Vocabulary: Needed if more children are to read well Andrew Biemiller

Vocabulary acquisition differences in social classes 11/5 negative to positive 12/7 positive to negative 32/5 positive to negative Welfare Words Heard Per Hour 616 Words Heard Per Year 3.2 million Words Heard by Age 4 13 million Working Words Heard Per Hour 1251 Words Heard Per Year 6.5 million Words Heard by Age 4 26 million Professional Words Heard Per Hour 2153 Words Heard Per Year 11.2 million Words Heard by Age 4 45 million 1.1 root words learned / day 2.2 root words learned / day 3.8 root words learned / day

Can they catch up? After grade two, the average child learns words faster, at a rate of 2.4 root words/day To catch up to average levels, low vocabulary children will need to start learning words at a rate of 3.5 or 4 root words/day At this rate they could catch up in 5 or 6 years Unfortunately there is little evidence that any primary school programs promote such accelerated vocabulary development

Teacher-centered approach to building vocabulary There is evidence that reading books orally to children several times and explaining 5 – 10 word meanings while reading can be effective with primary level children Biemiller suggests that teachers devote at least half an hour a day to developing vocabulary For older children, Biemiller suggests that this time should include morphological analysis