The Volume of the English Vocabulary and its Use. The Changes in
the Vocabulary and their Causes.
The vocabulary of the modern English language may
be characterized as great in volume, comprehensive and heterogeneous
in character, i.e. it contains a great number of words, embraces a
great many branches of human activity and includes words from various
sources. The vocabulary of modern English is immense. It contains
more than half a million words and set
expressions. The individual vocabulary
of an educated English speaker comprises about 30000 words. Of these
not all the words are equally important. An average member of the
speech community uses about 4000 or 5000 of most frequently occurring
words. The choice of words in the individual vocabulary depends on
one’s education, occupation, experience, cultural background, age,
gender (social sex), situation and so on. How
many words one should know to learn English vocabulary – schools
leavers 80000 words and idioms.
The exact number of vocabulary units in modern
English can not be stated for a member of reasons. The principle one
among them is the constant change, growth of the English vocabulary.
The enormous growth in the number of words is one of the best known
facts in the History of the English vocabulary. It is estimated that
the words found in the extant literature of the old English period do
not exceed 30000 while the New Oxford Dictionary contains over 400000
words (12 томов). Language as a
product of human society changes with the change of society. It’s
in a constant state of evolution.
The vocabulary of a language is most sensitive to
changes and never remains stable. The changes in the vocabulary are
due both to linguistic and
extralinguistic causes or to a
combination of both.
The extralinguistic causes are determined by the social nature
of the language. By extralinguistic causes we mean historical events
and changes in the life of society: social, economic, political,
cultural. They are inevitably reflected in the vocabulary of the
language spoken by that society.
By linguistic causes we mean different relations between the
words of the vocabulary, rearrangements of this relations and so on.
The main changes that take place in the vocabulary of a language
under the influence of linguistic and extralinguistic causes:
-
New words may be formed in the language (the
so-called neologisms), e.g. sexism,
ageism (-ism means discrimination) -
New words may be borrowed from other languages,
e.g. perestroika -
Some words may grow obsolete and drop out of the
language. They become archaic like thou
(you), vernal (spring), brine (sea).
Other words become historical words like cataphrat
(кольчуга),
hoop-skirt (кринолин)
because the notions they express are no longer related to the life
of the people. -
Some words drop out of the language because they
are ousted by their synonyms, which may be borrowed from another
language or created in the English language, e.g. OE
verb niman — to take (Scand). -
Some words may develop their semantic structure
and become polysemantic, e.g. in the
course of the historical development the word “Earth” (land)
which had acquired the new meaning “planet” due to the
development of astronomy. (Boy scout = naïve politician) -
The semantic structure of other words may split
and as a result more homonyms may appear in the language, e.g. as a
result of split of polysemy of the word “board” the following
homonym appeared – board (стол,
еда/board and lodgings); (committee,
group of people); box (коробка)
— box (ложа в
театре)
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As mentioned in the previous section on
what to study, the information you need about a word will depend on what you want
to be able to do with it. For example, if you simply want to understand it in a reading text, then knowing the meaning is enough. If,
on the other hand, you want to be able to use it in writing or speaking, then other information is important, such as spelling and
pronunciation. This page considers all the important information you will need to know about English vocabulary in order to study it
effectively, namely
meaning,
spelling,
pronunciation,
part of speech,
word family,
frequency,
register,
usage and
collocation.
Meaning
Many words in English have several meanings. While some meanings of a given word might be similar, others could be very different.
The word head, for example, has 32 meanings listed for the noun form (according to the
Wordnet database)
and another nine for the verb form. The following are three of the meanings for the noun form.
1. the upper part of the human body or the front part of the body in animals; contains the face and brains
4. a person who is in charge. E.g.: the head of the whole operation [Syn: chief, top dog]
29. a toilet on board a boat or ship.
The first meaning is a very basic meaning that students would learn at the beginning level.
The meaning ‘a person who is in charge’ is different from the first meaning, but still fairly close (this is an example of a
metaphorical extension, as a person who is in charge is at the top, in the same way the head is at the top of the body).
The meaning ‘a toilet on board a boat or ship’, however, is completely different from the other meanings of the word.
It is also far less common, and not suitable for academic English use.
As mentioned in the
academic vocabulary section,
the most common meaning of some words in academic English is different from the most common meaning in general
English, for example:
- underline: most commonly used to mean ’emphasise’ in academic English, rather than ‘draw a line under’;
- discipline: meaning ‘a subject of study’ rather than ‘training people to obey rules’;
- population: meaning ‘all individuals who could possibly be included in a survey’ rather than ‘the number of people living in a country’.
In general, when studying vocabulary it is best to study words in context (for example in a reading or listening text),
and to study the meaning as it is used in that context, focusing on a single meaning rather than all possible meanings.
Spelling
Spelling is important if you want to use the word in your writing. English spelling is notoriously difficult,
with many words spelt differently from how they sound. This is
obvious when examining homonyms (words which sound the same but are spelt differently). For example,
the words words tort and taught,
which have very different meanings, are both pronounced exactly the same way, namely /tɔt/,
while the words tuff and tough are both pronounced /tʌf/.
The spelling of the first word in each case more closely resembles how it is pronounced, though in fact those
two words are far less
common than the other two spellings. Almost every phoneme (unit of sound) has more than one way
to spell it. Some spelling mistakes are common even among native speakers, such as confusion between their
and there.
Pronunciation
Knowing how a word is pronounced is especially important if you want to use it in your speaking, or
understand it when listening. Pronunciation, like spelling, can be a difficult area, with some words
which are spelled similarly being pronounced in different ways. For instance, tough, though and thought,
which all contain the combination -ough-, are pronounced /tʌf/, /ðoʊ/ and /θɔt/ respectively.
