Issues Concerning the Acquisition of Knowledge: Effects of Vocabulary Training on Reading Comprehension

A strong psychometric relationship has consistently been reported between measures of vocabulary knowledge and reading comprehension. This finding could imply that one way to improve children’s reading performance is to increase their vocabulary. Eight studies are reviewed that attempted to do this. Although all eight studies reported increases in students’ word knowledge, many failed to facilitate reading comprehension. Methodological and instructional differences across studies are examined in an attempt to account for the different results. The major goal of this paper is to discuss methodological and theoretical issues that arise from a review of the studies and to suggest implications for future research.