The Conundrum of Vocabulary Growth

It is estimated that the average students grows his or her vocabulary by thousands of words per year (Carlise & Katz., 2005). In order for students to add words at this incredible rate, students need exposure to great numbers of words (Aaron et al., 2008). Teachers must create opportunities for students to hear, read, and interact with new words on a daily basis. This includes using rigorous vocabulary words when teaching, reading challenging books aloud, and pushing students to experiment with new words (Aaron et. al., 2008). This approach to instruction helps students gain superficial knowledge of many new words. However, the major drawback, if used in isolation, is that students truly master very few of these words. They may only know the words in one context, or only one usage. Teachers must facilitate this move from exposure to mastery.

In contrast to casting a wide net through mere exposure, another approach to vocabulary instruction requires direct vocabulary instruction. In this approach, students are provided with repeated opportunities to interact with new words through word games or dictionary games. Students are explicitly taught word meanings, usages, parts of speech, etc. (Aaron et al., 2008). Teachers using this approach are teaching the word in depth so that students are able to fully integrate the word into their daily vernacular. Not only do students hear the words embedded in conversation, they are also taught about the words (Aaron et al., 2008). This type of vocabulary instruction is extremely valuable, but is limited in the breadth of words that can be introduced. Teachers cannot possibly teach close to 3,000 words a year with the great amount of detail required by this approach. Similarly, students cannot be expected to learn so much about thousands of words in one year.

This is the conundrum facing teachers of vocabulary. They must not only grow a student’s vocabulary, but also deepen it.These two vastly different approaches to vocabulary can be reconciled with planning. Teachers need to not only integrate vocabulary instruction into every subject and teaching situation, but every interaction with students. This is the exposure that is seen in the “wide but shallow” approach. Students are pushed by hearing words used in context, but this exposure is not exhaustive. In addition to using a wide approach, an effective vocabulary teacher must also choose choice words to delve deeper into, words that will be taught explicitly to students so that they may use them accurately in many contexts with confidence. By using both approaches simultaneously, teachers will give students the exposure needed to grow their vocabularies exponentially, while also providing them with the tools to deepen concepts for full mastery of words.

Marnita Coenraad, master of reading and writing student, Neuhaus/SMU

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