit Vocabulary Instruction

3. Create print-rich environment

4. Encourage the learners to read

books or stories on their own.
Implicit Vocabulary Instruction

5. Translate into learner’s language

Intentional Vocabulary Learning

Students need to be explicitly taught

methods for intentional vocabulary
learning. 
Effective Intentional Vocabulary Instruction
•Teaching specific words (rich, robust instruction) to support
understanding of texts containing those words.
•Teaching word-learning strategies that students can use
independently. 
•Promoting the development of word consciousness and using word
play activities to motivate and engage students in learning new words.

Michael Graves (2000),

How Can Vocabulary Be Learned?

For children who have more restricted vocabulary

(Biemuller, 2009) and have less access to the
vocabulary of books, the EXPLICIT TEACHING
VOCABULARY is essential ( Beck & Mckeown, 2007)
 Strategies for Vocabulary and Concept Development

1.Showing Real 2. Use of gestures,

Object / Realia demonstration,
**Translation
pantomime or
pretend play
VOCABULARY
STRATEGIES 3. Visual Graphics/
Graphic Organizers
6. Use of
Dictionary
5. Word Sorts / 4. Context Clues
List-Group Label
Research-Supported Vocabulary-Learning Strategies
Students need a wide range of independent word-
learning strategies. Vocabulary instruction should aim
to engage students in actively thinking about word
meanings, the relationships among words, and how
we can use words in different situations.

(Graves, 2006; McKeown and Beck, 2004).

Research-Supported Vocabulary-Learning Strategies
1. Student-Friendly Definitions

The meaning of a new word should be explained to

students rather than just providing a dictionary
definition for the word—which may be difficult for
students to understand. 
Research-Supported Vocabulary-Learning Strategies
Student-Friendly Definitions

 Two basic principles to be in developing student-

friendly explanations or definitions
a. Characterize the word and how it is typically used.
b. Explain the meaning using everyday language—
language that is accessible and meaningful to the
student.
(Beck et al., 2013)
Research-Supported Vocabulary-Learning Strategies
2. Defining Words Within Context

Research shows that when words and easy-to-

understand explanations are introduced in
context, knowledge of those words increases
(Biemiller and Boote, 2006) and word meanings are
better learned (Stahl and Fairbanks, 1986). 
Research-Supported Vocabulary-Learning Strategies
3. Using Context Clues

Research by Nagy and Scott (2000) showed

that students use contextual analysis to infer
the meaning of a word by looking closely at
surrounding text
Research-Supported Vocabulary-Learning Strategies
4. Sketching the words
For many students, it is easier to
remember a word’s meaning by
making a quick sketch that
connects the word to something
personally meaningful to the
student
Research-Supported Vocabulary-Learning Strategies
5. Applying Target Words
Applying the target words provides another context
for learning word meanings. When students are
challenged to apply the target words to their own
experiences, they have another opportunity to
understand the meaning of each word at a personal
level. This allows for deep processing of the meaning
of each word. 
Research-Supported Vocabulary-Learning Strategies
6. Analyzing Word Parts

The ability to analyze word parts also helps

when students are faced with unknown
vocabulary. 
Research-Supported Vocabulary-Learning Strategies
7. Semantic Mapping

Semantic maps help students develop

connections among words and increase learning
of vocabulary words

(Baumann et al., 2003; Heimlich and Pittleman, 1986)

Research-Supported Vocabulary-Learning Strategies
7. Semantic Mapping
Research-Supported Vocabulary-Learning Strategies
8. Word Consciousness
Word consciousness is an interest in and awareness of
words
(Anderson and Nagy, 1992; Graves and Watts-Taffe, 2002). 

Students who are word conscious are aware of the words

around them—those they read and hear and those they
write and speak
(Graves and Watts-Taffe, 2002).
Research-Supported Vocabulary-Learning Strategies
8. Word Consciousness
Teachers need to take word-consciousness into account
throughout their instructional day—not just during
vocabulary lessons 
(Scott and Nagy, 2004). 

It is important to build a classroom “rich in words”

(Beck et.al., 2002).
Research-Supported Vocabulary-Learning Strategies
Ways in the Development of Word Consciousness
Language categories: Students learn to make finer
distinctions in their word choices if they understand the
relationships among words, such as synonyms,
antonyms, and homographs.
Figurative language: The ability to deal with figures of
speech is also a part of word-consciousness (Scott and Nagy
2004). The most common figures of speech are similes,
metaphors, and idioms.
Let’s Reflect: How would you
make it possible
for all children to
improve their
vocabulary?

Vocabulary