
Academic Vocabulary: Helpful or Just Confusing?
We’ve all heard the jokes about the insane amount of acronyms used in the teaching profession. There are in-school terms like IEP and PLC. There are mnemonics like CUPS, TIDE, and FANBOYS. It can definitely be confusing for kids and teachers alike. It gets to be just too much. But it’s not just acronyms. It’s also terminology–the academic vocabulary we use in our teaching. Specifically, vocabulary related to the teaching of phonics that some programs ask teachers to use. Terms like “liquids” and “glides.” With the focus on phonics as of late (a good thing!), we’ve started using a lot of very technical terms. But are they really needed or do they just cause confusion?
This is the same question that was discussed on a recent Literacy Talks podcast. The show hosts asked the questions:
- What do I need to know in order to do the thing?
- What do I need to know to teach someone how to do the thing?
- How much of that is shared?
On one hand, calling a spade a spade just makes sense. We want kids to know terms like visualize, infer, and summarize. Let’s call quotation marks quotation marks instead of “talking marks” and let’s call it a period and not a stop sign (both of which I’m 100% guilty of doing in the past!)
Kids will encounter and apply the skills behind this kind of academic vocabulary time and again.
If we just call things what they are from the start, we eliminate the likely confusion of a child hearing it called one thing one year, and then something totally different the next, and potentially still another thing the following year. Because these terms name things kids will do all the way through school and even beyond, it’s helpful for them to know what they’re called.
On the other hand, sometimes we can really bog kids down with academic vocabulary–especially when it becomes incredibly high level.
Some phonics programs ask teachers to use very specific terms that really only speech pathologists might need. Terms like liquids, glides, and fricatives. Not only are these words I hadn’t even heard until my 40’s, they’re very confusing to try to explain to kids. Phonics programs that include them tell teachers that these terms are to be used even in kindergarten.
In that same Literacy Talks podcast, Lindsay Kemeny pragmatically reminds us that “While it’s very helpful for teachers to know those terms to scaffold my teaching, students don’t need to know those terms. They just need to know how to blend and segment.”
Yes, kids love to learn big words. And we will teach them many, many vocabulary words. But these are teacher terms. Terms that name very nuanced, difficult to explain concepts. Terms that help teachers understand the what and why behind them so that we can better explain them to kids–in kid-friendly terms.

These very technical terms that used in college-level courses for educators are not meant for kids. This is part of what makes sound walls a dubious use whole group lesson time and wall space.
The cognitive load it would take for kids to actually learn what this very technical academic vocabulary means in terms of mouth formation would be enormous–and developmentally inappropriate.
Teaching kids these technical terms does not actually help kids learn the concepts.
That comes from your modeling, explaining in a kid-friendly way, and responsive teaching. It’s about watching and listening carefully and responding with specific feedback. It’s about providing hand mirrors to help kids see for themselves what the mouth and tongue do as letter sounds are made, and doing it over and over, until it’s solid.
Teaching 5 and 6 year-olds terminology that only adults ever need to know is just not worth it. The understanding of both sound walls and technical terms like fricatives, glides, and liquids is for us, the teacher. This is just an example of why we can’t ever take a given curriculum and read it verbatim. Doing that will always cause us to miss the mark in some places and go far over kids’ heads in others.
In the end, it comes down to knowing your goals, knowing your students, and tailoring your instruction to bridge the two together. No need to bog your students down with needless terms!

Who is Coach from the Couch?? I’m Michelle, a 25-year veteran educator, currently a K-5 literacy coach. I continue to learn alongside teachers in classrooms each and every day, and it’s my mission to support as many teachers as I can. Because no one can do this work alone. I’m available to you, too, through virtual coaching calls! Simply email me at [email protected] or reach out for a coaching call! I’m here to partner with you to build that foundation of student motivation for writing so your students can realize greater success.
Or, consider joining my Facebook community–a safe, supportive environment (really–no blaming or shaming is allowed!) where you can ask questions, learn ideas, and share your thoughts among other literacy-loving educators!
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