The VaRiSS project aims to examine the relationship between oral vocabulary and reading in secondary schools. We are interested in the role that vocabulary knowledge plays in reading and reciprocally the extent to which reading promotes vocabulary development. Most research on vocabulary and reading development focuses on primary-aged children and relatively little is known about secondary-aged pupils. In this project, data has been collected from 200 secondary school pupils, from Years 7, 8 and 9. This research has highlighted the importance of continuing to look at vocabulary and reading development in adolescence to inform theory and educational practice and policy.
This project was run by Professor Jessie Ricketts, Dr. Nicola Dawson, Professor Charles Hulme and Dr. Arne Lervåg
Publications:
- Ricketts, J., Dawson, N., & Davies, R. (2021). The hidden depths of new word knowledge: Using graded measures of orthographic and semantic learning to measure vocabulary acquisition. Learning and Instruction, 74, 101468.
- Ricketts, J., Lervåg, A., Dawson, N., Taylor, L. A., & Hulme, C. (2020). Reading and oral vocabulary development in early adolescence. Scientific Studies of Reading, 24(5), 380-396.