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Curriculum News: Why Vocabulary Matters – Giving Children the Words to Think, Learn and Communicate

Submitted by Anna FlanaganLeader of Curriculum

Have you ever noticed that sometimes a child understands an idea but struggles to find the words to explain it?

Vocabulary is much more than knowing the definitions of difficult words. The words children know help them to understand what they read, express what they think and learn new ideas. A strong vocabulary supports learning across every area of the curriculum.

This is why vocabulary has an important place in the new NSW curriculum. Rather than leaving vocabulary development to chance, teachers deliberately introduce, explain and revisit important words so that students gradually develop the language they need to become successful readers, writers, speakers and thinkers.

Vocabulary and Reading Comprehension

Consider a student reading this sentence:

The animal is nocturnal and emerges from its burrow at dusk to forage for food.

A child may be able to read every word accurately. However, if words such as nocturnal, emerges, burrow, dusk and forage are unfamiliar, understanding the sentence becomes much more difficult.

This illustrates an important distinction: being able to read a word does not necessarily mean understanding it.

Research into reading consistently identifies vocabulary and background knowledge as important contributors to reading comprehension. The more words and concepts students understand, the better equipped they are to make sense of increasingly complex texts.

Not All Vocabulary Is the Same

Children encounter different kinds of vocabulary throughout the school day.

Some words are used frequently in everyday conversation, such as happy, house, walk and small. Other words are more sophisticated but occur across many different subjects and texts, such as analyse, compare, significant, consequence, demonstrate and investigate.

Students also learn specialised vocabulary associated with particular subjects. In Mathematics, they might encounter factor, product and equivalent. In Science, they may learn adaptation, organism and photosynthesis. In History, words such as colonisation, migration and democracy become important.

Learning these words gives children access to increasingly sophisticated ideas.

Teaching Words in Context

Effective vocabulary instruction involves much more than copying a definition from a dictionary.

Teachers explicitly explain the meaning of important words, pronounce them, use them in sentences and connect them to concepts students already understand. Students may explore synonyms, antonyms, word families, prefixes, suffixes and word origins. Most importantly, they encounter and use important vocabulary repeatedly.

For example, rather than simply learning that reluctant means "unwilling", students might discuss a character who is reluctant to enter a dark cave, identify situations in which they themselves might feel reluctant and experiment with using the word in their own speaking and writing.

The word gradually becomes part of the child's usable vocabulary rather than simply a definition remembered for a test.

Words Help Us Think

Vocabulary is sometimes described simply as a language skill, but its importance extends much further.

Words allow us to categorise, compare, describe, reason and communicate increasingly complex ideas.

Consider the difference between saying:

‘The character was sad.’

and:

‘The character was disappointed.’

‘The character was devastated.’

‘The character was full of regret.’

‘The character was discouraged.’

Each word allows the writer to communicate a slightly different meaning. The larger and more precise a child's vocabulary becomes, the more precisely that child can think about and communicate an idea.

This applies equally in Mathematics, Science and other subjects. Knowing the difference between estimate and calculate, observe and infer, or cause and consequence enables students to understand and express increasingly sophisticated thinking.

How We Develop Vocabulary at St Patrick's

Vocabulary development occurs throughout the school day at St Patrick's.

Teachers explicitly introduce important words during English lessons and our class texts, but vocabulary teaching does not stop there. Students encounter and discuss specialised language while learning about Mathematics, Science, History, Geography, Religious Education, Health and the Creative Arts.

Students are encouraged to ask what unfamiliar words mean, notice interesting language, discuss word meanings and use increasingly precise vocabulary in their speaking and writing.

Importantly, words are revisited. Children rarely develop a deep understanding of a word after encountering it once. Repeated exposure in different contexts helps vocabulary become increasingly familiar and meaningful.

What Can Families Do?

Families play an enormously important role in vocabulary development, and it does not require worksheets or formal lessons.

Conversation is one of the simplest and most powerful ways to expose children to language.

Use interesting words when you speak with your child and explain them naturally when necessary. Instead of always simplifying your language, occasionally introduce the more precise word: enormous rather than very big, exhausted rather than very tired, or fortunate rather than lucky.

When reading together, stop occasionally to discuss an interesting word. Talk about words encountered on television, in songs, during sport, while cooking or when travelling. Ask children what they think an unfamiliar word might mean from the context.

Most importantly, encourage conversation. Children develop language by hearing it, thinking about it and using it.

Every new word gives a child another tool for understanding the world and communicating their ideas.

The more words children know, the more precisely they can read, think, learn and express themselves.