Mind the gap: vocabulary development in the primary curriculum

ABSTRACT

In the context of an on-going project emphasising the centrality of speaking and listening in the primary curriculum, the present article turns to vocabulary development: to the wide differences characterising primary age children in this regard, to their consequent unequal access to the wider curriculum, and to means by which such deficiencies may be addressed. This article reports how, given a variety of in-service supports, teachers in a small group of schools undertook to define relevant aims and objectives and to include a range of appropriate approaches in their teaching. Particular emphasis was placed upon active and ‘explicit’ vocabulary instruction. The viability and effectiveness of the strategies employed were assessed through analysis of a range of collected data; numerous examples of which are presented and evaluated here. This article concludes by reviewing such matters from teachers’ as well as pupils’ perspectives, and by emphasising the role of explicit instruction within the various approaches discussed.

KEYWORDS:

• Primary education
• English curriculum
• vocabulary
• dialogic pedagogy
• professional development

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.