Making Personal Connections to Words to Increase Early Childhood Vocabulary Learning

Abstract

This article explains why and how helping students make personal connections to words can increase their word learning. M s. Jennifer is teaching her kindergarten students a new word, option. She begins the lesson with a friendly definition of the word, "an option is when you have a choice." To help students develop a deeper understanding of the word, she invites them to connect their personal experiences to this new word.

Vocabulary Talk Moves: Using Language to Promote Word Learning

“…The next three most frequently occurring vocabulary talk moves were explaining/defining target words (6.57% of total vocabulary talk code applications), helping students make personal connections to target words (6.51%), and providing examples/nonexamples of target words (5.25%). These moves align with the research on giving child‐friendly explanations/definitions of the meanings of target words (Beck & McKeown, 2001, 2007; Stahl & Fairbanks, 1986), helping students make personal connections to target words (Neugebauer et al., 2017, 2022), and highlighting examples or nonexamples illustrating what target words mean (Beck & McKeown, 2007; Silverman et al., 2014).…”

“…These moves align with the research on giving child-friendly explanations/definitions of the meanings of target words (Beck & McKeown, 2001, 2007Stahl & Fairbanks, 1986), helping students make personal connections to target words (Neugebauer et al, 2017(Neugebauer et al, , 2022 Throughout the discussion, Ms. Henderson helped students connect these terms to their own experiences by framing the examples of water (need) and beds (want) in the context of their own home (shelter).…”

“…In addition to building knowledge of word meanings, an important aspect of vocabulary development is interesting students in words and word learning. Researchers have found that helping students make personal connections to target words is an effective practice for supporting vocabulary development (Neugebauer et al, 2017(Neugebauer et al, , 2022. In the present study, we considered the range of instructional practices that research has shown to support vocabulary development.…”