Research Building Blocks of Reading Instruction:

Vocabulary

ABSTRACT

Reading is an intricate mental process that involves deciphering symbols to create

understanding. In addition to understanding the material they read, skilled readers also read

quickly and enthusiastically. Comprehending, reading fluently, and being motivated are the

objectives of reading teaching. Instructors must effectively teach all aspects of reading to children

if they are to assist them in becoming competent readers. Phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency,

vocabulary, and understanding have thus been defined by the National Reading Panel as the

fundamental components and building blocks of reading. This Literature Review seeks to analyze

the building block of Vocabulary with respect to the current state of knowledge on the topic and its

value to the teaching of reading.

Key Terms: vocabulary, reading, building blocks, comprehension, context, understanding, words.

INTRODUCTION

Words make up vocabulary, whether from a particular language or from a set you are learning.

About two hundred years after the term vocabulary was first used to denote a compilation of words

with meanings in the 1500s, it started to be utilized to describe the scope of words and phrases of

a person or group. A child's capacity to read and comprehend text is significantly influenced by

their understanding of vocabulary. "Words embody power, words embrace action, and words

enable us to speak, read, and write with clarity, confidence, and charm" (Duin & Graves, 1987, p.

312). Thus, vocabulary is essential for thinking, understanding of literature, and interaction (Nilsen
& Nilsen, 2003). According to Beck & McKeown (1985, p. 12), it is the "cornerstone of literacy"

and is inextricably tied to success both within and outside of the educational setting (Davis, 1944;

Graves, 2006; Thorndike, 1917).

1. THE MAIN IDEAS, THEORIES AND CONCEPTS RELATED TO VOCABULARY.

1.1. Main Ideas

The terms we need to comprehend to speak clearly are called our vocabulary. According to

Irvin (1998), listening, speaking, reading, and writing are the four vocabulary categories

educators often consider. The terms that we must grasp to comprehend what we overhear are

referred to as listening vocabulary. The phrases that we utilize when speaking is known as

speaking vocabulary. The range of words we need to read effectively is called reading

vocabulary. We employ certain words in writing, which makes up our writing vocabulary. He

also asserts that speaking and writing vocabulary are expressive, while listening and reading

vocabulary is receptive (Irvin 1998).

Also, vocabulary is the continuously expanding collection of terms kids know,

comprehend, and employ in spoken language (oral vocabulary), and those they can identify

in written language (reading vocabulary).

Vocabulary also refers to the keywords that readers need to be familiar with to

comprehend what they are reading. When students can swiftly make the connection between

terms, they are familiar with and terms they encounter in a text, they improve as readers. As a

result, developing a solid oral vocabulary is essential to becoming a proficient reader. It

additionally implies that it is essential to educate kids the terms they will use in literature and

in classrooms. Children must be exposed to terms in a pertinent context to be able to acquire

 fresh vocabulary efficiently. Students learn novel terms more quickly when their surroundings

are filled with context.

1.2. Theories and Concepts

The key concept of vocabulary training should be to get students proactively considering

word connections, definitions, and how to utilize words in various contexts. According to

Graves (2006) and McKeown and Beck (2004), comprehension is the area most to be impacted

by this kind of rich, in-depth education.

According to the implicit vocabulary learning theory, understanding phrases by reading is

more efficient than studying them through deliberate vocabulary activities since the reader's

conscious attention is on the narrative, not the terms they need to memorize (Krashen, 1983,

1993). To increase students' word understanding and help in understanding the text, implicit

vocabulary instruction involves teaching significant and practical words as they are reading.

Reading is seen by the Whole Language Theory as an integral activity that links the reader,

the piece of writing, and its context. The Whole Language Theory places more emphasis on

understanding and generating significance in reading than the conventional theory of

phonetics, which stresses deciphering. According to the Whole Language Theory, becoming a

fluent reader involves more than just learning phonetic clues and methods for deciphering.

