Vocabulary Development in Advanced Placement English Language and Composition

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Vocabulary Development in Advanced Placement
EnglishLanguage and Composition
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Individualized Vocabulary Development (IDV)-1

• In pairs, students record three words per day
  over the course of a week or two. These words may
  come from their reading, from vocabulary lists,
  or from a partners research. After collecting
  nine words, the pair will be tested.
• Students talk with partner about the words,
  definitions, and usage. Later, this pair of
  students will be tested for spelling, definition,
  and use in sentence for each word (3 x 3 x 3 27
  points).

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Individualized Vocabulary Development-2

• Nine new vocabulary words and definitions are
  recorded on index cards and in students
  notebooks.
• The teacher can review the cards for
  appropriateness and accuracy to ensure that
  students understand definitions.
• Test A student will read the nine words to two
  students from their card. Eventually, all
  students will test each other, and the teacher
  will collect the cards and grade the tests with
  the cards.
• The teacher relies on student cards in order to
  grade the tests.

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Individualized Vocabulary Development-3

• Benefits
• Students take responsibility for their own
  vocabulary growth, a responsibility they should
  be assuming.
• Student create lists that are appropriate for
  them as individual learnersnot too difficult
  and, notably, not too easy.
• Responsibility for generating content lies with
  students, not the teacher.
• Teacher grades but does not develop the test.

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Other Approaches to Developing Vocabulary-1

• The teacher may generated glosses of words in an
  assigned reading and later test students.
• The teacher generates perhaps 10 per essay, 40
  per longer work.
• Teacher gives the word, its definition, and page
  number.
• Glosses convey the nuances of definitions
• This word has this denotation in this context.
• Students may discover other meanings for the
  word.

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Other Approaches to Developing Vocabulary-2

• Other best practices?

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The Vocabulary of Rhetoric Synonyms of assert

• Synonyms include affirm, aver, avow, declare,
  establish, express, state. Using these verbs
  appropriately will enliven and elevate student
  writing. (Cf. believe, relay, say, write.)
• Research and discuss the denotations and
  connotations of these words.
• Use a thesaurus only for gathering synonyms and a
  college-level dictionary for defining them. See
  the Synonyms resource in the dictionary.
• Avoid thinking like a thesaurus A B and B C
  ergo, A C.

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The Vocabulary of Rhetoric Selected Verbs of
Blooms Taxonomy

• Evaluation
• critique, defend, challenge, justify
• Synthesis
• contrast, generate, interpret, validate
• Analysis
• deduce, differentiate, infer

• Application
• extend, relate, transfer
• Comprehension
• describe, generalize, summarize
• Knowledge
• identify, list, sequence

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The Vocabulary of Rhetoric Rhetorical Terms

• Classical appeals ethos, pathos, logos
• Argumentative structure deductive, inductive
• Logic syllogism, enthymeme
• Elements of style diction, imagery, syntax,
  sound and sense, paragraphing
• Selected Greek terms (to be used very
  cautiously) anaphora, chiasmus, syllepsis (cf.
  zeugma)

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The Vocabulary of Rhetoric Tone Terms

• Develop a list of tone words for students to
  master.

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The Vocabulary of Rhetoric Cause and Effect

• Because, Since
• Therefore
• Consequentially
• As a result .

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Definitions

• Have students work through denotations and
  connotations as they gain more experience in
  understanding definition.
• Define denotation.
• Define connotation.

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Denotation and Connotation

• Denotation (L., marking down) and definition (L.,
  closing or limiting down) both have etymologies
  that convey restriction (down).
• Connotation (L., marking with) suggests an
  association with the denoted meaning.
• Encourage students to use denotation and
  connotation in their analyses and in their
  compositions.

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Definition

• Genus and differentia (classification)
• Example safety pin, n., a pin bent back on
  itself and having the point held in a guard
• Like genus and species (Homo sapiens), there is a
  hierarchy with genus and differentia.
• Analyze the differentia of these pins
• cotter pin, straight pin, bobby pin, rolling pin,
  bowling pin, fraternity or sorority pin, hat pin,
  hairpin (then, hairpin turn)

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Conventions of Definition How do we learn to
define?

• Context is primary
• Reading (and mispronunciation grimace)
• Conversation in home and classroom Raising the
  level of consciousness of language
• Dictionary (College-level)
• Usage notes
• See hopefully, impact, infer.
• Synonyms (preferable to thesaurus)
• See assert
• Thesaurus (the dangerous weapon!)

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Analyzing Definition

• Convention and tradition
• Negation
• Comparison
• Analogy
• Example (Exemplification)
• Hierarchy Genus and differentia