Developing Vocabulary
The Oxford English Language Report (Oxford University Press)
The Oxford Language Report (Oxford University Press) is a useful document that explores the word gap that exists in UK schools and outlines why it is so important to address the development of vocabulary across the curriculum.
Click on this image for further information and to download:
Oxford University Press also published an accompanying resource to help secondary schools develop a whole school literacy strategy, and also to help schools develop subject disciplinary vocabulary in subjects such as English, science, maths, history and geography. This document is attached to this page, but separate booklets can also be downloaded by clicking on this link:
https://www.teachitenglish.co.uk/wordgap
Recommended Reads
AWL - Academic Word List (Avervil Coxhead)
Averil Woodhead developed the Academic Word List (AWL) at the Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand as part of her MA.
This list contains 570 word families, sub-divided into sublists, which frequently appear in academic texts. Thus, the AWL is an excellent starting point when planning key academic words for explicit teaching as part of a whole school strategy.
Please click on this icon for the AWL:
The web links below are also useful in relation to the academic word list
• Academic Word List Finder - Useful for extra information about each word on the list.
• Academic Wordlist Highlighter - Useful for identifying words from the AWL in texts.
Recommended Websites - Vocabulary
English Club - Latin phrases in use in modern English
Other
Alex Quigley lecture on vocabulary
EEF ARTICLE: 'The Vital Importance of vocabulary in Mathematics'
FREE Seneca Course: Key Stage 3 Decoding Words
FREE Future Learn course: An Introduction to Teaching Vocabulary
Examination Language - Command Words
It is really important that students have a clear understanding of what command words mean in each subject discipline, as the demands of command verbs can vary between each subject.
AQA - Generic list of command words based on Ofqual's official list
AQA have produced documents that specify all relevant command verbs for each GCSE examination subject: