LETRS Vocabulary Development 3 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: According to LETRS, which aspect of oral language development most strongly predicts later reading comprehension?
- Phonological awareness
- Vocabulary breadth and depth (Correct answer)
- Letter-sound fluency
- Passage reading rate
Correct answer: Vocabulary breadth and depth
LETRS highlights that vocabulary knowledge is one of the strongest predictors of reading comprehension, especially in later grades.
Question 2: What is the primary reason the 'Matthew Effect' is relevant to vocabulary development in LETRS?
- Students with larger vocabularies read more, which grows their vocabulary further, widening the gap (Correct answer)
- Students who read faster decode more words per minute
- Students with phonics skills automatically acquire more vocabulary
- Teachers tend to teach more vocabulary to advanced readers
Correct answer: Students with larger vocabularies read more, which grows their vocabulary further, widening the gap
The Matthew Effect describes how vocabulary-rich students read more widely, gaining even more vocabulary, while struggling students fall further behind.
Question 3: Which prefix means 'not' or 'opposite of,' as in 'unhappy' and 'unusual'?
- Pre-
- Re-
- Un- (Correct answer)
- Mis-
Correct answer: Un-
The prefix 'un-' means 'not' or 'opposite of,' reversing the base word's meaning.
Question 4: Semantic mapping is best used in vocabulary instruction to:
- Drill phoneme-grapheme correspondences
- Show relationships between a target word and related concepts (Correct answer)
- Practice spelling words in isolation
- Decode multisyllabic words
Correct answer: Show relationships between a target word and related concepts
Semantic mapping builds conceptual networks by connecting a target word to related words, ideas, and categories.
Question 5: A teacher notices students can define 'enormous' but use it incorrectly in writing. This suggests the students lack:
- Phonological representation of the word
- Productive knowledge of the word (Correct answer)
- Receptive knowledge of the word
- Orthographic mapping for the word
Correct answer: Productive knowledge of the word
Productive word knowledge means being able to use a word accurately and appropriately in novel contexts, beyond just knowing its definition.
Question 6: In LETRS, incidental vocabulary learning refers to words learned:
- Through direct, explicit teacher-led instruction
- From wide independent reading and listening without explicit instruction (Correct answer)
- Via memorization of word lists
- Through structured vocabulary assessments
Correct answer: From wide independent reading and listening without explicit instruction
Incidental learning occurs when students pick up word meanings naturally through extensive reading and oral language exposure.
Question 7: Which of the following best illustrates a student using 'word consciousness'?
- A student memorizes a vocabulary list the night before a test
- A student notices and wonders about an interesting or unfamiliar word during reading (Correct answer)
- A student rereads a passage to improve fluency
- A student segments a word into syllables before spelling it
Correct answer: A student notices and wonders about an interesting or unfamiliar word during reading
Word consciousness is an awareness of and interest in words, shown when students notice and investigate words they encounter.
LETRS Vocabulary Development 3
According to LETRS, which aspect of oral language development most strongly predicts later reading comprehension?