This is the fifth post (and final post for now!) in our series on teaching vocabulary. If you’re new here, we suggest you begin by reading the previous posts in this series, click here for the introduction to the series, here to read about explicitly teaching new vocabulary words, here to read about providing rich and varied vocabulary experiences, and here to read about teaching independent word learning strategies. Each post focuses on building inclusive, culturally responsive, and sustaining practices around one aspect of Micheal Graves’ Four Principles of Effective Vocabulary Instruction (The Vocabulary Book: Learning and Instruction 2005).
What does word consciousness mean, and how does it develop across grade levels?
Word consciousness refers to an interest in and awareness of words and their meanings (Scott & Nagy, 2004). It represents a particularly important and interesting domain of vocabulary learning because word consciousness requires both cognitive skills and an affective stance of curiosity about words and how they work. For children to develop word consciousness, they must foster an appreciation and enthusiasm for word learning. Students with strong word consciousness tend to notice words, enjoy learning new words, and are willing to experiment with language (Graves & Watts-Taffe, 2008)
Research consistently shows that having strong word consciousness plays a critical role in both vocabulary development and reading comprehension (Kieffer & Lesaux, 2010; Mokhtari & Thompson, 2006). Children with strong word consciousness will actively learn new words throughout the day, beyond the designated time for vocabulary instruction.
As Scott and Nagy (2004) explain, "The development of word consciousness is a crucial aspect of vocabulary growth that is too often overlooked... It is not enough to know more words; students need to notice them, to appreciate the power they have, and to take responsibility for continually developing their knowledge of words and the ways in which they are used" (p. 201).
Word consciousness can be something developed and nurtured in school. For younger learners in early elementary school, this is often demonstrated through excitement about new words, enjoyment of wordplay, and beginning awareness of sentence-level syntax. As children progress through the elementary school years, they begin to appreciate the greater nuance in word meanings, recognizing that many words are polysemous, or have multiple meanings. (In our last post we noted that researchers estimate that approximately 70% of English words have multiple meanings (Hiebert, 2020). Helping students understand that even common words such as bank, light, and run can carry dramatically different meanings depending on context supports children as they develop both linguistic fluency and comprehension depth.) Older elementary school students also often begin to recognize that word choice matters and impacts the meaning and tone of both written and spoken communication.
By middle school, many students continue to build on this burgeoning metalinguistic awareness—analyzing how authors can use words to create specific effects, work that also pays off in their own writing development. By high school, students with well-developed word consciousness tend to demonstrate sophisticated understandings of connotation, denotation, and the sociocultural aspects of language. They may appreciate the rhetorical power of word and phrase choice and apply that knowledge to their own reading and writing.
Research has shown that students, including multilingual students, benefit from instructional attention to word consciousness (Calderón et al., 2011). Multilingual children often have rich linguistic resources that can be leveraged to build vocabulary and awareness of multiple vocabularies, phonologies, syntaxes, and socio-cultural linguistic traditions, which can help students develop increased awareness of vocabulary across languages. Multilingual learners bring unique cognitive advantages to the development of word consciousness. Research from Bialystok et al. (2012) demonstrates that multilingual students often possess enhanced metalinguistic awareness—the ability to think about language as an object of attention—which is precisely the cognitive foundation needed for word consciousness. This heightened awareness allows multilingual learners to make sophisticated comparisons between languages, notice subtleties in word usage, and develop more nuanced understandings of semantic relationships. As García and Kleifgen (2018) note, when classroom environments validate students' full linguistic repertoires, students can develop what they term "translanguaging consciousness"—the strategic awareness of how to navigate across languages, choosing precisely the right words for specific contexts and purposes. This capability represents not just accommodating linguistic diversity but actively capitalizing on it as a powerful resource for learning. This research can help us think about all children’s linguistic repertoires and ways to capitalize on the linguistic knowledge that learners bring as a powerful resource for deepening vocabulary.