The main difference here is the vowel sounds. Indeed English has a particularly large number of vowel sounds
when compared to other languages, and these tend to be the area which learners struggle with the most,
with consonants being relatively straightforward. The vowels of English differ considerably between dialects, which is another
source of difficulty.
An additional component to understanding how a word is pronounced is the position of the
stress in words with more than one syllable. This can sometimes change across different word forms, a phenomenon
known as shifting stress, making pronunciation even more difficult. For example, eCONomy and
econOmics (economy has the stress on the second syllable, while in economics it is on the
third), and CONtrast (n) and conTRAST (v).
Part of speech
It is important to know the part of speech of any word you study. This means whether the word is a noun, verb,
adjective or adverb. Without this information, it will be difficult to use the word accurately in
speaking or writing. It is useful, when studying new vocabulary, to study the
word family (see below), which will entail studying all parts of speech
associated with a new word at the same time. This will enable you to use the word more flexibly in your writing or speaking.
Word family
A word family is a group of words which are ‘related’ by a common base word. For example, the
word create (verb) is in the same word family as
creator, creativity and creation (all nouns),
creative (adjective),
creatively (adverb) and
recreate (also a verb). Other members of the word family are formed by adding
prefixes or suffixes to the base word or part of it. In this case,
the base form creat- is changed to a noun by adding -or (for the person) or -ivity
or -ion (for the thing).
Learning common prefixes and suffixes and studying words in word families will
help you to build vocabulary more quickly. It can also help in
guessing the meaning of unknown words. For
example, knowing that creativity is a noun, meaning ‘being creative’, might help you to understand the
meanings of objectivity (‘being objective’) and passivity (‘being passive’).
Frequency
Some words are more frequent than others. Words which are extremely low frequency (i.e. uncommon words) are not worth learning
unless they are important in your particular field of study. Words which are high frequency, however, need to be studied as you
will probably encounter them on a regular basis, in reading or listening. It can be difficult to know how frequent a word is. Some
dictionaries will indicate the frequency of a word. Word lists can
also help out here, for example the
General Service List (GSL), which is a list of the most
common words in English, sorted by frequency, or the
Academic Word List (AWL), which is a list of the most common
words used in academic texts not contained in the GSL, also listed by frequency (sublist 1 is the most common, sublist 2 the next most
common, and so on).
You can also use a
vocabulary profiler to understand whether words are
high frequency, mid frequency, or low frequency.
Register
Register refers to the language used for a particular purpose or in a particular social setting. Academic English uses
a particular register, employing more formal language than in other contexts such as story writing or chatting to friends.
Although the term register is similar to formality in the case of academic English, it is not synonymous.
Some very formal words and language, such as might be used in writing a contract (e.g. hereinafter and heretofore),
would be considered too formal for academic English. In addition, the
register can vary across academic English genres, with some less formal words or phrases used in
academic presentations or
lectures, such as like (to give examples),
OK (to signal a transition), and but and so (to contrast or conclude), which are less common and even
considered wrong in
academic writing. In order to improve academic vocabulary use, it is important to be aware of how formal
a word is, and whether it is suitable for use in academic writing or speaking.
Usage
It is not enough to study single words in isolation. If you want to expand your vocabulary and be able to
use the words productively, in your speaking or writing, you need to understand how they are used. This includes
studying prepositions which are associated with particular words (such as
prepare for,
beneficial for,
skilled in,
associated with),
or verb forms which might follow the word (such as
prepare to do,
unwilling to do,
consider doing). A related area of vocabulary study, which similarly considers how words combine with others, is
collocation, which is considered next.
Collocation
A collocation is two or more words which frequently appear together (the prefix co- means together,
while the suffix -location means place). Unlike with grammar, it is not possible to define rules
for how collocation works. Some combinations just sound right to native English speakers, while others sound wrong.
Modern computers and corpus linguistics (the study of language in real texts) has made it possible
to extract common collocations.
There are several types of collocation possible in English. These are
shown below, with examples taken from the
Academic Collocation List (ACL).
- adjective+noun (by far the most common type, e.g. academic achievement, active participant, cultural diversity, high frequency)
- verb+noun (the second most common type, e.g. accept responsibility, develop (a) theory, raise (a) question, use statistics)
- noun+noun (e.g. background knowledge, business sector, climate change, survey data)
- adverb+adjective (e.g. acutely aware, almost identical, broadly similar, virtually impossible)
- adverb+past participle (e.g. closely connected (to/with), commonly referred (to as), directly related (to), poorly understood)
- adverb+verb (e.g. briefly describe, clearly understand, closely resemble, strongly agree)
- verb+adverb (e.g. apply equally, communicate effectively, think differently, vary significantly)
- verb+adjective (e.g. become aware, make available, prove useful, seem unlikely)
Another possible type is verbs+prepositional phrase, such as look up and stand for.
These are phrasal verbs (also called compound verbs or multi-word verbs) and are not true collocations,
since they form a single unit which cannot be understood based on the meaning of the individual words.
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Checklist
The following checklist summarises the features of vocabulary.
| Area | OK | Comments |
| I understand that English words usually have many meanings, some of which are more common in academic English than others. |
||
| I understand about spelling in English. | ||
| I understand about English pronunciation, and why vowel sounds and word stress are areas to consider. |
||
| I understand why it is important to study the part of speech of new words. | ||
| I know that English words are usually part of a word family, and why prefixes and suffixes are an important part of vocabulary study. |
||
| I understand why the frequency of a word is important, and know some common lists which give the most frequent words for general and academic use. |
||
| I know what register means and understand why it is important for academic (formal) English. |
||
| I understand that studying vocabulary is not about single words and that it is important to think about usage. |
||
| I know what collocations are and the different types that occur in English. |
By reading a wide variety of authors and various types of writing you can build up your vocabulary and acquire the necessary skill in the proper use of words, phrases and idioms. Consciously or subconsciously, while reading, you develop an ear for what is right and what is wrong. Another indispensable aid is dictionaries and reference books; the student should develop the habit of checking usage with the help of dictionaries that give definitions and peculiarities of usage in English.
