What is Secondary 3 English Vocabulary | How Many Words Should a Grade 9 Student Know? Vocabulary Size and Coverage

How many vocabulary words should a Secondary 3 student know? is one of the most common Grade 9 vocabulary questions, but it sounds more precise than the science of word counting really allows. Students and parents searching for Secondary 3 vocabulary size, Grade 9 vocabulary size, 9th grade vocabulary words, how many words should a 14-year-old know, vocabulary coverage, academic vocabulary, vocabulary words with meanings and examples and English vocabulary targets need a better answer than one impressive-looking number.

Vocabulary size depends on what counts as a word, whether related forms are grouped into word families, whether multiple meanings are counted separately, whether recognition or productive use is required, and which texts the learner needs to understand. A student may recognise thousands of words yet have a much smaller active vocabulary for writing and speaking. Another may know common words deeply enough to handle several meanings, collocations and academic uses. Raw totals can therefore mislead when they are separated from coverage, depth, retrieval and transfer.

This article is the vocabulary-size-and-coverage child of eduKateSG’s Secondary 3 English Vocabulary apex. It does not create an official Secondary 3 word-count requirement because no single MOE or SEAB list defines one. Instead, it explains what vocabulary-size estimates mean, how lexical coverage affects reading, why benchmarks such as the Oxford 3000 and Oxford 5000 are useful reference systems rather than school-year quotas, and how parents and teachers can set realistic Grade 9 vocabulary targets.

The 50-Second Route

There is no trustworthy universal sentence of the form “Every Secondary 3 student should know exactly X words.” Use a layered target instead. The learner needs enough broad receptive vocabulary to read school-level texts with relatively few unknown items, enough deep knowledge to interpret common academic words correctly, and a smaller high-utility productive vocabulary that can be retrieved quickly for writing and speech.

• Do not confuse number of headwords with number of meanings.
• Do not count recognition and productive control as the same achievement.
• Do not assume Grade 9 equals one fixed international vocabulary level.
• Use frequency and learner relevance to prioritise high-value words.
• Measure progress through coverage, depth, retrieval and transfer—not raw totals alone.
• Treat the Oxford 3000/5000 as researched learner reference lists, not Secondary 3 examination syllabuses.

The right vocabulary target is not the largest number you can claim. It is enough lexical coverage and control for the texts and tasks the learner must actually handle.

Why Vocabulary Size Is Hard to Count

The first problem is the unit. If a student knows analyse, analyses, analysed, analysing, should those count as four words or one lemma? What about analysis and analytical? Some tests count word families; others use lemmas or headwords. The result can change dramatically even before the learner answers anything.

The second problem is polysemy. Does knowing issue as “problem” count as knowing the word if the student cannot understand “the authority issued a notice”? Vocabulary knowledge is often sense-specific. A learner can know the common sense but miss an academic or grammatical one.

The third problem is threshold. If a student can choose the meaning from four options but cannot explain or use the word, does it count? A recognition test and a production test measure different parts of the vocabulary system. Both are useful; neither should be treated as the whole truth.

Word Types, Tokens, Lemmas and Families

A token is an occurrence of a word in a text. If the appears ten times, that is ten tokens. A type counts distinct written forms, so those ten appearances of the count as one type. A lemma groups inflectional forms such as analyse, analyses, analysed, analysing. A word family may group related derivations such as analyse, analysis, analytical, depending on the counting system.

These distinctions matter because vocabulary-size research may report different units. Parents should be cautious when comparing numbers from different websites or tests. A “20,000 word vocabulary” under one counting method may not be directly comparable with “8,000 word families” under another.

For classroom planning, exact unit debates are less important than consistency. Choose one practical measurement method and track change over time using the same method.

Vocabulary Coverage Is Often More Useful Than Vocabulary Size

Coverage asks what proportion of the running words in a text the learner already knows. Two learners with similar vocabulary-size estimates can experience very different coverage if one reads familiar school topics and the other reads specialised material. Coverage is text-dependent.

High coverage reduces interruption. When only a small proportion of words are unknown, readers can often infer meaning, maintain the argument and use context productively. When too many words are unfamiliar, context clues themselves become harder to use because the surrounding language is also unstable.

This is why reading difficulty should be diagnosed using actual texts, not only a global vocabulary score. Sample the learner’s English, Science and Humanities materials. Mark words that are unknown, partly known or known in the wrong sense. The pattern is more instructionally useful than a single total.

The Oxford 3000 and Oxford 5000: Useful Benchmarks, Not Grade Quotas

Oxford Learner’s Dictionaries describes the Oxford 3000 as 3,000 core words selected for frequency in the Oxford English Corpus and relevance to language learners, aligned roughly across A1–B2 CEFR levels. The Oxford 5000 adds 2,000 further words for advanced learners at B2–C1. These are carefully researched learner lists and therefore useful reference systems.

They should not be misread as “a Secondary 3 student must know exactly 5,000 words.” CEFR describes language ability rather than school year, and Singapore Secondary 3 students vary widely in reading history, home language, subject demands and English proficiency. Some may know many Oxford 5000 items receptively but still have weak productive control. Others may have strong school-specific vocabulary not captured by a simple core-list count.

The educational value is prioritisation. If a word is frequent, relevant to learners and useful across texts, it is often a better teaching target than a rare prestige word.

Receptive Size and Productive Size

Receptive vocabulary—the words students can recognise in reading or listening—is typically larger than productive vocabulary—the words they can retrieve and use accurately. This is normal. A strong reader may understand mitigate, exacerbate, provisional, predominant but not yet use them naturally in speech.

Secondary 3 planning should therefore maintain two inventories. The broad receptive inventory expands through reading and subject learning. The active productive inventory is smaller and more carefully trained through retrieval, collocation, writing and oral use.

Trying to activate every known word is inefficient. Prioritise words that solve recurring communication jobs.

A Better Grade 9 Vocabulary Target Model

Coverage

Can the learner read current school texts without being blocked by unknown vocabulary? This dimension should be sampled separately. A learner can be strong in one and weak in another, which is exactly why one total score is insufficient.

Core breadth

Does the learner know common high-utility English across everyday and school contexts? This dimension should be sampled separately. A learner can be strong in one and weak in another, which is exactly why one total score is insufficient.

Academic breadth

Does the learner recognise common academic reasoning vocabulary across subjects? This dimension should be sampled separately. A learner can be strong in one and weak in another, which is exactly why one total score is insufficient.

Depth

Can the learner handle multiple meanings, word families, collocations and register? This dimension should be sampled separately. A learner can be strong in one and weak in another, which is exactly why one total score is insufficient.

Retrieval

Can useful words be recalled without being shown? This dimension should be sampled separately. A learner can be strong in one and weak in another, which is exactly why one total score is insufficient.

Transfer

Can the learner use vocabulary across comprehension, writing, oral and other subjects? This dimension should be sampled separately. A learner can be strong in one and weak in another, which is exactly why one total score is insufficient.

Independence

Can the learner infer, verify and record new vocabulary without constant teacher support? This dimension should be sampled separately. A learner can be strong in one and weak in another, which is exactly why one total score is insufficient.

40 Vocabulary-Measurement Scenarios

1. Scenario

Observed pattern: Alicia recognises 90% of a list but can define only half without options. Likely diagnosis: High recognition, lower recall. Best next move: Use reverse retrieval before adding many new words. The purpose of the scenario is to show why vocabulary size cannot be interpreted without knowing what kind of knowledge the learner has.

2. Scenario

Observed pattern: Tricia reads fiction fluently but struggles with Science explanations. Likely diagnosis: Domain coverage gap. Best next move: Build subject vocabulary and cross-curricular academic words. The purpose of the scenario is to show why vocabulary size cannot be interpreted without knowing what kind of knowledge the learner has.

3. Scenario

Observed pattern: Kai Kai knows many advanced words but uses them awkwardly. Likely diagnosis: Depth/collocation gap. Best next move: Reduce expansion temporarily; deepen usage. The purpose of the scenario is to show why vocabulary size cannot be interpreted without knowing what kind of knowledge the learner has.

4. Scenario

Observed pattern: A student knows analyse but not analysis or analytical. Likely diagnosis: Word-family gap. Best next move: Teach related forms in sentence transformations. The purpose of the scenario is to show why vocabulary size cannot be interpreted without knowing what kind of knowledge the learner has.

5. Scenario

Observed pattern: A student knows issue only as problem. Likely diagnosis: Polysemy gap. Best next move: Add second senses from authentic texts. The purpose of the scenario is to show why vocabulary size cannot be interpreted without knowing what kind of knowledge the learner has.

6. Scenario

Observed pattern: A student can define significant but overuses it for big. Likely diagnosis: Meaning-boundary gap. Best next move: Contrast size, importance and technical senses. The purpose of the scenario is to show why vocabulary size cannot be interpreted without knowing what kind of knowledge the learner has.

7. Scenario

Observed pattern: A student understands a passage but writes vague answers. Likely diagnosis: Productive retrieval gap. Best next move: Train analytical vocabulary from meaning cues. The purpose of the scenario is to show why vocabulary size cannot be interpreted without knowing what kind of knowledge the learner has.

8. Scenario

Observed pattern: A student scores high on flashcards but low on cloze. Likely diagnosis: Context/collocation gap. Best next move: Use sentence-level retrieval. The purpose of the scenario is to show why vocabulary size cannot be interpreted without knowing what kind of knowledge the learner has.

9. Scenario

Observed pattern: A student reads news well but not literature. Likely diagnosis: Genre coverage gap. Best next move: Expand figurative, descriptive and tone vocabulary. The purpose of the scenario is to show why vocabulary size cannot be interpreted without knowing what kind of knowledge the learner has.

10. Scenario

Observed pattern: A student understands spoken discussion but misses written academic nouns. Likely diagnosis: Nominalisation gap. Best next move: Teach verb–noun families. The purpose of the scenario is to show why vocabulary size cannot be interpreted without knowing what kind of knowledge the learner has.

11. Scenario

Observed pattern: A student knows many roots but guesses whole words wrongly. Likely diagnosis: Overreliance on morphology. Best next move: Require context verification. The purpose of the scenario is to show why vocabulary size cannot be interpreted without knowing what kind of knowledge the learner has.

12. Scenario

Observed pattern: A student skips every unknown word while reading. Likely diagnosis: Incidental-learning gap. Best next move: Adopt selective lookup and recording. The purpose of the scenario is to show why vocabulary size cannot be interpreted without knowing what kind of knowledge the learner has.

13. Scenario

Observed pattern: A student looks up every unknown word immediately. Likely diagnosis: Fluency disruption. Best next move: Prioritise blockers and recurring high-value words. The purpose of the scenario is to show why vocabulary size cannot be interpreted without knowing what kind of knowledge the learner has.

14. Scenario

Observed pattern: A student knows words for topics but few reasoning verbs. Likely diagnosis: Academic-function gap. Best next move: Build analyse, infer, evaluate, justify and related language. The purpose of the scenario is to show why vocabulary size cannot be interpreted without knowing what kind of knowledge the learner has.

15. Scenario

Observed pattern: A student writes formal words in casual speech. Likely diagnosis: Register gap. Best next move: Practise situation-based vocabulary choice. The purpose of the scenario is to show why vocabulary size cannot be interpreted without knowing what kind of knowledge the learner has.

16. Scenario

Observed pattern: A student understands synonyms as identical. Likely diagnosis: Depth/contrast gap. Best next move: Teach gradients and substitution limits. The purpose of the scenario is to show why vocabulary size cannot be interpreted without knowing what kind of knowledge the learner has.

17. Scenario

Observed pattern: A student has many notebooks but little recall. Likely diagnosis: Storage without retrieval. Best next move: Convert notes into delayed cues. The purpose of the scenario is to show why vocabulary size cannot be interpreted without knowing what kind of knowledge the learner has.

18. Scenario

Observed pattern: A student reads only one genre. Likely diagnosis: Narrow exposure. Best next move: Diversify reading while preserving volume. The purpose of the scenario is to show why vocabulary size cannot be interpreted without knowing what kind of knowledge the learner has.

19. Scenario

Observed pattern: A student understands classroom vocabulary but not exam paraphrases. Likely diagnosis: Lexical flexibility gap. Best next move: Practise semantic equivalence. The purpose of the scenario is to show why vocabulary size cannot be interpreted without knowing what kind of knowledge the learner has.

20. Scenario

Observed pattern: A student forgets new words after one week. Likely diagnosis: Spacing gap. Best next move: Schedule delayed retrieval. The purpose of the scenario is to show why vocabulary size cannot be interpreted without knowing what kind of knowledge the learner has.

21. Scenario

Observed pattern: A student knows 5,000 list items but cannot write fluently. Likely diagnosis: Size–performance mismatch. Best next move: Measure productive chunks and retrieval. The purpose of the scenario is to show why vocabulary size cannot be interpreted without knowing what kind of knowledge the learner has.

22. Scenario

Observed pattern: A student knows fewer list items but writes precise essays. Likely diagnosis: Depth advantage. Best next move: Continue breadth growth without sacrificing control. The purpose of the scenario is to show why vocabulary size cannot be interpreted without knowing what kind of knowledge the learner has.

23. Scenario

Observed pattern: A student has strong general English but weak Humanities vocabulary. Likely diagnosis: Domain-specific gap. Best next move: Build disciplinary concepts and collocations. The purpose of the scenario is to show why vocabulary size cannot be interpreted without knowing what kind of knowledge the learner has.

