Vocabulary Theories
As a beginning teacher it can be hard to understand what you need to know about vocabulary to enable you to introduce it to your class, and the students within it, with ease. It has been highlighted by Mancilla-Martinez, J. & Lesaux, N. (2011) that early exposure to vocabulary is very important, they found in their study of bilingual students that “as early as pre-school years, the development of English is necessary for school success”(p.1).
Early exposure is very important to identify, but what can we do if the children that we are teaching are older than that?
Does that mean that for older primary school aged children all hope is lost? Of course not. Vocabulary is something that continually develops and gets expanded on throughout a persons lifespan.
Ouellette (2006) believes that “over time, word meanings are refined, adding to the child’s depth of vocabulary knowledge”(p. 555), so words that children acquire early on in their vocabulary development are further nurtured through their education to refine their meanings. On top of this, even for students that currently struggle with their limited vocabulary, teaching is all about helping them, by adding new words into their vocabulary, and ensuring that these words are not only used in context, but that they are also seen in their context to ensure better understanding.
Early exposure is very important to identify, but what can we do if the children that we are teaching are older than that?
Does that mean that for older primary school aged children all hope is lost? Of course not. Vocabulary is something that continually develops and gets expanded on throughout a persons lifespan.
Ouellette (2006) believes that “over time, word meanings are refined, adding to the child’s depth of vocabulary knowledge”(p. 555), so words that children acquire early on in their vocabulary development are further nurtured through their education to refine their meanings. On top of this, even for students that currently struggle with their limited vocabulary, teaching is all about helping them, by adding new words into their vocabulary, and ensuring that these words are not only used in context, but that they are also seen in their context to ensure better understanding.