Vocabulary Instruction
Source: The Center on Instruction is operated by RMC Research Corporation in
partnership with the Florida Center for Reading Research at Florida State University;
Instructional Research Group; the Texas Institute for Measurement, Evaluation, and
Statistics at the University of Houston; and The Meadows Center for Preventing
Educational Risk at The University of Texas at Austin. 2009
Funded by U.S. Department of Education
Key areas of instruction:
Vocabulary knowledge – an important
predictor of reading fluency and reading
comprehension for ELLs and non-ELLs
(Grabe, 1991; McLaughlin, 1987)
Academic language – critical for reading
and understanding content
Funded by U.S. Department of Education
Schools must provide instruction that allows
ELLs to acquire content-area knowledge while
they are developing proficiency in English
(NCLB, 2001).
Funded by U.S. Department of Education
Teach high utility words that appear often across
content areas and are key to comprehension.
Present definitions and examples of use in context.
Provide multiple exposures to meaningful
information about the word (Stahl & Nagy, 2006).
Use cognate knowledge (Dressler, 2000).
Teach word analysis and other word-learning skills.
Engage students in learning words through talking
about, comparing, analyzing, and using target
words.
Funded by U.S. Department of Education
Native English speakers often depend on
background knowledge and inferential skills
when reading text.
ELLs seem to rely more on their vocabulary
knowledge when reading the same texts.
Funded by U.S. Department of Education
ELLs’ reading comprehension can be improved with
targeted vocabulary intervention (Carlo et al., 2004).
Students may need long-term intervention for
maximum impact and comprehension development
(McLaughlin, August, & Snow, 2000).
Funded by U.S. Department of Education
• Key components of instruction for ELLs:
• Developing increased flexibility of English-language use
• Learning words (vocabulary) in context
• Distinguishing between important and unimportant text
details and events
• Responding orally to texts in increasingly skillful ways
• Participating in student conversations related to text
(Anderson & Roit, 1998)
Funded by U.S. Department of Education
High frequency English words
General purpose academic words
Content-area vocabulary
English-Spanish cognates (for Spanish-speaking ELLs)
Words conveying key concepts
High-utility words
Relevant to content under study
Words that are meaningful to students
(Gersten, Baker, & Unok Marks, 1998; Stahl & Nagy, 2006)
Funded by U.S. Department of Education
Funded by U.S. Department of Education
oConversational language
oUsed daily to communicate with others
oBasic Interpersonal Communicative Skills (BICS)
(Cummins, 1979)
oAcademic language
oThe language of text and content areas
oCognitive Academic Language Proficiency
(CALP) (Cummins, 1979)
Funded by U.S. Department of Education
To participate fully in the classroom and learn new
content, ELLs must be able to
Use and understand academic language in its various
forms, for a variety of purposes;
Learn new words (vocabulary) in context;
Determine the difference between relevant and less
relevant text in a given passage and the necessity of a
specific reading and/or language task; and
Participate in student conversations related to text.
Funded by U.S. Department of Education
Students need Basic Interpersonal Communication
Skills (BICS).
However, good conversational skills may be
accompanied by poor academic language skills.
Therefore, students need to develop Cognitive
Academic Language Proficiency (CALP) to deal with
academic content (Cummins, 1994).
Funded by U.S. Department of Education
 to understand teacher explanations,
 to discuss what is being learned,
 to read for different purposes, and
 to write about their learning.
Funded by U.S. Department of Education
Is difficult for non-native speakers and many native
speakers who are struggling readers;
Uses and requires comprehension of a variety of
language forms for a variety of purposes; and
Incorporates multiple language structures.
Funded by U.S. Department of Education
Vocabulary knowledge
Breadth: knowing the meanings of many words, including
multiple words for the same, or related, concepts
Depth: knowing multiple meanings, both common and
uncommon, for a given word
Understanding complex sentence structures and syntax
Recognizing written vocabulary as distinct from oral
vocabulary
Understanding the structure of argument, academic
discourse, and expository texts
Funded by U.S. Department of Education
•Classroom and content vocabulary in academic texts
differ from conversational vocabulary.
•Academic vocabulary is critical to learning higher-level
content and to performing well on achievement tests.
•Academic language: explains, informs, justifies,
compares, describes, classifies, proves, debates,
persuades, evaluates.
Funded by U.S. Department of Education
Scripted books purposefully crafted to
reinforce word meaning
Games for partner practice using picture cards
Games that give students incentives to listen
for new words or previously taught words
outside the vocabulary lesson
Funded by U.S. Department of Education
ELLs and Special Education
Strategic vocabulary interventions may
reduce Special Education referrals and
placement.
