The Vocabulary SIG pays tribute to scholars and recognizes graduate students in the area of vocabulary research.
This annual award recognizes an important scholar in the area of vocabulary research. The award is presented to an individual who has been nominated by a Vocabulary SIG member and is determined by the Award Committee to be deserving of the tribute.
This award honors the efforts of scholars who have given their professional efforts to the field of vocabulary research. It bridges emergent researchers with those who have paved the way before them, and provides an opportunity to engage in a group presentation and discussion about the researcher’s work.
The following criteria are used to identify and evaluate possible vocabulary scholars:
The timeline for making the Notable Vocabulary Researcher Award is:
This annual award recognizes an exemplary research paper focusing on vocabulary research or instruction by a student author. The award has been granted informally over the past six years through the Vocabulary SIG and we now wish to officially sanction the process. The award is presented to the individual or individuals who meet the following criteria as approved by the SIG and Council: An original research paper presented in the previous year’s annual AERA meeting on the topic of vocabulary research or instruction; applicants must have student status at the time of paper submission to AERA; and must be a SIG member by the award application date.
This award encourages upcoming researchers to focus on vocabulary topics, and rewards an outstanding effort in this area. It helps move our collective knowledge forward, and provides an opportunity to engage in a group presentation and discussion about the research topic.
The following criteria are used to identify and evaluate possible award papers:
The timeline for making the Student Vocabulary Research Paper Award is:
2023 Vocabulary SIG Award Winners
Notable Vocabulary Researcher: Dr. Barbara Wasik, Professor, Temple University
Student Vocabulary Research Paper: Dr. Huan Zhang, PhD, University of Houston
Congratulations to Dr. Barbara Wasik, 2023 recipient of the Notable Vocabulary Researcher Award. Dr. Wasik, a leading researcher in early childhood education at Temple University, has made significant contributions to vocabulary research.
Also, congratulations to Dr. Huan Zhang, the recipient of the 2023 Student Vocabulary Research Paper Award. Zhang presented her work at this April's meeting on "Integrating morphological and contextual cues in lexical inferencing of Chinese fourth graders."
2022 Vocabulary SIG Award Winners
Notable Vocabulary Researcher: Judy Scott, Professor Emeritus, University of California at Santa Cruz
Notable Vocabulary Researcher: Mike Graves, Professor Emeritus, University of Minnesota
Student Vocabulary Research Paper: Min Hyun Oh, PhD Candidate, Vanderbilt University
Congratulations to Michael Graves (Professor Emeritus, University of Minnesota) and Judith Scott (Professor Emeritus, University of California at Santa Cruz), the 2022 recipients of the Notable Vocabulary Researcher Award. The research of both Dr. Graves and Dr. Scott has been incredibly influential in our field; so many of us rely on their groundbreaking contributions.
Also, congratulations to Min Hyun Oh (Ph.D. candidate, Vanderbilt University), the recipient of the 2022 Student Vocabulary Research Paper Award. Min’s work in conceptual vocabulary knowledge with young multilingual learners, with the support of Dr. Jeannette Mancilla- Martinez, is an undeniably critical contribution to the field.
2020 Vocabulary SIG Award Winners
Congratulations to Jim Baumann, the recipient of the Notable Vocabulary Researcher Award; and Ming-Yi (Grace) Hsieh, the recipient of the Student Vocabulary Research Paper Award.
Jim Baumann
Ming-Yi (Grace) Hsieh
2019 Vocabulary SIG Award Winners
Congratulations to Catherine Snow the recipient of the Notable Vocabulary Researcher Award; and JeanMarie Farrow, the recipient of the Student Vocabulary Research Paper Award.
Catherine Snow
JeanMarie Farrow
2018 Vocabulary SIG Award Winners
Congratulations to David K. Dickinson the recipient of the Notable Vocabulary Researcher Award; and Kathryn Accurso the recipient of the Student Vocabulary Research Paper Award.
DAVID K. DICKINSON
KATHRYN ACCURSO
2017 Vocabulary SIG Award Winners
Congratulations to Elfrieda Hiebert and Andrew Biemiller the recipients of the Notable Vocabulary Researcher Award; and J. Kenneth Logan the recipient of the Student Vocabulary Research Paper Award.
