Vocabulary: Theory, research, and promising practices Michael C. McKenna

1. Vocabulary: Theory, research, and promising practices Michael C. McKenna

2. Today’s Goals • Learn about how children acquire word meanings • Examine research findings on vocabulary instruction • Discuss scientifically-based instructional approaches • practice making a vocab. lesson

3. Is the word vocabulary in your vocabulary?

4. What is vocabulary? • Speaking vocabulary • Listening vocabulary • Reading vocabulary • Writing vocabulary • General vocabulary • Technical vocabulary • Meaning vocabulary Modality Domain

5. What is vocabulary? • Speaking vocabulary • Listening vocabulary • Reading vocabulary • Writing vocabulary • General vocabulary • Technical vocabulary • Meaning vocabulary Modality Domain

6. What is vocabulary? • Speaking vocabulary • Listening vocabulary • Reading vocabulary • Writing vocabulary • General vocabulary • Technical vocabulary • Meaning vocabulary Modality Domain

7. What is vocabulary? • Speaking vocabulary • Listening vocabulary • Reading vocabulary • Writing vocabulary • General vocabulary • Technical vocabulary • Meaning vocabulary Modality Domain

8. What is vocabulary? • Speaking vocabulary • Listening vocabulary • Reading vocabulary • Writing vocabulary • General vocabulary • Technical vocabulary • Meaning vocabulary Modality Domain

10. 1755 Dictionary of the English Language

11. 1755 Dictionary of the English Language 114,000 words

12. 1755 Dictionary of the English Language 114,000 words impertransibility queck nould

13. 1755 Dictionary of the English Language 114,000 words 2005 Oxford English Dictionary (3rd ed.)

14. 1755 Dictionary of the English Language 114,000 words 2005 Oxford English Dictionary (3rd ed.) 660,000+ words

15. webcam cyberphobic doh 2005 Oxford English Dictionary (3rd ed.) 660,000+ words

16. English users follow set rules for coining new words, thus adding greatly to the number of potential words in the language.

17. English users follow set rules for coining new words, thus adding greatly to the number of potential words in the language. The postman likes our street because it is dogless.

18. Are you a logophile?

19. Are you a logophile? words

20. A Vocabulary Riddle To comprehend what we read, at least 95% of the words must be recognized automatically. How is this possible given the number of words in English?

21. 50K 40K 30K 20K 10K 0 45,000 17,000 5,000 1,500 K 12

22. Oral vocabulary at the end of first grade is a significant predictor of comprehension ten years later. Cunningham, A.E., & Stanovich, K.E. (1997). Early reading acquisition and its relation to experience and ability 10 years later. Developmental Psychology, 33, 934-945.

23. Why is a large vocabulary associated with good comprehension?

24. The Instrumental Hypothesis Vocabulary aids comprehension by providing the reader with a tool, or instrument.

25. The Knowledge Hypothesis It’s not so much the words themselves that help, but the knowledge they represent.

26. The Aptitude Hypothesis Comprehension and vocabulary are correlated “not because one causes the other, but because both reflect a more general underlying verbal aptitude.” – Stahl & Nagy (2005)

27. The Access Hypothesis • A larger vocabulary means • a deeper understanding of words (including nuances of meaning) • quicker access to words in the lexicon • flexibility in deciding among multiple meanings

28. The Reciprocal Hypothesis Having a bigger vocabulary makes you a better reader. Being a better reader makes it possible for you to read more Reading more gives you a bigger vocabulary

29. Four Obstacles to Acquiring a Large Vocabulary The number of words in English is very large. Academic English differs from the kind of English used at home. Word knowledge involves far more than learning definitions. Sources of information about words are often hard to use or unhelpful. – Stahl & Nagy (2005)

30. How do we learn words from experiences?

31. gavagai An aborigine points to a running rabbit and says “Gavagai.” Can you infer the word’s meaning?

32. Each encounter with a word helps a child narrow its meaning. For example, if he next hears the word gavagai used to refer to a sitting rabbit, the child will infer that running is not connected with the meaning.

33. Young children learn word meanings from one-on-one interactions with parents and siblings. These interactions may be rich or poor. Consider two examples based on Hart and Risley’s (1995) comparison of families of different socioeconomic levels.

34. Yeah. Do I have to eat these?

35. “Motherese” Yes, because they have vitamins that will help you grow and get stronger. Do I have to eat these?

36. What does it mean to know a word?

37. A Continuum of Word Knowledge No knowledge A vague sense of the meaning Narrow knowledge with aid of context Good knowledge but shaky recall Rich, decontextualized knowledge, connected to other word meanings

38. A Continuum of Word Knowledge No knowledge A vague sense of the meaning Narrow knowledge with aid of context Good knowledge but shaky recall Rich, decontextualized knowledge, connected to other word meanings

39. The Reading System (Adams) Reading Writing Speech Context Processor Meaning Processor Orthographic Processor Phonological Processor

40. The Reading System (Adams) Reading Writing Speech Context Processor Lexicon Meaning Processor Orthographic Processor Phonological Processor

41. lexicon That part of long-term memory devoted to word knowledge

42. How is a word stored in the lexicon?

43. cat

44. c-a-t cat /kat/

45. “meow” c-a-t cat 4 legs /kat/ pet

46. animal “meow” c-a-t cat 4 legs /kat/ pet lion

47. animal mammal “meow” c-a-t cat 4 legs /kat/ pet lion

48. animal mammal “meow” c-a-t cat 4 legs /kat/ pet lion

49. animal mammal “meow” c-a-t cat dog 4 legs /kat/ pet lion

50. animal mammal “meow” c-a-t cat dog 4 legs /kat/ pet lion