Besides dictionaries there is a great variety of reference books where one can find information on synonyms, antonyms, idioms, proverbs, literary quotations and so on. The recommendations which follow, together with dictionaries and reference books, will help the student to improve his style in writing.
Below are the general recommendations we would offer to follow in writing:
1. Use concrete words.
A «general» word expresses a general notion which may be made more specific. Thus for example walk is a general word for the following sequence of specific verbs: stroll, stagger, stride, shuffle, trot, plod, etc. Each verb in this sequence denotes a specific mode of walking. In writing, whenever possible, use a specific word, as it gives a clearer idea of what you want to say.
Specific, concrete words are picture-making words; they are more likely to touch the reader’s imagination, whereas general words are usually neutral. Thus, for example, the sentence The man was attacked with a deadly weapon sounds ineffectual, as it contains two general words. A much more vivid picture is given by the following combinations: stabbed with a knife; shot dead, slashed with a razor blade.
When choosing a verb, one should remember that verbs in constant use, such as be, go, feel, have, become, etc., have lost much of their power and are apt to weaken one’s style, especially in descriptive and narrative passages. A composition can be considered highly improved by replacing overworked verbs with more forceful ones. Here are some examples.
Weak:
→ Black smoke was coming out of the engine.
→ Flames were reaching the petrol tanks.
Strong:
→ Black smoke belched out of the rear of the engine.
→ Flames licked the petrol tanks.
Students with a limited vocabulary often use a combination of a neutral general verb with a qualifying adverb where a single specific verb would have been more effective.
e. g. He ran quickly. — He rushed/dashed.; She was breathing heavily. — She was panting.
2. Avoid overused adjectives and adverbs.
Overused, and therefore, weak adverbs and adjectives such as very, pretty, rather, little, good, nice, hard, impair your style. Compare the following examples.
The book is bad. — The book is boring/badly written.
What a good design! — What a clever/ingenious design!
3. Do not mix different degrees of formality.
One of the grave mistakes which students are apt to make consists in using colloquial or even slangy expressions in neutral-formal style as in the following:
a. The Cabinet meets for a few hours twice a week during parliamentary sittings, and a bit less frequently when Parliament is not sitting. (Neutral rather should be used.)
b. It is the duty of the Prime Minister to keep an eye on the departments. (Formal supervise would be more appropriate.)
Slang is defined as «words and phrases in common colloquial use», but generally considered in some or all of their senses to be outside of Standard English. As such it is usually inappropriate in formal writing.
One can occasionally use it with a special purpose, for example in a speech portrayal of a character, but this should be done with great discretion. The treacherous thing about slang is that it changes with time and circumstances, each period and group of people having its own slang, so that it is quite easy to make the mistake of using it anachronistically. For example it would be inappropriate, writing an essay on Tom Jones, to use the slang of today, and doubly Inappropriate to use the slang of Jim Holden, because it is American.
Students who have learnt to avoid using slang may go to the other extreme and feel that a simple and direct style is not good enough for important ideas. They may tend to use stilted, bookish words and phrases, e. g.
a) He told me what to do and I accomplished the operation (instead of the simple and direct / did it).
b) She had taken it for granted that I would give assent to her project (instead of agree. Cf. The queen has to give her assent to bills before they can become law where ‘give assent’ is appropriate).
The current trend in English writing is to explain even difficult subjects in clear and simple language.
4. Use idioms with care.
Idioms, like words, differ in their stylistic value: some of them are colloquial, others slangy, or even vulgar, and therefore inappropriate in formal writing. The stylistic function of idioms is to make writing more expressive, emphatic and vivid, and, often, more concise. Brevity is achieved because idiom is a kind of code known to everybody, so that even a modified idiom evokes the whole situation, as in the following example: He counted his chickens too soon. The meaning is clear to those that know the proverb Never count your chickens before they are hatched. Idioms should be used like a pinch of salt, or a sprinkle of pepper — overdo it, and the whole will be spoilt. They’re kind of help for essay writing, teachers and professors are highly appreciate idioms in students’ essays.
5. Make wider use of verbs with postpositives.
Another way of making your writing more idiomatic and up-to-date is using verbs with postpositives, such as to give in, to turn up, etc. instead of one-word verbs surrender, appear. They used to belong to the spoken informal variety of English, but with the wider use of them in newspaper language many of them have become an accepted feature of the written language as well. Without them Writing does not sound natural enough, and there is a trend nowadays to use them more freely even in formal style, e. g.
a. The march was called off (cancelled).
b. The proposal was turned down (rejected).
Nouns derived from the verbs with postpositives are becoming increasingly widespread in English writing, partly under the in fluence of newspaper usage. Here are a few examples of the most common of them:
break-down — collapse
flash-back — return to an earlier period (in films, novels)
break-through— major achievement
flare-up — outbreak of hostility
drop-out — a person who drops out of society
set-back — impediment
6. Avoid cliches.
«A cliche is an outworn commonplace; a phrase that has become so hackneyed that scrupulous speakers and writers shrink from it because they feel that its use is an insult to (he intelligence of their auditor or audience.» (Eric Partridge, in A Dictionary of Cliches)
Cliches range from high-flown phrases (explore every avenue) to quotations ( the two evils choose the least, Erasmus of Rotterdam ), metaphors (the arms of Morpheus), idioms (It’s raining cats and dogs), set phrases (last but not least).
