Although it may be true that the learning of new words is facilitated by some contexts, it is not true that every context is an appropriate or effective instructional means for vocabulary development.

Textbooks on teaching reading almost universally advise the development of vocabulary through the use of words in context. Basal readers, a major source for vocabulary development in the elementary school classroom, most often identify their vocabulary strand as employing a context method. Although the context method for vocabulary development has had widespread acceptance and use, it is possible for the method to be interpreted too broadly.

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