Vocabulary instruction
Vocabulary instruction
The evolution of human civilization is contributed with so many aspects like Intelligence, logics, decision making and language. Language is the biggest and most innovative achievement of us. Language has made the communication easy and effective. We have so many languages and dialects. Language is a bunch of word bank which is called vocabulary. To communicate, you need to know language, particularly word bank which is called vocabulary. Language is nothing but thoughts tangled in words to represent one’s view. Every individual’s choice of words decides the level of communication. The choice of words is depend on an individual’s knowledge of vocabulary.
It is observed that the level of vocabulary varies according to standard of society. The socio-economic status of an individual decides whether which kind of vocabulary will be used in communication. It is observed that children living in poor neighbourhood have 30 million less word bank than their rich and privileged counterpart (Bergland 2014) It’s not the first time when this topic is discussed, Long back in year 1934 Mr Lev Vygotsky has taken an initiative to discuss this matter and wrote about this very briefly but his work could gain fame only in early 20’s when western educational system has understood the importance of communication that too with impactful word bank or vocabulary.
Many writers and researchers are still working on same subject. It’s a vast matter, ‘By some Measures, 5-year-old children of lower socioeconomic status score more than two years behind on standardized language development tests by the time they enter school’ (Curey, 2013)
The knowledge of language is all about practice, the easiest way to learn a language is listening. A good speaker is created only by listening but the flaw of this process is that one speaks what he listens. To be a good speaker you need to listen good and for this purpose you need a good surrounding and this is where an individual’s socio- economical background plays an important role. It’s a natural process you can’t practice what you don’t know, if a person is not aware of higher standards of language he will be unable to practice them in his daily life. ‘According to Fernald, five-year-old children of lower socioeconomic status (SES) score two years behind on standardized language development tests by the time they enter school’ (Bergland, 2014).
Now the first question arises is whether it is really this effective that a poor child’s vocabulary will not be impactful and vast. Does one’s background impact on his intellectual values? The answer given by Mr. Lev Vygotsky is really satisfactory, ‘Through others we become ourselves’. It is true that observation and listening impacts a child’s intellectual and verbal skills. ‘The child begins to perceive the world not only through his eyes but also through his speech.’ (Lev Vygotsky)
The most important tool in one’s life is communication; communication plays a very important role in image making and achieving life time goals. It is said that swords win lands but words win hearts. But what if you have so much to speak but lack of words is your weakness. It would be selling a very good chocolate with bad sugar coating and bad wrapper. Words are wrapper of our thoughts, and a much organised vocabulary full communication is Just like a beautiful wrapper. It impacts the heart of listener. The only thing important to improve a child’s vocabulary is his surrounding which not only includes his parents and neighbours but his school and educational institutes too. The way a child adopts the new things is really very efficient. A lot of studies show us, children under the age of three show difference in their linguistics as per their socio-economical background. ‘The ground-breaking study, which assessed the abilities of 14,000 youngsters, found a gap in academic ability between children from different socio-economic backgrounds has already opened up by the time they are three years old’ (Johnson, 2011).
The real job is to create awareness in children’s brain, to make them understand the difference between formal and casual communication. It will be a great step if parents could be involved to create a better atmosphere. Continue practice and “no give up” attitude of teachers and mentors can play a vital role. ‘With the help of speech children, unlike apes, acquire the capacity to be both the subjects and objects of their own behavior’ (Lev Vygotsky). It’s really very important aspect of learning and that is following your teacher or guide. Children observe and follow their language is a shadow of what they have heard. Children are not able to create their own words or vocabulary. They listen and then tangle and wrap their thought in words available with their memory. It’s the need of hour to create an atmosphere where a child can learn new words not by orthodox techniques but by listening.
‘Children’s vocabulary at 30 months was influenced by the quantity (number) of words a parent used one year earlier – This means that children aged 12-24 months benefit from hearing lots of talk and many examples of words (Lowry).
Vocabulary is not a technical knowledge it’s rather a skill which can be developed only by practice. As it is said “Practice makes man perfect”, a new course ware will craft a lengthy approach on children’s brain and many of them will detest it as its by force. Introduction of new words should be interesting and useful on daily basis. A useless word bank will not be evolutionary and the system will be choked with same era old problem. Vocabulary building should be a natural and moderate approach, some new stories and new poems may give a better appeal to this perspective. A new and intellectual way of listening and speaking which involves very new and useful synonyms of common words, with which children could co-ordinate naturally.
‘While you want your children to understand you, that doesn't mean you can't introduce "big" words into their vocabulary. Pepper your conversations with words your child probably won't understand, but ones you'd likely use in conversation with an adult. Be sure to encourage your children to ask for clarification when they don't understand something, and be prepared to pause and explain. By not dumbing-down the way you speak to your kids, they'll pick up new words as you use them’ (Shawn, 2014).