(August, Carlo, Dressler, & Snow, 2005)
Funded by U.S. Department of Education
Lower-Order Skills
•Recalling facts
•Identifying vocabulary
•Creating definitions
Higher-Order Skills
•Using language to analyze, synthesize, and
evaluate
Funded by U.S. Department of Education
Is the reading proficiency required to construct the
meaning of content-area texts and literature
encountered in school.
Encompasses the kind of reading proficiencies
typically assessed on state-level accountability
measures, such as the ability to
make inferences from text
learn new vocabulary from context
link ideas across texts
identify and summarize the most important ideas
or content within a text
(Torgesen et al., 2007)
Funded by U.S. Department of Education
Cognitive Academic Language Learning Approach
(CALLA)
Collaborative Strategic Reading (CSR)
Sheltered Instruction (SI)
Funded by U.S. Department of Education
Designed to increase ELLs’ achievement (Chamot & O’Malley,
1996)
Integrates: content-area instruction, language development,
explicit instruction in learning strategies:
Valuing prior knowledge
Learning important content and language skills
Developing language awareness and critical literacy
Using appropriate learning strategies
Learning to work with others in social context
Learning through hands-on, inquiry-based and cooperative skills
Increasing motivation
Self-assessing learning
Funded by U.S. Department of Education
•Combines reading comprehension strategy and
cooperative learning.
•Is effective in culturally and linguistically diverse
classrooms with struggling readers, ELLs, students with
learning disabilities, average, and high-achieving
students.
•Students work in small heterogeneous groups .
Funded by U.S. Department of Education
Cooperative groups use 4 reading
strategies:
Preview (activate prior knowledge)
Click and chunk (monitor comprehension
during reading, use strategies to
understand)
Get the gist (during reading, restate main
idea of paragraph or section)
Wrap-up (after reading, summarize new
information, generate questions)
Funded by U.S. Department of Education
Peer interaction provides opportunities to
use academic language in meaningful
communication about academic content
(Cazden, 1998; Richard-Amato & Snow,
1992).
Teacher acts as a facilitator.
BEFORE READING
DURING READING
AFTER READING
1. Preview
• Brainstorm:
What do you know
about the topic?
2. Click and chunk
• Find hard-tounderstand words or
word parts (chunk)
• Use strategies to fix
chunks.
4. Wrap-Up
• Ask questions to
check
understanding
• Review
•
Predict:
What do you think
you will learn?
3. Get the gist
• Find the most
important person place
or thing
• Identify its importance
Funded by U.S. Department of Education
•A research-based approach to sheltered lesson planning
and implementation
•Demonstrated success in improving ELLs’ outcomes
•Uses high quality strategies to develop ELLs’ academic
English skills while learning grade-level content
•Effective for all grade levels across the content areas
Funded by U.S. Department of Education
Narrowing the
Language Gap:
The Case for Explicit
Vocabulary Instruction
by
Kate Kinsella
What Doesn’t Work
Looking up words in the dictionary
Using written context to figure out
word meanings
Unplanned, extemporaneous
vocabulary teaching.
What does work?
Comprehensive vocabulary
development
 Students learned more through targeted
vocabulary instruction
 Learning through independent reading
often led only to superficial understanding
•Pronounce
•Explain
•Provide examples
•Elaborate
•Assess
Teach a manageable amount (3-4) of critical words from a
particular section
Distribute a vocabulary note-taking guide
Prompt students to assume an active role
Partner students for focused interaction during instructional
process.
Students take brief notes filling in omitted content as you
provide essential information both verbally and in writing (e.g.
on the overhead).
Present the word in writing (on the board, overhead,
computer).
Pronounce the word; have students read and pronounce several
times.
Clarify the part of speech; whether it is a high-use
word/lesson concept, etc.
Provide a synonym (if any) using familiar language.
Provide two concrete examples to create mental
anchors.
Actively engage students by assigning a brief partner
application task.
Provide a sentence starter to frame their oral
responses grammatically and syntactically.
Assign a brief writing task to guide students in
applying word knowledge to a new context.
Use the Observation Tool to analyze
Explicit Vocabulary Instruction
1. Read, Cover, Recite, Check
2. Vocabulary Study Cards
3. Vocabulary Notebooks (see
Handout)
1. Big idea words: related to central concepts
2. High-use, widely applicable “academic tool kit”
words
3. High-use “disciplinary tool kit” words
4. Polysemous: multiple meaning, e.g. wave
5. Academic words that students need to know to
engage in academic discourse