Intended for administrators and policymakers as well as teachers, this digest explores the nature of vocabulary and its implications for classroom instruction. After defining vocabulary and discussing some of the sources of English vocabulary, the digest examines how children's vocabularies develop. It then discusses the role of vocabulary…

Exploratory language courses are self-contained, nonsequential, interdisciplinary courses designed to introduce students to a variety of languages and cultures. They are usually offered in middle and junior high schools, to give students in the young adolescent stage of development a chance to explore a range of academic and vocational fields.…