Enhancing Students Vocabulary Through Storybook Read-aloud Strategy

The effectiveness of using storybooks during read-alouds to increase students vocabulary knowledge and construction of meaning has been widely studied. Researches have also shown that reading aloud has been the most highly recommended activity for encouraging language and literacy and more so for enhancing vocabulary development. This study has identified the vocabulary strategies that teachers employed during their read-aloud sessions with their students. Their strategies were matched with a research-based strategy for vocabulary building during read-alouds proposed by Beck and McKeown (2001). Three primary school teachers teaching English language in rural schools participated in this study. A qualitative research method was used whereby primary data was obtained through observations using an observation protocol and through interviews with teachers. Findings revealed that the teachers utilized only selected vocabulary strategies which they felt were relevant to their teaching context.