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Alex Quigley, 7 strategies for vocabulary teaching

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Alex Quigley, 7 strategies for vocabulary teaching

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Dates & details

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Developing Literacy in Primary SchoolsTSP

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Anne Harvey

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7 Strategies for Exploring Unfamiliar Vocabulary

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7 Strategies for Exploring Unfamiliar Vocabulary

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Speech and Language UK: Changing young lives

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Communication the Curriculum
"Communicating the Curriculum provides much needed clarification and support in helping staff to understand this extensive and crucial area of a child's development..." SENCO, Northumberland
In the primary National Curriculum for England (2014), the levels system has been removed and the Spoken Language Programme of Study is broad - covering all ages from years 1 - 6 in primary schools. Schools are required to develop their own progression points for children across year groups, based on the 12 statements which make up the Programme of Study. We know that for some schools, measuring progress in spoken language can be challenging, and Communicating the Curriculum is here to help.

Communicating the Curriculum is a practical resource which will help primary schools to define and monitor children's progress in spoken language. It not only helps to show schools how the programme of study statements can be broken down in relation to the typical stages of language development, but also how they can use this to identify a pupil's progression. This will of course help schools to spot pupils who might be struggling with their spoken language and signposts to next steps and support.
Using Communicating the Curriculum
For each statement in the Spoken Language Programme of Study, this resource provides descriptors for what to expect at the end of each year in primary school. This includes information about the aspects of language which contribute to the statement. For each year group, a pupil statement is also provided which begins with 'I can ...', 'I try' or 'I know ....

Find out more on and access resources:

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Communicating the Curriculum is a practical resource which will help primary schools to define and monitor children's progress in spoken language. It not only helps to show schools how the programme of study statements can be broken down in relation to the typical stages of language development, but also how they can use this to identify a pupil's progression.

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Speech and Language UK: Changing young lives

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Talking About a Generation - a review into current policy, evidence and practice for speech, language and communication

Talking About a Generation, a new report from The Communication Trust, explores the development of speech, language and communication skills in children and young people, and especially those who struggle to communicate.

It reviews recent developments in policy and practice affecting these children and young people, examining the impact of speech, language and communication needs (SLCN) on health and wellbeing, educational progress and employability beyond school. It presents case studies from around the country that show solutions to some of the challenges identified.

Talking About a Generation highlights research showing that by the age of five, 75% of children who experienced poverty persistently throughout the early years are below average in language development, compared to 35% of children who never experienced poverty. Up to 50% of children starting school in the most disadvantaged areas will have speech, language and communication needs (SLCN). In school-aged children the likelihood of being identified as having SLCN is 2.3 times greater for children eligible for free school meals and living in areas of disadvantage.

There is worrying evidence of under identification of SLCN across health and education services. Research tells us that 7.6% of children in the early primary years will have developmental language disorder - that is two children in every classroom. Analysis of the SEND data shows that only 2.6% of children are identified by the SEND system.

The Communication Trust is calling for concerted action around identification of, and support for, speech, language and communication needs with 19 recommendations for government, commissioners, regulators and practitioners:

As a matter of urgency, the government should consult on a new plan for the future of children's centres which puts speech, language and communication at its heart.

Local areas (when developing their Education, Health and Care needs assessments) should compare the incidence of SLCN in schools with prevalence figures, and develop plans to tackle under identification - schools should similarly make these comparisons.

The government should include mandatory elements on developing all children and young people's speech, language and communication skills in ITT (Initial Teacher Training).

Those working in the speech, language and communication sector - whether in commissioning, leading or delivering services - are also being urged to review the 13 case studies within Talking About a Generation and apply good practice in their local area.

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Talking About a Generation - a review into current policy, evidence and practice for speech, language and communication Talking About a Generation, a new report from The Communication Trust, explores the development of speech, language and communication skills in children and young people, and especially those who struggle to communicate.

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Jane Harley, Policy and Partnership Director, Oxford University Press
Read the Oxford Language Report

OUP has a deeply rooted commitment to young people's language development - it sits at the heart of education. We seek to drive positive change in educational outcomes through our publishing and nowhere can be more important than the area of language and literacy.

Through our Oxford Children's Corpus we monitor closely the language pupils read and write. For the last 10 years, in the BBC 500 words competition, we have celebrated the creativity in how children use vocabulary, create new words and express themselves, and we have looked at how language use changes and develops.

But also, as part of our ongoing market research, we are committed to engaging with schools to better understand the language needs of pupils of all abilities and the challenges facing teachers.

In 2017, following increasing feedback from teachers that the word gap - where children's vocabulary levels were below age expectations - was impacting on all aspects of school life, we decided to embark on a major piece of research to look at what exactly that impact was across primary and secondary schools.

The findings were published in 2018 in our first Oxford Language Report: Why Closing the Word Gap Mattersand they were very disturbing. Over half the teachers surveyed reported that up to 40% of their pupils lacked the vocabulary to access their learning. Not only that, but it was felt the problem was getting worse in more than 60% of primary and secondary schools.

What also emerged from these findings was the impact this was having on young people. Language underpins progress, it impacts on attainment, affects self-esteem and behaviour and plays a huge role in a child's future life chances. It is clearly an area to be addressed.

