2. Session Objectives
1. Make the case for direct vocabulary teaching
2. Outline the neurological path taken to process and
store knowledge
3. Consider the most effective target words
4. Share the most effective pedagogical approaches
for teaching vocabulary
5. Offer an overview of our Y7 trial into the delivery
of vocabulary teaching
4. How much energy does it take to…?
1. Flex your little finger?
2. Thrust a heavy door shut?
3. Embrace a teddy bear?
4. Beckon to someone for five hours?
5. Seize a feather floating through the air?
least
energy
most
energy
5. Flex Thrust
EmbraceBeckon Seize
And then, in a single breath, the guards thrust
into the barn and seized the dozen or so
squatters looking for refuge. One scrawny little
lad, still adorned in his pyjamas from the night
before, was beckoned over by the flexed,
authoritative finger of a fierce looking soldier.
The boy was at odds about what to do and
instinctively embraced his mother in distress.
6. Why is vocabulary so important?
“Those who know 90 percent of the words in a
text will understand its meaning and, because
they understand, they will also begin to learn the
other 10 percent of the words.”
(E.D. Hirsch, 2003)
“The more extensive a reader’s vocabulary and
background knowledge, the easier it is to gain
new information offered by a text.”
(Alfassi, 2004)
8. Naturally occurring text continuum
1. misdirective contexts
Gregory had done all he could to complete
the task. When Horace approached his
cousin he could see that Gregory was
exhausted. Smiling broadly, Horace said,
“You know there are dire results for your
attempt.”
9. Clues within the passage direct
reader to an incorrect answer.
“smiling broadly” suggests
good results
dire
10. Wilbur: I didn't know you could lay eggs.
Charlotte: Oh yes. I'm versatile.
Wilbur: Does versatile mean full of eggs?
Charlotte: Certainly not. Versatile means I can turn
with ease from one thing to another.
11. Naturally occurring text continuum
2. nondirective contexts
Dan heard the door open and wondered
who had arrived. He couldn’t make out
the voices. Then he recognised the
lumbering footsteps on the stairs and knew
it was Aunt Grace.
12. There are no clues within the
passage to support the reader.
“lumbering” has no other clues
around it to scaffold
lumbering
13. Naturally occurring text continuum
3. general contexts
Joe and Stan arrived at the party at
7 o’clock. By 9.30, the evening seemed to
drag for Stan. But Joe really seemed to be
having a good time at the party.
“I wish I could be as gregarious as he is,”
thought Stan.
14. Inference clues are given but no
direct answer is shared.
“gregarious” suggests
someone who enjoys parties
gregarious
15. Naturally occurring text continuum
When the cat pounced on the dog, he
leapt up, yelping, and knocked down a
shelf of books. The animals ran past
Wendy, tripping her. She cried out and
fell to the floor. As the noise and
confusion mounted, Mother hollered
upstairs, “What’s all that commotion?”
16. Clues within the passage direct
reader to an accurate answer.
“commotion” is surrounded by
enough clues to guess meaning
commotion
17. Naturally occurring text continuum
1.
misdirective
contexts
4.
directive
contexts
2.
nondirective
contexts
3.
general
contexts
11/13
unfamiliar
words
were
correctly
defined by
adults
more
difficult
more
difficult
only 1/13
unfamiliar
words
were
correctly
defined by
adults
ONLY 2 basal programmes and 13
adults tested – miniscule sample size!
18. “…relying on learning word meanings from
independent reading is not an adequate
way to deal with students’ vocabulary
development.”
Beck, McKeown & Kucan (2013)
19.
20. Goodness, I
hope he’s not
attempting to
learn
unfamiliar
vocabulary
solely through
independent
reading!
Poor thing.
23. Packets of background
knowledge are initially
linguistic descriptions
of our experiences.
Background knowledge is
stored in bimodal packets
(“memory records”)
Anderson (1995)
Over time, a person’s
information about a
single event will
become general
information about
similar events.
episodic memory
semantic memory
Non-linguistic aspects
are not just mental
pictures. They also
contain associated
sounds, smells and
sensations of touch or
movement. They can
also have associated
emotions.
24. Dual coding theory
‘A basic premise of DCT is that all mental
representations retain some of the
concrete, original qualities of the external
experiences from which they derive.
These experiences can be linguistic or
non-linguistic.
Their differing characteristics develop
two separate mental systems, one
specialized for representing and
processing language (verbal system) and
one for processing information about
non-linguistic objects and events
(nonverbal system).’
(Sadoski and Paivio, 1994)
Linguistic
representations
Imagery of
target information
28. How does academic experience enter
long term memory?
Three conditions of
effective processing
in working memory:
1. Strength - at least 3 exposures with new information;
repeated practice of processing information
2. Depth – adding detail to understanding of information;
thinking ‘hard’ about it; desirable difficulty
3. Elaboration – the variety of new associations and
varied connections made with new information
31. 3
What are the most effective
target words for the
purpose of direct
vocabulary teaching?
