Fundamental to the comprehension of connected text is knowing the meaning of the words used in that text. Accordingly, the more words a reader knows, the more he or she will be able to read with understanding.

In general, reading material written at the 0-4 GE will contain vocabulary and concepts that are familiar to most adults. A skilled reader's vocabulary is wide and varied, containing words that fall outside of those in conversational speech.

In fact, reading not only enriches the variety of words available to ordinary speech (productive vocabulary) but more surely increases those understood when heard or read even though they may not become part of a reader's speech (receptive [listening] vocabulary).

Word meaning knowledge is initially important for oral communication and for the high frequency, conversational words found in the primary grades. A larger, more sophisticated vocabulary is necessary for reading with comprehension beyond the initial reading acquisition texts. The reason for teaching vocabulary is to enlarge the base of known word meanings so that learners will be able to understand the meaning of the words that they are able to decode, and so to read material that is of interest to them.

Most word meaning tests (vocabulary) are in a written format; they often require reading beyond the word recognition level of ABE learners. Therefore, oral word meaning assessments provide a more meaningful evaluation of adult learners as they do also of children who have reading difficulty.

Following is an informal way to assess how well a learner knows what a word means.

Edgar Dale's Four Stages of Knowledge of a Word's Meaning ¹

Stage 1: "I never saw [or heard] it before."

Stage 2: "I've heard it, but I don't know what it means."

Stage 3: "I recognize it in context - it has something to do with..."

Stage 4: "I know it." [I can say what it means.]

Curtis (1986) discusses how teachers can assess how well a learner knows a particular word.

If word knowledge is:

• Stage 1, the learner cannot identify the real word when presented along with pseudowords. For example, if you want to know the Stage of the word sordid for an advanced reader, you could present it with these nonsense "words": stoland, thilson, poinster. Would the learner be able discriminate between the real word and the pseudowords? You can present a mixture of many real and pseudowords, perhaps 10 real vocabulary words among 30 nonwords, and have the learners underline the real words.
  
  
• Stage 2, the learner is not able to say what the word means even though she says she has seen it before.
  
  
• Stage 3, the learner gives a particularized word meaning, so that it is restricted to one context. For example, for the word celebration a Stage 3 word meaning might be, "my birthday party."
  
  
• Stage 4, the learner gives a synonym, or defines the word so that its meaning is clear when spoken or written in many particularized contexts. For example, "A celebration is sort of a party when it's a special time -- or when something especially important has happened."

The purpose of formal assessments is usually to identify a learner's Stage 3 words. These standardized tests of vocabulary are constructed as:

1. elicited word meanings (oral or written expressive vocabulary), "What does X mean?". Responses are scored generously so that evidence for Stage 3 is sufficient. In addition, it gives the opportunity to assess a learner's depth of knowledge about a word. Beyond Stage 2, learners are given credit for both particularized, often hazy word meanings, and for Stage 4 knowledge by giving a synonym or a full, more abstract definition. (see examples of Stages 3 & 4 above).

• Diagnostic Assessments of Reading (DAR) - the test used in the ARCS for the 11 reading profiles on this website
  
  
• Word Meaning Test on this website (This test is still in the process of being validated. Only use it to match your learner to our Profiles if you do not have a score on a published vocabulary test.)

Two studies show that only Stage 3 knowledge is needed to correctly identify a word meaning on a multiple choice test; it isn't necessary to know the word meaning in its broadest (Stage 4) application. (Anderson & Freebody, 1981; Curtis, 1981).

2. multiple choice (oral /written), learner selects the word that is identified by the sentence:

• spoken by the examiner, Adult Basic Learning Examination, Level 1
  
  
• written in test booklet:
  
  
  • Adult Basic Learning Examination, Levels 2 & 3
    
    
  • Test of Adult Basic Education, Form 5/6 (TABE 5/6)

3. multiple choice (oral - pictures) receptive (listening/reading) vocabulary tests, learner selects one of several pictures that best tells about a word spoken by the examiner. These are assessments of receptive (listening) vocabulary. Listening vocabulary becomes also a reading vocabulary if the reader is able to decode the words.

• Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test - III
  
  
• Woodcock - Johnson III Tests of Achievement

4. embedded in comprehension passages. Vocabulary words of interest are incorporated into reading comprehension passages. There are not as many vocabulary words as in other tests nor is there a separate vocabulary score; vocabulary questions are part of the total reading comprehension score. The words are identified in the Examiners' Manuals.

• Test of Adult Basic Education, Form 7/8 (TABE 7/8)
  
  
• Comprehensive Adult Student Assessment System (CASAS)

What words should you teach?

• Signal Words: Words that aid comprehension of all reading material. "These are words that the author uses to tell us how to read. Signal words help us to understand how information is organized and provide clues about what is important. Teach signal words one group at a time. Give your students a few examples from a category and have them add others as they run across them in their reading. " (Fry, et.al., p. 163). You can find the list of Signal Words in the Resource section of this website.
  
  
• Generally useful words: Words that can be used in many contexts and/or have more than one meaning, e.g., unique, alternative, campaign, convenient, influence, administration, density, conservative, anticipate, average, liberal. Select generally useful words as well as more difficult words when you pre-teach vocabulary for a reading comprehension passage.
  
  
• Words that relate to current needs and interests of the learners.

What helps to figure out meanings of unfamiliar words presented in isolation?

• knowledge of word origins: Greek roots, e.g., mech (machine) - mechanism, mechanic; Latin roots, e.g., mand (to order) - command, mandate. (Fry, et.al., 1993, sec. 40, 41).
  
  
• awareness of prefixes and suffixes and their meanings.