 The National Reading Panel provided the following conclusions to the teaching of vocabulary:
- Vocabulary should be taught both directly and indirectly.
- Repetition and multiple exposures to vocabulary items are important.
- Learning in rich contexts is valuable for vocabulary learning.
- Vocabulary tasks should be restructured when necessary.
- Vocabulary learning should entail active engagement in learning tasks.
- Computer technology can be used to teach vocabulary.
- Vocabulary can be acquired through incidental learning.
- How vocabulary is assessed and evaluated can have differential effects on instruction.
- Dependence on a single vocabulary instruction method will not result in optimal learning.
- Select vocabulary words that have:
- Importance and utility
(words that are commonly used and appear frequently across the areas of the curriculum)
- Instructional potential
(words that can be taught in a variety of ways with connections to other words and
concepts)
- Conceptual understanding (words for which students understand the general concept,
but provide precision and specificity in describing the concepts).
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