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Contextual Learning

The language of an academic discipline should be taught within the context of concept development for several reasons. Words are simply labels for concepts and implicit within each academic discipline or content field are labels that are necessary for communicating effectively within that field (Vacca & Vacca, 2005). Vacca and Vacca (2005) note that having students learn lists of words for their own sake is based on the ill-founded notion that the acquisition of vocabulary is separate from the development of ideas and concepts in a content area. What is necessary to make labels meaningful is the exploration of word meanings and relationships that contribute to students' conceptual awareness and understanding of a subject.

Meaningful learning is achieved with content area reading in part because such reading provides an opportunity for students to acquire the language that is needed for an understanding of the content area. Rather than having students memorize vocabulary words and their definitions as a stand-alone learning activity, teachers who are familiar with content area reading strategies provide students with the texts needed to encounter these words or labels in actual use (Vacca & Vacca, 2005).

Creating occasions for students to read in order to write and to write to read is an integral part of content learning. As Vacca and Vacca (2005) have pointed out, students who are provided with texts in a particular discipline can be asked to write journals or reflective responses to their materials (reading to write) or to explore a content area by using the KWL strategy of identifying what they know about a subject (K), what they want to know (W), and what they learned and/or still need to learn (L). This is a writing to read strategy that helps the student move from previous knowledge to knowledge needs and interests and on to an assessment of what has been learned and what one might need to learn through fur...

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Contextual Learning. (1969, December 31). In LotsofEssays.com. Retrieved 11:51, March 29, 2024, from https://www.lotsofessays.com/viewpaper/1694584.html