Many multilingual students demonstrate particular sensitivity to register, formality, and contextual appropriateness of word usage across different settings (Agirdag, 2014). This heightened sociolinguistic awareness stems from their lived experience navigating multiple language contexts and can be channeled into sophisticated discussions about word choice in text versus conversational speech. Seltzer and García (2020) found that when teachers explicitly recognized and built upon multilingual students' existing word consciousness across their languages, these students showed greater engagement with vocabulary learning and more sophisticated understanding of word relationships than when their multilingualism was ignored or treated as a barrier. Explicitly recognizing, affirming and using our students’ language practices in the classroom has beneficial implications to their growing awareness and development of vocabulary.
What structures and strategies can help children develop their word consciousness?
Cultivate a linguistically-rich environment
Surround students with rich language experiences across the day. Beck, McKeown, and Kucan (2013) emphasize the importance of a classroom environment that celebrates words and encourages word exploration. This might include:
Content area or unit vocabulary walls that highlight topical vocabulary for use in conversation and writing
Classroom libraries with a wide range of texts featuring rich language
Regular read-alouds that expose students to new vocabulary and provide opportunities for discussion about unfamiliar words
Creating personalized or class word collections for students to gather and celebrate new and interesting vocabulary
Celebrate and explore language diversity
One way that word consciousness develops is when students develop awareness of the ways that language varies across cultures, contexts, and purposes. Children benefit from approaches that leverage their full existing language knowledge (Cummins, 2008). Consider:
Exploring cognates across languages
Discussing how different languages express similar concepts
Examining regional variations in English vocabulary (or vocabulary of any other languages children speak)
Exploring how language evolves over time
Analyzing how specialized vocabulary functions in different disciplines and social or cultural contexts
Model your own love of words
Demonstrating your own passion for words provides a powerful model for students. Blachowicz and Fisher (2004) found that teacher modeling of word learning strategies and enthusiasm for vocabulary significantly influences students' attitudes toward word learning. You might:
Set aside time each week to share words you find interesting or have recently discovered
Model thinking aloud about word choices when writing in front of students
Discuss and model your process for determining the meaning of unknown words as you read
Express your own curiosity about words' meanings, origins, and relationships
Make time for word play
Research has shown that playful engagement with language builds word consciousness while making learning enjoyable (Graves, 2006). Word play activities might include:
Collecting and discussing oxymorons, idioms, and figurative language from books or popular films and songs
Posing riddles, puns, and jokes that play with multiple meanings words (ex. What’s a witch’s favorite subject at school? spelling)
Engaging students in word generation competitions (ex. How many new words can you make from the letters in school?)
Making time for kids to play word games like Scrabble, Boggle, Quiddler or Bananagrams
Teach students to notice and evaluate word choice in text
Building critical awareness of how authors use words helps students develop word consciousness and become more strategic readers and writers. Fisher and Frey (2014) suggest teaching students to notice and evaluate:
The difference between precise and vague language
How technical vocabulary words in informational texts
How specific word choices create mood or tone
How figurative language creates imagery and emotion
How word choice reveals perspective or bias
Foster Critical Language Awareness
A crucial yet often overlooked aspect of word consciousness is developing students' critical language awareness—the understanding that language choices reflect and shape power dynamics in society. As Alim (2005) argues, critical language awareness extends beyond mere appreciation of vocabulary to examine how language operates as a social and political force. Students with developed critical language awareness understand that words are never neutral but carry histories, values, and powerful implications. This perspective enriches their word consciousness by adding a sociopolitical dimension to their understanding of language. Baker-Bell (2020) suggests that fostering this awareness helps students recognize how language has been used historically to marginalize certain groups while privileging others. This might include discussion of:
Examining how advertising language attempts to influence consumer behavior
Analyzing how various news sources use different vocabulary to describe the same events
Investigating how academic language can both include and exclude certain speakers
Exploring how specialized vocabulary in different fields (law, medicine, technology) creates insider/outsider dynamics
Discussing how language evolution reflects changing social values and power structures
Challenging language hierarchies that privilege certain dialects or forms of English
The research and practices surrounding vocabulary and comprehension demonstrate the critical role of developing word consciousness—the deep awareness and interest in words, their meanings, and their uses. As you cultivate your learning environments, remember to encourage playfulness with language, affirm students’ language practices, notice words in books, and reflect on how we use them to foster lifelong curiosity of learning, words, and knowledge. As you continue to explore effective instructional strategies, nurturing word consciousness take note of how it impacts students’ comprehension and joy of reading.
