Researchers have established that there is a strong relationship
between vocabulary (word-meaning knowledge) and the ability of
students to construct meaning (Anderson & Freebody, 1981; Davis,
1971; Johnston, 1981). This relationship has often led educators
to think that one improves the abilities of students to
construct meaning primarily by teaching vocabulary before a text
is read. However, more recent researchers have challenged this
assumption (Nagy, 1988). This challenge has come about because
we have learned that readers acquire vocabulary in a variety of
ways -- through wide reading (Nagy & Herman, 1987), from the use
of context (Jenkins, Stein, & Wysocki, 1984; Sternberg, 1987),
through use of the dictionary (Schatz & Baldwin, 1986), and from
limited direct instruction (Beck, McKeown, & Omanson, 1987;
Graves, 1986, 1987; Stahl & Fairbanks, 1986). Direct instruction
in vocabulary is only effective in helping students improve
their abilities to construct meaning when a few words key to the
selection ar