Vocabulary for academic literacy

Abstract

<p>This chapter presents an overview of connections between vocabulary and the development of academic literacy to show that vocabulary has fundamental educational implications during emergent literacy. The scope is the early years of education, where students transition from learning to read to reading to learn. Contemporary research on early reading vocabulary and disciplinary literacy is summarised and language diversity and vocabulary development reviewed, with a focus on socio-economic status and multilingualism. The chapter surveys evidence-based pedagogies used to enhance vocabulary and explores such questions as what vocabulary students need, how this has been researched, and what is the optimal vocabulary input required for academic literacy.<br></p>