3.3: Improving and Studying Vocabulary

Context Clues/Read More

Practice, practice, practice. Hard to get better at something without doing it a lot! Simply, reading lots of varied texts, and reading every day has been shown repeatedly to boost vocabulary.

Personally, I use and recommend the following model:

• 20 minutes, 6 times per week
  • two sessions spent on current events/news [typically in the center, right, left fashion discussed in section 3.2]
  • two sessions spent reading a fiction novel of my choice [try to "level" this book so that there is some new vocabulary so I am challenged, but not so much that I don't still enjoy it and can learn most of the words in context]
  • two sessions spent reading academic texts in my area of study or adjacent areas of study [this is where I will practice the tier 3 vocabulary of my discipline and general tier 2 academic words]

While I'm reading, when I come across a word I don't know, I try to use context clues to figure out the meaning. I also write the word on my notecard I use as a bookmark, which I then put into a word document later (because it's easier to alphabetize). I review that list on a semi-regular basis to try to practice the words. If I come across a word that's already in my list, and I didn't know it again, I highlight that word/put a star next to it each time I see the word but still don't know it. Again, I can't learn every word -- it's just not possible and some words are uncommon and specialized enough that I might not actually need to know that word long-term. If I ever see it again (e.g., in ten years), it'll be ok to look it up.

But, if I've come across this word several times now (and didn't know it several times), it's probably worth taking time to memorize it. It's common enough in my readings that I should take the time to learn it if in-context isn't enough for me to get it.

Here is a chart version that might help you practice at first:

Word Parts and Word Lists

Just reading more and practicing using context clues is a great strategy and a great first step. However, the research is fairly clear that "wide reading" won't be enough on its own for most learners. You will at some point need to use other strategies and skills and/or identify certain words that aren't used often in everyday speech that you will need more exposure to in order to actually learn. Especially in college, you are going to come across words that are rather esoteric [can you use a "general sense" or "inference-style" context clue to figure out the meaning of esoteric? hint: previous sentence: "words that aren't used often in everyday speech" -- the definition from Oxford Languages is "intended for or likely to be understood by only a small number of people with a specialized knowledge or interest"] wherein you probably won't have enough exposures in text or speech to learn it in-context.

It can be good practice to study specific word parts or word/vocabulary lists.

• Speak with your professors to see if they have tier 2 and tier 3 word lists specific to their discipline, especially for the discipline you plan to major in
• Use the textbook glossary as a good place to start
• Word parts
  • English uses many Latin and Greek affixes. Knowing some of the common ones can greatly aid your context clue skills.
  • an internet search of "common word parts" or "common Latin and Greek word parts" or "common prefixes and suffixes" will turn up TONS of options.
    • ideally, use .edu and/or .gov sources! Lots of colleges and school districts have lists appropriate by grade level.
• Vocabulary lists
  • Similar to word parts, there are tons of lists of vocabulary out there you could practice with
  • SAT and/or ACT word lists are good options
  • Searching for Tier 2 word lists is a good option
    • you will likely get many results from different school districts; looking at their upper high school (usually it will be divided into grades 9-10 and grades 11-12 in most districts) lists can be good places to start
      • ELA from Albuquerque Public Schools
      • Susan E Wagner HS in NY that covers many disciplines
      • Speech Therapy list(opens in new window) is a very general by grade level list
        • None of these lists are "perfect" -- but, lists like these are often a good place to start if you have low prior knowledge/low vocabulary knowledge. Generally, I try to be more domain/subject specific when I look for lists like these.
          • Like something like this(opens in new window) for history
          • Or something like this(opens in new window) for biology
• Here are a couple sources (with both tier 2 lists and word parts lists) that could help get you started/show you what to look for
  • • Source 1 from Kansas, doesn't have a word list on this document but has links to other example word lists/websites
    • Source 2 from Berkeley school district

Practice Materials

Townsendpress.net has a reasonably priced ($12.90 for 10 months) Vocabulary study (opens in new window) that uses research backed techniques.