24. Scenario

Observed pattern: A student confuses academic and technical words. Likely diagnosis: Category confusion. Best next move: Separate cross-curricular from discipline-specific language. The purpose of the scenario is to show why vocabulary size cannot be interpreted without knowing what kind of knowledge the learner has.

25. Scenario

Observed pattern: A student sees different vocabulary-test scores online. Likely diagnosis: Measurement inconsistency. Best next move: Compare units and task formats before interpreting. The purpose of the scenario is to show why vocabulary size cannot be interpreted without knowing what kind of knowledge the learner has.

26. Scenario

Observed pattern: A student wants a one-number target for the year. Likely diagnosis: Goal oversimplification. Best next move: Use layered targets by function. The purpose of the scenario is to show why vocabulary size cannot be interpreted without knowing what kind of knowledge the learner has.

27. Scenario

Observed pattern: A student masters a Top 100 list quickly. Likely diagnosis: Selection success, not complete mastery. Best next move: Test transfer and continue broad reading. The purpose of the scenario is to show why vocabulary size cannot be interpreted without knowing what kind of knowledge the learner has.

28. Scenario

Observed pattern: A student knows words receptively but avoids them orally. Likely diagnosis: Oral retrieval gap. Best next move: Practise timed discussion. The purpose of the scenario is to show why vocabulary size cannot be interpreted without knowing what kind of knowledge the learner has.

29. Scenario

Observed pattern: A student misreads familiar words with new senses. Likely diagnosis: Sense-depth gap. Best next move: Build polysemy awareness. The purpose of the scenario is to show why vocabulary size cannot be interpreted without knowing what kind of knowledge the learner has.

30. Scenario

Observed pattern: A student knows definitions but not prepositions. Likely diagnosis: Pattern gap. Best next move: Record grammar and collocation. The purpose of the scenario is to show why vocabulary size cannot be interpreted without knowing what kind of knowledge the learner has.

31. Scenario

Observed pattern: A student writes too many rare words. Likely diagnosis: Selection/pragmatic gap. Best next move: Prioritise clarity and audience. The purpose of the scenario is to show why vocabulary size cannot be interpreted without knowing what kind of knowledge the learner has.

32. Scenario

Observed pattern: A student reads comfortably until specialised chapters. Likely diagnosis: Threshold shift. Best next move: Measure coverage by topic. The purpose of the scenario is to show why vocabulary size cannot be interpreted without knowing what kind of knowledge the learner has.

33. Scenario

Observed pattern: A student remembers words only in original example sentences. Likely diagnosis: Context-bound memory. Best next move: Use varied transfer contexts. The purpose of the scenario is to show why vocabulary size cannot be interpreted without knowing what kind of knowledge the learner has.

34. Scenario

Observed pattern: A student recognises roots but not whole-word spelling. Likely diagnosis: Orthographic integration gap. Best next move: Teach families with written forms. The purpose of the scenario is to show why vocabulary size cannot be interpreted without knowing what kind of knowledge the learner has.

35. Scenario

Observed pattern: A student can use words in essays but not comprehension answers. Likely diagnosis: Task-transfer gap. Best next move: Practise paraphrase and analytical response. The purpose of the scenario is to show why vocabulary size cannot be interpreted without knowing what kind of knowledge the learner has.

36. Scenario

Observed pattern: A student knows current school vocabulary but not older literary forms. Likely diagnosis: Text-era gap. Best next move: Teach as needed rather than inflating global targets. The purpose of the scenario is to show why vocabulary size cannot be interpreted without knowing what kind of knowledge the learner has.

37. Scenario

Observed pattern: A bilingual learner knows concepts but not English labels. Likely diagnosis: Lexical-label gap. Best next move: Map known concepts to English vocabulary. The purpose of the scenario is to show why vocabulary size cannot be interpreted without knowing what kind of knowledge the learner has.

38. Scenario

Observed pattern: A learner knows conversational English but struggles with nominalisations. Likely diagnosis: Academic-register gap. Best next move: Teach derived abstract nouns. The purpose of the scenario is to show why vocabulary size cannot be interpreted without knowing what kind of knowledge the learner has.

39. Scenario

Observed pattern: A student wants to memorise 50 new words per day. Likely diagnosis: Load/retention risk. Best next move: Reduce targets and increase meaningful reuse. The purpose of the scenario is to show why vocabulary size cannot be interpreted without knowing what kind of knowledge the learner has.

40. Scenario

Observed pattern: A student asks whether Grade 9 should equal Oxford 5000. Likely diagnosis: Benchmark misunderstanding. Best next move: Use Oxford lists as learner references, not compulsory school-year quotas. The purpose of the scenario is to show why vocabulary size cannot be interpreted without knowing what kind of knowledge the learner has.

Five Ways to Estimate Progress Without Pretending to Know an Exact Vocabulary Total

• Sample actual school texts and calculate unknown/partly known items.
• Use broad recognition checks on high-utility lists, but label them as samples.
• Use reverse recall on a smaller active-vocabulary set.
• Track how many previously unknown words become stable after spaced review.
• Audit writing and oral work for precision, variety, collocation and retrieval.

A good measurement system is useful for decisions. If the result does not tell you what to teach next, the number may be impressive but educationally weak.

Vocabulary Coverage Across Subjects

English

Coverage should include general high-utility words, literary and rhetorical vocabulary, comprehension metalanguage, writing and oral vocabulary. A learner may have strong general English yet weak access to this domain, so cross-subject sampling is essential.

Science

Coverage should include processes, evidence, measurement, causation, technical nouns and derived forms. A learner may have strong general English yet weak access to this domain, so cross-subject sampling is essential.

Humanities

Coverage should include cause, consequence, significance, perspective, comparison, change, reliability and evaluation. A learner may have strong general English yet weak access to this domain, so cross-subject sampling is essential.

Mathematics

Coverage should include relationship, condition, representation, transformation, approximation, rate and precision. A learner may have strong general English yet weak access to this domain, so cross-subject sampling is essential.

Technology

Coverage should include systems, process, data, privacy, algorithm, access, bias, efficiency and evaluation. A learner may have strong general English yet weak access to this domain, so cross-subject sampling is essential.

A 12-Month Vocabulary-Growth Model

Month 1: baseline coverage across English, Science and Humanities

Sample current vocabulary in baseline coverage across English, Science and Humanities. Add a small number of explicit targets while broad reading continues. Reassess old words after delay. Record progress by coverage and independent use, not simply by how many entries were copied.

Month 2: core high-utility vocabulary

Sample current vocabulary in core high-utility vocabulary. Add a small number of explicit targets while broad reading continues. Reassess old words after delay. Record progress by coverage and independent use, not simply by how many entries were copied.

Month 3: academic verbs and reasoning words

Sample current vocabulary in academic verbs and reasoning words. Add a small number of explicit targets while broad reading continues. Reassess old words after delay. Record progress by coverage and independent use, not simply by how many entries were copied.

Month 4: word families and morphology

Sample current vocabulary in word families and morphology. Add a small number of explicit targets while broad reading continues. Reassess old words after delay. Record progress by coverage and independent use, not simply by how many entries were copied.

Month 5: context and multiple meanings

Sample current vocabulary in context and multiple meanings. Add a small number of explicit targets while broad reading continues. Reassess old words after delay. Record progress by coverage and independent use, not simply by how many entries were copied.

Month 6: collocations and register

Sample current vocabulary in collocations and register. Add a small number of explicit targets while broad reading continues. Reassess old words after delay. Record progress by coverage and independent use, not simply by how many entries were copied.

Month 7: argument and evidence language

Sample current vocabulary in argument and evidence language. Add a small number of explicit targets while broad reading continues. Reassess old words after delay. Record progress by coverage and independent use, not simply by how many entries were copied.

Month 8: literary tone and descriptive vocabulary

Sample current vocabulary in literary tone and descriptive vocabulary. Add a small number of explicit targets while broad reading continues. Reassess old words after delay. Record progress by coverage and independent use, not simply by how many entries were copied.

Month 9: cross-curricular transfer

Sample current vocabulary in cross-curricular transfer. Add a small number of explicit targets while broad reading continues. Reassess old words after delay. Record progress by coverage and independent use, not simply by how many entries were copied.

Month 10: timed retrieval and writing

Sample current vocabulary in timed retrieval and writing. Add a small number of explicit targets while broad reading continues. Reassess old words after delay. Record progress by coverage and independent use, not simply by how many entries were copied.

Month 11: oral activation and repair

Sample current vocabulary in oral activation and repair. Add a small number of explicit targets while broad reading continues. Reassess old words after delay. Record progress by coverage and independent use, not simply by how many entries were copied.

Month 12: consolidation and Secondary 4 handover

Sample current vocabulary in consolidation and Secondary 4 handover. Add a small number of explicit targets while broad reading continues. Reassess old words after delay. Record progress by coverage and independent use, not simply by how many entries were copied.

Frequently Asked Questions

How many words should a Secondary 3 student know?

There is no single official number that validly defines every learner. Use broad receptive coverage, academic vocabulary, depth, retrieval and task performance together.

Is the Oxford 5000 a Grade 9 list?

No. It is a researched learner list aligned broadly to B2–C1 for the additional 2,000 words beyond the Oxford 3000. It is not a Singapore Secondary 3 syllabus.

Can vocabulary size be measured accurately?

Only approximately, and results depend on the unit and test format. Estimates are useful when interpreted carefully.

What is lexical coverage?

The proportion of running words in a particular text that a learner understands.

Why is coverage text-dependent?

Different genres and subjects use different vocabulary distributions.

Is productive vocabulary smaller?

Usually yes, because writing and speaking require independent retrieval and accurate use.

Should students memorise thousands of words?

Broad vocabulary matters, but mass memorisation without context, spacing and use often produces shallow knowledge.

How do I know whether my child is behind?

Compare performance on actual school texts and tasks, then diagnose breadth, depth, retrieval and domain gaps separately.

Do Top 100 lists help?

Yes as curated starting points. They are not complete measures of vocabulary size.

What should a realistic yearly goal look like?

Steady expansion of receptive breadth plus deliberate activation of a smaller high-utility set, with evidence of better reading, writing and oral performance.

Routes Into eduKateSG

• Secondary 3 English Vocabulary apex.
• Vocabulary Breadth, Depth and Word Knowledge.
• Retrieval, Spaced Practice and Active Word Use.
• Top 100 Secondary 3 Academic Vocabulary.
• Vocabulary Learning Hub.

References

Oxford Learner’s Dictionaries explains that the Oxford 3000 and Oxford 5000 were selected using corpus frequency and relevance to learners; the Oxford 5000 adds 2,000 B2–C1 items to the core 3,000. The same resource emphasises that CEFR describes what learners can do rather than assigning one mandatory vocabulary list to each school year. For current Singapore assessment context, see the 2027 SEC G3 English Language syllabus.

Final Principle

Do not let vocabulary size become a vanity metric. Secondary 3 students need enough breadth to enter demanding texts, enough depth to interpret words correctly, enough retrieval strength to produce useful language, and enough transfer to carry vocabulary across tasks and subjects. Measure what helps teaching decisions. The best vocabulary target is the one that makes the learner more independent next month than they are today.

