Explicit vocabulary instruction is a teaching practice that builds the pillars of literacy that all students need in order to be successful in school and beyond. Students need a number of pillars to be in place for their literacy to improve. They need spelling, punctuation, exploratory talk, reading comprehension and more. The list is long. The range and scale of this knowledge can be daunting for those leading literacy, especially when choosing which teaching practices will yield the highest leverage in terms of supporting literacy development.
However, the evidence points to explicit vocabulary instruction as one of our best bets in doing so. In fact, explicit vocabulary instruction is only one part of vocabulary instruction. There is also incidental vocabulary learning and the cultivation of word consciousness.
The explicit kind is marked out by the inclusion of students making use of the vocabulary themselves, practising using the words in different contexts and on numerous occasions both verbally and in writing.
Explicit vocabulary instruction appears as a recommendation in several of the EEF’s guidance reports, including the most recent, Improving Primary Science.
