There are many underlying reasons why people seek to improve their vocabulary. It could be a work situation or perhaps for social reasons. Whatever the rationale behind increasing your word knowledge, you should be aware of general obstacles you might confront along the way. This is not bad news, though, as these are easily overcome. It is important that you are aware of these road blocks before they come up. If you’re aware, you won’t feel inadequate as you begin the journey of improving your vocabulary.
The Rationale for Vocabulary Building
Why do you want to develop your vocabulary? There are just as many reasons for wanting to improve your vocabulary as there are types of people wanting to improve it. Your rationale behind developing your vocabulary could be a number of things. On a positive note, it doesn’t matter who you are or what you do, if you are determined to build your vocabulary, you can do it. Some of the reasons people want to increase their word knowledge include:
- Your messages will be conveyed clearly and accurately;
- Your overall communication is enhanced;
- Your reading comprehension is increased. Reading becomes effortless;
- A rich vocabulary can make you stand out from the crowd;
- Often, a person with a rich vocabulary is held in higher esteem and regard;
- A well-developed vocabulary increases your ability to solve problems (Ediger, 1999).
Apart from portraying an image, developing a rich vocabulary can increase your influence over others. That is:
- speech does more than lend him distinction. It does more than reveal to others what manner of man he is. It is an instrument as well as an index. It is an agent—oftentimes indeed it is the agent—of his influence upon others (Greever and Bachelor, The Century Vocabulary Builder, 1922, p.4).
Road Blocks to Vocabulary Development
There are also some common obstacles or road blocks when improving you vocabulary. This should not be taken in a negative context. The good news is that all it requires is patience and some effort. You will have a rich vocabulary before you know it. Awareness of these road blocks will ensure you are not deterred from building your vocabulary when confronted by them. Some of these include:
- Vocabulary is multifaceted. A word can have different meanings when used within different contexts. Words can mean different things just by the way they are said. These differences can be slight or considerable.
- Our spoken word differs to our written vocabulary. For some of us, this vocabulary can almost be polar opposites. With oral vocabulary, we can manage communication by using less range and less depth. Hand gestures, body language, and facial expressions make up a very large segment of our verbal communication. In contrast to this, however, we don’t have any of these aids at our disposal with the written word. As such, a richer vocabulary is needed to accurately convey a message.
- The sheer quantity of words in a language can impact upon improving your vocabulary. The amount of words in everyday language is staggering in itself; however, we are also required to learn specialized vocabularies as well. This can include business vocabulary or academic vocabulary.
- A learner’s lack of existing vocabulary knowledge also acts as an impediment. One of the quickest ways to increase your vocabulary is to build on existing knowledge. This could refer to background information or understanding familiar parts of a word (such as a prefix or suffix). The problem arises when the learner does not have this existing knowledge. It makes it even more difficult (Texas Education Agency, 2002).
There are many reasons why individuals seek to improve their vocabulary. There are also road blocks that can obstruct our learning. With an awareness of these obstacles, it is possible to successfully overcome them. One aid that has combined many techniques for improving your vocabulary is that of Ultimate Vocabulary’s Word Discover™ technology. Over fifty usage examples, word history, visual word explorer, encyclopedia information and images for every word, this product promotes rapid and long-term vocabulary learning.
References
Bonwell, CC & Eison, JA 2003, Active Learning: Creating Excitement in the Classroom.
Ediger, M 1999, ‘Reading and Vocabulary Development’, Journal of Instructional Psychology.
Greever, G & Bachelor, JM, 1922, The Century Vocabulary Builder, The Century Co., New York.
Texas Education Agency 2002, Promoting Vocabulary Development – Components of Effective Vocabulary Instruction, Texas Reading Initiative.
TSU (Texas Southern University) 2009, Career Planning & Placement: Professional Development; Interviewing Techniques; Career Counseling, Jesse. H. Jones School of Business.
UC Davis 2003, Active Learning.