Unlocking the Power of Academic Vocabulary with Secondary English Language Learners

Abstract

"In Unlocking the Power of Academic Vocabulary, Dr. Yu Ren Dong, an associate professor of English education at Queens College, City University of New York, helps secondary teachers expand their instructional repertoire to teach academic vocabulary in a systematic, meaningful, contextualized, and exciting way. Every secondary, subject-matter teacher will find strategies, easy-to-integrate activities, and tips on selecting words and planning lessons. As you teach with these strategies, your English language learners will be able to: • tap into prior knowledge through cross-language transfer and cross-cultural comparisons; • use concept-based vocabulary, such as analogies, metaphorical language, themes, sources, inquiry, and graphic organizers; • interact with new words in context to decipher euphemisms, words with multiple meanings, connotation, and context clues; • engage in interactive read-alouds, think-alouds, and wordplay; and • master vocabulary through writing. Charts, student examples, suggested resources, and subject-matter vocabulary lists give teachers the hands-on tools they need to teach the concepts behind words as well as the actual definitions, spelling, and sounds. Transform your academic vocabulary instruction into an engaging, skill-building mix that carries over into students' reading, writing, thinking, and conversations in all subject areas."