The use of a cliche may sometimes be justified if it is appropriate as regards its stylistic value and the context, and if used very occasionally; a piling-up of cliches is absolutely inadmissible.
7. Avoid unnecessary words.
Good writing implies avoiding unnecessary words. Here is a piece of sound advice from E. B. White: «A sentence should contain no unnecessary words, a paragraph no unnecessary sentences. This requires not that the writer make all the sentences short or that he avoid all detail and treat his subject only in outline, but that every word should tell.»
Compare the following examples:
(1) Whenever anyone called for someone to help him to do something, Jim was always the first to volunteer and lend his help for the cause. (2) Whenever anyone asked for help, Jim was always the first to volunteer.
The first sentence is wordy and muddled the second concise and clear. The second variant is also more forceful.
Wordiness means the use of more words than one actually needs to express one’s idea. Certain words such as fact, factor, feature, field, case, character, nature, etc. are especially abused by the lovers of wordiness. Consider the following examples:
Wordy: owing to the fact that; in spite of the fact that; I was unaware of the fact that; the fact that he did not succeed in advertising; acts of a hostile nature; it has rarely been the case that; any mistakes have been made after a short period of time.
Concise: since, because; though, although; I was unaware that (I did not know); his failure in the field of advertising; hostile acts; mistakes have been rare; after a while, presently.
Here is a list of some phrases in common use which should I generally be avoided, as they are wordy. Their concise equivalents are given in brackets: the question whether ( whether) ; there is no doubt that (no doubt/doubtless that); he is a man who (he); this is a subject that (this subject); his story is a strange one (his story is strange or, more literary and emphatic: his is a strange story).
Quite often a word of classical origin (Latin or Greek) helps us to avoid wordiness, for it expresses in one word what would need a phrase or even a clause in native English, e. g. imperceptible changes — unable to be seen or perceived; provocative arguments — intentionally irritating or designed to produce a strong reaction.
Tautology, i. e. repetition of words and phrases synonymous or close in meaning, should also be avoided. Consider the following examples of tautology. In each sentence either 1 or 2 should have been left out as redundant.
I happened (1) to meet her by chance (2) at the theatre. (1 met her by chance…)
That should leave (1) me with twenty pounds left (2). (I should have twenty pounds left.)
9. Avoid unintentional alliteration.
Alliteration, or repetition of similar sounds in two or more words, is an accepted device in poetry, and, less often, in prose. Unintentional alliteration in prose, however, jars on your ear, distracting your attention from the meaning of the words. Consider the following examples of unwanted alliteration.
He was a most charming chap.
Here a grave grief attacked her.
Vocabulary forms an integral part of the process of reading and readers’ comprehension. It refers to the words needed for communicating effectively. It implies receptive vocabulary and expressive vocabulary. Receptive vocabulary refers to the words that we hear and read while expressive vocabulary implies the words that we speak and write. It is rightly said that without vocabulary, it is not possible to convey anything. A broader idea of vocabulary is discussed below.
Vocabulary Definition
Vocabulary is denoted as “the group and collection of words that are known and used by a particular person”. It can also be defined as “a list or collection of words or phrases that are normally alphabetically arranged and defined or explained”.
Vocabulary is also commonly called wordstock, lexis, and lexicon.
Importance of Vocabulary
Vocabulary is an essential part of anyone’s life and the following points describe the importance of vocabulary.
-
Vocabulary is critical for communication and expression
-
Vocabulary forms the basis of reading comprehension
-
Linguistic vocabulary and thinking vocabulary work parallel
-
Vocabulary also forms a basis for judgment many times
-
For conveying anything, vocabulary is important
What is Vocabulary in English?
The answer to ‘what is vocabulary in English?’ is all the words that form a language to be understood by a specific person or maybe a group of people. Vocabulary in English can be categorized into two types, namely- active and passive. The words that we use and understand in day-to-day language are termed as active vocabulary while the ones which we know but use rarely are said to be passive vocabulary.
Three Tiers of Vocabulary
Vocabulary is described with the following three tiers:
-
Basic Vocabulary
The basic words form the first tier of vocabulary. These words normally have a single meaning and do not require instruction. Early reading words, sight words, adjectives, verbs, nouns, etc are portrayed in this tier. 8000-word families in English comprise this tier.
-
High-frequency Vocabulary
Also called the multiple meaning vocabulary tier, this tier comprises words used in a variety of domains, adult communication, literature, etc. It influences reading and speaking. 7000-word families comprise this tier. The characteristics for tier two words are as follows:
-
It has multiple meanings
-
Vital for reading comprehension
-
Typical mature language
-
Descriptive vocabulary
-
A diverse environment use these words
-
Used for direct instruction
-
Low-frequency Vocabulary
The words that are used only when specifically required or in a particular domain like weather, technology, geographical region, occupation, hobbies, school, etc. comprise this tier. About four lakh words in vocabulary in English comprise this tier.
Types of Vocabulary
The types of vocabulary can be categorized based on spoken and written vocabulary. Children start vocabulary-building through listening and speaking even before writing and reading. Every type of vocabulary has a different aim and purpose. However, the development of one type of vocabulary facilitates another.
The types of vocabulary are discussed below briefly.
-
Listening Vocabulary
Listening vocabulary comprises words that we understand through hearing. A fetus may start recognizing some words when in the womb. Learning new words is a continuous process, and by the time you reach adulthood, almost fifty thousand words are understood and recognized by you. Deaf people can be exposed to visual listening vocabulary for learning.
