Teaching Vocabulary

One of the most important factors in reading comprehension is knowledge of word meaning. Teaching vocabulary to students can be a tricky task because each learner experiences their vocabulary differently. Word knowledge is a very dynamic in nature- it changes and grows over time as students experience, manipulate, hear, read, and write in various circumstances. Building a vocabulary, therefore, is a multidimensional and complex task for both teacher and student.

Today's generation has some obstacles to consider when improving an academic vocabulary. Because technology and other medias have such an influence on society, students are sent off to secondary or college environments with ill-equipped vocabularies. The popular use of abbreviated or "coarse" language has become colloquial among many types of written communication, and so lead to a less formal conversational type. Its wide acceptance in daily life contributes to the decline in vocabulary test scores among students and effectively challenges instructors to develop different principles and strategies in teaching vocab skills.

In typical classroom settings, teachers may assign rote memory exercises to force vocabulary on students. For example, a teacher may assign a chapter of reading for homework and have the students define twenty unknown terms before reading as a vocabulary exercise. This task is decidedly dull and rote in its method; it is no surprise that students do not learn vocabulary well (or show any interest or eagerness in reading..)

To intervene and provide more direct instruction for learners, vocabulary growth among students must be carefully aided by teachers. For example, rather than providing students with rote definition exercises, focusing on root word derivatives or etymologies may better peak a student's understanding of vocabulary. Take the word print; this word may show connections to many other words such as printer, printed, imprint, etc; describing true word meaning while broadening a student's perspective of the vocabulary. This can improve a student's content-specific vocabulary tools, which are used to relate terms among specific disciplines. If a student can access their contextual knowledge while they engage in an academic vocabulary, they are more likely to succeed with a wider lexicon.