Thank you for joining us for this vocabulary series. We would love to hear from you— what other content and topics would you like to see more of on our blog? We’d love any ideas or input via our social media @tcadvancinglit (on Instagram) and at Teachers College Advancing Literacy (on Facebook). Want to continue the conversation in person? Check out our summer offerings or apply to partner with us in the 2025-2026 school year!
References
Agirdag, O. (2014). The literal cost of language assimilation for the children of immigration: The effects of bilingualism on labor market outcomes. In R. M. Callahan & P. C. Gándara (Eds.), The bilingual advantage: Language, literacy and the US labor market (pp. 160-181). Multilingual Matters.
Alim, H. S. (2005). Critical language awareness in the United States: Revisiting issues and revising pedagogies in a resegregated society. Educational Researcher, 34(7), 24-31.
Baker-Bell, A. (2020). Linguistic justice: Black language, literacy, identity, and pedagogy. Routledge.
Beck, I. L., McKeown, M. G., & Kucan, L. (2013). Bringing words to life: Robust vocabulary instruction (2nd ed.). Guilford Press.
Bialystok, E., Craik, F. I., & Luk, G. (2012). Bilingualism: Consequences for mind and brain. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 16(4), 240-250.
Blachowicz, C. L. Z., & Fisher, P. (2004). Vocabulary lessons. Educational Leadership, 61(6), 66-69.
Calderón, M., Slavin, R., & Sánchez, M. (2011). Effective instruction for English learners. The Future of Children, 21(1), 103-127.
Cummins, J. (2008). BICS and CALP: Empirical and theoretical status of the distinction. In B. Street & N. H. Hornberger (Eds.), Encyclopedia of language and education (2nd ed., Vol. 2, pp. 71-83). Springer.
Fisher, D., & Frey, N. (2014). Content area vocabulary learning. The Reading Teacher, 67(8), 594-599.
García, O., & Kleifgen, J. A. (2018). Educating emergent bilinguals: Policies, programs, and practices for English learners (2nd ed.). Teachers College Press.
Graves, M. F. (2006). The vocabulary book: Learning and instruction. Teachers College Press.
Graves, M. F., & Watts-Taffe, S. (2008). For the love of words: Fostering word consciousness in young readers. The Reading Teacher, 62(3), 185-193.
Hiebert, Elfrieda H. Teaching Words and How They Work: Small Changes for Big Vocabulary Results. Teachers College Press : Scholastic Inc., 2020.
Kieffer, M. J., & Lesaux, N. K. (2010). Morphing into adolescents: Active word learning for English-language learners and their classmates in middle school. Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, 54(1), 47-56.
Mokhtari, K., & Thompson, H. B. (2006). How problems of reading fluency and comprehension are related to difficulties in syntactic awareness skills among fifth graders. Reading Research and Instruction, 46(1), 73-94.
Scott, J. A., & Nagy, W. E. (2004). Developing word consciousness. In J. F. Baumann & E. J. Kame'enui (Eds.), Vocabulary instruction: Research to practice (pp. 201-217). Guilford Press.
Seltzer, K., & García, O. (2020). Broadening the view: Taking up a translanguaging pedagogy with all language-minoritized students. In Z. Tian, L. Aghai, P. Sayer, & J. L. Schissel (Eds.), Envisioning TESOL through a translanguaging lens: Global perspectives (pp. 23-42). Springer.