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Closing the Vocabulary Gap
As teachers grapple with the challenge of a new, bigger and more challenging school curriculum, at every key stage and phase, success can feel beyond our reach. But what if there were 50,000 small solutions to help us bridge that gap? In Closing the Vocabulary Gap , the author explores the increased demands of an academic curriculum and how closing the vocabulary gap between our ‘word poor’ and ‘word rich’ students could prove the vital difference between school failure and success. This must-read book presents the case for teacher-led efforts to develop students' vocabulary and provides practical solutions for teachers across the curriculum, incorporating easy-to-use tools, resources and classroom activities.
204 pages, Paperback
First published March 26, 2018
85 people are currently reading
439 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 40 reviews
July 16, 2019
As an adult literacy teacher, the ‘vocabulary gap’ really resonates with me : I do recognise it as a major factor which prevents my students from moving from Level 1 to Level 2- thereby blocking their way to higher study and a good career.
This book is well-researched and thoroughly ‘thought through’ – I particularly value the demonstration of how a limited vocabulary prevents people from accessing a text.
I’ve become evangelical about this topic and will be using lots of Quigley’s ideas in the new academic year.
This book is well-researched and thoroughly ‘thought through’ – I particularly value the demonstration of how a limited vocabulary prevents people from accessing a text.
I’ve become evangelical about this topic and will be using lots of Quigley’s ideas in the new academic year.
March 8, 2020
Every teacher should read this!
January 10, 2019
A great starting point for thinking about transforming the teaching of vocabulary. It is convincing, compelling and challenging - the ultimate required response is to plan a whole vocabulary curriculum.
January 23, 2020
I completely agree with Quigley's premise, and his ideas are spot on and useful. The conclusions to each chapter, the appendices and the bulk of chapters 7 and 8 are worth the cost of the book alone.
However, much of the rest could have done with a little more editing both in terms of unnecessary repetitious rambling and the odd bit of slightly tiresome political commentary.
There's nothing wrong with writing a short book.
Conclusion: On the whole it is worth the time and money, but take a highlighter to it so you can dig out the many gems.
However, much of the rest could have done with a little more editing both in terms of unnecessary repetitious rambling and the odd bit of slightly tiresome political commentary.
There's nothing wrong with writing a short book.
Conclusion: On the whole it is worth the time and money, but take a highlighter to it so you can dig out the many gems.
May 5, 2020
Finished Closing the Vocabulary Gap by Alex Quigley today. I read this for work and it is excellent and concise. We know pupils have vocab gaps but how do we fix that? This book goes into the theory, the pedagogy and gives clear strategies as routes forward. Would recommend for any teacher.
#closingthevocabularygap #alexquigley #english #literacy #teacher #teaching #education #nonfiction #pedagogy #theory
#closingthevocabularygap #alexquigley #english #literacy #teacher #teaching #education #nonfiction #pedagogy #theory
May 18, 2020
It is a genuine game changer in terms of teaching vocabulary. Something I’ve often not thought of, but a great book to refocus thinking.
April 13, 2021
This book should be on the mandatory reading list of every school teacher up and down the country.
A fascinating read even for those of us who have grown up children or no children at all.
A fascinating read even for those of us who have grown up children or no children at all.
April 7, 2020
A thought provoking and inspirational book with practical ideas to use in the classroom. It’s one which I’ve been recommended to read for a while I’m pleased to say I finally got round to it! What’s more... I can add my recommendation to colleagues too! I now can’t wait to read ‘Closing the Reading Gap’ which is coming out later this month.
August 6, 2018
Career changing - 5*
This book starts with a quote, which I will start my review with:
But words are things, and a small drop of ink, Falling like dew, upon a thought, produces That which makes thousands, perhaps millions, think. Lord Byron, Don Juan, 1819–1824
I was first made of aware the deficiency in vocabulary in classrooms in my NQT year and this revelation has motivated me to find a way to make sure children are equipped with the right tools for life. I can't believe how ignorant I was. I live in a place with the highest illiteracy rates of the country and I was still so surprised in the 'vocabulary gap'. I still am. In my NQT year, I taught Y6 children, who undertake their SATs test and specifically reading. Now the reading test is famous, specifically the 2016 reading test of 'The Dead Dodo'. A test with a reading age aimed at 15 and 16-year-olds and given to 10 and 11-year-olds. So this shows the challenge we face as teachers and children. Moving school and moving year groups (to Y4), I am even more aware of teaching vocabulary. I was never taught in uni how to explicitly teach vocabulary so I turned to this book for help.
