ABSTRACT

A child who comes from a family where language is appreciated will have been exposed to a greater range of vocabulary than his peer who has had relatively little language directed at him. In languagerich environments children will have access to rich vocabulary via books being read to them and wideranging daily interactions (Hart & Risley, 1995). When starting school there is often a wide gap in vocabulary knowledge between these two groups of children and this gap is likely to grow (Biemiller in Baumann & Kame’enui, 2004). To enable children from economically or linguistically deprived backgrounds to keep up with their peers, general exposure to vocabulary as part of normal teaching will not be enough.