Extended Coverage Audit Bank

Coverage Audit Cycle 1

Case: Alicia recognises 90% of a list but can define only half without options. Take one familiar word and list two senses. Decide whether your vocabulary-size test would count both. Keep the diagnostic anchor “High recognition, lower recall.” and the likely next move “Use reverse retrieval before adding many new words.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: Tricia reads fiction fluently but struggles with Science explanations. Compare a recognition prompt with a productive prompt for the same word. Explain why the scores may differ. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Domain coverage gap.” and the likely next move “Build subject vocabulary and cross-curricular academic words.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: Kai Kai knows many advanced words but uses them awkwardly. Choose a high-utility word and decide whether it belongs in receptive only or active vocabulary. Justify the teaching investment. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Depth/collocation gap.” and the likely next move “Reduce expansion temporarily; deepen usage.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student knows analyse but not analysis or analytical. Sample one Science and one Humanities paragraph. Compare which academic words transfer and which are discipline-specific. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Word-family gap.” and the likely next move “Teach related forms in sentence transformations.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student knows issue only as problem. Take one Top 100 item and build a depth profile: meanings, family, collocations, register and transfer. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Polysemy gap.” and the likely next move “Add second senses from authentic texts.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student can define significant but overuses it for big. Design a five-word mini-test that measures more than definitions. Include one context and one retrieval item. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Meaning-boundary gap.” and the likely next move “Contrast size, importance and technical senses.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student understands a passage but writes vague answers. Look at a vocabulary benchmark and identify its unit: headword, lemma, family, CEFR item or something else. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Productive retrieval gap.” and the likely next move “Train analytical vocabulary from meaning cues.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student scores high on flashcards but low on cloze. Choose one reading genre and predict which vocabulary categories are underrepresented if the student reads only that genre. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Context/collocation gap.” and the likely next move “Use sentence-level retrieval.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student reads news well but not literature. Write a progress statement without using a raw word-count total. Use evidence from coverage, retrieval and transfer instead. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Genre coverage gap.” and the likely next move “Expand figurative, descriptive and tone vocabulary.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student understands spoken discussion but misses written academic nouns. Choose a current school paragraph. Mark known, partly known and unknown items, then decide which unknowns actually block comprehension. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Nominalisation gap.” and the likely next move “Teach verb–noun families.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student knows many roots but guesses whole words wrongly. Take one familiar word and list two senses. Decide whether your vocabulary-size test would count both. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Overreliance on morphology.” and the likely next move “Require context verification.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student skips every unknown word while reading. Compare a recognition prompt with a productive prompt for the same word. Explain why the scores may differ. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Incidental-learning gap.” and the likely next move “Adopt selective lookup and recording.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student looks up every unknown word immediately. Choose a high-utility word and decide whether it belongs in receptive only or active vocabulary. Justify the teaching investment. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Fluency disruption.” and the likely next move “Prioritise blockers and recurring high-value words.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student knows words for topics but few reasoning verbs. Sample one Science and one Humanities paragraph. Compare which academic words transfer and which are discipline-specific. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Academic-function gap.” and the likely next move “Build analyse, infer, evaluate, justify and related language.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student writes formal words in casual speech. Take one Top 100 item and build a depth profile: meanings, family, collocations, register and transfer. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Register gap.” and the likely next move “Practise situation-based vocabulary choice.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student understands synonyms as identical. Design a five-word mini-test that measures more than definitions. Include one context and one retrieval item. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Depth/contrast gap.” and the likely next move “Teach gradients and substitution limits.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student has many notebooks but little recall. Look at a vocabulary benchmark and identify its unit: headword, lemma, family, CEFR item or something else. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Storage without retrieval.” and the likely next move “Convert notes into delayed cues.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student reads only one genre. Choose one reading genre and predict which vocabulary categories are underrepresented if the student reads only that genre. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Narrow exposure.” and the likely next move “Diversify reading while preserving volume.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student understands classroom vocabulary but not exam paraphrases. Write a progress statement without using a raw word-count total. Use evidence from coverage, retrieval and transfer instead. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Lexical flexibility gap.” and the likely next move “Practise semantic equivalence.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student forgets new words after one week. Choose a current school paragraph. Mark known, partly known and unknown items, then decide which unknowns actually block comprehension. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Spacing gap.” and the likely next move “Schedule delayed retrieval.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student knows 5,000 list items but cannot write fluently. Take one familiar word and list two senses. Decide whether your vocabulary-size test would count both. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Size–performance mismatch.” and the likely next move “Measure productive chunks and retrieval.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student knows fewer list items but writes precise essays. Compare a recognition prompt with a productive prompt for the same word. Explain why the scores may differ. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Depth advantage.” and the likely next move “Continue breadth growth without sacrificing control.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student has strong general English but weak Humanities vocabulary. Choose a high-utility word and decide whether it belongs in receptive only or active vocabulary. Justify the teaching investment. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Domain-specific gap.” and the likely next move “Build disciplinary concepts and collocations.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student confuses academic and technical words. Sample one Science and one Humanities paragraph. Compare which academic words transfer and which are discipline-specific. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Category confusion.” and the likely next move “Separate cross-curricular from discipline-specific language.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student sees different vocabulary-test scores online. Take one Top 100 item and build a depth profile: meanings, family, collocations, register and transfer. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Measurement inconsistency.” and the likely next move “Compare units and task formats before interpreting.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student wants a one-number target for the year. Design a five-word mini-test that measures more than definitions. Include one context and one retrieval item. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Goal oversimplification.” and the likely next move “Use layered targets by function.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student masters a Top 100 list quickly. Look at a vocabulary benchmark and identify its unit: headword, lemma, family, CEFR item or something else. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Selection success, not complete mastery.” and the likely next move “Test transfer and continue broad reading.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student knows words receptively but avoids them orally. Choose one reading genre and predict which vocabulary categories are underrepresented if the student reads only that genre. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Oral retrieval gap.” and the likely next move “Practise timed discussion.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student misreads familiar words with new senses. Write a progress statement without using a raw word-count total. Use evidence from coverage, retrieval and transfer instead. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Sense-depth gap.” and the likely next move “Build polysemy awareness.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student knows definitions but not prepositions. Choose a current school paragraph. Mark known, partly known and unknown items, then decide which unknowns actually block comprehension. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Pattern gap.” and the likely next move “Record grammar and collocation.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student writes too many rare words. Take one familiar word and list two senses. Decide whether your vocabulary-size test would count both. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Selection/pragmatic gap.” and the likely next move “Prioritise clarity and audience.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student reads comfortably until specialised chapters. Compare a recognition prompt with a productive prompt for the same word. Explain why the scores may differ. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Threshold shift.” and the likely next move “Measure coverage by topic.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student remembers words only in original example sentences. Choose a high-utility word and decide whether it belongs in receptive only or active vocabulary. Justify the teaching investment. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Context-bound memory.” and the likely next move “Use varied transfer contexts.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student recognises roots but not whole-word spelling. Sample one Science and one Humanities paragraph. Compare which academic words transfer and which are discipline-specific. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Orthographic integration gap.” and the likely next move “Teach families with written forms.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student can use words in essays but not comprehension answers. Take one Top 100 item and build a depth profile: meanings, family, collocations, register and transfer. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Task-transfer gap.” and the likely next move “Practise paraphrase and analytical response.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student knows current school vocabulary but not older literary forms. Design a five-word mini-test that measures more than definitions. Include one context and one retrieval item. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Text-era gap.” and the likely next move “Teach as needed rather than inflating global targets.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A bilingual learner knows concepts but not English labels. Look at a vocabulary benchmark and identify its unit: headword, lemma, family, CEFR item or something else. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Lexical-label gap.” and the likely next move “Map known concepts to English vocabulary.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A learner knows conversational English but struggles with nominalisations. Choose one reading genre and predict which vocabulary categories are underrepresented if the student reads only that genre. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Academic-register gap.” and the likely next move “Teach derived abstract nouns.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student wants to memorise 50 new words per day. Write a progress statement without using a raw word-count total. Use evidence from coverage, retrieval and transfer instead. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Load/retention risk.” and the likely next move “Reduce targets and increase meaningful reuse.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student asks whether Grade 9 should equal Oxford 5000. Choose a current school paragraph. Mark known, partly known and unknown items, then decide which unknowns actually block comprehension. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Benchmark misunderstanding.” and the likely next move “Use Oxford lists as learner references, not compulsory school-year quotas.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Coverage Audit Cycle 2

Case: Alicia recognises 90% of a list but can define only half without options. Compare a recognition prompt with a productive prompt for the same word. Explain why the scores may differ. Keep the diagnostic anchor “High recognition, lower recall.” and the likely next move “Use reverse retrieval before adding many new words.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: Tricia reads fiction fluently but struggles with Science explanations. Choose a high-utility word and decide whether it belongs in receptive only or active vocabulary. Justify the teaching investment. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Domain coverage gap.” and the likely next move “Build subject vocabulary and cross-curricular academic words.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: Kai Kai knows many advanced words but uses them awkwardly. Sample one Science and one Humanities paragraph. Compare which academic words transfer and which are discipline-specific. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Depth/collocation gap.” and the likely next move “Reduce expansion temporarily; deepen usage.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student knows analyse but not analysis or analytical. Take one Top 100 item and build a depth profile: meanings, family, collocations, register and transfer. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Word-family gap.” and the likely next move “Teach related forms in sentence transformations.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student knows issue only as problem. Design a five-word mini-test that measures more than definitions. Include one context and one retrieval item. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Polysemy gap.” and the likely next move “Add second senses from authentic texts.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student can define significant but overuses it for big. Look at a vocabulary benchmark and identify its unit: headword, lemma, family, CEFR item or something else. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Meaning-boundary gap.” and the likely next move “Contrast size, importance and technical senses.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student understands a passage but writes vague answers. Choose one reading genre and predict which vocabulary categories are underrepresented if the student reads only that genre. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Productive retrieval gap.” and the likely next move “Train analytical vocabulary from meaning cues.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student scores high on flashcards but low on cloze. Write a progress statement without using a raw word-count total. Use evidence from coverage, retrieval and transfer instead. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Context/collocation gap.” and the likely next move “Use sentence-level retrieval.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student reads news well but not literature. Choose a current school paragraph. Mark known, partly known and unknown items, then decide which unknowns actually block comprehension. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Genre coverage gap.” and the likely next move “Expand figurative, descriptive and tone vocabulary.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student understands spoken discussion but misses written academic nouns. Take one familiar word and list two senses. Decide whether your vocabulary-size test would count both. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Nominalisation gap.” and the likely next move “Teach verb–noun families.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student knows many roots but guesses whole words wrongly. Compare a recognition prompt with a productive prompt for the same word. Explain why the scores may differ. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Overreliance on morphology.” and the likely next move “Require context verification.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student skips every unknown word while reading. Choose a high-utility word and decide whether it belongs in receptive only or active vocabulary. Justify the teaching investment. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Incidental-learning gap.” and the likely next move “Adopt selective lookup and recording.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student looks up every unknown word immediately. Sample one Science and one Humanities paragraph. Compare which academic words transfer and which are discipline-specific. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Fluency disruption.” and the likely next move “Prioritise blockers and recurring high-value words.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student knows words for topics but few reasoning verbs. Take one Top 100 item and build a depth profile: meanings, family, collocations, register and transfer. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Academic-function gap.” and the likely next move “Build analyse, infer, evaluate, justify and related language.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student writes formal words in casual speech. Design a five-word mini-test that measures more than definitions. Include one context and one retrieval item. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Register gap.” and the likely next move “Practise situation-based vocabulary choice.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student understands synonyms as identical. Look at a vocabulary benchmark and identify its unit: headword, lemma, family, CEFR item or something else. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Depth/contrast gap.” and the likely next move “Teach gradients and substitution limits.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student has many notebooks but little recall. Choose one reading genre and predict which vocabulary categories are underrepresented if the student reads only that genre. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Storage without retrieval.” and the likely next move “Convert notes into delayed cues.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student reads only one genre. Write a progress statement without using a raw word-count total. Use evidence from coverage, retrieval and transfer instead. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Narrow exposure.” and the likely next move “Diversify reading while preserving volume.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student understands classroom vocabulary but not exam paraphrases. Choose a current school paragraph. Mark known, partly known and unknown items, then decide which unknowns actually block comprehension. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Lexical flexibility gap.” and the likely next move “Practise semantic equivalence.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student forgets new words after one week. Take one familiar word and list two senses. Decide whether your vocabulary-size test would count both. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Spacing gap.” and the likely next move “Schedule delayed retrieval.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student knows 5,000 list items but cannot write fluently. Compare a recognition prompt with a productive prompt for the same word. Explain why the scores may differ. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Size–performance mismatch.” and the likely next move “Measure productive chunks and retrieval.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student knows fewer list items but writes precise essays. Choose a high-utility word and decide whether it belongs in receptive only or active vocabulary. Justify the teaching investment. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Depth advantage.” and the likely next move “Continue breadth growth without sacrificing control.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student has strong general English but weak Humanities vocabulary. Sample one Science and one Humanities paragraph. Compare which academic words transfer and which are discipline-specific. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Domain-specific gap.” and the likely next move “Build disciplinary concepts and collocations.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student confuses academic and technical words. Take one Top 100 item and build a depth profile: meanings, family, collocations, register and transfer. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Category confusion.” and the likely next move “Separate cross-curricular from discipline-specific language.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student sees different vocabulary-test scores online. Design a five-word mini-test that measures more than definitions. Include one context and one retrieval item. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Measurement inconsistency.” and the likely next move “Compare units and task formats before interpreting.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student wants a one-number target for the year. Look at a vocabulary benchmark and identify its unit: headword, lemma, family, CEFR item or something else. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Goal oversimplification.” and the likely next move “Use layered targets by function.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student masters a Top 100 list quickly. Choose one reading genre and predict which vocabulary categories are underrepresented if the student reads only that genre. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Selection success, not complete mastery.” and the likely next move “Test transfer and continue broad reading.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student knows words receptively but avoids them orally. Write a progress statement without using a raw word-count total. Use evidence from coverage, retrieval and transfer instead. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Oral retrieval gap.” and the likely next move “Practise timed discussion.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student misreads familiar words with new senses. Choose a current school paragraph. Mark known, partly known and unknown items, then decide which unknowns actually block comprehension. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Sense-depth gap.” and the likely next move “Build polysemy awareness.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student knows definitions but not prepositions. Take one familiar word and list two senses. Decide whether your vocabulary-size test would count both. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Pattern gap.” and the likely next move “Record grammar and collocation.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student writes too many rare words. Compare a recognition prompt with a productive prompt for the same word. Explain why the scores may differ. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Selection/pragmatic gap.” and the likely next move “Prioritise clarity and audience.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student reads comfortably until specialised chapters. Choose a high-utility word and decide whether it belongs in receptive only or active vocabulary. Justify the teaching investment. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Threshold shift.” and the likely next move “Measure coverage by topic.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student remembers words only in original example sentences. Sample one Science and one Humanities paragraph. Compare which academic words transfer and which are discipline-specific. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Context-bound memory.” and the likely next move “Use varied transfer contexts.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student recognises roots but not whole-word spelling. Take one Top 100 item and build a depth profile: meanings, family, collocations, register and transfer. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Orthographic integration gap.” and the likely next move “Teach families with written forms.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student can use words in essays but not comprehension answers. Design a five-word mini-test that measures more than definitions. Include one context and one retrieval item. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Task-transfer gap.” and the likely next move “Practise paraphrase and analytical response.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student knows current school vocabulary but not older literary forms. Look at a vocabulary benchmark and identify its unit: headword, lemma, family, CEFR item or something else. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Text-era gap.” and the likely next move “Teach as needed rather than inflating global targets.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A bilingual learner knows concepts but not English labels. Choose one reading genre and predict which vocabulary categories are underrepresented if the student reads only that genre. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Lexical-label gap.” and the likely next move “Map known concepts to English vocabulary.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A learner knows conversational English but struggles with nominalisations. Write a progress statement without using a raw word-count total. Use evidence from coverage, retrieval and transfer instead. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Academic-register gap.” and the likely next move “Teach derived abstract nouns.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student wants to memorise 50 new words per day. Choose a current school paragraph. Mark known, partly known and unknown items, then decide which unknowns actually block comprehension. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Load/retention risk.” and the likely next move “Reduce targets and increase meaningful reuse.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student asks whether Grade 9 should equal Oxford 5000. Take one familiar word and list two senses. Decide whether your vocabulary-size test would count both. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Benchmark misunderstanding.” and the likely next move “Use Oxford lists as learner references, not compulsory school-year quotas.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Coverage Audit Cycle 3