-
Speaking Vocabulary
Speaking vocabulary consists of words that we actually speak. It has a horizon of around 5000 to 10000 words. These are used for giving instructions and conversations. The number of words in this category are comparatively lesser than the listening vocabulary.
-
Reading Vocabulary
The major ingredient of vocabulary building is reading. Reading grows and develops your vocabulary. The words we get to learn while reading a text are termed as reading vocabulary. It may happen that we understand words through reading vocabulary even if we don’t use it in speaking vocabulary.
-
Writing Vocabulary
Words we recoup while expressing ourselves through writing are termed as writing vocabulary. Writing vocabulary is normally influenced by the words we are able to spell. We find it easy to express verbally, through facial expression, or intonation, but writing vocabulary depends upon our expertise in vocabulary.
-
Final Vocabulary
Richard Rorty discovered this term ‘Final Vocabulary’. It is a collection, set, or group of words that every person applies to justify their actions, beliefs, and lives. Final vocabulary comprises words a person avails to praise, contempt, express deep feelings, hopes, doubts, etc.
Ways to Improve Your Vocabulary
Students can adopt several ways to improve their vocabulary. A few important ways to improve vocabulary are given here:
-
Develop a Reading Habit: Students can improve their vocabulary if they develop a reading habit. It is easy to improve vocabulary when they come across new words while reading a novel or a newspaper article. They can add new and unfamiliar words to their list.
-
Dictionary and Thesaurus: Students can use online dictionaries and thesauruses for improving vocabulary. They can find synonyms to the words that are far better than the words used by them. Dictionaries can help students to learn about root words, related words, and antonyms.
-
Word Games: Word games such as scrabble are useful for students to expand and enhance their vocabulary. Students can note down the important words that they learn while playing the game and can use them in their writing.
-
Flashcards: Students can use flashcards to learn different words. There are many smartphone apps that can help students to make flashcards and they can make a number of words everyday to increase their vocabulary.
-
Use new Words in Conversation: Students must try to use new words in their conversation. They can use the words that they learn from reading or while watching TV in their conversation to remember them.
Conclusion
People struggle with vocabulary due to lack of instruction, learning strategies, poor memory skills, or learning disabilities. Response to Intervention program (RTl) assists in vocabulary-building.
Learning and exploring new words and then applying them in different contexts improves your communication skills. Always keep learning antonyms, synonyms, connotations, idioms, phrases, and keep reading various books to develop your vocabulary.
Vocabulary is an important focus of literacy teaching and refers to the knowledge or words, including their structure (morphology), use (grammar), meanings (semantics), and links to other words (word/semantic relationships).
Oral vocabulary refers to words that children can understand or use while speaking and listening. Oral vocabulary is closely related to their reading vocabulary, which is the words that children can recognise and use in their reading or writing.
Words all have:
- meaning, which can vary according to context
- phonology – that is, sounds
- morphology – that is, word parts
- syntax, that is, the way in which words are arranged to form phrases or sentences
- uses, which may be multiple, depending on context.
The importance of vocabulary
Children need to have a rich vocabulary that continually grows through language and literacy experiences, in order to comprehend and construct increasingly complex texts, and engage in oral language for a variety of social purposes.
Focussing on vocabulary is useful for developing knowledge and skills in multiple aspects of language and literacy. This includes helping with decoding (phonemic awareness and phonics), comprehension, and also fluency.
Theory to practice
Learning vocabulary is a continual process of language and literacy development, which begins in the early years of life, and continues through schooling and beyond. Sinatra, Zygouris-Coe, and Dasinger (2011) note that:
Knowledge of vocabulary meanings affects children’s abilities to understand and use words appropriately during the language acts of listening, speaking, reading, and writing. Such knowledge influences the complexities and nuances of children’s thinking, how they communicate in the oral and written languages, and how well they will understand printed texts. (p. 333)
It is crucial that children have explicit and robust instruction in vocabulary, to support their verbal and written communication. The explicit teaching of vocabulary allows students to access academic language and discourse, and facilitates their comprehension of increasingly complex texts.
Evidence base
Vocabulary plays an important role in oral language development and early literacy (Hill, 2012). Paris (2005) identifies vocabulary as one of the unconstrained skills, meaning that it is a skill that we continue to develop over our life span. Konza (2016) notes the importance of explicit teaching of vocabulary to support students to become confident in a word’s meaning and use in context so that it will become part of their own repertoire.
Effective ways teaching of vocabulary involve the following main components (Sinatra, Zygouris-Coe, & Dasinger 2011):
- explicit teaching of appropriate vocabulary words (see tier 2 vocabulary below)
- multiple exposures to same words in varying contexts (speaking/listening, reading, writing)
- working with a partner or small group to analyse words
- story retelling using key vocabulary from texts
- use of props or concrete objects to explain vocabulary
- explicit discussion of comprehension together with vocabulary
- ensuring vocabulary instruction is embedded across the curriculum.
Supporting EAL/D learners to develop vocabulary
Increasing EAL/D learners’ vocabulary is crucial in developing school literacies and participating in learning activities across the curriculum. EAL/D learners may already have the words to describe a known concept from their prior learning or past experiences. This knowledge can be transferred to English by using translation as a learning process.
Some strategies for translating vocabulary in the classroom include:
- using printed bilingual dictionaries or home language picture dictionaries
- using online translation tools or dictionaries
- creating a ‘translation’ or ‘home language’ column on vocabulary or spelling lists
- displaying multilingual word walls or vocabulary lists in the classroom
- checking translated vocabulary lists with family members, same language peers or Multicultural Education Aides.
