Newer research on the early vocabulary gap has since showed that the gap exists and remains enduring. Rather than “ debunking” such evidence, we find a consensus that a vocabulary gap exists and that teachers need to better understand the issue.
Crucially, however, their seminal study triggered a wave of research in this area. Their estimates, based on limited recording technology, were not directly replicated. It was a small study of only 42 families, with strong judgements being made about social class and language experience that are contestable. The vocabulary research undertaken by Hart and Risley has rightly been critiqued. children ever got to school, there could be a difference of language experience for children from “word rich” or “word poor” families, with those children from word rich families potentially hearing 30,000,000 more words than their “word poor” peers. A seminal study by Betty Hart and Todd Risley, published in 1995 is often cited as popularizing the notions of the “vocabulary gap” commonly described as ‘The Early Catastrophe.’ It describes the meaningful differences in the language experiences of young children. These gaps may show up in a difficult examination, a weak answer in class, or a subtly limited piece of writing.Įvidence to characterize a vocabulary gap is long-standing and sustained. It is the gaps in vocabulary exhibited by our pupils, rather than the subtle growth, that too often become clear for teachers. This vocabulary growth is cumulative and incremental, founded upon reading and talk, and often hidden in plain sight in the busy classroom. Of course, much of the vocabulary development of our pupils will happen implicitly beyond the scope of classroom instruction. The importance of vocabulary development to reading, writing and talk is incontrovertible. And yet, we can better develop our pupils’ vocabulary, identify their gaps in understanding, and teach new words with a greater likelihood of success. Their language develops daily, inside and outside of the school gates, with reading, talk and simply existing in the world, seeing their vocabulary grow exponentially. We cannot teach all of the words to our pupils. Given the sheer breadth and depth of vocabulary of the English language-alongside how critical it proves in mediating the academic curriculum of school-it is crucial that every teacher has a confident understanding of teaching vocabulary in the classroom. The English dictionary is replete with over half a million words, and many of our pupils can struggle to stay afloat as they swim in this sea of academic language. On a daily basis, every teacher navigates a wealth of questions about words and about the world. “Sir, what does liaise mean? And what does pulchritude mean?” For example, the prefix “dec” is familiar enough in words like ‘decade’ and ‘decathlon’ (from the Latin – ‘decimas’ – meaning “tenth”). One approach to teaching morphology is to get pupils to generate as many words as they can from a word root or prefix.
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