Thinking smarter with vocabulary and using the GCSEs

Like most people, I am thinking about vocabulary and looking at ways to improve and increase a student's vocabulary. One of the key sources for vocabulary is the GCSE English Language paper. 

I am jealous of other subjects in the way they can microanalyse the chances of things being or not being on their exam papers. We don't really do that in the way other subjects. They look at exam papers in such detail that makes our 'it might not be Exposure or Ozymandias' look pathetic when compared to their detailed analysis of X, Y and Z not being on the paper but A, B and C will definitely be on there. 

Based on the way other subjects interrogate their papers, I thought I'd do the same with the reading texts on the papers. My simple question was: what words would some students struggle with the meaning of? Then, for the duration of an hour or so, I went through each paper and looked ay the words used and catalogued them. The result is a list of words that could cause students difficulty in a future exam. There's no guarantee that students will meet these words in an exam, but there is a good chance they might. 

Anyway, I compiled the list so that when teaching vocabulary next year, we have a starting point. Of course, there are billions of words, but at least this is a start. Interestingly, the non-fiction texts tend to have more difficult words than the fiction texts and, surprisingly, I felt the specimen materials seemed to have been easier with the word choices even when the texts might be harder from an understanding point of view. 

You might disagree with my choices, but it is a start. 

Thanks for reading, 

Xris 

P1 Nov18

clients

prehistoric

ceased

oiled

resilient

striding

sheathed

gleam

ivory

mesh

sculptured

gaped

taloned

poised

warily

reptilian

jerked

pronounced

remit

crusted

undulate

wilderness

lunged

blazed

engulfed

idol

levelled

metallic

P1 Nov 17

archaeological

gulps

haze

shimmer

dented

unrelenting

chorus

expanses

pastures

submission

inhospitable

concealed

slope

awning

demoralised

monotonous

significance

momentum

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