There is a lot of talk about a ‘vocabulary gap’ in schools. What exactly is this about? 

Renowned cognitive scientist Daniel Willingham, a professor of psychology at the University of Virginia, has shown just how crucial word knowledge is to accessing the school curriculum: “Studies have measured readers’ tolerance of unfamiliar vocabulary, and have estimated that readers need to know about 98 per cent of the words for comfortable comprehension.”

And evidence from England has shown that, alongside socioeconomic status, vocabulary was one of the significant factors that proved relevant to children achieving an A* to C grade in mathematics, English language and English literature GCSEs. Just this last week, a large survey of teachers by the OUP cited vocabulary as a crucial issue for language development and success at every phase and key stage.

We know from research that disadvantaged students, in particular, don’t get the level of exposure to vocabulary that their peers do. In a recent interview with Tes, Willingham explained: “Their environment is not as rich as the environment of the wealthier kids. They don’t have the same opportunity that the wealthier kids have. Learning opportunities are just reduced for these kids. They’re not travelling as much, they’re not as exposed to as many ideas and books.“

Why is the issue suddenly so prominent?

Stark statistics about vocabulary gaps really hit home with teachers and parents. Partly because a wealth of recent research has supported the theory that missing vocabulary can have a huge impact and is a visible problem in schools. But also, with the increased reading comprehension demands in every subject at every key stage and phase with the new curriculum, students are floundering. It has made the problem more visible to teachers than ever before. 

Is it a common problem? 

Here’s an example: James was usually a confident student, bristling with energy - a joker, even - but when I sat next to him and asked him to read, he became quiet and subdued.

I asked him to read a short passage from a Sherlock Holmes story that we were studying. Picking at his cuffs nervously, he began to read.

A few questions posed to James revealed the truth. His stop-start reading and lack of fluency exposed large gaps in his knowledge. James simply didn’t have the words to access what he was reading.

I was left asking, ‘How many times is James being left struggling in the dark owing to the academic language of school? How many students have the same challenges?’

Are there ways of helping? 

One simple way is tackling the vocabulary gap head-on with explicit vocabulary instruction. The evidence-informed SEEC model (developed for my new book, Closing the Vocabulary Gap) can be helpful for primary and secondary school teachers alike in offering a systematic approach:

• Select. What words do we need to choose as the most important vocabulary for students like James?
• Explain. Carefully pronounce the new word, write the word, offer a student-friendly definition and multiple examples.
• Explore. This is the fun bit. Talk about the words, use image association, compare synonyms and antonyms, dig into the roots of the word, and much more.
• Consolidate. This is often a missing link. We need to consciously revisit tricky academic vocabulary. Students need to use the words again and again, fostering vital repeated exposures to them.

Great, anything else?

Beyond this, we know that, ultimately, the most reliable method to broaden and deepen the vocabulary of our students is to get them reading a significant amount (a good reader can read a million words a year or more). Reading for pleasure, talking about reading, and great teaching of reading by every teacher can make a real difference.

Alex Quigley is the author of Closing the Vocabulary Gap, published by Routledge in April 2018

This is an edited version of an article in the 20 April edition of Tes magazine. To subscribe, click here. This week’s Tes magazine is available at all good newsagents. To download the digital edition, Android users can click here and iOS users can click here