This PowerPoint was made by Annette Guterres & Julia Starling. I have converted into slide share for easy access. An excellent presentation on vocab acquisition.

1. Vocabulary is Vital
Presented by Annette Guterres & Julia Starling

2. What is vocabulary?
 All the words contained in a particular language
(Cobuild dictionary)
 The body of words known to an individual person
(Oxford Dictionary)
 The knowledge and use of words for oral and written
language, listening, speaking, reading and writing
(Annette and Julia)
“When I wear high heels I have a great
vocabulary and I speak in paragraphs. I'm
more eloquent. I plan to wear them more
often.” (Meg Ryan)

3. How many words?
 The Brown Corpus, 1961, 1 million words
 The Oxford Corpus, from 2006 onwards:
contained > 2 billion words
 This increases by 350 million words every year
WHERE DO THESE NEW WORDS COME FROM?
 Mostly from; Computing, Telecommunications and
Business
 Also from Science, Health, Medicine, sports,
Politic & Fashion etc

4. But…..how many words do we actually
use?
 Average university student has vocabulary of 70,000
words of which 16,000 are in regular use (David
Crystall)
 Other estimates are around 40,000 with 5,000 to
10,000 being used regularly
 Half of all writing consists of just 100 words (Oxford
Corpus)

5. Vocabulary is Vital because…
 “Oral vocabulary is a key to learning to make the
transition from oral to written forms, whereas reading
vocabulary is crucial to the comprehension processes
of a skilled reader” (National Reading Panel, 2000)
 Vocabulary is #4 of the 5 Pillars of learning to read
(Kevin Wheldall, 2011)
 “Vocabulary knowledge is a cornerstone of language
development and , eventually, of academic success”
(Johnson & Yeates, 2006)

6. “Massacre” : There had been a massacre of
Aborigines at Bird Creek.

8. Rich Vocabulary Poor Vocabulary
Increased Listening and reading Poor comprehension and expression
comprehension
Read and express themselves less
Greater Oral and written expression and therefore have reduced exposure
to new words
Increased academic achievement Poor academic achievement
Negative impact on life opportunities
Impact on life opportunities

9. The GAP widens!
 Children with poor vocabulary (lowest 25th percentile on
or entry) continue to be approx 2 grades behind in
vocabulary and knowledge
 Year 7 students may have a working vocabulary of year
3 or 4 on entry

10. Word Learning: How does it
happen?
2 processes
 1. Fast mapping- the word is linked to a referent
Cow =
 2. Slow mapping-
a) the word is extended to
a category of referents
a) Knowledge of the word is strengthened through multiple
uses and experiences.

11. Slow mapping!

12. Facilitating word learning
Some common themes from
the research:
 All 3 types of cues are needed: Perceptual, social and
linguistic (spoken and written)
 Multiple opportunities are needed for encoding,
enrichment,consolidation and retrieval before a word is truly
“known”.
 Opportunities are provided by ALL adults: Parents, teachers,
extended family and friend networks….
 Hearing stories with explanations of unfamiliar words
benefits vocabulary development

13. Word knowledge: What does it mean to “know
“ a word?
1. No knowledge: Never seen/heard it before
2. Very general sense of connotation/meaning: Feel
you know it but can’t really explain what it
means.
3. Context-bound knowledge: We have “learnt” a
word in a single context.
4. “Knowing” a word but not being able to recall it
readily enough to use in a range of situations.
5. “Rich” knowledge.
(Beck, McKeown & Omanson)

14. Rich word knowledge
 We can define the word in a generalised way
 Not dependent on context (decontextualised)
 We can apply it in appropriate situations, with precision
 Breadth: knowledge of multiple meanings, metaphorical
use, range of derivations
 Availability is “strong” i.e. ready retrieval, with well-
mapped semantic connections and clear phonological
specifications (i.e. We can SAY it, SPELL it and we
know what it MEANS!).

15. Direct Vocabulary Instruction
Beck, McKeown & Kucan (2002): Bringing Words to Life.
Tier 1 The most everyday,basic and familiar words in our
vocabulary, that rarely need direct instruction.
Examples: clock, baby, happy, walk, face, sky….
**Tier 2 Words that are of high utility for language users,
but that often need to be directly taught. They are
of high frequency use and are found across a
variety of domains. Examples: coincidence,
absurd, industrious, fortunate, cultural…..
Tier 3 Words that are of low frequency use, or that apply
to specific domains. May be essential to learning a
topic.
Examples: isotope, lathe, peninsula,
metamorphosis…..

16. Essential vocabulary
Rich knowledge of Tier 2/3 words can have a high
impact on verbal functioning (oral and written)
Decision points for prioritising:
 “Must know”: Essential to the learning of a
topic or concept. Words should be directly and
systematically taught.
 “Should know”: Highly significant, although not
essential, to understanding the topic or
concept.
 “Could know”: Interesting and stimulating,
though not necessary for a basic understanding
of a topic.

17. 10 key words!
**Realistic direct instructional contribution that will make a difference:
400 words a year (10/week)
High frequency and essential Tier 2/3 words
Across subjects/topics/grades
Secondary Schools in LINCS Program study (University of Sydney)
10 Key Words.
-Teachers across disciplines
-Prioritised up to 10 essential words (“Must Knows”)
when planning each new topic.
-Embedded these words in all teaching
-Engaged students in interactions with these words.

