Teacher's beliefs and perceptions about vocabulary instruction

Abstract

Vocabulary is a fundamental component of reading comprehension. Vocabulary are the words that are recognizable within a learner’s lexicon. Notwithstanding the well-defined importance of vocabulary, there is limited research on useful vocabulary instructional strategies and how the information is conveyed to students. This study addresses how educators perceive and feel towards vocabulary and vocabulary instruction as well as the effectiveness of commonly known strategies. The results of this study identified that educators teaching between grades 2 and 5 believe practicing phonics, read alouds, spelling tests, word fixes, and word sorting to be effective strategies to teach vocabulary. Educators also believe that they should present vocabulary words and allow for practicing by learners. This study addresses an important first step in understanding how educators approach vocabulary instruction in the upper elementary years.