Case: Alicia recognises 90% of a list but can define only half without options. Choose a high-utility word and decide whether it belongs in receptive only or active vocabulary. Justify the teaching investment. Keep the diagnostic anchor “High recognition, lower recall.” and the likely next move “Use reverse retrieval before adding many new words.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: Tricia reads fiction fluently but struggles with Science explanations. Sample one Science and one Humanities paragraph. Compare which academic words transfer and which are discipline-specific. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Domain coverage gap.” and the likely next move “Build subject vocabulary and cross-curricular academic words.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: Kai Kai knows many advanced words but uses them awkwardly. Take one Top 100 item and build a depth profile: meanings, family, collocations, register and transfer. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Depth/collocation gap.” and the likely next move “Reduce expansion temporarily; deepen usage.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student knows analyse but not analysis or analytical. Design a five-word mini-test that measures more than definitions. Include one context and one retrieval item. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Word-family gap.” and the likely next move “Teach related forms in sentence transformations.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student knows issue only as problem. Look at a vocabulary benchmark and identify its unit: headword, lemma, family, CEFR item or something else. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Polysemy gap.” and the likely next move “Add second senses from authentic texts.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student can define significant but overuses it for big. Choose one reading genre and predict which vocabulary categories are underrepresented if the student reads only that genre. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Meaning-boundary gap.” and the likely next move “Contrast size, importance and technical senses.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student understands a passage but writes vague answers. Write a progress statement without using a raw word-count total. Use evidence from coverage, retrieval and transfer instead. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Productive retrieval gap.” and the likely next move “Train analytical vocabulary from meaning cues.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student scores high on flashcards but low on cloze. Choose a current school paragraph. Mark known, partly known and unknown items, then decide which unknowns actually block comprehension. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Context/collocation gap.” and the likely next move “Use sentence-level retrieval.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student reads news well but not literature. Take one familiar word and list two senses. Decide whether your vocabulary-size test would count both. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Genre coverage gap.” and the likely next move “Expand figurative, descriptive and tone vocabulary.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student understands spoken discussion but misses written academic nouns. Compare a recognition prompt with a productive prompt for the same word. Explain why the scores may differ. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Nominalisation gap.” and the likely next move “Teach verb–noun families.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student knows many roots but guesses whole words wrongly. Choose a high-utility word and decide whether it belongs in receptive only or active vocabulary. Justify the teaching investment. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Overreliance on morphology.” and the likely next move “Require context verification.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student skips every unknown word while reading. Sample one Science and one Humanities paragraph. Compare which academic words transfer and which are discipline-specific. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Incidental-learning gap.” and the likely next move “Adopt selective lookup and recording.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student looks up every unknown word immediately. Take one Top 100 item and build a depth profile: meanings, family, collocations, register and transfer. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Fluency disruption.” and the likely next move “Prioritise blockers and recurring high-value words.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student knows words for topics but few reasoning verbs. Design a five-word mini-test that measures more than definitions. Include one context and one retrieval item. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Academic-function gap.” and the likely next move “Build analyse, infer, evaluate, justify and related language.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student writes formal words in casual speech. Look at a vocabulary benchmark and identify its unit: headword, lemma, family, CEFR item or something else. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Register gap.” and the likely next move “Practise situation-based vocabulary choice.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student understands synonyms as identical. Choose one reading genre and predict which vocabulary categories are underrepresented if the student reads only that genre. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Depth/contrast gap.” and the likely next move “Teach gradients and substitution limits.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student has many notebooks but little recall. Write a progress statement without using a raw word-count total. Use evidence from coverage, retrieval and transfer instead. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Storage without retrieval.” and the likely next move “Convert notes into delayed cues.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student reads only one genre. Choose a current school paragraph. Mark known, partly known and unknown items, then decide which unknowns actually block comprehension. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Narrow exposure.” and the likely next move “Diversify reading while preserving volume.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student understands classroom vocabulary but not exam paraphrases. Take one familiar word and list two senses. Decide whether your vocabulary-size test would count both. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Lexical flexibility gap.” and the likely next move “Practise semantic equivalence.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student forgets new words after one week. Compare a recognition prompt with a productive prompt for the same word. Explain why the scores may differ. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Spacing gap.” and the likely next move “Schedule delayed retrieval.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student knows 5,000 list items but cannot write fluently. Choose a high-utility word and decide whether it belongs in receptive only or active vocabulary. Justify the teaching investment. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Size–performance mismatch.” and the likely next move “Measure productive chunks and retrieval.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student knows fewer list items but writes precise essays. Sample one Science and one Humanities paragraph. Compare which academic words transfer and which are discipline-specific. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Depth advantage.” and the likely next move “Continue breadth growth without sacrificing control.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student has strong general English but weak Humanities vocabulary. Take one Top 100 item and build a depth profile: meanings, family, collocations, register and transfer. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Domain-specific gap.” and the likely next move “Build disciplinary concepts and collocations.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student confuses academic and technical words. Design a five-word mini-test that measures more than definitions. Include one context and one retrieval item. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Category confusion.” and the likely next move “Separate cross-curricular from discipline-specific language.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student sees different vocabulary-test scores online. Look at a vocabulary benchmark and identify its unit: headword, lemma, family, CEFR item or something else. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Measurement inconsistency.” and the likely next move “Compare units and task formats before interpreting.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student wants a one-number target for the year. Choose one reading genre and predict which vocabulary categories are underrepresented if the student reads only that genre. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Goal oversimplification.” and the likely next move “Use layered targets by function.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student masters a Top 100 list quickly. Write a progress statement without using a raw word-count total. Use evidence from coverage, retrieval and transfer instead. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Selection success, not complete mastery.” and the likely next move “Test transfer and continue broad reading.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student knows words receptively but avoids them orally. Choose a current school paragraph. Mark known, partly known and unknown items, then decide which unknowns actually block comprehension. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Oral retrieval gap.” and the likely next move “Practise timed discussion.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student misreads familiar words with new senses. Take one familiar word and list two senses. Decide whether your vocabulary-size test would count both. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Sense-depth gap.” and the likely next move “Build polysemy awareness.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student knows definitions but not prepositions. Compare a recognition prompt with a productive prompt for the same word. Explain why the scores may differ. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Pattern gap.” and the likely next move “Record grammar and collocation.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student writes too many rare words. Choose a high-utility word and decide whether it belongs in receptive only or active vocabulary. Justify the teaching investment. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Selection/pragmatic gap.” and the likely next move “Prioritise clarity and audience.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student reads comfortably until specialised chapters. Sample one Science and one Humanities paragraph. Compare which academic words transfer and which are discipline-specific. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Threshold shift.” and the likely next move “Measure coverage by topic.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student remembers words only in original example sentences. Take one Top 100 item and build a depth profile: meanings, family, collocations, register and transfer. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Context-bound memory.” and the likely next move “Use varied transfer contexts.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student recognises roots but not whole-word spelling. Design a five-word mini-test that measures more than definitions. Include one context and one retrieval item. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Orthographic integration gap.” and the likely next move “Teach families with written forms.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student can use words in essays but not comprehension answers. Look at a vocabulary benchmark and identify its unit: headword, lemma, family, CEFR item or something else. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Task-transfer gap.” and the likely next move “Practise paraphrase and analytical response.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student knows current school vocabulary but not older literary forms. Choose one reading genre and predict which vocabulary categories are underrepresented if the student reads only that genre. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Text-era gap.” and the likely next move “Teach as needed rather than inflating global targets.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A bilingual learner knows concepts but not English labels. Write a progress statement without using a raw word-count total. Use evidence from coverage, retrieval and transfer instead. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Lexical-label gap.” and the likely next move “Map known concepts to English vocabulary.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A learner knows conversational English but struggles with nominalisations. Choose a current school paragraph. Mark known, partly known and unknown items, then decide which unknowns actually block comprehension. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Academic-register gap.” and the likely next move “Teach derived abstract nouns.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student wants to memorise 50 new words per day. Take one familiar word and list two senses. Decide whether your vocabulary-size test would count both. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Load/retention risk.” and the likely next move “Reduce targets and increase meaningful reuse.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student asks whether Grade 9 should equal Oxford 5000. Compare a recognition prompt with a productive prompt for the same word. Explain why the scores may differ. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Benchmark misunderstanding.” and the likely next move “Use Oxford lists as learner references, not compulsory school-year quotas.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Coverage Audit Cycle 4

Case: Alicia recognises 90% of a list but can define only half without options. Sample one Science and one Humanities paragraph. Compare which academic words transfer and which are discipline-specific. Keep the diagnostic anchor “High recognition, lower recall.” and the likely next move “Use reverse retrieval before adding many new words.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: Tricia reads fiction fluently but struggles with Science explanations. Take one Top 100 item and build a depth profile: meanings, family, collocations, register and transfer. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Domain coverage gap.” and the likely next move “Build subject vocabulary and cross-curricular academic words.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: Kai Kai knows many advanced words but uses them awkwardly. Design a five-word mini-test that measures more than definitions. Include one context and one retrieval item. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Depth/collocation gap.” and the likely next move “Reduce expansion temporarily; deepen usage.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student knows analyse but not analysis or analytical. Look at a vocabulary benchmark and identify its unit: headword, lemma, family, CEFR item or something else. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Word-family gap.” and the likely next move “Teach related forms in sentence transformations.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student knows issue only as problem. Choose one reading genre and predict which vocabulary categories are underrepresented if the student reads only that genre. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Polysemy gap.” and the likely next move “Add second senses from authentic texts.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student can define significant but overuses it for big. Write a progress statement without using a raw word-count total. Use evidence from coverage, retrieval and transfer instead. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Meaning-boundary gap.” and the likely next move “Contrast size, importance and technical senses.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student understands a passage but writes vague answers. Choose a current school paragraph. Mark known, partly known and unknown items, then decide which unknowns actually block comprehension. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Productive retrieval gap.” and the likely next move “Train analytical vocabulary from meaning cues.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student scores high on flashcards but low on cloze. Take one familiar word and list two senses. Decide whether your vocabulary-size test would count both. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Context/collocation gap.” and the likely next move “Use sentence-level retrieval.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student reads news well but not literature. Compare a recognition prompt with a productive prompt for the same word. Explain why the scores may differ. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Genre coverage gap.” and the likely next move “Expand figurative, descriptive and tone vocabulary.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student understands spoken discussion but misses written academic nouns. Choose a high-utility word and decide whether it belongs in receptive only or active vocabulary. Justify the teaching investment. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Nominalisation gap.” and the likely next move “Teach verb–noun families.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student knows many roots but guesses whole words wrongly. Sample one Science and one Humanities paragraph. Compare which academic words transfer and which are discipline-specific. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Overreliance on morphology.” and the likely next move “Require context verification.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student skips every unknown word while reading. Take one Top 100 item and build a depth profile: meanings, family, collocations, register and transfer. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Incidental-learning gap.” and the likely next move “Adopt selective lookup and recording.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student looks up every unknown word immediately. Design a five-word mini-test that measures more than definitions. Include one context and one retrieval item. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Fluency disruption.” and the likely next move “Prioritise blockers and recurring high-value words.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student knows words for topics but few reasoning verbs. Look at a vocabulary benchmark and identify its unit: headword, lemma, family, CEFR item or something else. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Academic-function gap.” and the likely next move “Build analyse, infer, evaluate, justify and related language.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student writes formal words in casual speech. Choose one reading genre and predict which vocabulary categories are underrepresented if the student reads only that genre. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Register gap.” and the likely next move “Practise situation-based vocabulary choice.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student understands synonyms as identical. Write a progress statement without using a raw word-count total. Use evidence from coverage, retrieval and transfer instead. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Depth/contrast gap.” and the likely next move “Teach gradients and substitution limits.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student has many notebooks but little recall. Choose a current school paragraph. Mark known, partly known and unknown items, then decide which unknowns actually block comprehension. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Storage without retrieval.” and the likely next move “Convert notes into delayed cues.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student reads only one genre. Take one familiar word and list two senses. Decide whether your vocabulary-size test would count both. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Narrow exposure.” and the likely next move “Diversify reading while preserving volume.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student understands classroom vocabulary but not exam paraphrases. Compare a recognition prompt with a productive prompt for the same word. Explain why the scores may differ. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Lexical flexibility gap.” and the likely next move “Practise semantic equivalence.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student forgets new words after one week. Choose a high-utility word and decide whether it belongs in receptive only or active vocabulary. Justify the teaching investment. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Spacing gap.” and the likely next move “Schedule delayed retrieval.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student knows 5,000 list items but cannot write fluently. Sample one Science and one Humanities paragraph. Compare which academic words transfer and which are discipline-specific. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Size–performance mismatch.” and the likely next move “Measure productive chunks and retrieval.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student knows fewer list items but writes precise essays. Take one Top 100 item and build a depth profile: meanings, family, collocations, register and transfer. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Depth advantage.” and the likely next move “Continue breadth growth without sacrificing control.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student has strong general English but weak Humanities vocabulary. Design a five-word mini-test that measures more than definitions. Include one context and one retrieval item. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Domain-specific gap.” and the likely next move “Build disciplinary concepts and collocations.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student confuses academic and technical words. Look at a vocabulary benchmark and identify its unit: headword, lemma, family, CEFR item or something else. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Category confusion.” and the likely next move “Separate cross-curricular from discipline-specific language.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student sees different vocabulary-test scores online. Choose one reading genre and predict which vocabulary categories are underrepresented if the student reads only that genre. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Measurement inconsistency.” and the likely next move “Compare units and task formats before interpreting.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student wants a one-number target for the year. Write a progress statement without using a raw word-count total. Use evidence from coverage, retrieval and transfer instead. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Goal oversimplification.” and the likely next move “Use layered targets by function.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student masters a Top 100 list quickly. Choose a current school paragraph. Mark known, partly known and unknown items, then decide which unknowns actually block comprehension. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Selection success, not complete mastery.” and the likely next move “Test transfer and continue broad reading.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student knows words receptively but avoids them orally. Take one familiar word and list two senses. Decide whether your vocabulary-size test would count both. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Oral retrieval gap.” and the likely next move “Practise timed discussion.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student misreads familiar words with new senses. Compare a recognition prompt with a productive prompt for the same word. Explain why the scores may differ. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Sense-depth gap.” and the likely next move “Build polysemy awareness.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student knows definitions but not prepositions. Choose a high-utility word and decide whether it belongs in receptive only or active vocabulary. Justify the teaching investment. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Pattern gap.” and the likely next move “Record grammar and collocation.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student writes too many rare words. Sample one Science and one Humanities paragraph. Compare which academic words transfer and which are discipline-specific. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Selection/pragmatic gap.” and the likely next move “Prioritise clarity and audience.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student reads comfortably until specialised chapters. Take one Top 100 item and build a depth profile: meanings, family, collocations, register and transfer. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Threshold shift.” and the likely next move “Measure coverage by topic.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student remembers words only in original example sentences. Design a five-word mini-test that measures more than definitions. Include one context and one retrieval item. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Context-bound memory.” and the likely next move “Use varied transfer contexts.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student recognises roots but not whole-word spelling. Look at a vocabulary benchmark and identify its unit: headword, lemma, family, CEFR item or something else. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Orthographic integration gap.” and the likely next move “Teach families with written forms.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student can use words in essays but not comprehension answers. Choose one reading genre and predict which vocabulary categories are underrepresented if the student reads only that genre. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Task-transfer gap.” and the likely next move “Practise paraphrase and analytical response.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student knows current school vocabulary but not older literary forms. Write a progress statement without using a raw word-count total. Use evidence from coverage, retrieval and transfer instead. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Text-era gap.” and the likely next move “Teach as needed rather than inflating global targets.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A bilingual learner knows concepts but not English labels. Choose a current school paragraph. Mark known, partly known and unknown items, then decide which unknowns actually block comprehension. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Lexical-label gap.” and the likely next move “Map known concepts to English vocabulary.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A learner knows conversational English but struggles with nominalisations. Take one familiar word and list two senses. Decide whether your vocabulary-size test would count both. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Academic-register gap.” and the likely next move “Teach derived abstract nouns.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student wants to memorise 50 new words per day. Compare a recognition prompt with a productive prompt for the same word. Explain why the scores may differ. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Load/retention risk.” and the likely next move “Reduce targets and increase meaningful reuse.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student asks whether Grade 9 should equal Oxford 5000. Choose a high-utility word and decide whether it belongs in receptive only or active vocabulary. Justify the teaching investment. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Benchmark misunderstanding.” and the likely next move “Use Oxford lists as learner references, not compulsory school-year quotas.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Coverage Audit Cycle 5

