1) Encourage regular, wide reading
The SEAG Entrance Assessment is based on the statutory Northern Ireland Curriculum at Key Stage 2. The English element draws on Language and Literacy and includes reading comprehension, spelling, punctuation, grammar and vocabulary, so vocabulary preparation should focus on understanding words in context, not memorising lists alone.
Research by Cunningham and Stanovich (1998) in *What Reading Does for the Mind* found that children with greater exposure to print (reading) tend to develop stronger vocabulary, wider general knowledge and better verbal skills. For SEAG, this means children should read a broad mix of texts similar to those they may encounter in comprehension tasks, including fiction extracts, classic children’s literature, non-fiction articles, poetry, persuasive writing, reports and newspaper-style texts.
A practical SEAG routine would be: read for 15–20 minutes most days, pause to discuss unfamiliar words, ask your child to infer meaning from the sentence, and keep a vocabulary notebook with synonyms, antonyms and example sentences. This supports the type of word understanding needed for SEAG comprehension and vocabulary questions, rather than just learning definitions in isolation.
2) Teach new words explicitly and revisit them
For SEAG preparation, children need to do more than recognise a word once — they need to understand it, use it and remember it under test conditions. Research from the National Reading Panel found that effective vocabulary teaching includes direct explanation, repeated exposure, meaningful context and active use.
A useful approach is to choose 5–8 high-value words each week from reading passages, practice papers or class novels. For each word, ask your child to:
- define it in their own words
- use it in a sentence
- identify synonyms and antonyms
- spot it in a reading passage
- revisit it later in the week
For example, if the word is reluctant, your child might record: unwilling, hesitant, not keen, opposite: eager. They could then write: Tom was reluctant to enter the dark room.
This builds the deeper word knowledge needed for SEAG comprehension, vocabulary and cloze-style questions, rather than relying on memorised definitions alone.
3) Teach roots, prefixes and suffixes
For SEAG preparation, children benefit from learning how words are built. Many unfamiliar words in comprehension and vocabulary questions can be worked out by breaking them into smaller meaningful parts, such as prefixes, roots and suffixes.
Research by Bowers, Kirby and Deacon (2010) found that morphological instruction supports literacy skills, including vocabulary, spelling and reading. A later meta-analysis by Goodwin and Ahn (2013) also found a positive overall effect of teaching morphology on children’s literacy achievement.
For SEAG, focus on common word parts such as:
- Prefixes: sub- = under, anti- = against, pre- = before, re- = again
- Roots: bio = life, geo = earth, aud = hearing, chron = time
- Suffixes: -able = able to be, -ology = study of, -tion = action or process
For example, if a child knows that sub- means “under”, they may be able to work out words such as submarine, subterranean and submerge. This helps them tackle unfamiliar vocabulary more independently in SEAG reading passages, rather than relying only on memorised word lists
4) Discuss words in context
For SEAG preparation, children need to infer meaning from the passage, not just memorise definitions. When your child meets an unfamiliar word, ask them to look at the sentence, the surrounding paragraph and the tone of the text.
Useful questions include:
- “What clues are around the word?”
- “Is the word positive, negative or neutral?”
- “What could replace this word and still make sense?”
- “What does the character’s action tell us about the meaning?”
Research by Nagy, Herman and Anderson (1985) and Nagy, Anderson and Herman (1987) found that children can learn some word meanings from written context, although a single encounter is usually not enough. More recent research continues to support this: Shin, 2023 found that repeated exposure and deeper processing improve vocabulary learning, while the National Reading Panel concluded that vocabulary instruction is strongest when children engage with words through context, discussion and repeated exposure.
If you’re looking for resources to help your child improve their ability to infer meaning from context, we currently have two resources available, with more being released in August.
- Developing Vocabulary Through Inference (1)
- Developing Vocabulary Through Inference (2)
- Developing Vocabulary Through Inference (3) COMING SOON
- Comprehensions (Reading Between the Lines: Inference) COMING SOON
Each resource gradually increases in difficulty.
5) Link words to images, examples and memory cues
For SEAG preparation, children need to remember and recognise vocabulary quickly in comprehension, cloze and synonym-style questions. One useful strategy is to connect new words to a picture, action, example sentence or memorable clue.
This is supported by Dual Coding Theory, developed by Allan Paivio, which suggests that learning can be strengthened when information is stored both verbally and visually. Clark and Paivio’s paper, “Dual Coding Theory and Education” explains that combining words with mental images can support recall and understanding. Mayer’s research on multimedia learning also supports the idea that pupils often learn more effectively when relevant words and images are combined.
A recent paper by Mayer (2024), “The Past, Present, and Future of the Cognitive Theory of Multimedia Learning”reviews how pupils learn from words and graphics, while Wooten and Cuevas (2024) found that dual coding supported vocabulary and comprehension in elementary education.
