Enriching Vocabulary in Secondary Schools A Practical Resource for Teachers and Speech and Language Therapists

Enriching Vocabulary in Secondary Schools explores the importance of vocabulary for academic, social, emotional, and employment outcomes. It describes the vulnerability of vocabulary skills in children and adolescents with speech, language, and communication needs (SLCN), and suggests practical ways to support them as they learn. The book contains a theoretical overview of vocabulary development in children and adolescents, highlighting its impact on both learning and psychosocial functioning, and profiles the vocabulary learning of children with SLCN. It includes a range of programmes, strategies, and resources for vocabulary learning, together with the evidence base and key research underpinning them. Chapters offer a plethora of word-learning activities, ideas, and downloadable resources for implementation in the classroom, small groups, and individually to meet the needs of pupils with differing levels of language and cognitive ability. An essential resource for speech and language therapists, secondary school teachers, and support staff, this book will give readers a deeper understanding of the significance of language, along with an extensive practical toolkit to help teach and enhance the vocabulary learning of older children and young people.

Preface Acknowledgements Chapter 1 What is vocabulary? How vocabulary fits into a model of language, and how words are represented in our vocabulary store. Chapter 2 Why is vocabulary support important? The relationship between vocabulary knowledge and long-term academic and psychosocial outcomes, and an introduction to speech, language and communication needs. Chapter 3 Word learning and its challenges How word learning typically develops across the life span, and the processes that make word learning a challenge for adolescents with speech, language, and communication needs. Chapter 4 Evidenced vocabulary intervention at all levels of input The evidence for vocabulary intervention in whole-class, small-group and individual models of delivery. Chapter 5 The Vocabulary Enrichment Intervention Programme Activities from a small-group vocabulary enhancement intervention programme for adolescents in mainstream secondary schools. Chapter 6 Word Discovery Activities from a whole-class vocabulary intervention programme for mainstream secondary school classrooms. Chapter 7 More for your toolbox Additional activities and signposts to further resources for enhancing vocabulary. Afterword Index References

Victoria L. Joffe is a specialist speech and language therapist and Professor of Speech and Language Therapy and Dean of the School of Health and Social Care at the University of Essex, UK. Victoria is co-editor of the journal Child Language Teaching and Therapy. Victoria’s expertise is in the assessment and intervention of individuals with speech, language, and communication needs across the life span. Hilary Lowe is a speech and language therapist with a doctorate in vocabulary intervention for adolescents. She has wide-ranging clinical, research, and lecturing experience. Hilary is a contributor to Supporting Adolescents with Language Disorders and the author of Sunny’s Sound Play.