Language is power.

Why doesn't vocabulary stick with students? Why don't they use the words from vocabulary instruction in their papers? Why don't they use the words in their speech? These are serious questions that I ponder at least once each day that I am in a school. In the classroom that I currently observe in, each period begins with a vocabulary cartoon on the overhead projector containing a new vocabulary term and a link word or phrase captured in the cartoon (A cactus caucus). At the bottom of the transparency, the new word is used in three sentences, often revealing how the term can appear in different forms. Initially, I actually felt that this vocabulary strategy might help students remember the vocabulary words as they connected a definition with an image. When I graded the first vocabulary quizzes, however, I discovered that it would take more than vocabulary cartoons like these to improve students' comprehension and make the words meaningful to them.

Allen's chapter in Adolescent Literacy reviewed what research has proven about vocabulary instruction and how we can use that to reach learners. I do not think I could use all of the vocabulary strategies that Allen suggested because I felt that some would not work as well in the secondary English classroom as they would in other content areas. The vocabulary that is taught in English classrooms (the kind that we teach students to prepare them for the SATs), is not a collection of words that are interconnected. Concept Circles and Possible Sentences, as the examples in the text suggest, work well in health and science courses. Highlighting "stopper words" on the board/overhead and Context Plus seem as though they would be more effective in English education. For instance, I believe both of these strategies would be effective in the Shakespeare unit that my 12th grade classes are about to begin. As for teaching students SAT-like words, I believe the words themselves must come alive to hold any meaning to students. Instead of an overhead cartoon generated by a textbook, perhaps teachers could give students a five-minute opportunity to create their own short cartoon. Students could even form small groups and act out their interpretation of the new term. I think one problem in English classrooms today is a lack of emphasis on creativity. If students can create something and call it their own, suddenly something meaningless or annoying becomes worth putting their time and energy into. I believe the purpose of vocabulary instruction goes beyond helping students learn the definitions of new or vaguely familiar terms. My goal in vocabulary instruction is to help my students see the power of language in literature and, more importantly, in their own lives.