Domain 4: Vocabulary, Academic Language, and Background Knowledge

Question 1

Vocabulary

Answer 1

A set of words. Each person has five different vocabularies:
1. Listening - words you understand that people speak.
2. Speaking - words you use when you talk.
3. Writing - words you use when you write.
4. Sight (reading) - words you can recognize and pronounce correctly.
5. Meaning (reading) - words you understand when reading silently.

Question 2

Academic Language (non-technical)

Answer 2

The language used in textbooks and on test (e.g. theory, analysis).

Question 3

Technical Academic Language

Answer 3

Words used in a specific discipline (e.g. history: tyranny, sovereignty).

Question 4

Background Knowledge

Answer 4

What a student already knows about a subject and the key predictor of how well a student will learn new information related to that content.

Question 5

Assessment of Vocabulary, Academic Language, and Background Knowledge

Answer 5

Test should use a word in a sentences/multiple answer options format. In the test:
- the target word appears in a sentence and is underlined. Possible definitions are provided in sentence or phrase form.
- Choose a synonym of the target word
- Analogies
- Use target word in context.
- Morphemic analysis.

Question 6

Word Consciousness

Answer 6

An interest in words and their meanings. Ways to develop word consciousness include creating activities around:
- Synonyms and Antonyms
- Homophones and Homographs
- Word of the day
- Idioms and Puns
- Poetry
- Etymology.