21st Century Academic Discourse

Social interaction helps one’s physical and mental health. Engaging in positive sharing of emotions and thoughts, and contributing to each others’ feel-good experiences helps improve health and prolong life. A study by neuroeconomics researcher Paul Zak showed that people who share and feel gratitude release oxytocin, a feel-good hormone, ~ Vinita Dawra Nangia

Academic discourse encompasses the idea of dialogue, the language used, and a format that facilitates a high level of communication in the classroom. The discourse can range from peer-to-peer discussion to whole-class discussion and can take on many forms: metacognition, presentations, debate, listening, writing, and critiquing others' work. What is important is that students are able to process and interact using academic vocabulary.

TIER 1 -Basic Vocabulary

Tier one consists of the most basic words. These words rarely require direct instruction and typically do not have multiple meanings. Sight words, nouns, verbs, adjectives, and early reading words occur at this level.

Examples of tier one words are: book, girl, sad, run, dog, and orange. There about 8,000 word families in English included in tier one.

TIER 2 -High Frequency/Multiple Meaning Vocabulary

Tier two consists of high frequency words that occur across a variety of domains. That is, these words occur often in mature language situations such as adult conversations and literature, and therefore strongly influence speaking and reading.

Following is a list of standards for tier two words:

• Important for reading comprehension
  
• Characteristic of mature language users
  
• Contain multiple meanings
  
• Increased descriptive vocabulary (words that
  
• Used across a variety of environments allow students to describe concepts in (generalization) a detailed manner)
  

Tier two words are the most important words for direct instruction because they are good indicators of a student’s progress through school. Examples of tier two words are: masterpiece, fortunate, industrious, measure, and benevolent. There are about 7,000 word families in English (or 700 per year) in tier two.

TIER 3 - Low-Frequency, Context-Specific Vocabulary

Tier three consists of low-frequency words that occur in specific domains. Domains include subjects in school, hobbies, occupations, geographic regions, technology, weather, etc. We usually learn these words when a specific need arises, such as learning amino acid during a chemistry lesson.

Examples of tier three words are: geometry, economics, isotope, asphalt, Revolutionary War, and, crepe. The remaining 400,000 words in English fall in this tier. It important to remember that tier two and three words are not all clear-cut in their tier classification. There is more than one way to select the words. Word knowledge is subject to personal experience.

Three Tiers of Vocabulary and Education by Thaashida L. Hutton, M.S., CCC-SLP,; Super Duper® Handy Handouts! Number 182 , 2008 Super Duper® Publications • www.superduperinc.com