Vocabulary: that marvellous tool to improve academic ability, income, relationships, communication, student engagement, teaching ability, writing skills, comprehension of complex and complicated subjects, company productivity, spiritual insight, mental health, success, and peacefulness – the list goes on.
Reading this sounds like a sales pitch for snake oil in the 1800’s, however the power of vocabulary is more tangible, empowering and scientifically proven than the unsubstantiated promises of any snake oil. Realising the life changing impact of vocabulary and establishing some easy habits to increase vocabulary can bring success in all of the above areas.
Our brains are similar to a computer. If you have an old computer running graphic intensive software it operates extremely slowly. Regardless of how fast you operate that computer, it is limited by its ability to process information. The same task on a modern computer runs rapidly and effectively. Increasing vocabulary is like upgrading the power of your brain, the more words we know, the faster our brain can and will operate. It is like increasing our I.Q. Words are the substance of thinking.
In the early stages of learning a foreign language we translate and process in our first language. Once we are fluent in the new language we start thinking in that language.
With comprehensive vocabulary it is easier to process information, as less mental effort is required. The brain is empowered to work at its natural faster speed. The more complex an issue is, the easier it is to mentally process with an extensive vocabulary. Superior words are more descriptive. One advanced word would require many basic words to process or communicate the same information. Vocabulary could be described as the tool box of the mind. If you are repairing a car with only a screwdriver, it is extremely difficult or impossible to complete certain tasks. With an extensive tool kit you can complete any task provided you have the knowledge. Knowing words and how to use them gives the ability to think and communicate any feeling, concept or knowledge.
The saying “If the student hasn’t learnt then the teacher hasn’t taught” could be described as the core of teaching. The easier and more effectively a teacher can help the student to learn the better for both teacher and student. With superior vocabulary it is easier for a teacher to teach and a student to learn. Building both our own and our student’s vocabulary will have a tangible and significant return in many ways:
Financial
If offered $50 for every new word you learnt, would that be sufficient incentive to build vocabulary? Being paid to learn words is an incredible offer. I’m not making this offer because it’s not needed. All that is required is to know that this is the estimated return every new word will bring to college students in their lives from each new word they learn. An experiment was run in a medium size company. Everything was kept as static as possible; only everyone’s vocabulary was increased. The result was that profit and vocabulary increased in direct proportion. As everyone was thinking faster and smarter, communicating better, emails were more concise, less time was wasted in clarifying information, people felt better understood. The high cost of communication errors were avoided and people could work more efficiently. Increasing vocabulary in our country by just 10% would increase productivity geometrically.
Reduce violence in society
This may sound like I’m stretching the benefits of vocabulary a little too far. Consider for a moment being highly frustrated about a situation or relationship and lacking the communication skills to bring about change or explain how you feel. What happens? Frustration builds to a point where the only alternative appears to be physical action, violence towards others or things. The violent nature of many films, games and television programmes is conveying a message that violence is an acceptable way to communicate; it’s not! Low vocabulary people often do not see an alternative to deal with frustration, so physical action is the outcome. I believe this is particularly true of men with low vocabularies. With high vocabulary to correctly articulate feelings or situations, accurate communication gives a better alternative to bring change. The tongue truly is mightier than the sword.
Teaching ability
Teachers with a high vocabulary have a more comprehensive and superior set of tools to communicate what they are teaching regardless of the subject. High vocabulary people are more skilful at selecting the right words, equipped with an extensive word toolbox think faster to select the right words. Regardless of the vocabulary level of your audience, your vocabulary level will empower you to communicate better as you will convey information with greater ease, more accurately and with greater eloquence. We should never use words that are beyond our audiences’ understanding, or use advanced words to try to impress others; neither is smart or helpful.
We can easily make the error when teaching very young children with limited vocabulary to use only basic words. If we do we are missing a wonderful opportunity. When we are young we have a greater ability to learn words, consider how quickly a baby learns a complete language. We should take advantage of this opportunity and use advanced words; just add an explanation of the word in the same sentence. You will only need to use the word a few times and the children will understand it and its meaning. Advanced vocabulary conveys more information with fewer words and greater accuracy. What an incredible tool.
Three keys to build vocabulary
Use the three prong approach to expand vocabulary:
Build by osmoses – gradual assimilation Build by intention – give new words
Build by task – learn a new word every day.
Build by osmoses
The way we learnt our first language was by being exposed to lots of words. As a small child we learned to speak at a young age by those speaking around us. As our parents and family talked, we picked up the vocabulary. It did not take us long to be able to speak a complete language with pronunciation and accent. The more advanced the language of our parents and family the more advanced vocabulary we learnt. If we were brought up in a multi lingual household then we would have learned more than one language. Being exposed to wider vocabulary will help us to build our vocabulary. If you really want to master a new language go and live in a country where it is the first language spoken. The day by day exposure to the new language will enable you to speak that language sooner. In teaching we should be stretching the vocabulary of those we are teaching and we can easily do this by simply using words that are more complex and adding an explanation of the word.
Build by intention
Have a list of words to learn both for yourself and your class. In testing vocabulary levels we use the order of difficultly principle: starting with basic words building to advanced words. As people do this test, initial words are easy; then they come to words which they think “I have heard this word before, I’m just not sure what it means”. Finally the words towards the end are like “Is that a real word?” The words that fit in the middle category are the easiest for us to learn as they are somewhat familiar, since we have heard them previously. The words that fit into this middle category are the most effective ones to learn. Have a list of these words and work through the list.
Build by task
Make it a part of every class every day to use a new word in your teaching. Use the word several times as a component of the lesson and give the meaning of the word. The repetition of the word as part of what you are saying will build the vocabulary of your students. With the knowledge that revision increases the retention of any information, revising words that you have introduced at the end of the week and end of the month will reinforce the new vocabulary in the students’ minds and therefore grow their vocabulary and confidence.
Our words have a powerful impact on others either positively or negatively. There is incredible power in the tongue and adding new words to your vocabulary and building the vocabulary of those we teach will have a long term and powerful impact on the future success of our lives and those around us. In the words of King Solomon “A good person’s words are like pure silver”. Make your words pure silver both by what you say and the words you use.