Developing Academic Language: Got Words?

If one were to query upper elementary teachers about their attention to vocabulary, most would say that they do teach vocabulary to their students. Recently, Scott, Jamieson-Noel, and Asselin (2003) found, in their observations of 23 ethnically diverse classrooms, that only 6% of school time was centered on vocabulary development, and in the core academic subject areas only 1.4% of instructional time was spent developing vocabulary knowledge. As reported by the researchers, the instruction observed was too often more mentioning and assigning rather than teaching. Bolstering the argument for the apparent paucity of indepth attention to vocabulary instruction, Walsh (2003) found that none of the most widely used basal programs provided the attention to vocabulary necessary to increase comprehension. Coupling Walsh’s findings with those from Dunn, Bonner, and Huskee’s (2007) report of students who placed at the 50th percentile in reading comprehension (increasing their scores by as much as 30 percentile points after having received direct and meaningful vocabulary instruction) suggests that all teachers need to examine their vocabulary practices with special attention to systematic approaches to expanding word knowledge for children.

Almost all of the studies included in the NRP report (NICHD, 2000) found that direct instructional approaches improved both vocabulary and comprehension (Kamil, 2004).

The RAND Reading Study Group Report (2002) also stressed the value of systematic vocabulary instruction for building comprehension. In spite of admonitions from research, finding time for direct and systematic instruction of large numbers of words from the content areas presents teachers with major challenges (Anderson & Nagy, 1991; Stahl & Fairbanks, 1986). What follows is a list of evidence-based recommendations for developing students’ academic language in meaningful ways. We assert that theses recommendations can serve as guidelines for a range of specific practices teachers can undertake to expand word learning in the content areas and consequently increase student achievement.

Be highly selective about which words to teach

Content area terms should be selected for their use in helping children apply word learning strategies and for engendering interest in using the words as tools for meaningful communication (Blachowicz & Fisher, 2000).

Provide multiple encounters with targeted words

Multiple exposures to content vocabulary can occur through the use of collaborative, active tasks and can be supported by technology (Kamil, 2004). The quality of each encounter is important, as is causing students to use writing, speaking, listening, and reading when collaborating about targeted words (Pearson et al., 2007).

Provide students direct instruction on how to infer word meanings

Students need to be shown how meaningful information about vocabulary words in content text can be derived through contextual analysis (Graves, 2000; Nation, 2001). Of course, the more meaningful and authentic the context a teacher uses the greater the impact on students’ ownership of the targeted terms (Scott et al., 2003).

Promote in-depth word knowledge

Many content terms may be better understood when students manipulate words through group activities requiring categorization, word association, or semantic analysis (Beck, McKeown, & Kucan, 2002; Marzano, 2005).

Provide students with opportunities to extend their word knowledge

Students can be shown how to use morphemic analysis, awareness of polysemy (varied meanings), and attention to derivations and origins to further their knowledge of content vocabulary and find similar features in new words (Marzano, 2004). On checking research done with English-language learners (ELLs) these approaches were found to be equally as effective in promoting vocabulary growth and improved comprehension with ELLs as with native speakers of English (Beck et al., 2002; Carlo et al., 2004; Nagy, 1997).

Finally, for those readers who have not explored the ReadWriteThink website (www.Read WriteThink.org), a joint project of the International Reading Association and the National Council of Teachers of English, we urge you to do so. There are numerous examples of complete lessons that reflect current thought about how best to help students enlarge their academic vocabulary. Examples such as “Using Word Storms to Explore Vocabulary” and “Encourage Critical Thinking” allow teachers to save time, improve their teaching, and affect student achievement.

Flynt teaches at the University of Memphis, Tennessee, USA; e-mail: [email protected]. Brozo teaches at George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia, USA; e-mail: [email protected].