Case: Alicia recognises 90% of a list but can define only half without options. Take one Top 100 item and build a depth profile: meanings, family, collocations, register and transfer. Keep the diagnostic anchor “High recognition, lower recall.” and the likely next move “Use reverse retrieval before adding many new words.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: Tricia reads fiction fluently but struggles with Science explanations. Design a five-word mini-test that measures more than definitions. Include one context and one retrieval item. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Domain coverage gap.” and the likely next move “Build subject vocabulary and cross-curricular academic words.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: Kai Kai knows many advanced words but uses them awkwardly. Look at a vocabulary benchmark and identify its unit: headword, lemma, family, CEFR item or something else. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Depth/collocation gap.” and the likely next move “Reduce expansion temporarily; deepen usage.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student knows analyse but not analysis or analytical. Choose one reading genre and predict which vocabulary categories are underrepresented if the student reads only that genre. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Word-family gap.” and the likely next move “Teach related forms in sentence transformations.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student knows issue only as problem. Write a progress statement without using a raw word-count total. Use evidence from coverage, retrieval and transfer instead. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Polysemy gap.” and the likely next move “Add second senses from authentic texts.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student can define significant but overuses it for big. Choose a current school paragraph. Mark known, partly known and unknown items, then decide which unknowns actually block comprehension. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Meaning-boundary gap.” and the likely next move “Contrast size, importance and technical senses.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student understands a passage but writes vague answers. Take one familiar word and list two senses. Decide whether your vocabulary-size test would count both. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Productive retrieval gap.” and the likely next move “Train analytical vocabulary from meaning cues.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student scores high on flashcards but low on cloze. Compare a recognition prompt with a productive prompt for the same word. Explain why the scores may differ. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Context/collocation gap.” and the likely next move “Use sentence-level retrieval.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student reads news well but not literature. Choose a high-utility word and decide whether it belongs in receptive only or active vocabulary. Justify the teaching investment. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Genre coverage gap.” and the likely next move “Expand figurative, descriptive and tone vocabulary.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student understands spoken discussion but misses written academic nouns. Sample one Science and one Humanities paragraph. Compare which academic words transfer and which are discipline-specific. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Nominalisation gap.” and the likely next move “Teach verb–noun families.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student knows many roots but guesses whole words wrongly. Take one Top 100 item and build a depth profile: meanings, family, collocations, register and transfer. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Overreliance on morphology.” and the likely next move “Require context verification.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student skips every unknown word while reading. Design a five-word mini-test that measures more than definitions. Include one context and one retrieval item. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Incidental-learning gap.” and the likely next move “Adopt selective lookup and recording.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student looks up every unknown word immediately. Look at a vocabulary benchmark and identify its unit: headword, lemma, family, CEFR item or something else. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Fluency disruption.” and the likely next move “Prioritise blockers and recurring high-value words.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student knows words for topics but few reasoning verbs. Choose one reading genre and predict which vocabulary categories are underrepresented if the student reads only that genre. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Academic-function gap.” and the likely next move “Build analyse, infer, evaluate, justify and related language.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student writes formal words in casual speech. Write a progress statement without using a raw word-count total. Use evidence from coverage, retrieval and transfer instead. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Register gap.” and the likely next move “Practise situation-based vocabulary choice.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student understands synonyms as identical. Choose a current school paragraph. Mark known, partly known and unknown items, then decide which unknowns actually block comprehension. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Depth/contrast gap.” and the likely next move “Teach gradients and substitution limits.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student has many notebooks but little recall. Take one familiar word and list two senses. Decide whether your vocabulary-size test would count both. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Storage without retrieval.” and the likely next move “Convert notes into delayed cues.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student reads only one genre. Compare a recognition prompt with a productive prompt for the same word. Explain why the scores may differ. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Narrow exposure.” and the likely next move “Diversify reading while preserving volume.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student understands classroom vocabulary but not exam paraphrases. Choose a high-utility word and decide whether it belongs in receptive only or active vocabulary. Justify the teaching investment. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Lexical flexibility gap.” and the likely next move “Practise semantic equivalence.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student forgets new words after one week. Sample one Science and one Humanities paragraph. Compare which academic words transfer and which are discipline-specific. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Spacing gap.” and the likely next move “Schedule delayed retrieval.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student knows 5,000 list items but cannot write fluently. Take one Top 100 item and build a depth profile: meanings, family, collocations, register and transfer. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Size–performance mismatch.” and the likely next move “Measure productive chunks and retrieval.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student knows fewer list items but writes precise essays. Design a five-word mini-test that measures more than definitions. Include one context and one retrieval item. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Depth advantage.” and the likely next move “Continue breadth growth without sacrificing control.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student has strong general English but weak Humanities vocabulary. Look at a vocabulary benchmark and identify its unit: headword, lemma, family, CEFR item or something else. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Domain-specific gap.” and the likely next move “Build disciplinary concepts and collocations.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student confuses academic and technical words. Choose one reading genre and predict which vocabulary categories are underrepresented if the student reads only that genre. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Category confusion.” and the likely next move “Separate cross-curricular from discipline-specific language.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student sees different vocabulary-test scores online. Write a progress statement without using a raw word-count total. Use evidence from coverage, retrieval and transfer instead. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Measurement inconsistency.” and the likely next move “Compare units and task formats before interpreting.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student wants a one-number target for the year. Choose a current school paragraph. Mark known, partly known and unknown items, then decide which unknowns actually block comprehension. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Goal oversimplification.” and the likely next move “Use layered targets by function.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student masters a Top 100 list quickly. Take one familiar word and list two senses. Decide whether your vocabulary-size test would count both. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Selection success, not complete mastery.” and the likely next move “Test transfer and continue broad reading.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student knows words receptively but avoids them orally. Compare a recognition prompt with a productive prompt for the same word. Explain why the scores may differ. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Oral retrieval gap.” and the likely next move “Practise timed discussion.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student misreads familiar words with new senses. Choose a high-utility word and decide whether it belongs in receptive only or active vocabulary. Justify the teaching investment. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Sense-depth gap.” and the likely next move “Build polysemy awareness.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student knows definitions but not prepositions. Sample one Science and one Humanities paragraph. Compare which academic words transfer and which are discipline-specific. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Pattern gap.” and the likely next move “Record grammar and collocation.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student writes too many rare words. Take one Top 100 item and build a depth profile: meanings, family, collocations, register and transfer. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Selection/pragmatic gap.” and the likely next move “Prioritise clarity and audience.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student reads comfortably until specialised chapters. Design a five-word mini-test that measures more than definitions. Include one context and one retrieval item. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Threshold shift.” and the likely next move “Measure coverage by topic.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student remembers words only in original example sentences. Look at a vocabulary benchmark and identify its unit: headword, lemma, family, CEFR item or something else. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Context-bound memory.” and the likely next move “Use varied transfer contexts.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student recognises roots but not whole-word spelling. Choose one reading genre and predict which vocabulary categories are underrepresented if the student reads only that genre. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Orthographic integration gap.” and the likely next move “Teach families with written forms.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student can use words in essays but not comprehension answers. Write a progress statement without using a raw word-count total. Use evidence from coverage, retrieval and transfer instead. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Task-transfer gap.” and the likely next move “Practise paraphrase and analytical response.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student knows current school vocabulary but not older literary forms. Choose a current school paragraph. Mark known, partly known and unknown items, then decide which unknowns actually block comprehension. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Text-era gap.” and the likely next move “Teach as needed rather than inflating global targets.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A bilingual learner knows concepts but not English labels. Take one familiar word and list two senses. Decide whether your vocabulary-size test would count both. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Lexical-label gap.” and the likely next move “Map known concepts to English vocabulary.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A learner knows conversational English but struggles with nominalisations. Compare a recognition prompt with a productive prompt for the same word. Explain why the scores may differ. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Academic-register gap.” and the likely next move “Teach derived abstract nouns.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student wants to memorise 50 new words per day. Choose a high-utility word and decide whether it belongs in receptive only or active vocabulary. Justify the teaching investment. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Load/retention risk.” and the likely next move “Reduce targets and increase meaningful reuse.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student asks whether Grade 9 should equal Oxford 5000. Sample one Science and one Humanities paragraph. Compare which academic words transfer and which are discipline-specific. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Benchmark misunderstanding.” and the likely next move “Use Oxford lists as learner references, not compulsory school-year quotas.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Coverage Audit Cycle 6