Rather, it emphasizes the significance of the reader's engagement with the writing (the

vocabulary) and its subsequent course of interpretation. According to this principle, an

effective reader stays involved with the written material while using previous experience to

understand and analyze what is being provided. According to the whole language acquisition
 theory, vocabulary should be learned with consideration for all its components, including

writing, speaking, reading, and listening.

Schema theory is a key concept in the study of efficient vocabulary expansion because it

explains why pupils with few conceptual frameworks, or past knowledge, struggle significantly

with mastering novel terms (Jenkins & Dixon, 1983). In deciding how to best teach vocabulary

to their students, progressive educators must consider this issue. Students in elementary school

frequently struggle with the absence of schema while acquiring novel vocabulary, which is

frequently caused by insufficient reading (Willingham & Price, 2008; Willingham, 2009).

In accordance with Stahl, Jacobson, Davis, and Davis (1989), "schema theory holds that

the reader's prior knowledge acts as scaffolding to aid in encoding information from text" (p.

29). The Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD), which Vygotsky (1978) defined as the gap

between pupils' current stage of growth and the achievable levels with direct teaching or peer

cooperation, served as the theoretical basis for the scaffolding concepts. According to this

hypothesis, learning novel words gets simpler as pupils' vocabulary exposure increases.

Children with a restricted vocabulary applies to Stanovich's (1986) theory of the Matthew

effect. He suggested that struggling readers abstain from reading, which leaves them short on

possibilities to expand their lexicon. Students' written and conversational vocabularies

deteriorate as a result. Students' vocabularies will often be restricted if they have little

opportunities to encounter novel words.

2. AREAS OF AGREEMENT AND DISAGREEMENT RELATED TO VOCABULARY.

Educating young people how to engage with both narrative and informative literature

includes vocabulary education (Rupley, Logan, & Nichols, 1999). According to Honig,
Diamond, and Gutlohn (2000), vocabulary understanding is essential to understanding text,

which means we cannot comprehend literature without understanding the meanings of most of

the terms. However, Pearson, Hiebert, and Kamil (2007) and Graves & Duin (1985) concur

that vocabulary development instruction tends to concentrate on a student's effective, or

evocative vocabulary—the phrases the pupil employs for communicating and writing—rather

than on a student's responsive vocabulary, or the vocabulary required for understanding.

Daneman (1991) asserts that reading comprehension is partly a result of comprehension

abilities, and vocabulary is partly a result of reading comprehension. As a result, they

contribute to the growth of reading in a mutually beneficial way. Similarly, Heilman, Blair, and

Rupley (1998) concur that students have trouble understanding writings because they are not

privy to the definitions of terms indicative of the ideas and subject matter of the material they

study. This also restricts their capability to relate writings to prior understanding and impairs

their capability to draw persuasive conclusions.

Stahl and Nagy (2006) suggested that an in-depth vocabulary system involves studying the

semantics of particular terms, thoroughly perusing rich texts, and enhancing the pupil's

capacity to comprehend unfamiliar terms on their own. Blachowicz & Lee (1991) disagree,

arguing that vocabulary instruction remains necessary regardless of the fact that broad reading

exposes pupils to a variety of rich and pertinent situations for word acquisition. In conjunction

with Stahl and Nagy (2006), Graves (1992) asserts that introducing specific words concentrates

the interest of pupils on terms, communicates to them the significance of word understanding,

and provides them with a larger vocabulary, which in turn helps them discover novel words

through situations.
 Knowing a word entail being aware of both its meaning and its rough situational utilization

(Stahl & Fairbanks, 1986). According to scholars, knowing a word requires patience and

frequent encounters to become proficient (Graves & Prenn, 1986; Stahl, 1986; Stahl & Nagy,

2006). More specifically, Zimmerman (1997) stated that this procedure involves three main

components: comprehending the complexities of a term's various interpretations, the broad

spectrum of those interpretations, and the appropriateness of the phrase in circumstances.

