HOW TO IMPROVE VOCABULARY FOR THE 11 + EXAM
EDUCATION
VICKY DUGGAN , HEAD OF ENGLISH AND HEAD OF MARKETING AT THE GRANVILLE SCHOOL , SEVENOAKS .
When considering the 11 +, or any other exam , it is no surprise that having a wide vocabulary is hugely beneficial . In fact , it is not just an advantage for English exams . Written problems in maths , science questions , responding to interview questions - all of these assessment tasks will be better tackled with the armoury of a broad and sophisticated vocabulary . But what is the best way to build this tool for young learners ?
It won ’ t shock you that the first thing you can do is read . Read anything and everything you can get your hands on . This doesn ’ t mean asking your child to sit and read alone for hours each evening . Read together . Read the newspaper . Read the information panels at museums . Read travel guides for your next holiday . Read poems . Act out playscripts as a family . Visit the library or your local independent bookshop and browse for new books that your child might not usually choose . By always reading the same genre , a child ’ s vocabulary will naturally be limited . Branch out into science fiction , historical novels , non-fiction and biography .
The next thing you can do is to model advanced vocabulary with your child . Don ’ t speak down to them . Talk to them as an adult and when they question what something means , explain it to them . Don ’ t shy away from discussing big issues that require your child to articulate themselves . Sit around the dinner table together and talk about what is happening around the world . If your child finds it difficult to find the right word to describe something , help them . Offer alternatives and explain the nuance of their meaning . And when they use a simple word that ’ s not quite got the correct nuance , talk to them about how else they could phrase it . Feelings are a good example : sadness is different to disappointment , regret or pity , for example .
Finally , and perhaps most importantly , make words fun . Play word games and embrace the discussions about whether words exist for Scrabble , how you spell things for Boggle , what synonyms you can use for Taboo . Encourage investigating words and language . Ask them to test you on your vocabulary using a dictionary . They will learn something by finding the words for you , and you might learn something too . Show interest in the new words you find together and show your child that nobody knows every word – we are all still learning . If your child is a visual learner , they may find drawing words fun and effective . How can you draw ‘ discombobulated ’? What does ‘ captivating ’ look like ? Words and pictures together can be very powerful .
It is important to note here that learning lists of words and their definitions is not an effective way to build vocabulary . Words need context ; they need sentences and stories around them to make them useful to us . We need to hear and use the words repeatedly for them to embed . Rote learning is not the answer here .
We can ’ t expect children to use ( or understand ) more advanced vocabulary if we don ’ t teach it to them in the first place . They can ’ t conjure it from nowhere . They need us to set an example , to offer them new language to question , use and absorb . Sitting them alone in a room with a book isn ’ t enough . Yes , reading will help but not if children aren ’ t motivated to ask what new words mean , to try and work it out from the context or to look them up in the dictionary . We need a culture of interest around language and then our children will become word lovers for the rest of their lives .
Vicky Duggan is head of English and head of marketing at The Granville School . She is also the author of Galore Park ’ s KS2 English textbooks , 11 + English Revision Guide , 11 + English Practice Papers ( including papers for the CEM and GL exams ), and 13 + Writing and Vocabulary workbooks . Learn more about these English resources ( including skills-based workbooks ) at galorepark . co . uk / 11-plus-english .
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