Vocabulary Instruction: A Comprehensive Approach
Vocabulary instruction has been repeatedly recognized as an important component of reading instruction for at least the past century. Over that period, scholars have repeatedly identified vocabulary as a critical factor underlying success in reading and success in school more generally. Because vocabulary knowledge is at the core of academic learning, it has been a central consideration of major U.S. educational reform efforts such as Reading First and the Common Core State Standards. In order to comprehend what they read and to grow academically, students need to be able to grasp the meanings of the vast majority of words they encounter in their reading. Critical factors to consider for vocabulary instruction include these:
Achieving students learn a huge number of words. By the time they graduate from high school, average students have learned something like 40,000 to 50,000 words.
Some students—particularly some English learners and some children from low-income families—have debilitatingly smaller vocabularies than their native-English speaking and middle-class peers.
In order to help all students learn the words they need to succeed in school and in the world beyond school, a vocabulary program must be broad and powerful.
The instructional program described in Teaching Reading in the 21st Century is both broad and powerful. It consists of four components: (1) Providing Rich and Varied Language Experiences—giving students many in depth experiences with listening, speaking, reading, and writing. (2) Teaching Individual Words—using both powerful but time consuming instruction and less powerful but much less time-consuming instruction. (3) Teaching Word Learning Strategies—teaching strategies such as using word parts, context, and the dictionary to prepare students to become independent word learners. And (4) Fostering Word Consciousness—infusing in students an awareness of and keen interest in words and their meanings.