Pre-Teaching Vocabulary

What Is It?

Pre-teaching vocabulary is a strategy in which teachers introduce students to new vocabulary words before reading a text selection that contains the new vocabulary words. This strategy is particularly helpful in situations where students will encounter words that they have no familiarity with and would have trouble deciphering the word's meaning from context or word analysis.

Why Use It?

Pre-teaching vocabulary facilitates the reading of a new text or lesson by giving students the meanings of the words before they encounter them. This practice reduces the number of unfamiliar words encountered and facilitates greater comprehension.

Instructional Steps:

1. Teacher previews the text/topic to select words to pre-teach (as well as words to be taught during and after reading). Usually, no more than three to five words should be selected for pre-teaching.

The following guidelines can be used when selecting vocabulary to pre-teach:

• Importance of the word for understanding the text.

• Students’ prior knowledge of the word and the concept to which it relates.

• The existence of multiple meanings of the word (e.g., meter in poetry, mathematics, and science).

• Opportunities for grouping words together to enhance understanding of a concept.

Once vocabulary words have been selected for pre-teaching the attention they get before reading should be brief. The kind of work that is needed for students to ‘know a word’ may distract students' attention from the text that is about to be read. Also, when words are taught before reading, instruction cannot take advantage of the context in which the word is used. If too many words are presented without being contextualized they may appear to be a random set of words (Beck et al, 2008).

2. Pronounce the word if the pronunciation is difficult.

3. Provide the word’s meaning through a student-friendly definition (Beck & McKeown, 2002). Think about how the word is typically used and provide a meaning in everyday language. Dictionary definitions are not always helpful in providing a clear definition of a word for students.

4. Use the word in a sentence to clarify the meaning in context.

5. Read the text and clarify words that have been the focus of pre-teaching if necessary.