Case: Alicia recognises 90% of a list but can define only half without options. Design a five-word mini-test that measures more than definitions. Include one context and one retrieval item. Keep the diagnostic anchor “High recognition, lower recall.” and the likely next move “Use reverse retrieval before adding many new words.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: Tricia reads fiction fluently but struggles with Science explanations. Look at a vocabulary benchmark and identify its unit: headword, lemma, family, CEFR item or something else. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Domain coverage gap.” and the likely next move “Build subject vocabulary and cross-curricular academic words.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: Kai Kai knows many advanced words but uses them awkwardly. Choose one reading genre and predict which vocabulary categories are underrepresented if the student reads only that genre. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Depth/collocation gap.” and the likely next move “Reduce expansion temporarily; deepen usage.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student knows analyse but not analysis or analytical. Write a progress statement without using a raw word-count total. Use evidence from coverage, retrieval and transfer instead. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Word-family gap.” and the likely next move “Teach related forms in sentence transformations.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student knows issue only as problem. Choose a current school paragraph. Mark known, partly known and unknown items, then decide which unknowns actually block comprehension. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Polysemy gap.” and the likely next move “Add second senses from authentic texts.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student can define significant but overuses it for big. Take one familiar word and list two senses. Decide whether your vocabulary-size test would count both. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Meaning-boundary gap.” and the likely next move “Contrast size, importance and technical senses.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student understands a passage but writes vague answers. Compare a recognition prompt with a productive prompt for the same word. Explain why the scores may differ. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Productive retrieval gap.” and the likely next move “Train analytical vocabulary from meaning cues.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student scores high on flashcards but low on cloze. Choose a high-utility word and decide whether it belongs in receptive only or active vocabulary. Justify the teaching investment. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Context/collocation gap.” and the likely next move “Use sentence-level retrieval.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student reads news well but not literature. Sample one Science and one Humanities paragraph. Compare which academic words transfer and which are discipline-specific. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Genre coverage gap.” and the likely next move “Expand figurative, descriptive and tone vocabulary.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student understands spoken discussion but misses written academic nouns. Take one Top 100 item and build a depth profile: meanings, family, collocations, register and transfer. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Nominalisation gap.” and the likely next move “Teach verb–noun families.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student knows many roots but guesses whole words wrongly. Design a five-word mini-test that measures more than definitions. Include one context and one retrieval item. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Overreliance on morphology.” and the likely next move “Require context verification.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student skips every unknown word while reading. Look at a vocabulary benchmark and identify its unit: headword, lemma, family, CEFR item or something else. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Incidental-learning gap.” and the likely next move “Adopt selective lookup and recording.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student looks up every unknown word immediately. Choose one reading genre and predict which vocabulary categories are underrepresented if the student reads only that genre. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Fluency disruption.” and the likely next move “Prioritise blockers and recurring high-value words.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student knows words for topics but few reasoning verbs. Write a progress statement without using a raw word-count total. Use evidence from coverage, retrieval and transfer instead. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Academic-function gap.” and the likely next move “Build analyse, infer, evaluate, justify and related language.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student writes formal words in casual speech. Choose a current school paragraph. Mark known, partly known and unknown items, then decide which unknowns actually block comprehension. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Register gap.” and the likely next move “Practise situation-based vocabulary choice.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student understands synonyms as identical. Take one familiar word and list two senses. Decide whether your vocabulary-size test would count both. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Depth/contrast gap.” and the likely next move “Teach gradients and substitution limits.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student has many notebooks but little recall. Compare a recognition prompt with a productive prompt for the same word. Explain why the scores may differ. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Storage without retrieval.” and the likely next move “Convert notes into delayed cues.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student reads only one genre. Choose a high-utility word and decide whether it belongs in receptive only or active vocabulary. Justify the teaching investment. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Narrow exposure.” and the likely next move “Diversify reading while preserving volume.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student understands classroom vocabulary but not exam paraphrases. Sample one Science and one Humanities paragraph. Compare which academic words transfer and which are discipline-specific. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Lexical flexibility gap.” and the likely next move “Practise semantic equivalence.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student forgets new words after one week. Take one Top 100 item and build a depth profile: meanings, family, collocations, register and transfer. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Spacing gap.” and the likely next move “Schedule delayed retrieval.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student knows 5,000 list items but cannot write fluently. Design a five-word mini-test that measures more than definitions. Include one context and one retrieval item. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Size–performance mismatch.” and the likely next move “Measure productive chunks and retrieval.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student knows fewer list items but writes precise essays. Look at a vocabulary benchmark and identify its unit: headword, lemma, family, CEFR item or something else. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Depth advantage.” and the likely next move “Continue breadth growth without sacrificing control.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student has strong general English but weak Humanities vocabulary. Choose one reading genre and predict which vocabulary categories are underrepresented if the student reads only that genre. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Domain-specific gap.” and the likely next move “Build disciplinary concepts and collocations.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student confuses academic and technical words. Write a progress statement without using a raw word-count total. Use evidence from coverage, retrieval and transfer instead. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Category confusion.” and the likely next move “Separate cross-curricular from discipline-specific language.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student sees different vocabulary-test scores online. Choose a current school paragraph. Mark known, partly known and unknown items, then decide which unknowns actually block comprehension. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Measurement inconsistency.” and the likely next move “Compare units and task formats before interpreting.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student wants a one-number target for the year. Take one familiar word and list two senses. Decide whether your vocabulary-size test would count both. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Goal oversimplification.” and the likely next move “Use layered targets by function.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student masters a Top 100 list quickly. Compare a recognition prompt with a productive prompt for the same word. Explain why the scores may differ. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Selection success, not complete mastery.” and the likely next move “Test transfer and continue broad reading.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student knows words receptively but avoids them orally. Choose a high-utility word and decide whether it belongs in receptive only or active vocabulary. Justify the teaching investment. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Oral retrieval gap.” and the likely next move “Practise timed discussion.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student misreads familiar words with new senses. Sample one Science and one Humanities paragraph. Compare which academic words transfer and which are discipline-specific. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Sense-depth gap.” and the likely next move “Build polysemy awareness.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student knows definitions but not prepositions. Take one Top 100 item and build a depth profile: meanings, family, collocations, register and transfer. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Pattern gap.” and the likely next move “Record grammar and collocation.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student writes too many rare words. Design a five-word mini-test that measures more than definitions. Include one context and one retrieval item. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Selection/pragmatic gap.” and the likely next move “Prioritise clarity and audience.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student reads comfortably until specialised chapters. Look at a vocabulary benchmark and identify its unit: headword, lemma, family, CEFR item or something else. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Threshold shift.” and the likely next move “Measure coverage by topic.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student remembers words only in original example sentences. Choose one reading genre and predict which vocabulary categories are underrepresented if the student reads only that genre. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Context-bound memory.” and the likely next move “Use varied transfer contexts.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student recognises roots but not whole-word spelling. Write a progress statement without using a raw word-count total. Use evidence from coverage, retrieval and transfer instead. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Orthographic integration gap.” and the likely next move “Teach families with written forms.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student can use words in essays but not comprehension answers. Choose a current school paragraph. Mark known, partly known and unknown items, then decide which unknowns actually block comprehension. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Task-transfer gap.” and the likely next move “Practise paraphrase and analytical response.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student knows current school vocabulary but not older literary forms. Take one familiar word and list two senses. Decide whether your vocabulary-size test would count both. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Text-era gap.” and the likely next move “Teach as needed rather than inflating global targets.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A bilingual learner knows concepts but not English labels. Compare a recognition prompt with a productive prompt for the same word. Explain why the scores may differ. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Lexical-label gap.” and the likely next move “Map known concepts to English vocabulary.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A learner knows conversational English but struggles with nominalisations. Choose a high-utility word and decide whether it belongs in receptive only or active vocabulary. Justify the teaching investment. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Academic-register gap.” and the likely next move “Teach derived abstract nouns.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student wants to memorise 50 new words per day. Sample one Science and one Humanities paragraph. Compare which academic words transfer and which are discipline-specific. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Load/retention risk.” and the likely next move “Reduce targets and increase meaningful reuse.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student asks whether Grade 9 should equal Oxford 5000. Take one Top 100 item and build a depth profile: meanings, family, collocations, register and transfer. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Benchmark misunderstanding.” and the likely next move “Use Oxford lists as learner references, not compulsory school-year quotas.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Coverage Audit Cycle 7

Case: Alicia recognises 90% of a list but can define only half without options. Look at a vocabulary benchmark and identify its unit: headword, lemma, family, CEFR item or something else. Keep the diagnostic anchor “High recognition, lower recall.” and the likely next move “Use reverse retrieval before adding many new words.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: Tricia reads fiction fluently but struggles with Science explanations. Choose one reading genre and predict which vocabulary categories are underrepresented if the student reads only that genre. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Domain coverage gap.” and the likely next move “Build subject vocabulary and cross-curricular academic words.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: Kai Kai knows many advanced words but uses them awkwardly. Write a progress statement without using a raw word-count total. Use evidence from coverage, retrieval and transfer instead. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Depth/collocation gap.” and the likely next move “Reduce expansion temporarily; deepen usage.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student knows analyse but not analysis or analytical. Choose a current school paragraph. Mark known, partly known and unknown items, then decide which unknowns actually block comprehension. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Word-family gap.” and the likely next move “Teach related forms in sentence transformations.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student knows issue only as problem. Take one familiar word and list two senses. Decide whether your vocabulary-size test would count both. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Polysemy gap.” and the likely next move “Add second senses from authentic texts.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student can define significant but overuses it for big. Compare a recognition prompt with a productive prompt for the same word. Explain why the scores may differ. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Meaning-boundary gap.” and the likely next move “Contrast size, importance and technical senses.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student understands a passage but writes vague answers. Choose a high-utility word and decide whether it belongs in receptive only or active vocabulary. Justify the teaching investment. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Productive retrieval gap.” and the likely next move “Train analytical vocabulary from meaning cues.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student scores high on flashcards but low on cloze. Sample one Science and one Humanities paragraph. Compare which academic words transfer and which are discipline-specific. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Context/collocation gap.” and the likely next move “Use sentence-level retrieval.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student reads news well but not literature. Take one Top 100 item and build a depth profile: meanings, family, collocations, register and transfer. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Genre coverage gap.” and the likely next move “Expand figurative, descriptive and tone vocabulary.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student understands spoken discussion but misses written academic nouns. Design a five-word mini-test that measures more than definitions. Include one context and one retrieval item. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Nominalisation gap.” and the likely next move “Teach verb–noun families.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student knows many roots but guesses whole words wrongly. Look at a vocabulary benchmark and identify its unit: headword, lemma, family, CEFR item or something else. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Overreliance on morphology.” and the likely next move “Require context verification.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student skips every unknown word while reading. Choose one reading genre and predict which vocabulary categories are underrepresented if the student reads only that genre. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Incidental-learning gap.” and the likely next move “Adopt selective lookup and recording.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student looks up every unknown word immediately. Write a progress statement without using a raw word-count total. Use evidence from coverage, retrieval and transfer instead. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Fluency disruption.” and the likely next move “Prioritise blockers and recurring high-value words.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student knows words for topics but few reasoning verbs. Choose a current school paragraph. Mark known, partly known and unknown items, then decide which unknowns actually block comprehension. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Academic-function gap.” and the likely next move “Build analyse, infer, evaluate, justify and related language.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student writes formal words in casual speech. Take one familiar word and list two senses. Decide whether your vocabulary-size test would count both. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Register gap.” and the likely next move “Practise situation-based vocabulary choice.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student understands synonyms as identical. Compare a recognition prompt with a productive prompt for the same word. Explain why the scores may differ. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Depth/contrast gap.” and the likely next move “Teach gradients and substitution limits.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student has many notebooks but little recall. Choose a high-utility word and decide whether it belongs in receptive only or active vocabulary. Justify the teaching investment. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Storage without retrieval.” and the likely next move “Convert notes into delayed cues.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student reads only one genre. Sample one Science and one Humanities paragraph. Compare which academic words transfer and which are discipline-specific. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Narrow exposure.” and the likely next move “Diversify reading while preserving volume.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student understands classroom vocabulary but not exam paraphrases. Take one Top 100 item and build a depth profile: meanings, family, collocations, register and transfer. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Lexical flexibility gap.” and the likely next move “Practise semantic equivalence.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student forgets new words after one week. Design a five-word mini-test that measures more than definitions. Include one context and one retrieval item. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Spacing gap.” and the likely next move “Schedule delayed retrieval.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student knows 5,000 list items but cannot write fluently. Look at a vocabulary benchmark and identify its unit: headword, lemma, family, CEFR item or something else. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Size–performance mismatch.” and the likely next move “Measure productive chunks and retrieval.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student knows fewer list items but writes precise essays. Choose one reading genre and predict which vocabulary categories are underrepresented if the student reads only that genre. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Depth advantage.” and the likely next move “Continue breadth growth without sacrificing control.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student has strong general English but weak Humanities vocabulary. Write a progress statement without using a raw word-count total. Use evidence from coverage, retrieval and transfer instead. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Domain-specific gap.” and the likely next move “Build disciplinary concepts and collocations.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student confuses academic and technical words. Choose a current school paragraph. Mark known, partly known and unknown items, then decide which unknowns actually block comprehension. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Category confusion.” and the likely next move “Separate cross-curricular from discipline-specific language.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student sees different vocabulary-test scores online. Take one familiar word and list two senses. Decide whether your vocabulary-size test would count both. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Measurement inconsistency.” and the likely next move “Compare units and task formats before interpreting.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student wants a one-number target for the year. Compare a recognition prompt with a productive prompt for the same word. Explain why the scores may differ. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Goal oversimplification.” and the likely next move “Use layered targets by function.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student masters a Top 100 list quickly. Choose a high-utility word and decide whether it belongs in receptive only or active vocabulary. Justify the teaching investment. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Selection success, not complete mastery.” and the likely next move “Test transfer and continue broad reading.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student knows words receptively but avoids them orally. Sample one Science and one Humanities paragraph. Compare which academic words transfer and which are discipline-specific. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Oral retrieval gap.” and the likely next move “Practise timed discussion.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student misreads familiar words with new senses. Take one Top 100 item and build a depth profile: meanings, family, collocations, register and transfer. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Sense-depth gap.” and the likely next move “Build polysemy awareness.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student knows definitions but not prepositions. Design a five-word mini-test that measures more than definitions. Include one context and one retrieval item. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Pattern gap.” and the likely next move “Record grammar and collocation.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student writes too many rare words. Look at a vocabulary benchmark and identify its unit: headword, lemma, family, CEFR item or something else. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Selection/pragmatic gap.” and the likely next move “Prioritise clarity and audience.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student reads comfortably until specialised chapters. Choose one reading genre and predict which vocabulary categories are underrepresented if the student reads only that genre. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Threshold shift.” and the likely next move “Measure coverage by topic.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student remembers words only in original example sentences. Write a progress statement without using a raw word-count total. Use evidence from coverage, retrieval and transfer instead. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Context-bound memory.” and the likely next move “Use varied transfer contexts.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student recognises roots but not whole-word spelling. Choose a current school paragraph. Mark known, partly known and unknown items, then decide which unknowns actually block comprehension. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Orthographic integration gap.” and the likely next move “Teach families with written forms.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student can use words in essays but not comprehension answers. Take one familiar word and list two senses. Decide whether your vocabulary-size test would count both. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Task-transfer gap.” and the likely next move “Practise paraphrase and analytical response.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student knows current school vocabulary but not older literary forms. Compare a recognition prompt with a productive prompt for the same word. Explain why the scores may differ. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Text-era gap.” and the likely next move “Teach as needed rather than inflating global targets.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A bilingual learner knows concepts but not English labels. Choose a high-utility word and decide whether it belongs in receptive only or active vocabulary. Justify the teaching investment. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Lexical-label gap.” and the likely next move “Map known concepts to English vocabulary.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A learner knows conversational English but struggles with nominalisations. Sample one Science and one Humanities paragraph. Compare which academic words transfer and which are discipline-specific. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Academic-register gap.” and the likely next move “Teach derived abstract nouns.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student wants to memorise 50 new words per day. Take one Top 100 item and build a depth profile: meanings, family, collocations, register and transfer. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Load/retention risk.” and the likely next move “Reduce targets and increase meaningful reuse.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student asks whether Grade 9 should equal Oxford 5000. Design a five-word mini-test that measures more than definitions. Include one context and one retrieval item. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Benchmark misunderstanding.” and the likely next move “Use Oxford lists as learner references, not compulsory school-year quotas.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Coverage Audit Cycle 8

