What does it mean to know a word? Do you know any of these words? How many and how well?
Q sabretache, run, thrombosis, frugivore, elecampane, electroencephalogram, turnip
If you’re like most people, you know some words well, you are familiar with a couple, and you don’t know one or two or more. Point being: We don’t know every word the same way.
Multiple Exposures
The research shows what most people already know: It takes multiple exposures to learn a word. As a rule, we don’t learn words the first time we encounter them. We understand words better each time we encounter them and interact with them, especially when they are in context.
Vocabulary Breadth vs. Vocabulary Depth
Vocabulary breadth and depth are easy to understand on the surface, as the terms breadth and depth communicate so much. But on another level, breadth and depth contain the essence of what it means to know a word and to have an effective vocabulary. Vocabulary breadth and depth are at the heart of comprehending and communicating absolutely everything.
Vocabulary breadth and depth must be understood within the context of multiple exposures, as it’s the exposures that create the breadth and depth or lack thereof. The concepts of breadth and depth encompass this question: What does it mean to know a word?
Q Breadth: How many words one knows.
Q Depth: How well one knows a word.
In reality, breadth and depth are interactive. One can know that a word exists (breadth) without knowing what it means (depth). In other words, we can only calculate breadth if we use a minimum threshold of depth: e.g., “Let’s count the words that you know at least this well.”
Vocabulary Depth: In Learning Vocabulary in Another Language (2001), Nation succinctly explains the issue with depth: “Words are not isolated units of language, but fit into many interlocking systems and levels. Because of this, there are many things to know about any particular word and there are many degrees of knowing.”
Take a simple word like run. It’s an easy enough word to understand—or is it? Imagine you are a young child or learning English as a second language. How long would it take you to understand the word in all of these contexts?
| Jim went for a run. | You run fast. |
| Sue is going to run for office. | Did you run the dishwasher? |
| It will pay off over the long run. |
That simple word has quite a bit of depth to it. Keep in mind that all of those sentences use only one word form—i.e., the same three letters. Imagine how much more depth the word has when we consider all of the derivational and inflectional prefixes and suffixes that can affect the word, along with spelling rules and irregular forms.
In Depth of Vocabulary Knowledge (2012), Webb outlines Nation’s model: “Depth of vocabulary knowledge refers to how well words are known. Developing vocabulary depth typically involves the accumulation of knowledge through encountering and using words in a variety of different contexts in order to learn the forms, meanings, and uses of words. Knowledge of a word’s spelling, pronunciation, derivations and inflections, meaning senses, semantic associations, collocations, and grammatical functions, and when it may be appropriate or inappropriate to use it are all required to fully know words (Nation, 2001).”
Vocabulary Breadth: In Depth of Vocabulary Knowledge (2012), Webb also explains breadth: “Breadth refers to how many words are known and is typically indicated by scores on tests of vocabulary size… Breadth is usually determined by the degree to which learners are able to link form to meaning. Being able to link form to meaning is an important step in vocabulary development because it increases the likelihood that words may be understood and used. However, it does not ensure that these words will be understood and used correctly and this is why there is also a need for learners to develop vocabulary depth.”
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Vocabulary Depth: Definitional and Contextual Word Knowledge
What does it mean to know a word? Cal State Northridge Reading Institute for Academic Preparation puts it this way: “Knowing a word cannot be equated with knowing a definition. Knowing a word means being able to do things with it: to recognize it in connected speech or in print, to access its meaning, to pronounce it, and to be able to do these things within a fraction of a second (Stahl and Fairbanks, 1986).”
In The Effects of Vocabulary Instruction (1986), Stahl and Fairbanks say, “A person who ‘knows’ a word has both definitional and contextual information about that word. Definitional information was defined as knowledge of the relations between a word and other known words, as in a dictionary definition or in a network model of semantic memory… Contextual knowledge can be defined as knowledge of a core concept and how that knowledge is realized in different contexts.”
Stahl and Fairbanks also outlined five different instructional approaches: 1) definitional only, 2) definitional emphasis, 3) balanced, 4) contextual emphasis, 5) context only.