18. The Case for Direct Vocabulary Instruction for
children and adolescents “at risk”
 Remember the GAP: we can help close it by proactive
intervention.
 Wide reading enhances vocabulary. However, many of
“our” children and adolescents are NOT wide readers.
 Learning differences often means that vocabulary has to
be directly taught muti-modally*, to help them get to the
“rich word knowledge” level.(*Remember, ideally word
learning involves an interaction of perceptual, social and
linguistic cues)
 Direct vocabulary instruction works! National Reading
Panel, 2000; Graves, 2000; Wilson, Nash& Earl, 2010;
Anderson & Nagy, 1991…….

19. 6 steps to effective vocabulary instruction (Marzano,
2004)
Step 1. Provide descriptions, explanations and examples of use
of the new words.
 “Must know” words, selected as essential to a basic
understanding of the new topic.
 No more than 10.
 Introduced through conversation, descriptions, explanations
and examples. Try to avoid “standard dictionary and glossary
definitions” (more on this later….)
 **Present words orally and in written form
 Other Tier 2 and 3 words will also be introduced as the topic
evolves, but will not receive the same repeated teaching
emphasis.

20. Step 2
Students re-state the meanings in their own words
 Students are actively engaged in working out a useful
description, and applications.
 Through class discussions, brainstorming, linking with prior
knowledge (word and world knowledge)
 Active discovery of words in a variety of sources: posters, texts,
worksheets, internet
 Goal: the storage of new words in students’ long-term memory
(needs a minimum 12 repetitions)

21. Step 3
 Students involved in creating visual (non-linguistic)
representations of the words
 Assists in retention and later recall and use of words (rich
word knowledge)
 Visual approach supports auditory/verbal, important for
many LD children and adolescents
 Representations in symbols, word art, diagrams, time-
lines, charts, mind maps, word webs…….

22. Step 4
 Ensure regular exposure to the new vocabulary, so that students
can review and add to their word knowledge
 Remember that they will move from approximate understanding
at first, to firmer understanding later
 For true word learning, students must be able to say it and write
it, appropriately
 Use understanding of roots, prefixes and suffixes to increase
understanding
 Include in worksheets, quizzes, vocabulary “mix and matches”,
your verbal/written presentations, classifying tasks, labels on
models……
 Give praise for correct use in work.

23. Step 5
Periodic discussions of words amongst students
 Increases the recall and application to a range of
contexts
 Keeps the words “alive”
 Encourages students’ confidence in using
“new/challenging” words.
 Encourages application in a socially and orally
interactive situation, not just for worksheets.

24. Step 6
The “play” step: Using games as a tool for
vocabulary development.
 Use a range of vocabulary games suitable for the
classroom
 Fun, stimulating, increased exposure

25. Why “Look it up in the dictionary” may not be the
best option!
Students with language and literacy difficulties have
problems with using dictionaries because:
 They have poor alphabetic skills
 They have poor reading ability
 The definitions used in dictionaries (and in
glossaries*) are often incomprehensible to them,
so they are no better off anyway! Danger: they
may learn these definitions by rote, however
have no understanding of what the word really
means.
*NB: Make sure the definition/description you are using in a glossary is
understandable AND matches the required application!

26. Glossary check!
 Fenchial: A Fenchial person is a person of Fenchial descent
who identifies as a Fenchial person and is accepted as such
by the community in which he or she lives.

27. Glossary: History Years 7-10 Syllabus,
NSW Board of Studies
 Aboriginal: An Aboriginal person is a person of
Aboriginal descent who identifies as an Aboriginal
person and is accepted as such by the community in
which he or she lives.

28. What can they do instead?
Morphemes (units of meaning)
Break down words (root words, prefixes suffixes)
Meanings of 60% of multi-syllabic words can be worked out by analysing
word parts (Bromley 2007)
 Prefixes: pre-, un-, dis-, semi, extra- (re-, dis-, un-, and im- account
for 50% of words with prefixes)
 Root words: history, circle, culture…..
 Suffixes: -able, -ing, -ly, -ar, -ism….. (-s/-es, -ed, -ing account for 60%
of words with suffixes)
e.g.: pre-history-ic -> prehistoric
Semi-circle-ar -> semicircular
Multi–culture–al –ism -> multiculturalism
Un-de-cipher-able -> undecipherable
Now you try….antidisestablishmentarianism!

29. Using the context
 Definition context clues: e.g. When the sun hit its zenith,
which means right overhead, I could tell it was noon by
the tremendous heat.
 Synonym context clues: e.g. Captain Jackson’s uniform was impeccable. In
fact it was so perfect that she always had the highest score during inspection.
 Antonym context clues: e.g. The soldier was very intrepid in battle, in
contrast to the person next to him who was quite cowardly.
 Example context clues: e.g. Tigers, lions, panthers and leopards re some of
the most beautiful members of the feline family.
 Cause and effect: e.g. Because we lingered too long at the restaurant, we
missed the last bus.
 General context clues: e.g. Patriotism is a very strong force in Australia.
People love their country and are very proud to be Australians.

30. MYTHS and LEGENDS!!
 We shouldn’t teach children long, complex words:
Not true!
 Most basic vocabulary (language) development is
complete by the time a child is 7: Not true!
 Knowing a word is the same as knowing its definition:
Not true!
 The first thing we must teach children about working
out what a word means is to look it up in the
dictionary: Not true!