Case: Alicia recognises 90% of a list but can define only half without options. Choose one reading genre and predict which vocabulary categories are underrepresented if the student reads only that genre. Keep the diagnostic anchor “High recognition, lower recall.” and the likely next move “Use reverse retrieval before adding many new words.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: Tricia reads fiction fluently but struggles with Science explanations. Write a progress statement without using a raw word-count total. Use evidence from coverage, retrieval and transfer instead. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Domain coverage gap.” and the likely next move “Build subject vocabulary and cross-curricular academic words.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: Kai Kai knows many advanced words but uses them awkwardly. Choose a current school paragraph. Mark known, partly known and unknown items, then decide which unknowns actually block comprehension. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Depth/collocation gap.” and the likely next move “Reduce expansion temporarily; deepen usage.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student knows analyse but not analysis or analytical. Take one familiar word and list two senses. Decide whether your vocabulary-size test would count both. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Word-family gap.” and the likely next move “Teach related forms in sentence transformations.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student knows issue only as problem. Compare a recognition prompt with a productive prompt for the same word. Explain why the scores may differ. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Polysemy gap.” and the likely next move “Add second senses from authentic texts.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student can define significant but overuses it for big. Choose a high-utility word and decide whether it belongs in receptive only or active vocabulary. Justify the teaching investment. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Meaning-boundary gap.” and the likely next move “Contrast size, importance and technical senses.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student understands a passage but writes vague answers. Sample one Science and one Humanities paragraph. Compare which academic words transfer and which are discipline-specific. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Productive retrieval gap.” and the likely next move “Train analytical vocabulary from meaning cues.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student scores high on flashcards but low on cloze. Take one Top 100 item and build a depth profile: meanings, family, collocations, register and transfer. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Context/collocation gap.” and the likely next move “Use sentence-level retrieval.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student reads news well but not literature. Design a five-word mini-test that measures more than definitions. Include one context and one retrieval item. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Genre coverage gap.” and the likely next move “Expand figurative, descriptive and tone vocabulary.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student understands spoken discussion but misses written academic nouns. Look at a vocabulary benchmark and identify its unit: headword, lemma, family, CEFR item or something else. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Nominalisation gap.” and the likely next move “Teach verb–noun families.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student knows many roots but guesses whole words wrongly. Choose one reading genre and predict which vocabulary categories are underrepresented if the student reads only that genre. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Overreliance on morphology.” and the likely next move “Require context verification.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student skips every unknown word while reading. Write a progress statement without using a raw word-count total. Use evidence from coverage, retrieval and transfer instead. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Incidental-learning gap.” and the likely next move “Adopt selective lookup and recording.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student looks up every unknown word immediately. Choose a current school paragraph. Mark known, partly known and unknown items, then decide which unknowns actually block comprehension. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Fluency disruption.” and the likely next move “Prioritise blockers and recurring high-value words.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student knows words for topics but few reasoning verbs. Take one familiar word and list two senses. Decide whether your vocabulary-size test would count both. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Academic-function gap.” and the likely next move “Build analyse, infer, evaluate, justify and related language.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student writes formal words in casual speech. Compare a recognition prompt with a productive prompt for the same word. Explain why the scores may differ. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Register gap.” and the likely next move “Practise situation-based vocabulary choice.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student understands synonyms as identical. Choose a high-utility word and decide whether it belongs in receptive only or active vocabulary. Justify the teaching investment. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Depth/contrast gap.” and the likely next move “Teach gradients and substitution limits.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student has many notebooks but little recall. Sample one Science and one Humanities paragraph. Compare which academic words transfer and which are discipline-specific. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Storage without retrieval.” and the likely next move “Convert notes into delayed cues.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student reads only one genre. Take one Top 100 item and build a depth profile: meanings, family, collocations, register and transfer. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Narrow exposure.” and the likely next move “Diversify reading while preserving volume.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student understands classroom vocabulary but not exam paraphrases. Design a five-word mini-test that measures more than definitions. Include one context and one retrieval item. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Lexical flexibility gap.” and the likely next move “Practise semantic equivalence.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student forgets new words after one week. Look at a vocabulary benchmark and identify its unit: headword, lemma, family, CEFR item or something else. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Spacing gap.” and the likely next move “Schedule delayed retrieval.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student knows 5,000 list items but cannot write fluently. Choose one reading genre and predict which vocabulary categories are underrepresented if the student reads only that genre. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Size–performance mismatch.” and the likely next move “Measure productive chunks and retrieval.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student knows fewer list items but writes precise essays. Write a progress statement without using a raw word-count total. Use evidence from coverage, retrieval and transfer instead. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Depth advantage.” and the likely next move “Continue breadth growth without sacrificing control.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student has strong general English but weak Humanities vocabulary. Choose a current school paragraph. Mark known, partly known and unknown items, then decide which unknowns actually block comprehension. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Domain-specific gap.” and the likely next move “Build disciplinary concepts and collocations.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student confuses academic and technical words. Take one familiar word and list two senses. Decide whether your vocabulary-size test would count both. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Category confusion.” and the likely next move “Separate cross-curricular from discipline-specific language.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student sees different vocabulary-test scores online. Compare a recognition prompt with a productive prompt for the same word. Explain why the scores may differ. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Measurement inconsistency.” and the likely next move “Compare units and task formats before interpreting.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student wants a one-number target for the year. Choose a high-utility word and decide whether it belongs in receptive only or active vocabulary. Justify the teaching investment. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Goal oversimplification.” and the likely next move “Use layered targets by function.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student masters a Top 100 list quickly. Sample one Science and one Humanities paragraph. Compare which academic words transfer and which are discipline-specific. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Selection success, not complete mastery.” and the likely next move “Test transfer and continue broad reading.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student knows words receptively but avoids them orally. Take one Top 100 item and build a depth profile: meanings, family, collocations, register and transfer. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Oral retrieval gap.” and the likely next move “Practise timed discussion.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student misreads familiar words with new senses. Design a five-word mini-test that measures more than definitions. Include one context and one retrieval item. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Sense-depth gap.” and the likely next move “Build polysemy awareness.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student knows definitions but not prepositions. Look at a vocabulary benchmark and identify its unit: headword, lemma, family, CEFR item or something else. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Pattern gap.” and the likely next move “Record grammar and collocation.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student writes too many rare words. Choose one reading genre and predict which vocabulary categories are underrepresented if the student reads only that genre. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Selection/pragmatic gap.” and the likely next move “Prioritise clarity and audience.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student reads comfortably until specialised chapters. Write a progress statement without using a raw word-count total. Use evidence from coverage, retrieval and transfer instead. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Threshold shift.” and the likely next move “Measure coverage by topic.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student remembers words only in original example sentences. Choose a current school paragraph. Mark known, partly known and unknown items, then decide which unknowns actually block comprehension. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Context-bound memory.” and the likely next move “Use varied transfer contexts.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student recognises roots but not whole-word spelling. Take one familiar word and list two senses. Decide whether your vocabulary-size test would count both. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Orthographic integration gap.” and the likely next move “Teach families with written forms.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student can use words in essays but not comprehension answers. Compare a recognition prompt with a productive prompt for the same word. Explain why the scores may differ. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Task-transfer gap.” and the likely next move “Practise paraphrase and analytical response.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student knows current school vocabulary but not older literary forms. Choose a high-utility word and decide whether it belongs in receptive only or active vocabulary. Justify the teaching investment. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Text-era gap.” and the likely next move “Teach as needed rather than inflating global targets.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A bilingual learner knows concepts but not English labels. Sample one Science and one Humanities paragraph. Compare which academic words transfer and which are discipline-specific. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Lexical-label gap.” and the likely next move “Map known concepts to English vocabulary.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A learner knows conversational English but struggles with nominalisations. Take one Top 100 item and build a depth profile: meanings, family, collocations, register and transfer. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Academic-register gap.” and the likely next move “Teach derived abstract nouns.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student wants to memorise 50 new words per day. Design a five-word mini-test that measures more than definitions. Include one context and one retrieval item. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Load/retention risk.” and the likely next move “Reduce targets and increase meaningful reuse.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student asks whether Grade 9 should equal Oxford 5000. Look at a vocabulary benchmark and identify its unit: headword, lemma, family, CEFR item or something else. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Benchmark misunderstanding.” and the likely next move “Use Oxford lists as learner references, not compulsory school-year quotas.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Coverage Audit Cycle 9

