Research School Network: For your eyes only? Using the Tiers of Vocabulary model with students – a suggestion

The concept of tiers of vocabulary, developed by Beck et al (2013), aims to help teachers identify words that need explicit teaching:

Tier 1 describes everyday vocabulary, especially that encountered in speech.

Tier 3 contains subject-specific vocabulary: caesura, diffraction, batik.

Tier 2 includes high-frequency vocabulary that might be encountered in many subject disciplines, especially in writing. In this set, for example, we’d find analyse, quantify and delineate. Although these words might have subtly different meanings in different subjects (catalyst means something specific in Chemistry but also has a general metaphorical use), an expansion of this ​‘academic vocabulary’ is an obvious benefit for reading. 

The following is offered as something to explore. In the example described below, it is used to highlight the need for content-specific vocabulary within an English Literature response to poetry. First, the model has been adapted to the subject.

Tier 1 is still called ​‘everyday vocabulary’. Tier 2 is labelled ​‘General Poetry vocabulary’ – in this sense, it would include terms like adverb, metaphor, image and symbolism (note that in the standard model, these would most likely be placed into the subject-specific Tier 3). Tier 3 in this version, however, is labelled ​‘Expert vocabulary specific to this poem’. In other words, the hierarchical principle of the model is the same but we’re making subdivisions within the discipline of English itself.

One way to use this would be by comparing sample responses. Let’s say our class have been studying Wordsworth’s The Prelude. First, we activate prior knowledge:

Then we read a sample response:

Introducing the tiered model, we ask students to highlight examples of vocabulary that would fit into tier 2 and 3.

Just to hammer home the specificity of the vocabulary used here, we might follow up with a few questions:

- How is ​‘concrete example’ different from ​‘example’?

- Why say ​‘aspirational images’ instead of ​‘images’?

- How is a ​‘commonplace image’ different from an ​‘image’?

Next, we might have them highlight further examples of tiered vocabulary with a different sample response:

The point is that although both examples are saying more or less the same thing, the first is clearly more sophisticated – despite the fact that they use a similar quantity of ​‘general English vocabulary’ (noun, denotes, connote, simile and image).

We could argue about what has and hasn’t been highlighted (and even about how complex a particular word is), but would probably agree a) that the student who uses vocabulary like ​‘rationalism’, ​‘imposes barriers’, ​‘free imagination’, ​‘exhilaration’ and ​‘commonplace image’ is more engaged with this particular poem than one who uses ​‘fear of nature’, ​‘overpowered’, ​‘safe’, ​‘achievement’, ​‘exploring’, and b) that at least some of the difference is down to the specificity of the vocabulary.