There are four types of vocabulary: oral, listening, reading and writing. Vocabulary is the words we use, recognize and respond to during communication. Breadth is the size and scope of our vocabulary. Depth is the level of understanding that we have of words. Without vocabulary, people wouldn't be able to understand what they read. Most vocabulary is learning indirectly, people will often learn most of their vocabulary from conversations and books. However, some vocabulary must be taught directly. Learning vocabulary through this instruction is called explicit instruction. Explicit instruction helps a person's reading comprehension. Direct instruction includes specific word instruction and teaching word learning strategies. An important part of teaching vocabulary is for the student to be able to connect the new words to past experiences and knowledge. Without this, the new words will remain useless. 

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One of the best ways to increase a person's vocabulary knowledge is by repeated exposure to various kinds of text.  Guess how many times it takes an adult to put a word in his or her permanent memory? If you guessed seventeen, you are correct!  This demonstrates why repeated exposure is important when acquiring vocabulary.  

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Specific word instruction is a helpful teaching strategy that involves making a concept map.  It is helpful to all kinds of students as they make connections to the new vocabulary word.  Students can also predict what they think a word means before reading a text and then clarify the meaning after reading.

Independently, students can broaden their vocabulary knowledge by using a dictionary or by using context clues within a text.

​Vocabulary can be assessed through asking a student what a word means.

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