Case: Alicia recognises 90% of a list but can define only half without options. Write a progress statement without using a raw word-count total. Use evidence from coverage, retrieval and transfer instead. Keep the diagnostic anchor “High recognition, lower recall.” and the likely next move “Use reverse retrieval before adding many new words.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: Tricia reads fiction fluently but struggles with Science explanations. Choose a current school paragraph. Mark known, partly known and unknown items, then decide which unknowns actually block comprehension. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Domain coverage gap.” and the likely next move “Build subject vocabulary and cross-curricular academic words.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: Kai Kai knows many advanced words but uses them awkwardly. Take one familiar word and list two senses. Decide whether your vocabulary-size test would count both. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Depth/collocation gap.” and the likely next move “Reduce expansion temporarily; deepen usage.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student knows analyse but not analysis or analytical. Compare a recognition prompt with a productive prompt for the same word. Explain why the scores may differ. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Word-family gap.” and the likely next move “Teach related forms in sentence transformations.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student knows issue only as problem. Choose a high-utility word and decide whether it belongs in receptive only or active vocabulary. Justify the teaching investment. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Polysemy gap.” and the likely next move “Add second senses from authentic texts.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student can define significant but overuses it for big. Sample one Science and one Humanities paragraph. Compare which academic words transfer and which are discipline-specific. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Meaning-boundary gap.” and the likely next move “Contrast size, importance and technical senses.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student understands a passage but writes vague answers. Take one Top 100 item and build a depth profile: meanings, family, collocations, register and transfer. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Productive retrieval gap.” and the likely next move “Train analytical vocabulary from meaning cues.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student scores high on flashcards but low on cloze. Design a five-word mini-test that measures more than definitions. Include one context and one retrieval item. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Context/collocation gap.” and the likely next move “Use sentence-level retrieval.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student reads news well but not literature. Look at a vocabulary benchmark and identify its unit: headword, lemma, family, CEFR item or something else. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Genre coverage gap.” and the likely next move “Expand figurative, descriptive and tone vocabulary.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student understands spoken discussion but misses written academic nouns. Choose one reading genre and predict which vocabulary categories are underrepresented if the student reads only that genre. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Nominalisation gap.” and the likely next move “Teach verb–noun families.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student knows many roots but guesses whole words wrongly. Write a progress statement without using a raw word-count total. Use evidence from coverage, retrieval and transfer instead. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Overreliance on morphology.” and the likely next move “Require context verification.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student skips every unknown word while reading. Choose a current school paragraph. Mark known, partly known and unknown items, then decide which unknowns actually block comprehension. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Incidental-learning gap.” and the likely next move “Adopt selective lookup and recording.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student looks up every unknown word immediately. Take one familiar word and list two senses. Decide whether your vocabulary-size test would count both. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Fluency disruption.” and the likely next move “Prioritise blockers and recurring high-value words.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student knows words for topics but few reasoning verbs. Compare a recognition prompt with a productive prompt for the same word. Explain why the scores may differ. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Academic-function gap.” and the likely next move “Build analyse, infer, evaluate, justify and related language.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student writes formal words in casual speech. Choose a high-utility word and decide whether it belongs in receptive only or active vocabulary. Justify the teaching investment. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Register gap.” and the likely next move “Practise situation-based vocabulary choice.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student understands synonyms as identical. Sample one Science and one Humanities paragraph. Compare which academic words transfer and which are discipline-specific. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Depth/contrast gap.” and the likely next move “Teach gradients and substitution limits.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student has many notebooks but little recall. Take one Top 100 item and build a depth profile: meanings, family, collocations, register and transfer. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Storage without retrieval.” and the likely next move “Convert notes into delayed cues.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student reads only one genre. Design a five-word mini-test that measures more than definitions. Include one context and one retrieval item. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Narrow exposure.” and the likely next move “Diversify reading while preserving volume.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student understands classroom vocabulary but not exam paraphrases. Look at a vocabulary benchmark and identify its unit: headword, lemma, family, CEFR item or something else. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Lexical flexibility gap.” and the likely next move “Practise semantic equivalence.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student forgets new words after one week. Choose one reading genre and predict which vocabulary categories are underrepresented if the student reads only that genre. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Spacing gap.” and the likely next move “Schedule delayed retrieval.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student knows 5,000 list items but cannot write fluently. Write a progress statement without using a raw word-count total. Use evidence from coverage, retrieval and transfer instead. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Size–performance mismatch.” and the likely next move “Measure productive chunks and retrieval.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student knows fewer list items but writes precise essays. Choose a current school paragraph. Mark known, partly known and unknown items, then decide which unknowns actually block comprehension. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Depth advantage.” and the likely next move “Continue breadth growth without sacrificing control.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student has strong general English but weak Humanities vocabulary. Take one familiar word and list two senses. Decide whether your vocabulary-size test would count both. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Domain-specific gap.” and the likely next move “Build disciplinary concepts and collocations.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student confuses academic and technical words. Compare a recognition prompt with a productive prompt for the same word. Explain why the scores may differ. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Category confusion.” and the likely next move “Separate cross-curricular from discipline-specific language.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student sees different vocabulary-test scores online. Choose a high-utility word and decide whether it belongs in receptive only or active vocabulary. Justify the teaching investment. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Measurement inconsistency.” and the likely next move “Compare units and task formats before interpreting.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student wants a one-number target for the year. Sample one Science and one Humanities paragraph. Compare which academic words transfer and which are discipline-specific. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Goal oversimplification.” and the likely next move “Use layered targets by function.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student masters a Top 100 list quickly. Take one Top 100 item and build a depth profile: meanings, family, collocations, register and transfer. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Selection success, not complete mastery.” and the likely next move “Test transfer and continue broad reading.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student knows words receptively but avoids them orally. Design a five-word mini-test that measures more than definitions. Include one context and one retrieval item. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Oral retrieval gap.” and the likely next move “Practise timed discussion.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student misreads familiar words with new senses. Look at a vocabulary benchmark and identify its unit: headword, lemma, family, CEFR item or something else. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Sense-depth gap.” and the likely next move “Build polysemy awareness.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student knows definitions but not prepositions. Choose one reading genre and predict which vocabulary categories are underrepresented if the student reads only that genre. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Pattern gap.” and the likely next move “Record grammar and collocation.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student writes too many rare words. Write a progress statement without using a raw word-count total. Use evidence from coverage, retrieval and transfer instead. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Selection/pragmatic gap.” and the likely next move “Prioritise clarity and audience.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student reads comfortably until specialised chapters. Choose a current school paragraph. Mark known, partly known and unknown items, then decide which unknowns actually block comprehension. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Threshold shift.” and the likely next move “Measure coverage by topic.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student remembers words only in original example sentences. Take one familiar word and list two senses. Decide whether your vocabulary-size test would count both. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Context-bound memory.” and the likely next move “Use varied transfer contexts.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student recognises roots but not whole-word spelling. Compare a recognition prompt with a productive prompt for the same word. Explain why the scores may differ. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Orthographic integration gap.” and the likely next move “Teach families with written forms.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student can use words in essays but not comprehension answers. Choose a high-utility word and decide whether it belongs in receptive only or active vocabulary. Justify the teaching investment. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Task-transfer gap.” and the likely next move “Practise paraphrase and analytical response.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student knows current school vocabulary but not older literary forms. Sample one Science and one Humanities paragraph. Compare which academic words transfer and which are discipline-specific. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Text-era gap.” and the likely next move “Teach as needed rather than inflating global targets.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A bilingual learner knows concepts but not English labels. Take one Top 100 item and build a depth profile: meanings, family, collocations, register and transfer. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Lexical-label gap.” and the likely next move “Map known concepts to English vocabulary.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A learner knows conversational English but struggles with nominalisations. Design a five-word mini-test that measures more than definitions. Include one context and one retrieval item. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Academic-register gap.” and the likely next move “Teach derived abstract nouns.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student wants to memorise 50 new words per day. Look at a vocabulary benchmark and identify its unit: headword, lemma, family, CEFR item or something else. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Load/retention risk.” and the likely next move “Reduce targets and increase meaningful reuse.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student asks whether Grade 9 should equal Oxford 5000. Choose one reading genre and predict which vocabulary categories are underrepresented if the student reads only that genre. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Benchmark misunderstanding.” and the likely next move “Use Oxford lists as learner references, not compulsory school-year quotas.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Coverage Audit Cycle 10

Case: Alicia recognises 90% of a list but can define only half without options. Choose a current school paragraph. Mark known, partly known and unknown items, then decide which unknowns actually block comprehension. Keep the diagnostic anchor “High recognition, lower recall.” and the likely next move “Use reverse retrieval before adding many new words.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: Tricia reads fiction fluently but struggles with Science explanations. Take one familiar word and list two senses. Decide whether your vocabulary-size test would count both. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Domain coverage gap.” and the likely next move “Build subject vocabulary and cross-curricular academic words.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: Kai Kai knows many advanced words but uses them awkwardly. Compare a recognition prompt with a productive prompt for the same word. Explain why the scores may differ. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Depth/collocation gap.” and the likely next move “Reduce expansion temporarily; deepen usage.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student knows analyse but not analysis or analytical. Choose a high-utility word and decide whether it belongs in receptive only or active vocabulary. Justify the teaching investment. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Word-family gap.” and the likely next move “Teach related forms in sentence transformations.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student knows issue only as problem. Sample one Science and one Humanities paragraph. Compare which academic words transfer and which are discipline-specific. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Polysemy gap.” and the likely next move “Add second senses from authentic texts.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student can define significant but overuses it for big. Take one Top 100 item and build a depth profile: meanings, family, collocations, register and transfer. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Meaning-boundary gap.” and the likely next move “Contrast size, importance and technical senses.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student understands a passage but writes vague answers. Design a five-word mini-test that measures more than definitions. Include one context and one retrieval item. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Productive retrieval gap.” and the likely next move “Train analytical vocabulary from meaning cues.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student scores high on flashcards but low on cloze. Look at a vocabulary benchmark and identify its unit: headword, lemma, family, CEFR item or something else. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Context/collocation gap.” and the likely next move “Use sentence-level retrieval.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student reads news well but not literature. Choose one reading genre and predict which vocabulary categories are underrepresented if the student reads only that genre. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Genre coverage gap.” and the likely next move “Expand figurative, descriptive and tone vocabulary.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student understands spoken discussion but misses written academic nouns. Write a progress statement without using a raw word-count total. Use evidence from coverage, retrieval and transfer instead. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Nominalisation gap.” and the likely next move “Teach verb–noun families.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student knows many roots but guesses whole words wrongly. Choose a current school paragraph. Mark known, partly known and unknown items, then decide which unknowns actually block comprehension. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Overreliance on morphology.” and the likely next move “Require context verification.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student skips every unknown word while reading. Take one familiar word and list two senses. Decide whether your vocabulary-size test would count both. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Incidental-learning gap.” and the likely next move “Adopt selective lookup and recording.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student looks up every unknown word immediately. Compare a recognition prompt with a productive prompt for the same word. Explain why the scores may differ. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Fluency disruption.” and the likely next move “Prioritise blockers and recurring high-value words.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student knows words for topics but few reasoning verbs. Choose a high-utility word and decide whether it belongs in receptive only or active vocabulary. Justify the teaching investment. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Academic-function gap.” and the likely next move “Build analyse, infer, evaluate, justify and related language.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student writes formal words in casual speech. Sample one Science and one Humanities paragraph. Compare which academic words transfer and which are discipline-specific. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Register gap.” and the likely next move “Practise situation-based vocabulary choice.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student understands synonyms as identical. Take one Top 100 item and build a depth profile: meanings, family, collocations, register and transfer. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Depth/contrast gap.” and the likely next move “Teach gradients and substitution limits.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student has many notebooks but little recall. Design a five-word mini-test that measures more than definitions. Include one context and one retrieval item. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Storage without retrieval.” and the likely next move “Convert notes into delayed cues.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student reads only one genre. Look at a vocabulary benchmark and identify its unit: headword, lemma, family, CEFR item or something else. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Narrow exposure.” and the likely next move “Diversify reading while preserving volume.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student understands classroom vocabulary but not exam paraphrases. Choose one reading genre and predict which vocabulary categories are underrepresented if the student reads only that genre. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Lexical flexibility gap.” and the likely next move “Practise semantic equivalence.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student forgets new words after one week. Write a progress statement without using a raw word-count total. Use evidence from coverage, retrieval and transfer instead. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Spacing gap.” and the likely next move “Schedule delayed retrieval.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student knows 5,000 list items but cannot write fluently. Choose a current school paragraph. Mark known, partly known and unknown items, then decide which unknowns actually block comprehension. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Size–performance mismatch.” and the likely next move “Measure productive chunks and retrieval.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student knows fewer list items but writes precise essays. Take one familiar word and list two senses. Decide whether your vocabulary-size test would count both. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Depth advantage.” and the likely next move “Continue breadth growth without sacrificing control.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student has strong general English but weak Humanities vocabulary. Compare a recognition prompt with a productive prompt for the same word. Explain why the scores may differ. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Domain-specific gap.” and the likely next move “Build disciplinary concepts and collocations.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student confuses academic and technical words. Choose a high-utility word and decide whether it belongs in receptive only or active vocabulary. Justify the teaching investment. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Category confusion.” and the likely next move “Separate cross-curricular from discipline-specific language.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student sees different vocabulary-test scores online. Sample one Science and one Humanities paragraph. Compare which academic words transfer and which are discipline-specific. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Measurement inconsistency.” and the likely next move “Compare units and task formats before interpreting.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student wants a one-number target for the year. Take one Top 100 item and build a depth profile: meanings, family, collocations, register and transfer. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Goal oversimplification.” and the likely next move “Use layered targets by function.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student masters a Top 100 list quickly. Design a five-word mini-test that measures more than definitions. Include one context and one retrieval item. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Selection success, not complete mastery.” and the likely next move “Test transfer and continue broad reading.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student knows words receptively but avoids them orally. Look at a vocabulary benchmark and identify its unit: headword, lemma, family, CEFR item or something else. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Oral retrieval gap.” and the likely next move “Practise timed discussion.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student misreads familiar words with new senses. Choose one reading genre and predict which vocabulary categories are underrepresented if the student reads only that genre. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Sense-depth gap.” and the likely next move “Build polysemy awareness.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student knows definitions but not prepositions. Write a progress statement without using a raw word-count total. Use evidence from coverage, retrieval and transfer instead. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Pattern gap.” and the likely next move “Record grammar and collocation.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student writes too many rare words. Choose a current school paragraph. Mark known, partly known and unknown items, then decide which unknowns actually block comprehension. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Selection/pragmatic gap.” and the likely next move “Prioritise clarity and audience.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student reads comfortably until specialised chapters. Take one familiar word and list two senses. Decide whether your vocabulary-size test would count both. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Threshold shift.” and the likely next move “Measure coverage by topic.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student remembers words only in original example sentences. Compare a recognition prompt with a productive prompt for the same word. Explain why the scores may differ. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Context-bound memory.” and the likely next move “Use varied transfer contexts.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student recognises roots but not whole-word spelling. Choose a high-utility word and decide whether it belongs in receptive only or active vocabulary. Justify the teaching investment. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Orthographic integration gap.” and the likely next move “Teach families with written forms.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student can use words in essays but not comprehension answers. Sample one Science and one Humanities paragraph. Compare which academic words transfer and which are discipline-specific. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Task-transfer gap.” and the likely next move “Practise paraphrase and analytical response.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student knows current school vocabulary but not older literary forms. Take one Top 100 item and build a depth profile: meanings, family, collocations, register and transfer. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Text-era gap.” and the likely next move “Teach as needed rather than inflating global targets.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A bilingual learner knows concepts but not English labels. Design a five-word mini-test that measures more than definitions. Include one context and one retrieval item. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Lexical-label gap.” and the likely next move “Map known concepts to English vocabulary.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A learner knows conversational English but struggles with nominalisations. Look at a vocabulary benchmark and identify its unit: headword, lemma, family, CEFR item or something else. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Academic-register gap.” and the likely next move “Teach derived abstract nouns.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student wants to memorise 50 new words per day. Choose one reading genre and predict which vocabulary categories are underrepresented if the student reads only that genre. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Load/retention risk.” and the likely next move “Reduce targets and increase meaningful reuse.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.

Case: A student asks whether Grade 9 should equal Oxford 5000. Write a progress statement without using a raw word-count total. Use evidence from coverage, retrieval and transfer instead. Keep the diagnostic anchor “Benchmark misunderstanding.” and the likely next move “Use Oxford lists as learner references, not compulsory school-year quotas.” in view, but allow your answer to change if the new evidence supports a different diagnosis.