Translation alone is not a sufficient strategy to help students learn how to use new vocabulary. Students require ongoing support to infer the meaning of words using contextual clues, and to break words into morphemes and understand how each part relates to the meaning of the word.
Developing translation and vocabulary learning skills and strategies also helps EAL/D students continue to develop their home language and literacy, which in turn supports learning in English. During the translation process, students may notice gaps in their vocabulary, and become aware of the differences of meaning between words and grammatical structures in different languages.
Additional ways of supporting EAL/D students’ vocabulary development include:
- identifying and teaching key vocabulary in context across all subject areas
- providing opportunities to reuse key vocabulary in a range of texts and situations
- providing displays of vocabulary and concepts, with illustrations and/or translations in the classroom. The teacher might need to demonstrate how the students could use the displays in their learning
- explicitly teaching comprehension strategies for inferring and checking the meaning of new words that are encountered in reading, listening and viewing
- playing word games such as I spy, Hangman or Bingo to reinforce vocabulary
- discussing techniques and tools for recording and remembering vocabulary such as Apps or personal dictionaries
- using graphic organisers to classify words into definitions and characteristics, with examples, non-examples and notes in English and/or home languages.
Multilingual graphic organisers, word walls or cognate charts scaffold EAL/D students’ understanding of English words and make other languages visible in school spaces. Students who speak English as a first language may be able to use these strategies with the vocabulary that they are learning in school.
The ‘form, meaning, and use’ (Larsen-Freeman & Celce-Murcia, 2016) model can also be used to help EAL/D learners understand:
- the ‘form’ (the word parts, the spelling, the sound of the word)
- the ‘meaning’ (the concept of the word)
- the ‘use’ (how the word is used in a sentence).
If EAL/D students are literate in their home language, they may include the ‘form, meaning and use’ model alongside drawings, images or known phonetic symbols to develop their academic vocabulary in both English and their home languages. If a teacher or a support staff shares some of the home languages of the students, they will be able to check students’ translations for accuracy. Otherwise, the teacher can ask students to identify and explain any differences between their languages and English.
Links to curriculum
Foundation
Reading
- Recognise that texts are made up of words and groups of words that make meaning (Content description VCELA144)
- Explore the different contribution of words and images to meaning in stories and informative texts (Content description VCELA145)
Speaking and listening
- Understand the use of vocabulary in familiar contexts related to everyday experiences, personal interests and topics taught at school (Content description VCELA167)
Level 1
Reading
- Identify the parts of a simple sentence that represent ‘What’s happening?’, ‘Who or what is involved?’ and the surrounding circumstances (Content description VCELA178)
- Explore differences in words that represent people, places and things (nouns, including pronouns), happenings and states (verbs), qualities (adjectives) and details such as when, where and how (adverbs) (Content description VCELA179)
Speaking and listening
- Understand the use of vocabulary in everyday contexts as well as a growing number of school contexts, including appropriate use of formal and informal terms of address in different contexts (Content description VCELA202)
Writing
- Recognise and know how to use simple grammatical morphemes in word families (Content description VCELA191)
Level 2
Reading
- Understand that nouns represent people, places, things and ideas and include common, proper, concrete or abstract, and that noun groups/phrases can be expanded using articles and adjectives (Content description VCELA216)
- Learn some generalisations for adding suffixes to words (Content description VCELA217)
- Analyse how different texts use nouns to represent people, places, things and ideas in particular ways (Content description VCELY223)
Speaking and listening
- Understand the use of vocabulary about familiar and new topics and experiment with and begin to make conscious choices of vocabulary to suit audience and purpose (Content description VCELA237)
Writing
- Understand how texts are made cohesive by the use of resources, including word associations, synonyms, and antonyms (Content description VCELA224)
Level 3
Reading
- Recognise most high-frequency words, know how to use common prefixes and suffixes, and know some homophones and generalisations for adding a suffix to a base word (Content description VCELA250)
Speaking and Listening
- Learn extended and technical vocabulary and ways of expressing opinion including modal verbs and adverbs (Content description VCELA273)
Writing
- Understand that verbs represent different processes (doing, thinking, saying, and relating) and that these processes are anchored in time through tense (Content description VCELA262)
Level 4
Reading
- Read different types of texts for specific purposes by combining phonic, semantic, contextual and grammatical knowledge using text processing strategies, including monitoring meaning, skimming, scanning and reviewing (Content description VCELY287)
Writing
- Incorporate new vocabulary from a range of sources, including vocabulary encountered in research, into own texts (Content description VCELA293)
- Recognise homophones and know how to use context to identify correct spelling (Content description VCELA296)
Level 5
Reading
- Understand how to use banks of known words, syllabification, spelling patterns, word origins, base words, prefixes and suffixes, to spell new words, including some uncommon plurals (Content description VCELA312)
Writing
- Understand the use of vocabulary to express greater precision of meaning, and know that words can have different meanings in different contexts (Content description VCELA325)
Level 6
Reading
- Investigate how vocabulary choices, including evaluative language can express shades of meaning, feeling and opinion (Content description VCELA325)
Writing
- Understand how ideas can be expanded and sharpened through careful choice of verbs, elaborated tenses and a range of adverb groups/phrases (Content description VCELA351)
- Investigate how vocabulary choices, including evaluative language can express shades of meaning, feeling and opinion (Content description VCELA352)
- Understand how to use banks of known words, word origins, base words, prefixes, suffixes, spelling patterns and generalisations to spell new words, including technical words and words adopted from other languages (Content description VCELA354)
Links to Victorian Curriculum — English as an Additional Language (EAL)
Pathway A
Speaking and listening
Level A1
- Understand that texts are meaningful
(VCEALA035) - Recognise some familiar words in context
(VCEALL048) - Recognise and use words from lexical sets related to immediate communicative need, interest or experience
(VCEALL026)
Level A2
- Recognise a small range of familiar words in different contexts
(VCEALL129) - Use words learnt from a range of classroom and social contexts
(VCEALL108)
Reading and viewing
Level A1
- Select books to look at or read independently
(VCEALA038) - Use simple dictionaries and word charts
(VCEALA040) - Rely on content words to understand the main idea in a text
(VCEALL045) - Recognise familiar words and phrases
(VCEALL046)
Level A2
- Understand how different types of images in texts contribute to meaning
(VCEALA116) - Select suitable books to read
(VCEALA120) - Locate words in a bilingual dictionary or in class word lists
(VCEALA121) - Focus on both content and functional words to understand the main idea in a text
(VCEALL126) - Use developing knowledge of English to predict some words or phrases
(VCEALL127)
Writing
Level A1
- Write some high-frequency words related to personal experience and school context
(VCEALL076) - Contribute ideas, words or sentences to a class or group shared story
(VCEALA062) - Clarify the meaning of a word in home language and ask for the word to be written so it can be copied
(VCEALA066)
Level A2
- Use high-frequency words encountered in classroom activities
(VCEALL155) - Use some curriculum or content area vocabulary
(VCEALL156) - Contribute to shared writing activities
(VCEALA142) - Use a range of resources to find words or phrases for own writing
(VCEALA146)
Pathway B
Speaking and listening
Level BL
- Use words from sets related to immediate communicative need, interest or experience
(VCEALL180)
Level B1
- Use learnt words in speech
(VCEALL260) - Use the most basic forms of modality
(VCEALL257)
Level
B2
- Use, in speech, vocabulary and structures learnt from spoken and written texts
(VCEALL341) - Use simple forms of modality
(VCEALL338)
(VCEALL341)Level B3
- Employ a range of vocabulary to convey shades of meaning
(VCEALL421) - Understand how modal verbs express probability and possibility
(VCEALL418)
Reading and viewing
Level BL
- Use simple dictionaries and word charts
(VCEALA196) - Sequence words to make simple sentences
(VCEALL203) - Use simple present and past tense verb forms to talk about ongoing, current and past actions
(VCEALL204) - Use some high-frequency adjective–noun and verb–adverb combinations
(VCEALL205) - Recognise some common words or phrases
(VCEALL206) - Build a vocabulary that draws on words of interest, learnt words and sight words
(VCEALL207)
Level B1
- Experiment with using a picture or simple English dictionary and/or a home language–English bilingual dictionary to find words
(VCEALA276) - Read sentences that use basic subject, verb and object patterns, where content and vocabulary are familiar
(VCEALL283) - Identify simple present and past tense verbs
(VCEALL284) - Use knowledge of base words to read new forms
(VCEALL285) - Read some familiar words and phrases
(VCEALL286) - Build a vocabulary that draws on words of interest, topic words and sight words
(VCEALL287)
Level B2
- Use a simple English dictionary or class word list to find words, and/or check home language–English bilingual dictionary for meanings
(VCEALA357) - Read texts that contain compound and complex sentences
(VCEALL364) - Use knowledge of simple tense and negation to interpret the meaning of written text
(VCEALL365) - Use knowledge of sentence structure to predict words or self-correct
(VCEALL366) - Read some common words or familiar phrases
(VCEALL367)
Level B3
- Use an accessible English dictionary to check the meaning of new words, and/or check meanings in a home language–English bilingual dictionary
(VCEALA436) - Follow the meaning of complex sentence patterns
(VCEALL443) - Interpret the meaning of written text that uses a range of tenses and negation
(VCEALL444) - Use knowledge of sentence structure to predict words and self-correct
(VCEALL445) - Use knowledge of sentence structure and content to deduce the meaning of unfamiliar words
(VCEALL446)
Writing
Level BL
- Rely on memorisation and/or home language to retrieve new words and structures
(VCEALA224) - Use topic-specific vocabulary encountered in classroom activities
(VCEALL235) - Use basic descriptive words
(VCEALL232) - Build a vocabulary that draws on words of interest, learnt words and sight words
(VCEALL287) - Use high-frequency words accurately, although sometimes repetitively
(VCEALL234)
Level B1
- Employ a range of strategies to understand new or unknown words
(VCEALA304) - Incorporate learnt vocabulary into writing
(VCEALL315) - Use a small range of simple descriptive phrases
(VCEALL312) - Build a vocabulary that draws on words of interest, topic words and sight words
(VCEALL287) - Use formulaic structures
(VCEALL314)
Level B2
- Employ a range of strategies to understand and learn unknown words
(VCEALA384) - Use modelled vocabulary appropriately
(VCEALL395) - Use simple extended descriptive phrases
(VCEALL392) - Select some descriptive vocabulary appropriate to context
(VCEALL396) - Use a varied and appropriate vocabulary
(VCEALL394)
Level B3
- Employ a range of strategies to expand vocabulary
(VCEALA463) - Use a range of key vocabulary appropriately
(VCEALL474) - Write using extended descriptive phrases
(VCEALL471) - Create mood and feeling through the selection of appropriate vocabulary and idiom
(VCEALL475) - Use some antonyms and synonyms
(VCEALL473)
Key concepts
Word Classes and Grammatical form and function
Words are categorised into grammatical forms or word classes including the commonly known nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, as well as determiners, prepositions, conjunctions. Different word classes have different functions in terms of their grammar (including morphology, and syntax).
Students need to develop understandings of different types of words, as part of their metalinguistic awareness (knowing how language and literacy works, and the words that describe these phenomena).