Active processing-based instruction should include learners acquiring unfamiliar terms and

deepening their grasp of existing ones. In other words, rather than simply remembering

definitions, learners are inputting data and fusing the semantics of words with previous

experience to create conceptual models of language in a variety of contexts (Rupley, Logan, &

Nichols, 1999). Understanding a term in its complete sense is more than just having the ability

to explain it or infer something about it from what it means. Active processing, which links

thoughts and feelings with terms, has been shown to increase vocabulary, improve

comprehension, and promote continuous development (Rupley, Logan, & Nichols, 1999).

3. CURRENT AREAS OF AGREEMENTS ON VOCABULARY AS IT RELATES TO

THE TEACHING OF READING.

It is commonly acknowledged that one of the most important indicators for achievement in

learning to read is understanding vocabulary (Bowne et al., 2017; Wanzek, 2014; NICHD,

2000). According to numerous studies by Biemiller (1999); NICHD (2000); Scarborough

(2001), ability to read in higher education as well as overall professional and academic

achievement are significantly predicted by a kid's vocabulary in magnitude, or the amount and

diversity of terms that they understand in the early childhood and early years of education.

Before they start education, nearly all kids are proficient in using languages, but reading calls
for a vocabulary that is greater in sophistication and frequently complex compared to what is

utilized in normal conversations.

Vocabulary aids in both reading for learning and learning about reading. A pupil is more

inclined to understand a term associated with their vocal vocabulary at the word identification

threshold and words that are. Students are better equipped for reading broadly and in a variety

of settings when they are familiar with numerous definitions of words. At the outset education

in reading and consistent reading habits will help children's vocabularies grow rapidly, which

will be to their benefit. Words give titles and methods by which ever more complex ideas can

be investigated. Vocabulary is essential to reading for purpose since it aids understanding

(Manzo, Manzo, & Thomas, 2006). Students with little vocabulary and awareness of the world

will have a tough time comprehending the works of literature they read in classrooms,

particularly when the texts they must read get harder as they grow older. Strong predictors of

reading comprehension and general success in school include a student's lexicon's quantity and

diversity as well as their ability to quickly recall the definitions of words from recollection

(Lane & Allen, 2010)

For students to succeed in reading, vocabulary education is essential. Verbal vocabulary

and written vocabulary are the two categories of vocabulary. An unknown word that appears

on paper is first decoded by the reader. "The reader will be able to understand it if it is in their

oral vocabulary. The reader must find out the word's meaning if it is not already part of their

oral vocabulary (NICHD, 2000, p. 4-3). Therefore, the probability that a student will be

competent to understand printed material increases as their vocabulary (oral or written)

expands. In other words, the greater number of terms a student is familiar with, the simpler it
 is for them to pick up unfamiliar terms and comprehend written language (Weitzman &

Greenberg, 2002).

4. THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN VOCABULARY AND OTHER IDENTIFIED

BUILDING BLOCKS.

Vocabulary has a close relationship with the other building blocks of Comprehension and

Fluency. Vocabulary can be acquired or taught verbally and via text, and it is directly related

to reading comprehension. Most of the vocabulary is acquired by regular conversational

listening, reading publicly, or reading on one's own. Indeed, research indicates that the number

of words children overhear stated at their residence and their academic success are directly

related. This is due to the constant, subconscious development of children's spoken

vocabularies.

A learner needs to understand the meaning of the words being read in to truly grasp the

material they are reading. Initial readers decode terms they encounter in text using their vocal

knowledge. When a learner reads and comes across something new, the reading is temporarily

put on hold while the fresh term is incorporated into the student's cognitive vocabulary. The

direct teaching of vocabulary that has been expressly instructed, along with word-learning

techniques, can promote vocabulary growth and increase reading fluency and comprehension.

CONCLUSION

Vocabulary is a crucial component of reading and education. The ability to communicate

effectively requires proficiency in languages across the board. Word cognition improves

comprehension as well as knowledge among learners. The growth of students' vocabulary relies

not solely on exposing them to a wide range of literature, but also on explicit guidance utilizing

relevant situations that stimulate the pupils by combining their previous knowledge. The
educational program should incorporate vocabulary development, which is a crucial component of

understanding, by employing the students' literature and drawing on their past experience.

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