Vocabulary
Vocabulary size can predict early reading skills better than age or general developmental level. Vocabulary knowledge in the primary grades is a strong indicator of comprehension skills in intermediate and high school. Limited vocabularies prevent students from comprehending a text. Explicit vocabulary instruction can help kids become better readers. Specifically, vocabulary plays an important role in word recognition. "Beginning readers use knowledge of words from speech to recognize words that they encounter in print. When children ‘sound out’ a word, their brain is working hard to connect the pronunciation of a sequence of sounds to a word in their vocabulary. If they find a match between the word on the page and a word in they have learned through listening and speaking, and it makes sense to them, they will keep reading. If a match is not created, because the word they are reading is not found in their vocabulary, comprehension" is interrupted." (Reading Horizons, 2006-2016)
|
|