Since that time, awareness has been greatly raised and there are policy initiatives very much targeting the early years and language development, with Nuffield Early Language Intervention (NELI) - a high impact intervention published by OUP - now a key strand of the EEF's National Tutoring Programme.

However, while Early Years is hugely important, we have also been concerned to keep monitoring vocabulary development across schools.

In the course of a three-year programme of research, we have gathered over 3500 survey responses from teachers to gain a better understanding of the impact and trends of the word gap and its ongoing impact on young people.

While our research builds on our earlier language report, we decided this time to shine a light on an area that emerged as really significant. Transition - that pivotal time when pupils move from primary into Secondary. We wanted to ask two important questions:

What role does vocabulary play in pupils making a successful transition between primary and secondary school?

How can schools support pupils' vocabulary development during this transition.

We learned that in schools, roughly 43% of pupils had a word gap at transition. As they progressed from primary into secondary, Y7 pupils were exposed to a huge amount of new language. Up to 3 or 4 times as many words a day, partly as a result of the increase in "academic vocabulary". As with our last report, the word gap was felt to impact on academic performance and test results, behaviour, self-esteem, and future opportunities.

We were due to publish this report and its findings in the Spring of 2020 having sought input from schools and language experts as to what policies, strategies and activities could be employed to counteract the word gap's damaging effects.

And then the pandemic struck! Schools closed and we moved to a new world of remote learning.

A whole new vocabulary emerged: lockdown; hybrid or blended learning, Covid-19. It was clearly not enough for us to launch a report in the Spring without trying to take into account what this might mean for children's vocabulary development.

We embarked on further research in May to gauge how teachers felt the pandemic was impacting on the word gap. We are enormously grateful to those teachers who engaged in that process at what was such a difficult and uncertain time. I think the fact that they did, speaks volumes about how much this issue resonates with them and how much they need our support.

There has been much in the press about the impact of the pandemic on disadvantaged children and the widening of the gap. Our research findings corroborated this with 92% of respondents stating that they felt the Summer lockdown will have contributed to widening the vocabulary gap.

Bridging the Word Gap at Transition: The Oxford Language Report 2020 aims to start the debate and focus on what more can be done to build a shared understanding and more coherence between vocabulary development across primary and secondary schools

At OUP, we believe there is a real opportunity to address this issue and make a difference to young people's lives. Our report draws on great practice that is already going on - through the case studies and academic research.

Oxford University Press will carry on research around both the impact of the word gap and how it can be addressed. I think there are a number of clear avenues ahead:

To continue to work with our wide and growing network of Word Gap Partner Schools to share best practice - and we'd love to hear from anyone doing interesting things in this area.

To continue to offer free resources that give practical support across subjects, including a pack on KS2/3 transition

To draw on the best vocabulary research and thinking to underpin our new publishing to ensure it supports all children

To support parents in the important role they play at home and explore how stronger home/school links can be fostered around vocabulary

To work with policy makers and experts in the field to consider how space can be made to embed vocabulary teaching across all subjects; ensure there is seamless curriculum development from primary into secondary schools; and investigate areas of training.

Vocabulary underpins all subjects and we believe that in the current climate, all children deserve access to the language they need to be successful - both academically, but in their everyday lives.

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Bridging the Word Gap at Transition: The Oxford Language Report 2020 - Oxford Education Blog

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Jane Harley, Policy and Partnership Director, Oxford University Press Read the Oxford Language Report OUP has a deeply rooted commitment to young people's language development - it sits at the heart of education. We seek to drive positive change in educational outcomes through our publishing and nowhere can be more important than the area of language and literacy.

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Speech and Language UK: Changing young lives

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I CAN’s report, Speaking Up for the Covid Generation, is revealing just how harmful the impact of covid has been for children of all ages. Let’s #SpeakUpForCovidGen

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Speak for Change Inquiry - report launched April 2021
The Oracy All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) has published its final Inquiry report which highlights the significant impact of the pandemic on the already marked spoken 'language gap' between disadvantaged students and their peers.
The pandemic has increased the imperative to act now. The Oracy APPG believes that there is an indisputable case for oracy as an integral aspect of education and that all children and young people should benefit from high-quality oracy education as a consistent and comprehensive entitlement of their education in school.

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Speak for Change Inquiry - report launched April 2021

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Speak for Change Inquiry - report launched April 2021 The Oracy All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) has published its final Inquiry report which highlights the significant impact of the pandemic on the already marked spoken 'language gap' between disadvantaged students and their peers. The pandemic has increased the imperative to act now.

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Putting Evidence to work: A School's Guide to Implementation - Guidance Report

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Putting Evidence to work: A School's Guide to Implementation - Guidance Report

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Improving Literacy Key Stage 1 - Guidance Report

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Improving Literacy Key Stage 1 - Guidance Report

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Improving Literacy in Key Stage 2 - Guidance Report

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Improving Literacy in Key Stage 2 - Guidance Report

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EEF Improving Literacy in KS2 Guidance Report 

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Preparing for Literacy - Guidance Report

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Preparing for Literacy - Guidance Report

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Developing Literacy in Primary Schools