How does this relate to teaching vocabulary? Well, what exactly are you teaching your students? A Review of the Current Research on Vocabulary Instruction: A Research Synthesis (2010) makes the research clear: “Vocabulary learning is effective when it entails active engagement that goes beyond definitional knowledge. Stahl and Kapinus (2001) stated, ‘When children know a word, they not only know the word’s definition and its logical relationship with other words, they also know how the word functions in different contexts.’ Nash and Snowling (2006) found that using a contextual approach to instruction provided greater vocabulary gains compared with lessons that emphasized learning word definitions.”
In short, students learn words best in context.
Thinking About and Measuring Aspects of Word Knowledge
Even if teachers are just turning pages in a curriculum, they benefit from understanding the theories and the research behind what went into the curriculum. In this section, you will learn how to look at words in ways you have probably never thought of. We will look at four topics:
1. Vocabulary Depth: The Vocabulary Knowledge Scale
2. The Complexity of Word Knowledge
3. Assessing Multiple Dimensions of Word Knowledge
4. The Four Types of Vocabulary
1. Vocabulary Depth: The Vocabulary Knowledge Scale
In Assessing Second Language Vocabulary Knowledge: Depth Versus Breadth (1996), Wesche and Paribakht present a basic but interesting model for thinking about and measuring vocabulary depth:
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- I don’t remember having seen this word before.
- I have seen this word before, but I don’t think I know what it means.
- I have seen this word before, and I think it means _______. (synonym or translation)
- I know this word. It means ________. (synonym or translation)
- I can use this word in a sentence: __________.
2. The Complexity of Word Knowledge
In Vocabulary Processes (2000), Nagy and Scott outline the complexity of word knowledge: “Any attempt to understand the processes by which children’s vocabularies grow must be based on a recognition of the complexity of word knowledge. Five aspects of this complexity that have long been recognized by vocabulary researchers are:”
1. Incrementality: “Word learning is incremental—it takes place in many steps.”
2. Multidimensionality: “Word knowledge consists of several qualitatively different types of knowledge.”
3. Polysemy: “Words often have more than one meaning, and the more frequent a word is in the language, the more meanings it is likely to have.”
4. Interrelatedness: “One’s knowledge of any given word is not independent of one’s knowledge of other words… How well a person knows the meaning of whale depends in part on their understanding of mammal.”
5. Heterogeneity: “What it means to know a word depends on what kind of word one is talking about. For example, knowing function words such as the or if is quite different from knowing terms such as hypotenuse or ion.”
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3. Assessing Multiple Dimensions of Word Knowledge
What does it mean to know a word? As we have already learned, it’s not just one thing. Here is another model that shines light on what it means to know a word. In Examining Multiple Dimensions of Word Knowledge for Content Vocabulary Understanding (2012), Cervetti et al. explore vocabulary assessment using six knowledge types: recognition, definition, classification/example, context, application, and interrelatedness. Here is a brief extract of their methodology:
1. Recognition: “Recognition was an indicator of familiarity with a word.” Test Question: “How well do you know the word evaporation?”
2. Definition: “This type of word knowledge was demonstrated through the selection of the correct meaning of the word given four choices.” Test Question: “What is evaporation?”
3. Classification/Example: “This type of word knowledge was demonstrated through either the identification of an example from the category the word represented or by placing the word into a category the word represented.” Test Question: “Which of these is an example of evaporation?”
4. Context: “This type of word knowledge was demonstrated through the selection of a target word used in a conceptually correct scientific context.” Test Question: “Which of these sentences uses the word evaporation correctly?”
5. Application: “This type of word knowledge was demonstrated through the determination of a target word’s relevance in a new context.” Test Question: “Can a table go through the process of evaporation?”
6. Interrelatedness: “This type of word knowledge was demonstrated through the determination of the degree of relationship between the target word and other words.” Test Question: “Which two words are most closely related to evaporation? (Choose two.)”
4. The Four Types of Vocabulary
In Literacy Assessment and Instructional Strategies (2015), Grant, Golden, and Wilson outline the four types of vocabulary: “Vocabulary can be defined as the collection of words and their meaning that a person uses. There are four types of vocabulary: receptive or listening, oral or speaking, print or reading, and productive or written (Kamil & Hiebert, 2005; Reutzel & Cooter, 2013) According to Reutzel and Cooter, the four vocabulary types are defined this way:
Q Listening vocabulary includes the words students hear and understand.
Q Speaking vocabulary is made up of the words we speak.
Q Reading vocabulary includes the words we comprehend when we read.
