A rich vocabulary is an important part [...]]]>

“I think sometimes in education vocabulary is looked at in much too mundane a way. Indeed, vocabulary is a person’s tools of thought.” - Dr. Keith Stanovich, Canada’s Research Chair of Applied Cognitive Science at the Department of Human Development and Applied Psychology, University of Toronto 

A rich vocabulary is an important part of developing language and literacy skills. From the Wechsler Intelligence Test to the SAT, vocabulary is an important part of verbal IQ tests and is considered a predictor of academic success. But how can we help our children gain a vast vocabulary with ease?

Reading, reading and reading….but reading with a difference…

Several researchers have shown that reading storybooks to children from early childhood is vital to helping children develop an extensive vocabulary. But what is even more important is the interaction we have with our children during a storybook reading session.

We can either read storybooks “passively” to our children or “actively” engage our children in the session. When we read passively, our children listen while we parents read the text to them. However, several research studies have shown that vocabulary growth is higher when children actively participate in the reading session by answering questions and discussing the storybook.

In one study, researchers Walsh and Blewitt (see reference below) introduced several new words through storybook reading sessions to three-year olds and studied the new word comprehension. Children who were actively engaged through questions and answers performed significantly better in the new word comprehension and production tests than children who were read to passively.

So when we read storybooks to our children, we can help them develop a more extensive vocabulary by actively engaging them in the session. There are several ways we can do this:

1. Focus the attention of the child on the new words by highlighting them during the reading session.
2. Ask questions about the story. For example, we can ask them to describe the scene using new adjectives and/or act out new verbs.
3. Make a conscious effort to use the new vocabulary in comments, and questions and answers about the story.

This post refers to this study: Walsh, B.A. and Blewitt, P. (2006). The Effect of Questioning Style During Storybook Reading on Novel Vocabulary Acquisition of Preschoolers. Early Childhood Education Journal, Vol. 33(4).