PL7L4 Tabs

Incidental Vocabulary Learning

Rich and Robust Instruction

Intentional Vocabulary Instruction

Most vocabulary is acquired incidentally through indirect exposure to words. This occurs through rich oral language experiences at home, at school, listening to books read aloud, and reading widely on their own. Cunningham (2005) recommends providing structured read-alouds and discussion sessions and extending independent reading experiences outside of school to encourage vocabulary growth in students.

Robust instruction involves direct explanation of the meaning of words and thought-provoking, playful, and interactive follow-up (Beck et al.2002). It “Offers rich information about words and their uses, provides frequent and varied opportunities for students to think about and use words, and enhances students’ language comprehension and production” (Beck et al. 2002).

According to the National Reading Panel (2000), explicit instruction of vocabulary is highly effective. Students should be explicitly taught both specific words and word-learning strategies. Seeing vocabulary in rich contexts provided by authentic texts rather than in isolated vocabulary drills produces robust vocabulary learning (National Reading Panel, 2000). It is simply not enough to have students look up words in the dictionary and quiz them on the definitions. Word lists, quizzes, and an overemphasis on dictionary definitions will not result in lasting knowledge of words and can sometimes demotivate students (Bromeley, 2007). Researchers have identified a number of effective instructional approaches to vocabulary learning that go beyond students copying definitions from a dictionary. Students should be actively engaged in using and thinking about word meanings while creating relationships among words.