A “Word a Day” Vocabulary Builder
Most who speak the English language grow up with a basic understanding of how English works, what grammatical structures are used and how words interact with each other. However, some children and youth may be limited in this understanding because of development exposure or communication results between adults and other children. To help children expand their knowledge, a word a day vocabulary builder can be used.
Many question the concept of adding a word a day as a vocabulary builder for children, with hesitations based on children forgetting the words or not consciously adding them into their vocabulary. However, research has shown that children who use this concept are able to continuously expand their capabilities for learning. It has specifically been found that fluency is interrelated to gradually adding in vocabulary, instead of rapidly trying to build word understandings.
The concept of building only a word a day provides more then just a new vocabulary word for students. It also provides a new level of comprehension, which increases fluency and communication among children. Because a child only learns one vocabulary word a day, there is not just a basic understanding, but also a practice of the word. This creates connections of the words, instead of just a basic understanding. By children comprehending how to use the words and what is involved in structuring the words into sentences, it becomes a natural part of their vocabulary[1].
This concept links to what is known as the retrieval theory. In this philosophy, children are noted to have better recall of information when it is used over a longer period of time. Researchers conducted tests in which children were given a set of vocabulary words. Some of the words were given at once, where children were required to memorize the words, then be tested over them the next day. This caused low scores from the children, only being altered through memory recall. The second test was given a week later. With this, children had processed the information more thoroughly and were able to apply the vocabulary to their learning. The result was a higher recall number because of the practical use of the vocabulary over a period of time[2].
As can be seen, the use of vocabulary building doesn’t just include memorization and basic comprehension. Instead, children have to learn how to use the words in communication and in an everyday context, otherwise it is forgotten and not applied to memory. Using a word a day vocabulary builder provides different insight into the words, how they are used and how they can be an effective part of the vocabulary that is used for a child’s communication.
[1] Hirsch, E.D. (2003). “Reading Comprehension Requires Knowledge – of Words and the World.” American Educator.
[2] Barcroft, Joe. (2007). “Effects of Opportunities for Word Retrieval During Second Language Vocabulary Building.” Language Learning (57), (1), pgs. 35 – 56.
