ABSTRACT
Introduction From very early in their lives, children acquire vocabularies that enable them to make sense of the world around them and to process new ideas and meanings. This chapter considers the development of vocabulary in children and its importance to successful learning – especially literacy learning. It contains an outline of word acquisition, a description of the research that underpins explicit support to children as they develop their vocabularies, and some practical suggestions about ways that teachers can incorporate working with words into everyday learning activities.
