The Importance of Vocabulary Teaching

“Nothing matters more than words.” Geoff Barton

I feel somewhat paradoxical in opening this piece with a short, snappy quotation, chosen precisely to try to capture your attention – well done if you have read on and are still with me – because that is precisely the power of words: they shape perceptions, frame debates, and influence decisions. Discussions about words, and how we teach them matter now more than ever.

Lately, I’ve been thinking deeply about words and their immense power. Preparing to deliver a course on vocabulary teaching has given me the opportunity to research extensively: exploring word gaps, meanings, nuances, and the ways language can be wielded to influence or manipulate. The more I read, the more convinced I am that understanding words: interpreting them in context, recognising their intent, and decoding their impact, is a skill we must equip the next generation with. As the gap widens between the vocabulary-rich and vocabulary-poor, we cannot afford to ignore the importance of explicitly teaching language awareness.

Take, for example, the three-word slogan. We seem to be living in a new era of them – plastered across advertisements, political campaigns, and social media. They are memorable, repeatable, and deceptively simple. Standing in the queue at Sports Direct, my daughter begs me for the latest branded T-shirt. I hesitate, but she too knows the power of persuasion: “Go on, Mum. Just Do It.”

Perhaps, it was ever thus. Julius Caesar himself is said to have coined the early three-word slogan of ‘Veni, vidi, vichi,’ (Latin for I came, I saw I conquered) – there is nothing new under the sun, and language has always been a tool of influence. It is the life that is being breathed into words that gives them their power, and this is why we must equip the next generation with the ability to interpret how that power is being disseminated and amplified. In a climate of social media fuelled division, where everyone has so much, perhaps too much, to say, it is vital that we are aware of how to interpret those words. Emily Dickinson captures this idea beautifully:

A word is dead

A word is dead
When it is said,
Some say.

I say it just
Begins to live
That day.

Emily Dickinson 1896

This ability of words to live and grow is, at times, troubling. Some of today’s most powerful three-word slogans: ‘Stop the Boats,’ ‘Build the Wall,’ are not just sound bites; they are rhetorical tools that shut down complex discussions. Their simplicity makes them effective, but also dangerously reductive. They discourage nuance and critical thinking, replacing difficult conversations with rigid, polarising narratives.

Even in education, we see how language shapes perception. Schools are now to receive an OFSTED ‘report card,’ a term that subtly shifts the power dynamic, making institutions feel like pupils being graded rather than professional communities deserving of thoughtful evaluation. In an era of recruitment and retention crises, this choice of words matters.

All educators know that how words make you feel is precisely why they matter. Any adult that works with children knows this to their very core: conscientiously selecting the language they use in every interaction, carefully considering how they give out praise, instruction and support, knowing that a single phrase can lift a child’s confidence or reinforce limitations. The responsibility to ‘raise the floor for all and set no ceiling’ is a linguistic one as much as it is pedagogical.

This is why I am so excited to share the power and joy of language in the upcoming vocabulary course. Helping unlock the code of words for the next generation is both a privilege and a necessity. Our young people must be not just word-conscious, but word-savvy: able to decode, analyse, and challenge the language that shapes their world. After all, in the end, nothing matters more than words.

Dora Allen

If you are interested in finding out more about vocabulary teaching, look out for these training sessions on Developing a Progressive Approach to Vocabulary which are coming up soon.
Developing a Progressive Approach to Vocabulary Part 1 – School Literacy Network
Developing a Progressive Approach to Vocabulary Part 2 – School Literacy Network