How to Help Test-Prep Students Build ACT® Vocabulary
While vocabulary doesn’t have its own section on the ACT®, it is a critical component of the entire exam. Throughout each test, students will encounter words and phrases that will challenge their comprehension skills. As a result, vocabulary strategies must be a key component of any test-prep experience.
How Vocabulary Appears on the ACT®
On the ACT®, vocabulary is tested in context - the same way that one would naturally come across words and phrases in real life through text or conversation.
Gone are the days of cramming 100+ definitions into your brain in preparation for fill-in-the-blank style questions. Today, vocabulary testing is based on one’s understanding of the words or phrases within context, not just the word’s literal definition. This is referred to as “Vocab in Context” (VIC). VIC questions test both your ability to find and use context clues as well as your analytical skills.
The ACT® tests medium-level, high-frequency vocabulary - particularly words that have multiple meanings. Learning the literal and secondary, lesser-known meanings of words and phrases will not only improve one’s vocabulary, but it will boost reading comprehension as well.
Vocabulary questions on the ACT® are really all about choosing the best word for a specific context. In answering VIC questions, you’ll have to choose the best option, or the choice that is most correct, both as it relates to the specific text and as it compares to the other answer choices.
Vocabulary on the ACT® Reading Test
In this section, VIC questions are used to determine how the author’s use of a word or phrase affects the text and meanings of words and phrases within a specific context.
Each reading passage contains little bread crumbs scattered throughout to help students with their comprehension. These context clues, or little hints, surround the key vocabulary in each passage to help students find the words’ or phrases’ meanings.
Reading carefully is critical in this section, but having a firm grasp on key vocabulary terms and their multiple meanings is just as vital.
Vocabulary on the ACT® English Test
Unlike the reading section, the English section does not isolate individual words or phrases. It also does not directly ask test-takers to choose a meaning. Instead, students are asked how particular words or phrases are used in the context of composition - whether they are grammatically correct or used appropriately in a sentence.
For the ACT® English Test, helping students recognize and understand vocabulary in context is essential to avoiding the traps of diction, idiom, and word usage errors. Being able to identify the meaning of a specific word or phrase in context will also help students attack composition-focused questions pertaining to tone, ambiguity, awkwardness, and redundancy.
Vocabulary on the ACT® Math and Science Tests
Don’t forget about vocabulary for the math and science sections! While vocabulary isn’t explicitly tested on either the ACT® Math or Science Tests, students need to be equipped with a working understanding of domain-specific terms.
The ACT® Math section requires test takers to have at least a basic understanding of key terms from pre-algebra, algebra, geometry, trigonometry, statistics, and even pre-calculus. Without a foundation of the proper math vocabulary, some problems will be impossible to decipher and, ultimately, solve.
Just as students need to memorize some key math formulas, math vocabulary needs to be part of a test-prep plan as well.
The ACT® Science section, like the math section, contains specific jargon. Without at least a basic understanding of some key scientific and experiment-related terms (i.e., independent variable, dependent variable, constant, etc.), students will be sure to struggle.
However, students don’t need a very deep understanding of science topics to be successful on the ACT® Science Test. The exam tests data analysis and technical reading comprehension more so than deep science content knowledge. Being able to identify and understand basic terminology will enable students to pick up on context clues and comprehend provided definitions.
How to Prepare for ACT® Vocabulary
Preparing for ACT® vocabulary should involve a combination and long- and short-term strategies.
Long-Term Strategies can create new habits that build a strong foundation for vocabulary and comprehension. Here are some of our favorite long-term strategies that will make test prep more effective:
Read. This is hands down the best exposure to understanding words and phrases in context. Reading is the most painless way to learn new vocabulary and acquire new knowledge. Creating a daily habit of reading will enable students to build reading comprehension and grow vocabulary naturally.
The ACT® reading section includes passages from an array of genres - specifically from Arts and Literature, Prose Fiction, Humanities, Social Studies, Social Science, and Natural Sciences. No matter the material, prospective test-takers should find college-level books and articles that are both interesting and challenging.
Students should spend a minimum of 30 minutes a day reading quality materials. Tutors should provide suggestions to help broaden independent reading selections to touch on at least a handful of articles or books from each of these genres. This will help familiarize students with the various types of writing styles and will serve to build both reading comprehension skills and vocabulary.
Listen to audiobooks. Audiobooks are an excellent way to extend reading time throughout a student’s day. Listening to a book can be incorporated into daily activities like athletic training, playing video games, visiting the gym, and riding in the car.
Keep a vocab journal. Vocab journals are a great way for students to learn and keep track of new words. Encourage your students to take a moment- while reading, listening to an audiobook, or even after hearing an interesting word in conversation or on TV- to jot down that word or phrase in a journal.
Keeping a vocab journal that includes definitions (both literal and secondary) and the example of how the word or phrase was used in context will help students learn new words and phrases as well as their multiple meanings when seen or heard again.
Also urge students to build on their growing vocabulary by including a couple of synonyms for those words- learning synonyms will help extend their comprehension and expand their vocabulary even further.
Use it or lose it! Try practicing those newly-learned words and phrases with your students in conversations. Practicing new vocabulary will help students to engage with and commit new words to their memory. The more comfortable they become using those words in real life, the more comfortable they will be when it comes to recognizing and understanding them in a passage on the ACT®.
Short-Term Strategies can be beneficial as long as the methods lead to students understanding the vocabulary terms. Rather than cramming premade ACT® vocab lists and definitions (not a great idea!), here are some better options that are sure to make short-term ACT® test prep much more productive:
Use flashcards. Flashcards are not for everybody, but sometimes that has more to do with finding the right approach that clicks with a student than anything else. If memorizing lists of words and definitions isn’t the right fit, give them some creative options to try like creating flashcards with silly sentences or drawing pictures to help create word associations. Sometimes the simple act of mixing up the approach makes all the difference for committing new information to memory.
For more flashcard tips, check out this video from productivity and personal improvement expert Thomas Frank.
Offer ACT® Practice tests. Not only are practice test sessions an excellent marketing opportunity for your test-prep business, they give students authentic experiences to engage with words exactly how they are used on the ACT®. What’s more, a post-test score analysis can make it easier to diagnose vocabulary weaknesses across the different test sections.
Integrate vocabulary-focused practice and strategies into test-prep sessions. The custom-branded test-prep tools offered by Clear Choice empower tutors to support students with their ACT® vocabulary. Not only do our materials include helpful word lists and vocabulary-boosting tips, but they also provide authentic, test-style practice to help students get their context-clue reps in.
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