This book is fabulous (and fully deserving of this long review). It is filled with theory (around 60%) but it also has lots of practical strategies, which I can actually use in the classroom. I am overjoyed and I hope these strategies work because children deserve to be proficient in vocabulary and are able to deal with the range of vocabulary they encounter in the classroom. These children deserve to understand a range of vocabulary and deserve to enjoy vocabulary. I hope this book helps me do this.
By the way, I'd like to thank the connection between Goodreads and my Kindle. All of my highlights are on Goodreads and I don't have to type them. I can just copy them over. THANK YOU AMAZON!
This book starts with a quote, which I will start my review with:
But words are things, and a small drop of ink, Falling like dew, upon a thought, produces That which makes thousands, perhaps millions, think. Lord Byron, Don Juan, 1819–1824
I was first made of aware the deficiency in vocabulary in classrooms in my NQT year and this revelation has motivated me to find a way to make sure children are equipped with the right tools for life. I can't believe how ignorant I was. I live in a place with the highest illiteracy rates of the country and I was still so surprised in the 'vocabulary gap'. I still am. In my NQT year, I taught Y6 children, who undertake their SATs test and specifically reading. Now the reading test is famous, specifically the 2016 reading test of 'The Dead Dodo'. A test with a reading age aimed at 15 and 16-year-olds and given to 10 and 11-year-olds. So this shows the challenge we face as teachers and children. Moving school and moving year groups (to Y4), I am even more aware of teaching vocabulary. I was never taught in uni how to explicitly teach vocabulary so I turned to this book for help.
This book is fabulous (and fully deserving of this long review). It is filled with theory (around 60%) but it also has lots of practical strategies, which I can actually use in the classroom. I am overjoyed and I hope these strategies work because children deserve to be proficient in vocabulary and are able to deal with the range of vocabulary they encounter in the classroom. These children deserve to understand a range of vocabulary and deserve to enjoy vocabulary. I hope this book helps me do this.
By the way, I'd like to thank the connection between Goodreads and my Kindle. All of my highlights are on Goodreads and I don't have to type them. I can just copy them over. THANK YOU AMAZON!
May 12, 2018
This is a most welcome book. Alex Quigley offers fresh ideas about the teaching of vocabulary across the curriculum and encouragement to teachers who may lack confidence in their ability to do so or even in the usefulness of such an exercise. From the start, he explains that his priority is to give children their voice, and make sure that all children become word rich and are not disadvantaged by lacking a broad academic vocabulary. There is an excellent chapter on spelling and another on what a word rich or word conscious classroom looks like. There are many important points about vocabulary in the book and a host of practical ideas too.
August 14, 2018
This book blew my mind about how disadvantaged children are who are word poor. It has made me reconsider the importance of vocabulary--particularly in relation to teaching it explicitly in the classroom.
August 31, 2018
A thought provoking book highlighting a key barrier to educational success for many of our pupils. It offers practical strategies for both classroom teachers and school leaders. This is a book that anyone involved in education should read.
December 25, 2018
Finally finished this book. Emphasised the importance of deliberately teaching etymology and morphology. Justification of this includes the notion that academic language characterises the voices of the powerful and children should be given access to higher order language.
September 1, 2018
A non-fiction page turner - perhaps essential teacher reading. Helpful for those of us who know a weekly spelling list isn’t the answer but have struggled to find an alternative.
April 15, 2019
Read after hearing the author interviewed on Mr Barton’s podcast, a really insightful and thought provoking read about language and learning (I teach Maths and will use these ideas in my classroom).
