It is said that a literate high school graduate has a reading and speaking vocabulary of about 60, 000 words. A typical sixth grade student however, has a reading vocabulary of about only 20, 000 words. A very sizable task therefore lies ahead of the student who is trying to improve and increase his word power commensurate with that of the average high school graduate. Since vocabulary knowledge clearly impacts writing competence, effective vocabulary instruction is paramount.

GENERAL PRINCIPLES OF VOCABULARY DEVELOPMENT
Vocabulary Development must involve instruction that
1. provides multiple exposures to meaningful information about words.
2. includes both definitional information and contextual information
3. involves students actively in word learning

1. MULTIPLE EXPOSURES TO MEANINGFUL INFORMATION ABOUT WORDS.
a) Students could acquire specific word learning strategies if they were taught insights about the conceptual formation of English words. For example, students need to know that compound words are one of the simplest word patterns in the English language, and include a
wide range of words that are formed simply by conjoining two separate words such as "flashlight", "playground", "butterfly", "greenhouse", "believable", and "uplift." Also, students should be given basic information about the history of English words that would enable them to compare the previously mentioned Anglo-Saxon derived items with words like "handwriting", "handicraft", "handcare" and "footcare" which are also Anglo-Saxon in origin, and then contrast them with their Latin based counterparts "manuscript", "manufacture", "manicure", and "pedicure."
Students should know further, that the Anglo-Saxon base of the English language was spoken by the common folk in Britain.

b) But the learned conquerors were Roman who spoke Latin with many borrowed Greek words. Thus the more cultured words in the English language grew from Latin, and therefore learning these Latin roots would be a considerable advantage in determining the meaning of new words, and then adding them to students' word bank and active word usage. Teachers could begin by teaching some of the easier Latin roots such as "act" (do), "aud", (hear), and "mob" or "mot" (move), and the English words that they yield, such as "action", transact", "audition", "auditorium", "automobile" and "promote." Also, such examples could generate another principle of English word formation, namely that a pattern commonly found in words from a Romance origin is (prefix)+root+(suffix) as demonstrated by the examples just cited.

c) Words of Greek origin such as "phobia" follow a similar pattern of evolution, and have contributed items such as "claustrophobia" and "hydrophobia" to the English language lexicon. Of course, English also borrows words from many other sources and languages such as "umbrella" (Italian), "paradise" (Persian), "persimmon" (American Indian), "measles" (Dutch), and " tote" (African).

If students were taught these word learning strategies, it would have the effect of fostering word consciousness, helping them decipher new words that they encounter, encouraging use of adept diction, honing their word analysis skills, making wide reading more feasible and palatable for them, and helping them become more precise and productive in their own writing. Teachers could build on these general principles of word formation to design exercises in word analysis for their students, using words encountered in reading texts, or words gleaned from ancillary sources.

2. DEFINITIONAL INFORMATION AND CONTEXTUAL INFORMATION
Students should:
a) Learn to define a word the way a lexicographer would. Basic Model Example:
A (target word) is a (genus) for (differentia).
e.g. A hammer is a tool for pounding nails.
The genus consists of the superordinate category while the target word identifies the specific item within that category; the "differentia" gives the distinguishing features of the item.

b) Learn new words representing new or known concepts:
1. Define the new concept, giving its necessary attributes.
2. Say what it is and what it is not. When possible, teachers should reinforce the concept with visuals.
e.g. A globe is a spherical (ball-like) representation of a planet.
A globe is different from a map because a map is flat. The most common globe is a globe of the earth.

c) Learn new words representing new or known concepts by using:
1. Context clues
2. A Dictionary
The most useful clues are usually close to the unknown word, generally in the same sentence. However, we sometimes get clues in other sentences and even other paragraphs.
Example: Thickly falling snow obliterates the view that Keyana could see before. (Here the word must mean something like "covering up" because of the clues that words like "could see before" convey.)
Example: Many people, both Nordic and Latin, were led during their peregrinations to the British Isles. Whether or not they remained or continued these wanderings, they often left some mark on English language and culture. (Here the meaning (wanderings) is given in the following sentence.

3. INVOLVING STUDENTS ACTIVELY IN WORD LEARNING
a). Teach WORD CONSCIOUSNESS. Encourage inquisitiveness with words. Engage in word exploration and manipulation. Try word-work and word-play. Collect and discuss homophones and homographs, riddles and puns, idioms and figurative speech, synonyms and antonyms. Institute word-learning supports into the structure of the curriculum: Word-for-the-Day; Word-Wall etc. Encourage students to use alternative words for the most commonly used word items such as "said" and "thought". Display alternative words on the word wall.

b) Word Analysis. Use word parts to unlock the meaning of new words. Prefixes; suffixes; roots. Also use knowledge of the history of the English language to decipher meaning. Students should work in pairs and groups and help each other.

c) Teach students to be precise--for example here is a string of synonyms
new, novel, original, fresh, modern, recent.
true, veritable, accurate, genuine, exact
love, like, care for, treasure, cherish

d) Understand the 3 levels of word knowledge: Unknown; Acquainted; Established. Teach students to use this graphic to organize their understandings of words they encounter:

UNKN ACQU ESTAB

Example: domicile, residence, house. Such a list could also be composed of different levels of words selected from texts or elsewhere.

e) Ways to encourage wide reading--Have LOTS of books in your classroom. The teacher is a powerful leader who helps decide what words are learned. The teacher should model and encourage use of adept diction, and show enthusiasm for word nuances, precision, and power.

I close this module with a very powerful assignment that enhances concept development for the entire class--Webbing and Weaving:

1. Select one of the following concepts "Springtime", "Friendship", "Growing Up", or "Happiness" (Teacher may substitute any theme he/she wishes).

2. Using the concept you select as the core or center of your semantic map or "web" (named after a spider's web), ask each of the students in your class in turn, what word or idea comes to mind when he or she thinks of that concept. Write on the board every word or idea that your students contribute, creating a web around the concept you choose. Accept each contribution unquestioningly. This activity is called brainstorming.

3. Next, make a simple list using all the words and ideas you've gathered.

4. Then help your students generate 4 or 5 titles or categories for these
words. You may need to give your students these titles depending on their ability level. This is the categorization activity. You have now created a weave or a matrix as shown in the model below .




5. Finally, rearrange the words in the word list so that the words are now grouped into their appropriate category. This is the classification activity .

6. You may need to entitle one category "miscellaneous" in order to account for all the words and ideas that your students offer.

Note that this activity is multifaceted. Not only does it develop and teach vocabulary and concept formation, but you can also use the final weave as a tool for generating sentences (the vertical axis) for a standard 4 or 5 paragraph essay (the horizontal axis).