OUP’s Bridging the Word Gap at Transition report gives it to us straight. As Jane Harley states in the Foreword: ‘This is a critical time for a focus on vocabulary development, particularly in the context of COVID-19 and the much-publicised broadening of the attainment gap’ Since its publication there have been regional lockdowns that have incorporated some of the poorest regions in England, […]
Lionel Bolton, Head of English, Languages and Humanities, Oxford University Press Read the report What have we discovered? Our new report, Bridging the Word Gap at Transition, builds on our previous report from 3 years ago, Why Closing the Word Gap Matters. In that first report we highlighted that nearly half of the children in Year 1 and […]
Jane Harley, Policy and Partnership Director, Oxford University Press Read the Oxford Language Report OUP has a deeply rooted commitment to young people’s language development – it sits at the heart of education. We seek to drive positive change in educational outcomes through our publishing and nowhere can be more important than the area of language and literacy. Through our Oxford Children’s Corpus we monitor closely the […]
Hands up those who have taught students who have said that they found languages hard, that ‘they couldn’t do languages’ and that they were much better in other subjects? Certainly, during my career as a languages teacher, I have had numerous conversations with young people who felt that their knowledge and understanding of foreign languages […]
By Jemma Baker, Royal Holloway, University of London New faces. New subjects. New opportunities. Transitioning from primary to secondary school is a big deal for 11-year-olds. For some, it may prove nerve-wracking; for others, exciting. Not only does this transition come with the challenge of adjusting to a new school environment, but also with the […]
In ‘ Bridging the Word Gap at Transition: The Oxford Language Report 2020 ’ the team of researchers found that students transitioning from primary to secondary school are exposed to up to four times as much new vocabulary as at primary school. Compound this with the existing challenges around literacy skills and reading ages, COVID gaps and the emotional challenges of transition and it is easy to […]
This year, as with last year, we are shrouded in uncertainty about what we’ll be able to do when focusing on transition this year between KS2 and KS3. Rules and roadmaps are being rolled out and put in place. However we are all aware this may change and leave us needing to adapt more traditional […]
We recently held a small event in our Oxford offices to talk to primary and secondary school teachers about vocabulary and the Word Gap in their school. Lots of interesting, practical ideas were shared and discussed and we have summarised some of them here: Give key vocabulary at the start of each lesson. Encourage students […]
Anhydrous, exothermic, fullerene, isomerase, medulla, monomers, ribosomes, titration, xylem… How many of these words do you know? For a scientist – or even a knowledgeable GCSE science student, no less – this list of complex words will trigger a wealth of background knowledge. For many pupils, however, the same list of words would likely provoke […]
I was not surprised when I finished reading ‘Why Closing the Word Gap Matters: Oxford Language Report’ , but it still made for sombre reading. The report put in black and white what teachers already know: Most of the students we teach don’t have the vocabulary they need to fulfil their full potential at school. The word gap affects students’ wider life chances. After […]