Week 2 Discussion

For this week's discussion post, choose a ​literacy strategy​ to reflect on, give examples of how it
would be used with students and why you think it's necessary. Also discuss what outcomes you
expect to see.

Magnificent Music

It’s an unfortunate reality that too many veterans of high school World Language
(WL) programs can share stories of classes spent grinding through endless lists of
vocabulary words. Words which were retained for a test and then quickly forgotten.
Why? Munger (2016) writes, “[v]ocabulary learning occurs either incidentally (words are
learned through exposure and experiences) or intentionally (words are deliberately and
directly taught).” If intentional vocabulary exposure (lists) is a legitimate and effective
literary strategy, then what explains the lack of word retention of so many WL students?
A part of the problem is limited opportunity to exposure. School schedules just don’t
provide enough time. Imagine if babies were exposed to their native language only
45-90 minutes a day, a mere five days a week and only part of the year. The curve to
represent vocabulary acquisition and overall native literacy skills in this scenario would
be close to flat. The numbers of vocabulary words acquired each year would be dismal.
However, the lack of word retention for many WL students it due to more than a lack of
time. The problem is magnified when teachers focus excessively on this one necessary
component of language comprehension (vocabulary) at the expense of other essential
components. Think of it like a recipe - salt is key, but too much salt and the soup just
won’t taste great. In too many WL classrooms the equation that results looks like this:
too little time + a hyper focus on vocabulary exposure = ineffective delivery methods
(lists).
The Simple View of Reading​ (Munger, 2016) provides a language to explain the
multiple components critical to building successful language comprehension. Viewed
through this lens, it’s easy to see that excessive focus on vocabulary must come at the
expense of instruction in other essential areas such as syntax, phonological awareness,
or decoding for example. Instead of the strong rope of comprehension that Scarborough
(2003) illustrates, students are pulled along with a weak single thread. This approach is
unfortunate and unnecessary. Munger (2016) offers a partial list of approaches with
proven effectiveness for vocabulary instruction including Text Talk (Beck & McKeown,
2001). Another highly effective method that I have found for intentionally teaching
vocabulary without the “list approach” is through song. Music contains so many
elements that promote language comprehension. Songs can be chosen to support
grammar concepts (syntax and semantics) or they can be filled with familiar words
(sight recognition). Singing along to songs sung by native speakers helps with
pronunciation (phonological awareness) and songs chosen to introduce cultural
information support the development of background knowledge. These songs are what
Chiarello (2018) identifies as effective because they are “culturally relevant and
connected to the real world.” Songs can also, most definitely, be chosen to focus on
vocabulary. There are songs that support categories of verbs or the vocabulary used in
units of everything from food, to family, to love and beyond. Lyrics that include
vocabulary a teacher wants to use to “stretch” student listeners can be augmented with
pictograms so that students can infer meaning more easily. Vocabulary can also be
introduced via a word bank that accompanies the lyrics on the page; students draw lines
from the words in the word bank to the blanks in the printed lyrics as they listen to the
song. They then infer meaning based on context.
I have found that I have never run out of ways that I can use music to support
vocabulary acquisition. I use songs to both introduce vocabulary and to reinforce
retention. They’re effective for word retention with certain tunes even reaching the
status of “earworms” and students love them, even while simultaneously groaning about
mushy lyrics or the Auto-Tune used by the vocalists. It is the one teaching tool that I
would never give up if forced to choose. Krashen (2018) writes, “[t]he best way to insure
that young children become good readers is through hearing stories. This builds
vocabulary and grammar knowledge.” To this I would add: “What is a song but a story
put to words?”

Chiarello, E. (2018). What Matters in Literacy Education​. [PDF]. ​Retrieved from

https://www.plymouth.edu/courses/pluginfile.php/1495654/mod_resource/content
/1/WHAT_MATTERS_IN_LITERACY_EDUCA.PDF

Krashen, S. (2018). Phonics and Reading: Some basics​. ​[Blog]. Retrieved from
https://skrashen.blogspot.com/2018/02/phonics-and-reading-some-basics.html?
m=1

Munger, K. (2016). Steps to success: crossing the bridge between literacy research and
practice. [PDF]. Retrieved from
http://www.plymouth.edu/courses/pluginfile.php/1495642/mod_resource/content/
2/ Steps-to-Success-1457390813.pdf