32. Subject specific vocabulary
Subject knowledge has a high degree of specificity i.e.
little transfer, Rolfus and Ackerman, 1999
1. Subject specific words and phrases embody deep,
underlying concepts e.g. condensation, genre
2. Roots and suffixes e.g. gen, anti-
3. Proper nouns e.g. Carl Lewis
4. Compound words e.g. drummer boy
5. Subject and verb phrases e.g. book review
‘…students come to understand new ideas by
relating them to old ideas. If their knowledge
is shallow, the process stops there’
(D. Willingham)
33. Tiered Words Hierarchy
Tier 3
(osmosis,
trigonometry)
Tier 2
(gregarious, beneficial,
required, maintain)
Tier 1
(table, slowly, write)
Subject specific,
academic language
High frequency in
written texts, less
common in speech
High frequency in
speech, rarely
require
instruction
from Robust Vocabulary Instruction - Beck and. McKeown, 2013
34. 1. Provide direct instruction of vocabulary words for a specific text.
2. Repetition and multiple exposures to vocabulary items are
important.
3. Vocabulary words should be those that the learner will find
useful in many contexts.
4. Vocabulary tasks should be restructured as necessary.
5. Vocabulary learning is effective when it entails active
engagement that goes beyond definitional knowledge.
6. Computer technology can be used effectively to help teach
vocabulary.
7. Vocabulary can be acquired through incidental learning.
8. Dependence on a single vocabulary instruction method
will not result in optimal learning.
National Reading Panel, US (2010)
http://www2.ed.gov/programs/readingfirst/support/rmcfinal1.pdf
35. “In summary, active vocabulary instruction should
permeate a classroom and contain rich and
interesting information.
Vocabulary instruction should cover many words
that have been skillfully and carefully chosen to
reduce vocabulary gaps and improve students’
abilities to apply word knowledge to the task of
comprehension.”
http://www2.ed.gov/programs/readingfirst/su
pport/rmcfinal1.pdf
36. 4
What are the most effective
pedagogical approaches
for teaching vocabulary,
in response to this
neurological path?
42. Descriptions, not definitions
demographic
1
2
3
4
5
6
CED: “a section of the population
sharing common characteristics,
such as age, sex, class, etc.”
a group of people in a given area -
village, city, country - who share a
common characteristic; they might
be the same age, the same gender,
the same ethnicity, etc.
44. Students restate linguistically
Verbal:
• Select a few students to explain the new
term to the class
• Ask students to give their own definition
to a partner
• Raise any questions they might have now
Written:
• Students should write their own
description of the new term
1
2
3
4
5
6
52. 1. Linguistic vs. non-linguistic
2. Similarities & differences
3. Classifying
4. Metaphors
5. Analogies
Plan for multiple exposures
1
2
3
4
5
6
53. 4. Metaphors: connect information
that is not related at a surface or
literal level to add effect
“All the world’s a stage, and all the
men and women merely players.”
- Shakespeare, As You Like It
Plan for multiple exposures
1
2
3
4
5
6
____ ____is
54. 5. Analogies: identify the relationship
between two sets of items
Plan for multiple exposures
1
2
3
4
5
6
A B
C D
as
55. Oxygen is to humans as carbon dioxide is to plants.
Bible is to Christian as Quran is to Muslim.
Ruler is to line as compass is to circle.
Plan for multiple exposures
1
2
3
4
5
6
5. Analogies: identify the relationship
between two sets of items
56. Mason is to stone as carpenter is to ________.
Paris is to _______ as ________ is to England.
Freud is to psychoanalysis as ______ is to ______.
Plan for multiple exposures
1
2
3
4
5
6
5. Analogies: identify the relationship
between two sets of items
57. • Previous exposures
• Context
• Part of speech
• Purpose
• Morphemes
• Syllables
• Spelling
• Connected words
Students discuss new term
1
2
3
4
5
6
chronic
Think-Pair-Share
61. Greenshaw’s pedagogical approach
to teaching vocabulary
Tutor time
Time = 1 x 15mins per week
One band = 3 x tutor groups
Focus = approx. 24 roots per
term
English lessons
Time = 7 lessons per cycle
One band = 4 x classes
Focus = 10 words (4 tier two
and 6 tier three) per cycle
+
Initial assessment
NGRT test
English baseline
Ongoing
Short quizzes
Unit assessments
End assessment
NGRT test
English exam
Student voice
62. Vocabulary items:
1. Setting
2. Plot
3. Genre
4. Literary
5. Anxious
6. Tranquil
7. Placid
8. Luxuriate
9. Congealed
10. Premises
Lamb to the Slaughter – Vocabulary teaching
Roots and suffixes:
mis
hydro
ium
63.
64. MON 1 TUES 1 WEDS 1 THURS 1 FRI 1
Eng = 10x Tier
2 & 3 words
Eng = HW
revisit – quiz,
MCQs,
matching tasks
Tutor time =
3x roots
Eng = exposed
to new words
again but no
direct teaching
MON 2 TUES 2 WEDS 2 THURS 2 FRI 2
Eng = class
revisit –
discussion,
journal activity
Eng = HW
revisit – quiz,
MCQs,
matching tasks
Tutor time =
3x roots
Eng = exposed
to new words
again but no
direct teaching
65. Greenshaw’s pedagogical approach
to teaching vocabulary
Tutor time
Time = 1 x 15mins per week
One band = 3 x tutor groups
Focus = approx. 24 roots per
term
English lessons
Time = 7 lessons per cycle
One band = 4 x classes
Focus = 10 words (4 tier two
and 6 tier three) per cycle
+
Initial assessment
NGRT test
English baseline
Ongoing
Short quizzes
Unit assessments
End assessment
NGRT test
English exam
Student voice