Q Written vocabulary is composed of the words we use in our writing.”
Subconscious Vocabulary Knowledge
Students learn new vocabulary words incrementally through multiple exposures. The reality is that we may encounter a word many times before we even take notice of it. This does not mean that our mind is not storing information about the word outside of our awareness. In fact, our brain has a system of brainstem nerves called the Reticular Activating System (RAS) that filters out information that we are not interested in or that we don’t need at that moment. Once we become interested in something or it rises to a certain level of importance, our Reticular Activating System (RAS) helps us take notice of it when we encounter it.
Although the research does not mention the Reticular Activating System (RAS), I believe it helps explain what Stahl writes in How Words Are Learned Incrementally over Multiple Exposures (2003): “One does not always need to know a word fully in order to understand it in context or even to answer a test item correctly. Adults possess a surprising amount of information about both partially known and reportedly unknown words. Even when people would report never having seen a word, they could choose a sentence in which the word was used correctly at a level above chance or discriminate between a correct synonym and an incorrect one (Durso & Shore, 1991). This suggests that people have some knowledge even of words that they reported as unknown.”
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The Eight Stages of Learning Words
Because I’m interested in vocabulary and vocabulary instruction, I monitor how words enter my world and my mind. I can think of words that I was unaware of and can’t recall having heard before, but then once I became aware of them, I heard them rather frequently. I can only assume that I have encountered the word many times before but that I had no interest in the word and no need for the word, so my Reticular Activating System (RAS) kept it out of my conscious awareness. Soon after I became aware of the word, I became interested in the word, which made my Reticular Activating System (RAS) keep an eye out for it. Soon I was looking up the word online and adding it to my working vocabulary.
While most of the research on vocabulary instruction focuses on reading comprehension, as a teacher who is highly interested in teaching writing, I am also interested in teaching students how to use words. What follows is my Eight Stages of Learning Words model. As you read over it, try to recall some recent words that have entered your world and your mind.
As an example word, I use CONFLATE.
The Eight Stages of Learning Words: CONFLATE
1. Oblivious: “CONFLATE—I don’t think I have ever seen this word before. I don’t even know if it is a real word. I can’t identify any or many meaningful parts.”
2. Uncertain: “CONFLATE—I’m pretty sure this is a word. I think I’ve seen it or heard it before. I know words with con- and I know words with –flate.”
3. Aware: “CONFLATE—I’ve seen or heard this word before, but I don’t know what it means. Either I didn’t need to understand the word to understand the topic, or there were many words in the topic that I didn’t understand. I have no real interest or need for knowing what the word means. To be honest, I think people who use the word are a bit pompous.”
4. Interested: “CONFLATE—I’ve seen or heard this word a couple of times, and I want to understand its meaning better. The word has made an impression, and not understanding it is becoming frustrating and holding me back from understanding things I want to understand.”
5. Mild Understanding: “CONFLATE—I have an idea of what the word means. I’ve even looked it up online. I know the word conflate means to combine or merge two things. But why don’t they just use the word combine or merge? There must be a difference. When exactly should I use this word?”
6. Competent Understanding: “CONFLATE—I know what the word means when I read it or hear it, and I know the nuances in meaning that separates it from its synonyms. However, I still would not use the word. I don’t feel comfortable using the word conflate. I worry that I may use it incorrectly or with people who wouldn’t know the word. Also, it just doesn’t sound like me.”
7. Would Use or First Use: “CONFLATE—I understand the word in a way that lets me view it as the best word for a specific idea. I wrote a paper, and I did use the word conflate. That should show them how smart I am.”
8. Comfortable Use: “CONFLATE—I use the word occasionally as needed. I am comfortable enough with the word that I know I will use it correctly in the right situation and with the right audience. Sometimes conflate is the best word to use to make things clear and concise and to impress my audience.”
Please note that “Interested” is the key stage because once we become interested in a word, our Reticular Activating System (RAS) will keep an eye out for it. Keep in mind that we can be interested out of necessity. If we are interested in a topic or a story, we will be interested in the words that will help us understand the topic or story.
By the way, as mentioned above, the Reticular Activating System (RAS) is a system of brainstem nerves that filters out unnecessary information so that we can focus on what’s important and interesting to us. The RAS is probably one reason that fostering word consciousness is a key component of effective vocabulary instruction.
