FORT Vocabulary Development & Word Knowledge 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A student reads 'The scientist made an astute observation.' The student uses surrounding sentence clues to infer that 'astute' means clever. Which strategy did the student apply?
- Morphemic analysis
- Context clue strategy (Correct answer)
- Semantic feature analysis
- Word sorting
Correct answer: Context clue strategy
Using context clues means drawing on the surrounding words and sentences to infer the meaning of an unfamiliar word.
Question 2: Which of the following best describes the relationship between vocabulary knowledge and reading comprehension?
- Vocabulary knowledge has minimal impact on reading comprehension
- Strong vocabulary knowledge is a significant predictor of reading comprehension (Correct answer)
- Reading comprehension develops independently of vocabulary knowledge
- Vocabulary knowledge only affects oral language, not reading
Correct answer: Strong vocabulary knowledge is a significant predictor of reading comprehension
Research consistently shows that vocabulary knowledge is one of the strongest predictors of reading comprehension, as understanding words is essential to understanding text.
Question 3: A teacher introduces the Latin root 'scrib/script' (meaning 'to write') and connects it to the words 'scribe,' 'describe,' and 'inscription.' This instruction builds which vocabulary skill?
- Phonemic awareness
- Morphological knowledge of roots and derivations (Correct answer)
- Syntactic awareness
- Orthographic pattern recognition
Correct answer: Morphological knowledge of roots and derivations
Teaching Latin and Greek roots builds morphological knowledge, enabling students to infer the meaning of many related words they encounter.
Question 4: Which of the following instructional practices best promotes vocabulary depth rather than breadth?
- Introducing 20 new words per week through brief definitions
- Providing extended, multi-day instruction on a small set of high-utility words (Correct answer)
- Having students copy definitions from the dictionary for all new words
- Assigning weekly vocabulary matching tests
Correct answer: Providing extended, multi-day instruction on a small set of high-utility words
Vocabulary depth—understanding nuance, connotation, and usage—is developed through extended, meaningful instruction on fewer words rather than surface coverage of many.
Question 5: In a word map activity, students place a target word in the center and surround it with synonyms, antonyms, examples, and a definition. This activity primarily develops:
- Decoding fluency
- Semantic networks and word relationships (Correct answer)
- Letter-sound correspondence
- Phonological awareness
Correct answer: Semantic networks and word relationships
Word map activities build semantic networks by connecting a word to related concepts, helping students understand how words relate to one another in meaning.
Question 6: A teacher notices that many English Language Learners in her class struggle with idiomatic expressions like 'it's raining cats and dogs.' What instructional approach best supports these students?
- Require students to decode each word individually
- Explicitly teach common idioms with visual supports and real-world examples (Correct answer)
- Avoid using figurative language in instruction
- Have students memorize lists of idioms without context
Correct answer: Explicitly teach common idioms with visual supports and real-world examples
Explicitly teaching idioms with visual supports and real-world context helps ELLs understand that idiomatic meaning differs from the literal meaning of individual words.
Question 7: Which of the following best describes the 'word consciousness' goal of vocabulary instruction?
- The ability to phonetically decode any unfamiliar word
- Developing students' awareness of and interest in words, their meanings, and their uses (Correct answer)
- Memorizing the 100 most common words in English
- Teaching students to look up every unknown word in a dictionary
Correct answer: Developing students' awareness of and interest in words, their meanings, and their uses
Word consciousness refers to an awareness of and enthusiasm for words that motivates students to notice, learn, and use new words independently.
FORT Vocabulary Development & Word Knowledge 2
A student reads 'The scientist made an astute observation.' The student uses surrounding sentence clues to infer that 'astute' means clever.
Which strategy did the student apply?