May 28, 2018
A useful look at the crucial role vocab plays in education, along with some good theory and practical ways to "close the gap." Aimed primarily at teaching grade school (in England) students, but lots of the theory and practice is transferable to teaching university level. Implicitly challenges the "shelter vocabulary" approach to the world of "comprehensible input" when it comes to second-language learning. I'm inclined to think there's a middle ground between "shelter vocabulary" and "learn lists of All the Words!" and Quigley makes a compelling case for the importance of a large vocabulary and offers techniques that can be used to help students learn vocabulary in a way that sticks and thus provides the basis for the extensive reading necessary for students to acquire knowledge, whether that knowledge is in grade school subjects such as English, math, science, etc., the focus of the book, or [my take away] or a foreign language at the university level.
February 21, 2021
The book that every teacher should read!
I’m shortly to be a trainee English teacher & having been a substitute teacher for a while, I noticed how the ‘vocab’ gap is a real & prescient problem in schools today.
How can we as educators bridge the gap for students between the language they grasp already & more academic texts?
This book doesn’t have all the answers - I suspect it’s a question that we’ll grapple with for a long time - but it does present some shocking facts & explanations & provide educators with a basic road map for ensuring all students achieve the ‘50,000’ words needed.
I’m shortly to be a trainee English teacher & having been a substitute teacher for a while, I noticed how the ‘vocab’ gap is a real & prescient problem in schools today.
How can we as educators bridge the gap for students between the language they grasp already & more academic texts?
This book doesn’t have all the answers - I suspect it’s a question that we’ll grapple with for a long time - but it does present some shocking facts & explanations & provide educators with a basic road map for ensuring all students achieve the ‘50,000’ words needed.
April 29, 2018
An insightful book providing practical strategies for improving pupils' vocabularies through the explicit teaching of academic language, the fostering of "word consciousness", and more effective spelling strategies. A "sacrosanct" book for unlocking the literacy issues faced by thousands of children around the country.
June 4, 2021
I thoroughly enjoyed this book and even quoted some sections of it to my 10-11 year olds in school! A great starting point for thinking about how and why we teach vocabulary in school and how I can develop this to make my teaching even better. Will digest, read the reading version and then return to make notes, plan and put into practice!
May 30, 2018
A must for literacy leads, senior leadership and subject leaders but really accessible for all teachers! Plenty of easy to follow advice and strategies to help make our students better learners, readers, writers and speakers through the power of vocabulary.
May 30, 2018
An important read for teachers in all subjects
A clear and helpful consideration of why vocabulary instruction is relevant in all subjects and why it's important with some good, realistic strategies to implement.
A clear and helpful consideration of why vocabulary instruction is relevant in all subjects and why it's important with some good, realistic strategies to implement.
July 28, 2018
Fantastic and insightful tome, full of food for thought that gives me the knowledge, for one, that I know and do some of this already but which, serves as a reminder to ‘make the implicit explicit’ more and more in s bid to make my classroom ‘word-rich’ no matter what my SLT might think of me.
September 11, 2019
This book is a great resource to use in schools to help support language and literacy development through explicit vocabulary teaching. As an SLP interested in this area, I find the techniques helpful with my clients with developmental language disorders and disorders in literacy.
July 23, 2020
A definitive text in all things language proficiency and acquisition. It got a little dry at times but that might be inevitable given the subject matter. Nonetheless, a worthwhile read and bank of expertise.
December 22, 2020
Alex Quigley is a genius - words will never be the same again! Who would have thought that the make up, genealogy and growth of words would prove so vital to our understanding. This will dramatically change the way we teach the adults of tomorrow. Buy. Read. Implement.
March 14, 2021
Fascinating
Transformed the way I thought about vocabulary learning and its place in the classroom. Would definitely recommend to anyone involved in education, regardless of subject specialty.
Transformed the way I thought about vocabulary learning and its place in the classroom. Would definitely recommend to anyone involved in education, regardless of subject specialty.
August 14, 2025
An interesting read, though much of the book is spent driving home the level of disadvantage that being word-poor brings (which if you have worked in education, you will already be aware of). Might be better to skim this one if you are only looking for practices to adopt.
May 19, 2018
Teacher? Middle leader? SLT? If you work in a school in a disadvantaged area, your students need you to read this book. Thank you Alex Quigley.
March 18, 2019
Thoroughly enjoyed. Great ideas to take away from it that will change for pedagogy for the better.
December 8, 2019
Clear on the importance of teaching vocabulary in a structured way in schools , this book will be of most use to secondary teachers and those primary teachers in Upper KS2.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 40 reviews