Report: UK schoolchildren held back by limited vocabulary

An increasing number of teachers in the UK are seeing large numbers of children who have a limited vocabulary range and they fear this will hold them back educationally and socially. A survey of 1,300 primary and secondary school teachers across the UK found that more than 60% saw increasing occurrence of underdeveloped vocabulary among pupils of all ages.

This may lead to lower self-esteem, negative behaviour and in some cases greater difficulties in making friends.

The report, commissioned by the Oxford University Press, found the word gap for many pupils remained “stubbornly high” at secondary schools, where teachers say they have less time and fewer resources to tackle the problem.

Secondary school teachers said that vocabulary deficiency held back pupils’ progress not just in English but also across a range of subjects, including history and geography.

Those with a low vocabulary were also less likely to do well in national tests such as GCSEs, struggling to understand instructions and questions included in papers.

A third of secondary school teachers reported a widening vocabulary gap between the first and last years of secondary school. The majority of teachers surveyed blamed declining numbers of children reading for pleasure for shrinking vocabularies, especially among older pupils.

Visit these website pages to learn more: https://www.theguardian.com/education/2018/apr/19/teachers-in-uk-report-growing-vocabulary-deficiency