Misconceptions in Vocabulary Instruction

• In Event: AERA Roundtable Session 14
  In Roundtable Session: Academic Vocabulary, Textbooks, and Vocabulary Instruction (Table 4)

Abstract

Vocabulary instruction is an important component of reading instruction, yet how teachers view vocabulary instruction has not been fully examined. This study interviewed 20 Chinese-language teachers who taught fourth grade and examined teachers’ perspectives of vocabulary instruction. Eight misconceptions were identified: (1) regarding vocabulary instruction as instruction of Chinese characters; (2) remembering the written and spoken form of a word means mastering it; (3) only need to teach the words in the wordlist of the textbook; (4) vocabulary instruction is separated from reading instruction; (5) vocabulary learning is boring; (6) dictation and Pinyin are effective assessment approaches; (7) vocabulary learning depends on students’ natural acquisition and does not need teachers’ explicit instruction (8) only low-grade students need vocabulary instruction.

Authors

• Keyi Zhou, University of Hong Kong

• Chin-Hsi Lin, University of Hong Kong