The Power of Vocabulary

When it comes to the experts, there’s no mistaking the power of vocabulary in a person’s life. According to the language website, The Linguist, the reason is obvious: the size of a person’s vocabulary is often a telltale sign for a range of educational achievements and capabilities. That’s not just in writing, reading, listening and speaking, but it’s also often a sign of a strong foundation in the arts, history and science. A person’s vocabulary is one of the best predictors in second language acquisition as well.

Let’s go backwards for a moment. Whether it’s native speakers or English language learners, poor literacy costs the US a small fortune. Based on what The Linguist says, forget all of those high-tech gadgets for learning, as one of the most effective learning tools is a good old-fashioned book.

There many other payoffs to having a good vocabulary, too. ETI Malta, an executive training organization states two reasons that it’s worth it for a person to expand his or her vocabulary:

1. Learners become more empowered.
2. Having more words increases a person’s reading skills. As reading improves, a person’s motivation
increases. The more someone reads, the more a person learns. The more someone learns, the
more a person will achieve in school and in life. It’s basically a fail-safe domino effect.

An article on Edutopia makes a couple of terrific suggestions to help give kids the advantage. It states that vocabulary should be taught to children beginning with their first day of school. According to the research, the reason there’s a gap between low-achieving and high-achieving students is because the child achieving less has a smaller vocabulary. The article goes on to say that one of the best things that a school can do for a child is provide good vocabulary instruction.

Finding educational programs that support ELL students’ first language, such as The Latino Family Literacy Project, can make an enormous difference on their overall academic and language acquisition success.