• DOI:10.1080/00940771.2011.11461773
• Corpus ID: 143236049

Teaching Vocabulary across the Curriculum

@article{Bintz2011TeachingVA,
  title={Teaching Vocabulary across the Curriculum},
  author={William P. Bintz},
  journal={Middle School Journal},
  year={2011},
  volume={42},
  pages={44 - 53}
}

• William P. Bintz
• Published 1 March 2011
• Education
• Middle School Journal

Learning vocabulary is an important instructional aim for teachers in all content areas in middle grades schools (Harmon, Wood, & Kiser, 2009). Recent research, however, indicates that vocabulary instruction may be problematic because many teachers are not "confident about best practice in vocabulary instruction and at times don't know where to begin to form an instructional emphasis on word learning" (Berne & Blachowicz, 2008, p. 315). In this article, I summarize important research on vocabulary growth and development and share effective instructional strategies that middle school teachers can use to teach vocabulary across the content areas. My hope is that teachers will use these strategies to help students become verbophiles-"people who enjoy word study and become language enthusiasts, lovers of words, appreciative readers, and word-conscious writers" (Mountain, 2002, p. 62). The importance of vocabulary Vocabulary can be defined as "the words we must know to communicate effectively: words in speaking (expressive vocabulary) and words in listening (receptive vocabulary)" (Neuman & Dwyer, 2009, p. 385). An extensive body of research exists on teaching and learning vocabulary. This research clearly indicates that enlargement of vocabulary has always been and continues to be an important goal in literacy and learning (National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, 2004). Educators have long recognized the importance of vocabulary development. In the early 20th century, John Dewey (1910) stated that vocabulary is critically important because a word is an instrument for thinking about the meanings which it expresses. Since then, there has been an "ebb and flow of concern for vocabulary" (Manzo, Manzo, & Thomas, 2006, p. 612; see also Blachowicz & Fisher, 2000). At times, interest in vocabulary has been high and intense, and at other times low and neglected, alternating back and forth over time (Berne & Blachowicz, 2008). Research on vocabulary growth and development Vocabulary has long been an important topic in middle grades education, but today it could be considered a hot topic (Cassidy & Cassidy, 2003/2004). The National Assessment Governing Board, for example, has added a separate vocabulary component to gauge student achievement in reading nationwide (Manzo, 2004). This focus is in response to recent research highlighting a decline in the vocabulary levels of college-bound 18-yearolds in recent years (Manzo, Manzo, & Thomas, 2006). This section is a summary of findings from research on vocabulary growth and development organized around four questions: When does learning vocabulary start? What does learning vocabulary mean? How is vocabulary learned? What is the relationship between vocabulary growth and reading comprehension? These were selected because they represent fundamental and frequently asked questions about vocabulary, and these questions have been the focus for an extensive body of research that has produced key findings about teaching and learning vocabulary. When does learning vocabulary start? One important finding from research suggests that vocabulary learning never stops (Smith, 1998); it is a natural and lifelong phenomenon. Vocabulary learning is a continual process of encountering new words in meaningful and comprehensible contexts (Harmon, et al. 2009). Consider how young children initially encounter printed text in their surrounding environments. When they walk through supermarket aisles, they can often recognize the name of their favorite box of cereal; or while riding in the family car, they can identify a McDonald's restaurant or a Toys-R-Us sign. Children do this easily, routinely, and usually without parents or other adults explicitly drawing their attention to print. In short, throughout the life span, people develop vocabulary effectively and almost effortlessly as long as they see words in meaningful contexts. …