This resource was trialled by 48 year 6 students from two schools.

Nippers – vocabulary item:  'awkward'

Word knowledge: moving along a continuum Because an individual word fits into a complicated system of language, there are many things to learn about any particular word and there are many degrees of knowing (Nation, 2001). Therefore, learning a word can be thought of as an incremental process along a continuum of word knowledge. Stahl (1986) suggested three stages of word knowledge: association, comprehension, and generation.  At the association level, students can make accurate associations with the word, although they may not understand its meaning; at comprehension level, they can understand the commonly accepted meaning of a word; and at generation level, they can use the word in a novel context. [¹] This vocabulary resource enables students to increase their knowledge of a word from whatever point it lies along the knowledge continuum – from association at the first step of vocabulary knowledge, through to comprehension and novel usage.

[¹] Kirton, N. (2007). Vocabulary acquisition: a literature review. Wellington, New Zealand: NZCER Press.

From recognising words to building a broad understanding

Nearly half of the students trialled initially defined the word 'awkward' as meaning either 'weird' or 'strange'.  Most of the remaining students used single word synonyms such as 'different', 'hard', 'uncomfortable' and 'difficult'.  These basic one word definitions can be built on to capture the various shades of meaning 'awkward' has in different contexts, e.g., movement, silence, shape, situations, and in regard to both abstract and physical problems.

Task a). Students are asked about the first step in vocabulary acquisition, i.e., where they recognise the word from. Almost all of the students in the trial had prior experience of the word, through a wide variety of contexts.

Task b) assesses basic comprehension of the word. Most of the students trialled used it correctly in a short sentence, e.g., You are very awkward, said dad; There was an awkward silence; This is very awkward. A small group used the word incorrectly or dubiously in a sentence, e.g., I went to an awkward place where people were being funny; It is very awkward today; That's awkward, they're normally 79 cents each. When this question was repeated in Task f), almost all students used the word correctly in a longer and more detailed sentence.

Task c). The definitions students write here explicitly show their level of comprehension of the word. Almost all students gave a definition that was broadly applicable to 'awkward'. About half of students wrote, 'weird' , with 'strange', and 'different' being the next most popular definitions. The word 'weird' doesn't appear to have supernatural connotations to students, it simply means 'unusual'. A small group wrote definitions broader than one word, e.g., Hard to do, or complicated or uncomfortable, in an attempt to capture the various meanings of the word. In Task e) about a quarter of students improved the definitions they made here, which indicates that they made meaning from context.

Task d) i). This task assesses the ability to identify the surrounding text which carries meaning. About half of the trial students found the word 'awkward' in the story and copied the word in a brief and appropriately meaning-giving context into d) i), e.g., with the preceding sentence in the text:

"They swing their knees upwards and outwards so that their legs skim sideways over the breakers. It looks awkward, but it's the quickest way to run through the waves."

The whole paragraph is also acceptable, as is the single sentence containing 'awkward' because it conveys meaning. The failure of half the trial students to complete this task appears to have resulted from confusion about the table format. Many of these students copied single words from the text, such as 'run' or 'skim', which don't tell us anything about the word 'awkward'.

Task d) ii). Using context is an important part of working out the meaning of a new word. Context is also important for learning to extend knowledge of a word. In this instance a photograph illustrates the text, but the runners don't look particularly awkward in the static image. Most students successfully completed d) ii),taking meaning from context in the story, despite half of them having failed to complete d) i) correctly. It appears that students did locate the word in context but simply failed to copy it down in the table. Most students who wrote an appropriate definition in Task c) repeated that definition, but about half of the group added more to their original definition as well, such as Something that looks hard to do; Something that doesn't look right; with the most common interpretation being, Something that looks funny.

In summary, most students found appropriate meaning through context, a meaning which can be built on, i.e., they made a good start towards fully understanding the word. The definition of 'awkward' suggested here can be built on with subsequent experiences of the word in a wide range of different contexts. Students need to be open to the possibility of increasing their knowledge of a word along the word knowledge continuum after establishing a basic understanding through a certain context.

Task e) About half of the students who wrote a legitimate definition in Task c) repeated it here unchanged. 'Weird' was most commonly used to define 'awkward' again. A small group replaced 'weird' with 'funny' (apparently meaning peculiar rather than amusing). Half of the trial group changed their definition from Task c) in this task, and almost all of them improved on it here, most commonly by adding 'funny' or 'difficult' to their original definitions, i.e. they extended their definition. The small group who wrote incorrect first definitions of 'awkward' in Task c), e.g., Frozen; Dramatic; Sly; Annoyed, wrote appropriate definitions here, such as Hard to do; Moving strangely; Unusual; Strange.  These re-definitions indicate that students have extended their word knowledge by reading the text.

Task f) This assesses the students' ability to generate use of the word in a new way (novel usage is considered to be the highest stage of word knowledge). Although usage of the word was conservative and often followed the example in the text, e.g., They way they run is awkward; Those people look awkward; "That man is walking very awkwardly," said Tom; It looks awkward when you swim like that, almost all students who attempted this task completed it appropriately and wrote longer sentences than the short ones they wrote in Task b). Almost all students who wrote incorrect sentences inTask b) wrote correct sentences here. Only one student failed to produce an appropriate sentence in both tasks (Awkward means happy in Task b) and Do an awkward through the waves go go go break through them in Task f)).  A small group tried to use the word as an adverb but didn't add the –ly at the end, e.g., The lady was dancing very awkward; I am swimming awkward; That bird is flying very awkward. In summary, most students wrote longer sentences here with more content related to movement.  Through reading the text they expanded their knowledge and improved on the short generic sentences, e.g., This is very awkward, which typified Task b).

Task g) A small group wondered if 'awkward' was tied to movement, e.g., If you're not moving can you feel awkward?; Can it be a feeling? Perhaps a way forward would be to demonstrate different meanings of 'awkward' (and the complexity of what it means to know a word) by using it in various contexts, in regard to feeling, shape, lack of grace, and as a difficult problem.