Study Tool: Flashcards

• Flashcards -- there is a reason flashcards have been around so long: they work! However, think back to the "exposure" idea. If you only expose yourself to the word in one way (word -> definition like on a traditional flashcard), you probably will struggle to remember the word in different contexts or use it in your productive vocabulary.
  • Quizlet(opens in new window) is one way to still be under the general flashcard umbrella, but it has you study the word in many different ways (listening, writing, games), contexts (multiple choice vs. free response) and directions (given word, give definition; given definition, give word). It's also just more fun!
  • Frayer model of flashcards
    • An internet search.(opens in new window) will quickly show many slightly different models, but generally they are all similar in that they are trying to increase the contexts in which you are memorizing and being exposed to the word. This method is especially useful for more "concept-level" words that don't have an easy or precise definition (e.g., the original Frayer model asks for example and non-examples of the concept). Activities like drawing a picture of it or using the word in a sentence are simply good ways to increase unique exposures to the word (increasing the chance you will remember it long term).
    • Generally, you divide the flashcard into 4 different areas
      • Some common areas for any discipline are the following:
        • Definition
          • Sometimes this is further divided: definition from dictionary AND definition in my own words
        • characteristics of the concept
        • break the word into word parts
        • use it in a sentence
        • draw a picture
        • identify other parts of speech of the same word (e.g., happy, happily, happiness) -- this is particularly useful for English Language Learners to get more comfortable with switching parts of speech
        • synonyms
        • antonyms
        • examples
        • non-examples
    • Don't feel like you have to limit yourself to that list though; for example, in a psyc source, when I'm learning about different theories, maybe I can make 1 box "Creator/Author of Theory and Time Period/Year Created". In a history course, maybe I make a box about the person's political viewpoints or affiliations or list major people or countries associated with a particular political movement/ideology. Be creative and increase your exposures and connections to prior knowledge!
  • Categorize your flashcards
    • If you are using physical flashcards, lay them out in a map format. Which words are connected? How do they connect? What categories could I make with the vocabulary?
    • The tangible moving of the vocabulary and the categorization activity will aid in long-term retention.
      • For example: in a psyc course, you might have a unit about the structure of the brain. I'll have flashcards with each area of the brain, major functions and activities, maybe some disorders caused by damage to specific areas etc. I could categorize them in that way first. Then, I could lay them out in their actual physical location in the brain. Then, I could put them in order of how the information goes from my eyes to my memory. Then, I could lay the disorders under the area of the brain they occur in. Then, I could categorize the disorders: maybe by which can heal vs. which are permanent or some other categories I come up with.
      • In a history course, I could do the same with people and terms. Who fits with what terms? Which terms fit together? What categories could I make? Can I make a timeline using the cards? Are they positive, neutral, or negative? Which are economic vs. political vs. social?
      • In an anatomy course, I might just lay out my flashcards in the shape of where they fit in the body. OR I might arrange the bones from biggest to smallest (is this likely to be a test question? NO; however, it still forces me to interact with and show mastery of the material in a new way -> increases connections and improves neural pathways -> improves memory) OR I might try to use the Greek or Latin roots to arrange the body parts.
        • Basically, don't get hung up on the idea that every study session needs to be a truly high level academic style study session -- interact with the material in many different ways over many different short study sessions.

Common Mistake: When using flashcards, the most common student mistake I see is one that leads to false confidence or over-confidence, which is very dangerous while studying! The student will read the word, then flip the card over and read the definition WITHOUT PRODUCING THE DEFINITION before reading it. Then, they are likely to say something like "ya, I know it!"... but... did they really know it? or did they just re-read it? In short, make yourself say it out loud or write it down BEFORE you flip the card. Self-test, don't just re-read.

Re-Read/Study Foundational Texts

Foundational texts (e.g., the texts used in a 100 level course) often introduce TONS of tier 3 vocabulary. If you are moving on to higher levels in that discipline, sometimes it can be a great idea to return to that foundational text over summer or winter break before moving to the next 100, 200, and/or 300 level courses. It's very likely the terms in the glossary of the 100 level text will be in the 200 level text (but they probably won't be highlighted/bolded because the author and your professor will probably expect that you already know them from the 100 level foundational course). The extra practice will ensure the words are in your receptive vocabulary, and ideally, this will help move the words from your receptive to productive vocabulary. Generally, in the higher level course, you won't just need to be able to recall the word when you see it (without any prompting or help from the textbook glossary!) -- the professor also generally will expect you to actually use (productive vocabulary) the word in your discussions and writings.

Note, another good option for this is the site khanacademy.

This is similar to the general idea we discussed about Prior Knowledge

Free Recall or Active Recall

First, it might be helpful to review what we learned about how we best remember information and set up study plans with short, repeated study sessions over time.

Have you ever had that phenomenon wherein you can't recall something on the test, even though you KNOW it was in your notes and you studied it? It's common -- don't worry, this doesn't just happen to you!

Generally, this phenomenon happens when we only "expose" ourselves to the vocabulary or concept in one way -- most often by just re-reading our notes/doing some basic flashcard work (as I describe above, flashcards are a good strategy even when they are used in the basic word -> definition way; there are just other things you can do to make them great instead of just good -- re-reading your notes is similar -- re-reading your notes is a "good" strategy -- however, there are some things you can do to improve it and make it a "great" strategy).

Rather than just re-read your notes or re-practice with your flashcards (even in the other ways I describe above), "Free Recall" or "Active Recall" is a great additional strategy to further improve your studying and make your study sessions more valuable. This strategy can be used with vocabulary and/or other types of information too. I build this idea into my overall study plans. There is more info and other examples of these types of studying in the next section below.

Free or Active Recall is the principle of recalling what you know, "free" of any aids.

Personally, I prefer to use a white board for this (it helps me get over the idea of not being perfect -- it's easy to erase and feels less permanent to me...), but you can totally just use a piece of paper or a blank word doc etc.

