Research School Network: The Art of Teaching Vocabulary: Selection is Key Director of Research School Alicia McConway looks at how to prepare for the ​‘selection’ element of Alex Quigley’s SEEC approach.

The ​‘Improving Literacy in Secondary Schools’ guidance report reminds us that ​‘there is relatively limited evidence about how to best teach vocabulary explicitly’ but that there are ​‘promising ways to promote targeted instruction of academic language in the classroom’.[1]

At Shotton Hall Research School we love the clarity in Alex Quigley’s SEEC approach[2]
and we’ve adapted it over time to meet the needs of the schools and departments we’ve worked with. At the ​‘selection’ phase, we find that all too often, teachers and leaders, though well intentioned, select a huge number of words which becomes unmanageable for staff and pupils. To support schools, we’ve identified some steps to support teachers and leaders at the selection process.

First things first.

Before you do anything, we’d recommend getting your teams together and making vocabulary CPD a priority. Use this time to develop the word consciousness of staff – we can’t expect the pupils to develop this if this is not an area of strength among staff. You will have some staff who are expert in this, but other staff who are novice and wildly out of their comfort zone. Start with some basic root words as shown below:

Encourage staff to review the roots and make the links with vocabulary from their subject. I’d recommend sitting staff in cross phase or cross-curricular groups to get the most out of this.

Once you’ve started to develop this ​‘word consciousness’ with staff, you’re ready to start selecting your vocabulary. Don’t forget to revisit this with staff too!

1. Select the most important words.
Consider the unit of work ahead and select the words that are most important to understand the topic. It is likely that these words will be tier 2 and 3 words. Ask yourself, which words are crucial? Which words are unlikely to be part of your pupils’ prior knowledge. A linguist colleague Rachel Hawkes always encourages teachers to differentiate between words that we need to know and which words are neat
to know. A phrase that has really supported me with vocabulary selection in MFL.

2. Be ​‘word conscious’
Once you have this list, you need to be deliberately word conscious – what are the origins of these words? Do you have any common root words? Are any of the words interrelated? Might there be occasions where these words come up in other contexts? Can you collaborate with others subjects and phases and identify and map the crossover? Can you preempt any misconceptions?

3. Plan for teaching.
Plan when you are going to teach the vocabulary and when you are going to revisit it. Be explicit in your curriculum plans. Evidence is inconsistent around this, but it is suggested that encountering a word 10 to 20 times can lead to a basic understanding, while 30 – 40 exposures may be necessary for a deeper and more robust comprehension. Explicit plans ensure that pupils encounter the vocabulary enough times to retain and use it. Avoiding the pitfall of teaching an item of vocabulary as a ​‘one off’ event.

In our next blog, we’ll look at how you can get it right in the ​‘explain’ phase.

[1] Improving literacy in Secondary Schools (2021) EEF. Available here.

[1] Quigley, A. (2022) Closing the writing gap. Abingdon, Oxon: Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group.

References

Improving literacy in Secondary Schools (2021) EEF. Available here.

Quigley, A. (2022) Closing the writing gap. Abingdon, Oxon: Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group.

Further Reading

EEF blog: Getting to the root of vocabulary instruction | EEF

Vocabulary – Alex Quigley

The Art of Teaching Vocabulary: Dos… | Shotton Hall Research School