ELFRIEDA HIEBERT
ANDREW BIEMILLER
2016 Vocabulary SIG Award Winners
Congratulations to Dr. Margaret G. McKeown (University of Pittsburgh), the recipient of the Notable Vocabulary Researcher Award; and Dr. Meredith W. Moran (Stanford University), the recipient of the Student Vocabulary Research Paper Award.
MARGARET G. MCKEOWN
Dr. Margaret McKeown’s vocabulary research spans more than 35 years (1979-present). Her research has focused on vocabulary instruction and its impact on comprehension, acquisition of word meanings, academic vocabulary, and morphology, and has addressed the needs of young children through adolescent learners. Her work is published in high-profile journals and presses that include Reading Research Quarterly, Early Childhood Research Quarterly, Cognition and Instruction, Journal of Educational Psychology, Guilford Press and Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, as well as in practitioner journals, such as The Reading Teacher and Language Arts. Dr. McKeown’s vocabulary research has been funded by the Institute of Education Sciences—IES, as well as other organizations. She is a Fellow of the American Education Research Association and a member of the International Literacy Association’s Reading Hall of Fame. She began her career teaching language arts in elementary school.
MEREDITH W. MORAN
Award winning paper: The Centrality of Talk: Development of Kindergarteners’ Oral Vocabulary through Discussion of Texts Read Aloud. Paper presented at 2015 Annual AERA Conference.
2015 Vocabulary SIG Award Winners
At the 2015 Annual Meeting, recipients of the awards for Notable Vocabulary Researcher and Student Vocabulary Research Paper were Dr. William Nagy, Seattle Pacific University, and Dr. Sean Davidson, University of California, Riverside, respectively.
WILLIAM E. NAGY
Professor of Education in Literacy/Curriculum and Instruction, School of Education, Pacific Seattle University.
Bill’s Impressive Publication Record Spanning 37 years (1978 – present) includes four books, numerous articles and book chapters, encyclopedia entries, conference proceedings, and reports.
Career Focus and Awards: Professor Nagy is interested in how children learn words, how vocabulary can best be taught, what teachers can do to help English language learners, and how students' awareness of language contributes to their reading ability. Professor Nagy has done research on incidental word learning from context during reading, the acquisition of derivational morphology, how knowledge of morphology contributes to comprehension, bilingual students’ recognition of cognate relationships between English and Spanish, and the role of morphological awareness in learning to read in English and in Chinese. Professor Nagy was elected into the Reading Hall of Fame in 2009.
SEAN DAVIDSON
Ph.D. Candidate, University of California, Riverside, California
Award winning paper: Morphological Analysis Training for English Language Learners with Reading. Paper presented at AERA 2014, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, April 3, 2014
Sean Davidson has been an educator for over fifteen years as a classroom teacher and support provider. He earned his doctorate in education from the University of California, Riverside, under the guidance of his advisor, Dr. Rollanda O’Connor. Currently, he works as an instructional coach for the Los Angeles Unified School District and as a lecturer for the University of California, Riverside’s teacher credential program. His instructional and research interests include assisting students from diverse cultural and linguistic backgrounds increase vocabulary knowledge and improve reading.
Previous Vocabulary SIG Award Winners
Notable Vocabulary Researcher
2014 No Award Given
2013 No Award Given
2012 Isabel Beck
Student Vocabulary Research Paper
2014 No award given
2013 No award given
2012 Ersoy Erdemir, Ph.D. Candidate in Foreign and Second Language Education, State University of New York, Buffalo, New York. Vocabulary Development Through Peer Interactions: A Case Study of an Emerging English Language Learner in a Preschool Classroom. Paper presented at AERA 2011, New Orleans, February 26, 2011
2011 Elaine Mo, Ph.D. Candidate, Harvard University Comparing Language-Minority and English Only Fifth Graders’Depth of Vocabulary Knowledge. Poster presented at AERA 2010, Denver, Colorado, May 2, 2010