For vocabulary, I might give myself the list of words (but, it can be even more telling if you start with a truly blank space "free" of any aids at all -- I and most of the research recommend starting with a truly blank space -- not even the word list!) and try to write the definitions, draw pictures, makes connections, group the vocabulary together in groups that make sense etc. I'll basically just try to go through everything and anything I know about the words.

Then, I get out my list of vocab, resources I created (e.g., flashcards), notes, and the textbook glossary. How'd I do? This process let's me very easily see what areas I am strong in and where I need to spend more time studying. This helps keep my study sessions short and focused on a specific goal (which we know from research are good things!).

As you do this process repeatedly over time, you'll both build up your new knowledge AND you'll strengthen your existing knowledge too! I try to space out the repetition with longer and longer breaks as time goes on. So, for example, over two weeks, I might set a schedule like this:

Study using free, active recall of vocabulary for 20 minutes on day 1, day 3, day 6, day 10, day 14.

As I go through those days, sometimes I'll add in the vocab from the new chapters etc. Over the whole course, I am repeatedly exposing myself to the vocabulary. Each time I do the activity, I should be able to "freely" recall more and more of the course vocabulary. By the end of the semester, this activity might take a long time, but it'll be exceptionally valuable to see if I am internalizing the vocabulary, transferring it to my long-term memory, AND will help move it into my productive vocabulary.

As a non-vocabulary study strategy, this is also VERY valuable.

The strategy as described above is a great way to start. Just start with a fully blank board/page and start writing what you know! Start trying to connect and group the items together. Start trying to draw smaller detail bubbles off the main concepts. Give examples. Ask and answer questions. Just interact deeply with the material! Then, compare that to your notes, the course outline on the syllabus, the textbook, etc. Sometimes, if totally free recall seems too tough to get started, using the Course Goals and/or Course Outline in the syllabus or the headings/sub-headings in the textbook is a good way to get yourself started. Those will give you the big topics without providing too many cues (like re-previewing the whole chapter or re-reading your notes would).

Here are some examples in different disciplines for how I've used or seen this techniques used:

In a history course, I might draw a timeline on the blank whiteboard -- fill in the timeline with the events in the unit/course -> draw lines off each event answering the basic W questions (who? what? ....) -> use color or symbols to group the events in some way (e.g., economic vs. political vs. social etc. OR something like democratizing events vs. "authoritarianizing" events OR strengthening of imperialism/colonialism vs. strengthening of the independence movement --- these categories will be very course and text dependent!).

In a psyc or sociology course, I might try to write the names of each major theory we learned about. Then, I'll draw lines off it for those W questions again (who created the theory? when? how? etc.). Then, I'll try to categorize or show the relationships between the theories in some way. I'll ask questions like: is theory B a later extension of theory A? or does theory B argue against or refute theory A? do A and B work together to make theory C? Can these theories be grouped under a broader umbrella (i.e., all of these are behaviorist theories while all of these are constructivist theories etc.).

Receptive Study Techniques

These are study techniques wherein you "receive" the information. You are NOT "producing" any new content/study materials etc.

Some example of receptive study techniques are things like:

• Reviewing your annotations
• Re-reading your notes
• Going through flashcards
• Reviewing the professors PowerPoints or videos etc.

These are NOT bad study techniques. In fact, I encourage you to use these receptive techniques as ONE PART or your overall study plan. These receptive study techniques are a great way to increase repetition and strengthen those existing neural connections/memories.

However, they are NOT a great way to create new neural connections AND they often are not enough on their own. In addition, typically students will spend the same amounts of time on content they already know and content they don't already know while they are studying (when you should be spending considerably MORE time on the content you can't recall already and less time on stuff you already know).

Have you ever experience the following:

You study and study and study, but then when you get to the test, you can't seem to recall that info. It's really frustrating -- you are sitting there saying "I know I studied this; why can't I remember it!??!?!?!?"

I'd make a pretty large bet that you used only receptive study techniques. Then, when the professor asked about the concept in even a slightly different way than the way you studied it, you aren't able to transfer that knowledge to the new situation... because you never did that while studying.

Productive Study Techniques

These are study techniques wherein you "produce" new content while studying and/or use a more "self-test" model to study.

Some examples:

• Preview the chapter. After your preview, can you recall the important stuff? This will help you identify which areas you need more study AND it forces you to recall the info (you aren't just re-reading the info, you are recalling it from your memory in a similar way as you will on the test)
• Write the title of the chapter on a whiteboard. Map the chapter without looking back.
• Use the course syllabus -- see the course outline. Can you make a map or more detailed outline that explains the topics/concepts in the course outline? Compare what you write to your notes and the chapter reviews (most textbooks have these today). What'd you miss?
• With a flashcard, rather than simply flipping to the back to see the definition, produce an answer first! Don't just read the word -> flip and read the definition.
• Teach the content to someone. See if you can explain the concepts to someone. See if you can answer their questions. This will help you figure out what you need to spend more time studying.

In general, when I am designing my study plans, I try to have early study sessions have a mix between receptive and productive methods and later study sessions focusing more on productive study methods, with less cues as I get closer to the exam.