When introducing vocabulary it is crucial for students to know the type (or class) of word it is. If ever students are unsure, they can be encouraged to check a paper or online dictionary, which will always provide the word class in the listing.
Below is a table which summarises each word class (or form), including their function, examples, and any inflectional or derivational morphemes that attach to these.
| Word Class | Function | Examples | Inflections | Derivations |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Noun (incl Proper Noun) | person, place, thing, typically objects (concrete and abstract) | junk idea rainbow reaction debate earthquake |
|
e.g. -ance -ion -dom -ness -ment -ity -ism -er |
| Pronoun | stand in for nouns or noun phrases | I you they him she this these some their his myself ourselves each other | n/a | n/a |
| Determiner | specifies the noun. e.g. whose noun it is or which noun is meant | the a an her their our those this that many more neither another |
n/a | n/a |
| Adjective | words which typically modify a noun, denoting qualities or states (answer question such as Which one? What kind? How many? Whose?) | long pointy childish imaginary sisterly |
|
-ish -ary -able -ly -y -ful |
| Verb | generally denote actions, states, processes and events | run play determine sorted synchronising thinking |
|
-Ify -ate -ize -en |
| Adverb | modifies (adds meaning) to verbs adjectives, and other adverbs | slowly foolishly very mostly | n/a | -ly |
| Prepositions | provide additional information by specifying location or space i.e. they tell us about the relationships between events and things |
in, at, on, off, into, onto, towards, to, about, as, with | n/a | n/a |
| Conjunctions | used to join words, phrases, or sentences together | and or but because whenever after before | n/a | n/a |
When using personal dictionaries (where new vocabulary is added progressively as students learn new words), students should be encouraged to record the word type in their entries. Adding an example sentence can also be useful. These strategies help develop students’ independence in their understanding and use of new vocabulary.
Word Morphology
Morphology is the study of words and their parts. Morphemes (like prefixes, suffixes, and base words) are defined as the smallest meaningful units of meaning.
All words can be broken down into their morphemes:
| Some words have also 1 morpheme | system | system | (1) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Some have 2 morphemes | systematic | system+atic | (2) |
| Or 3 morphemes | unsystematic | un+system+atic | (3) |
| Or 4 morphemes | unsystematical | un+system+atic+al | (4) |
| Or more! | unsystematically | un+system+atic+al+ly | (5) |
Other examples of words with multiple morphemes are: roll+er driv+ing under+stand+able class+ic+al
Morphemes are important for vocabulary, as well as phonics (reading and spelling) and comprehension. Teaching morphemes is useful because they help to analyse the parts of words, often have a consistent purpose and/or meaning, and are often spelt the same across different words (even when the sound changes).
For more information, see:
Word morphology
Word/Semantic Relationships
Teaching vocabulary is also about how words relate to other words. Semantics is the study of word meanings, and includes semantic relationships (how words are related to other words).
Here are some examples of types of word/semantic relationships:
- Categories
- Antonyms
- Synonyms
- Connotations
- Homophones & Homographs
- Homonyms (words with Multiple Meanings)
The most effective way to teach vocabulary is to show how new words relate to other words, especially ones that students already know. It is important to explicitly teach the relationships between words.
For more information about word/semantic relationships, including Categories, Antonyms, Synonyms, Connotations, Homophones & Homographs, see:
Word/Semantic Relationships (docx — 233.6kb)
Choosing Words to Teach — Tier 1, Tier 2, and Tier 3
Vocabulary Words that we explicitly teach should also be as functional as possible, so that students have multiple opportunities to comprehend and use these words. Beck and McKeown (1985) have categorised words according to three Vocabulary Tiers:
For more information, see:
Choosing Words to Teach — Tier 1, 2, 3 Vocabulary (docx — 209.43kb)
Word Etymology
The origins of words and morphemes, and their meanings, is a crucial part of exploring the richness of vocabulary, and how words connect with one another.
Ideas for explicit introductions to concepts
- Identifying word types
- Identifying morphemes
- Building words, breaking words down
- Finding word meaning(s)
- Semantic/Word Webs or Maps Flow charts and visual organisers for words
- How well do you know a word?
- Recognition
- Recall
- Familiarity
- Use for one context/purpose
- Use of multiple contexts/purposes
Example Activities
As well as embedding Vocabulary teaching within the various teaching practices, there are numerous activities that introduce students to concepts of Vocabulary.
References
Beck, I. L. & McKeown, M. G (1985). Teaching vocabulary: Making the instruction fit the goal. Educational Perspectives, 23(1). 11-15.
Beck, I. L., McKeown, M. G., & Kucan, L. (2002). Bringing words to life: Robust vocabulary instruction. New York: Guilford.
Hill, S. (2012). Developing early literacy: assessment and teaching (2nd ed.). South Yarra, Vic. Eleanor Curtain Publishing.
Konza, D. (2016). Understanding the process of reading: The big six. In J. Scull & B. Raban (Eds), Growing up literate:Australian literacy research for practice (pp. 149-175). South Yarra, Vic. : Eleanor Curtain Publishing.
Larsen-Freeman, D., & Celce-Murcia, M. (2016). The grammar book: Form, meaning, and use for English language teachers (3rd Ed.). Boston: National Geographic Learning.
Nation, P. (2001). Learning vocabulary in another language. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Nation, P. (2005). Teaching vocabulary. The Asian EFL Journal, 7(3), 47-54.
Paris, S. (2005). Reinterpreting the development of reading skills. Reading Research Quarterly, 40 (2), 184-202.
Sinatra, R, Zygouris-Coe, V & Dasinger, S 2011, Preventing a vocabulary lag: What lessons are learned from research, Reading & Writing Quarterly, 28(4), pp. 333-334