Mc Kenna 1995 has indicated that content literacy is achieved by a subset of General content literacy skills, content knowledge and content specific skills. In each of the areas listed understanding vocabulary or the specialized vocabulary of the content area is necessary in order to achieve content literacy.
One of the most enduring findings in reading research is the extent to which students’ vocabulary knowledge relates to their reading comprehension (e.g., Anderson & Freebody, 1981; Baumann, Kame‘enui, & Ash, 2003; Becker, 1977; Davis, 1942; Whipple, 1925). Most recently, the National Reading Panel (2000) concluded that comprehension development cannot be understood without a critical examination of the role played by vocabulary knowledge. Given that students’ success in school and beyond depends in great measure upon their ability to read with comprehension, there is an urgency to providing instruction that equips students with the skills and strategies necessary for lifelong vocabulary development.
It seems that from these two bits of information this word vocabulary seems to be important. Since I have started this programme I have found myself observing various things related to class room instruction. I have observed that we some-times teach vocabulary in isolation from actual reading text that our children are exposed too. I too was very guilty of this. I placed a lot of words in the children's copy books to learn on a weekly basis. I have since then tried tried to highlight new words that the children encounter from various sources related to their classroom instruction.
I believe that I took for granted that I was the only source of words or at least new words the kids were exposed too. I was really wrong about that. I have since started to allow the kids to compile their own word lists(in addition to those we come across in class). If you people reading out there have other strategies feel free to share.....
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ReplyDeleteSheldon, you clearly stated that a child’s vocabulary knowledge relates to his reading comprehension and yes I see this daily in my classroom environment. I want to emphasize that vocabulary knowledge parallels the amount of language that a child is exposed to. More language exposure, leads to a larger vocabulary bank which leads to comprehending a wider range of material. With this in mind, we as parents, educators and reading specialists must make it our duty to immerse our children in the language experience from birth and trust me this produces children with strong academic performances.
ReplyDeleteI remember about ten years ago I had very close contact with an infant. In fact he spent most of his days with me. As a young teacher then, I wanted to experiment so I taught him to pronounce and understand multisyllabic words. I read the newspapers to him and other books that I enjoyed. His father was a bit concerned but nevertheless, he accepted it. By the age of four, he said “I had a nice experience at the beach” and the rest is history. Today he is at Hillview College and wants to study medicine.
Hey as we are on this topic, let me engage you in a future discussion. What are your views on the amount of language exposure and vocabulary development of a child from a low income home? Later.
Vocabulary instruction is certainly key to developing comprehension and even expression. Too often students fail to understand a text or a conversation due to lack of vocabulary knowledge. Their writing is also a reflection of their exposure, or lack thereof, to a wide range of words. This was made clear while I was conducting the oral NCSE English exam this year. When students were asked questions they had difficulty responding as they did not understand what a word/term meant.I had to eventually break down the words or use it in an example to assist them in figuring out the meaning.
ReplyDeleteHowever, the reality is, as Sheldon pointed out,vocabulary instruction is done in isolation if it is done at all. Too many times we give a list of words and instruct students to find the meanings and then write sentences using the words. When the sentences are formed this is sometimes another indication that instruction must go beyond this very basic exercise. This I say as students use the words out of context. Reiterating the point that vocabulary instruction must be a well thought out exercise and not an aside to a lesson.
One strategy I have tried with some success is introducing students to the meanings of prefixes.This allows them to grasp the general meaning or relation of a word.For example 'aqua-water' hence when this is contained in a word they know the meaning relates to water in some way. I am sure there are many others and as reading specialists we must discover and master them.