ABSTRACT
The movement section of the vocabulary tests was the only one designed to investigate children's understanding of verbs. Movement vocabulary was selected because of its frequent use especially in games, PE, movement and dance. Spatial vocabulary, as expected, presented greater difficulties for the children than the verbs or common nouns. On the whole, the vocabulary selected by teachers was known by about 70 per cent of the children. This is gratifying in so far as the English Picture Vocabulary Test had presented more negative findings. Observation is as important in teaching vocabulary as it is in working with behaviour problems. Careful records need to be kept of the vocabulary used and understood by children in everyday settings, noting how it is used and how it is related to the context in which it is spoken. Any test will involve the teacher in giving instructions and these will vary depending on the type of vocabulary being tested.