Whenever it’s about a child’s intellectual and logical growth, we are so much dependent on parents and their view towards language. A meeting of teacher and parents can change the colour of canvas it can change the picture. Coordination of all the surrounding like school and parents may impact this project in a very positive manner.
There are so many story telling tools available with trainers and institutions but the approach and attitude towards these tools should be changed an improved. New activities like” tell me a new word” or “what new have you heard” will make children more enthusiastic and eager towards learning. Orthodox techniques will take time and the result is not certain. Organising small seminars and fairs will be helpful. Replacing formal words with their similar meaning words or sentences may be very effective. “Sometimes speech becomes of such vital importance that, if not permitted to use it, young children cannot accomplish the given task (Vygotsky)
The success of a project is depend on its practical approach this course ware should be mouldable as per the need of class and standard of students. Discussing vocabulary it’s tough to ignore phonics but one must not forget that the initial vocabulary we learnt was verbal and based on practice and listening. Phonics are an important aspect of pronunciation but as far as vocabulary is concern it’s all about practicing and getting skilled. “First, provide a simple, kid-friendly definition for the new word:
Enormous means that something is really, really big.
Second, provide a simple, kid-friendly example that makes sense within their daily life:
Remember that really big watermelon we got at the grocery store? That was an enormous watermelon!
Third, encourage your child to develop their own example:
What enormous thing can you think of? Can you think of something really big that you saw?
today? That's right! The bulldozer near the park was enormous! Those tires were huge.
Lastly, keep your new words active within your house” (Reading Rockets).
A child is an open box its open for everything, speaking a new word, connecting it with real word, revising it every now and then, encouraging them to use those words, these are the steps which will create a better way. A child should not be forced to learn anything he should enjoy learning, vocabulary is no different in this manner. The achievement is to create eagerness in them, they must be happy to know and use new words. Children should be encouraged to speak instead of keeping mum. Interest of speaking will encourage them to gather new words and create a word bank of their own. Trying new things and new words with them will improve their confidence. Have a tab on their vocabulary; observe the way your children present themselves.
“The established connection between what parent says and what a child learns has more severe implications than previously anticipated” ( Betty Hart and Todd R. Risley, 2003).
In conclusion of this paper and project work, Vocabulary building is an important aspect of one’s communication but the same time it should be practiced not taught as it is a skill. Development and improvement of a skill is totally dependent of exercise. Preparation and hard work will impact this project. “Children develop at their own pace. The most important thing is to honour and balance their needs so that learning doesn't become a struggle. While you want them to get ahead, you don't want them to develop negative associations or undue stress with trying to do so” (Shawn 2014) Without acknowledging problems it is tough to find a solution, it’s a venture which needs patience and devotion, from parents and teachers both. The biggest task is to not to lose hopes and be concentrate on the motive of this project. “Scholars have noted that the ability or inability to direct one's attention is an essential determinant of the success or failure of any practical operation (Lev Vygotsky)
References
Bergland, C. (2014, February 16). Tackling the "Vocabulary Gap" Between Rich and Poor Children. In Psychology Today. Retrieved June 17, 2015, from https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-athletes-way/201402/tackling-the-vocabulary-gap-between-rich-and-poor-children
Carey, B. (2013, September 25). Language gap between rich and poor children begins in infancy, Stanford psychologists find. InStanford News. Retrieved June 17, 2015, from http://news.stanford.edu/news/2013/september/toddler-language-gap-091213.html
Greer, S. (2014) Parenting. Life Hacker, Retrieved June 17, 2015, fromhttp://lifehacker.com/eight-ways-to-help-improve-your-childs-vocabulary-1645796717
Hart, B. and Risley, T.(2003) The Early Catastrophe: The 30 Million Word Gap by Age 3, 2003. Glasscock School of Continuing Study, Retrieved June 17, 2015, from http://literacy.rice.edu/thirty-million-word-gap
Johnson, S. (2011, June 7). Rich children 'have superior vocabularies by age of five'. In The Telegraph. Retrieved June 17, 2015, from http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/scotland/8560125/Rich-children-have-superior-vocabularies-by-age-of-five.html
Lowry, L. (n.d.). Build Your Child’s Vocabulary. In The Hanen Centre. Retrieved June 17, 2015, from http://www.hanen.org/helpful-info/articles/build-your-childs-vocabulary.aspx
Reading Rockets. (2009). Building Your Child’s Vocabulary, Reading Rockets. Retrieved June 17, 2015, from http://www.readingrockets.org/article/building-your-childs-vocabulary
Vygotsky, Mind in Society, Retrieved June 17, 2015, from http://www.uky.edu/~eushe2/quotations/vygotsky.html
