Recently, we launched our new Nuffield-funded Reading and Vocabulary (RAV) project in London with teachers and other representatives from key stakeholder groups. Thanks to all for attending!
The RAV project is led by Dr Laura Shapiro (Aston University), Professor Adrian Burgess (Aston University) and Dr Jessie Ricketts (Royal Holloway, University of London), with Sanne van der Kleij (Aston University) as the postdoctoral researcher.
Adequate reading skills and vocabulary knowledge are crucial for learning, especially at secondary school when pupils are expected to learn from independent reading. To date, research has focused on children in primary education, but little is known about how reading and vocabulary develop across the transition from primary to secondary school. Once children can read, their reading experiences provide crucial opportunities for them to learn new words.
The goal of the RAV project is to examine how reading is involved in vocabulary learning. The RAV project builds on findings from two large-scale longitudinal studies, the Aston Literacy Project (ALP) and the Vocabulary and Reading in Secondary School Project (VaRiSS).