One of the significant challenges of secondary school is that all students must develop secure knowledge of the specialised and technical vocabulary needed to access the curriculum, but this is also true of pupils in KS1 and 2. As students move from one subject to another, they need to navigate and switch between subtly different forms of communication and vocabulary use.
Our new disciplinary literacy resource highlights the increasingly specialised language of different subjects as a key element of supporting disciplinary approaches to reading. We know that the development of the academic language of school is crucial and can be supported by targeted vocabulary instruction.
Although not traditionally associated with primary settings, an effective approach to vocabulary instruction is the study of morphology (the study of the structure and parts of words) and etymology (the study of the origin of words).
As Rasinski, Padak, Newton, & Newton (2008) reflect:
- Most of the academic words in English (e.g., maths and science words) are derived from Latin and Greek.
- Most of the more challenging multisyllabic words in English are derived from Latin and Greek.
- A single Latin or Greek root or affix (word pattern) can be found in and aid in the understanding (as well as decoding and encoding) of 20 or more English words.
Morphology and etymology build awareness that units within words can contain meaning as well as sound. Pupils learn how to break down words and look for clues that carry meaning. They can look for roots and think about how the different parts of a word (beginning, middle, end — or prefix, base, suffix) work together to generate meaning.
Targeted instruction
While there is relatively limited evidence about how best to teach vocabulary explicitly, the Improving Literacy at Secondary School guidance report offers some promising ways to promote targeted instruction of academic language in the classroom across all phases:
• Explore common word roots. For example, in science, analysing the etymology of ‘photo’ (‘light’) and generate other scientific vocabulary that includes the root ‘photo’ such as ‘photosynthesis.’
• Undertake ‘word building’ activities, such as matching prefixes and root words.
• Encourage independent word-learning strategies, such as how to break down words into parts.
• Using graphic organisers and concept maps to break down complex vocabulary in visual ways to aid understanding.
• Undertake regular low-stakes assessment, such as quizzes, to provide multiple exposures to complex subject specific vocabulary, before applying this vocabulary in use.
• Combine vocabulary development with spelling instruction. For example, knowing the Greek ‘aer’ (which means ‘air’) helps pupils to remember how to spell ‘aeroplane.’
Ultimately, helping pupils develop an awareness of important word patterns, as one facet of vocabulary instruction, may act as the foundation for future learning, as well as fostering word consciousness and independent word learning strategies.
Further reading:
Rasinski, T.V., Padak, N., Newton, J. and Newton, E. (2011). The Latin-Greek Connection. The Reading Teacher, 65(2), pp.133 – 141.