Vocabulary understanding is very important for elementary students of social studies to reach a successful level of achievement. 5th grade students will face difficulties if they had not understood abstract vocabulary during their 4th grade, because the 5th grade subject of social studies is largely based on the vocabulary of the 4th grade in spite that the range of content selection has been extended to the unit of nation according to the Law of Environment Extension.
The 5th year is a new year for new vocabulary. This is reflected on the division of primary vocabulary period into K-4, 5-8, and 9-12. If abstract words were not learned at the right time, students would face great difficulties at the upper levels because of the new texts with harder words.
Understanding vocabulary with abstract concepts is more than just looking up the words in the dictionary and writing sentences because it involves a complex procedure of relating the words with concepts and ideas. Vocabulary, therefore, should be taught in a meaningful way. The words that have special connotations in the subject of social studies need to be explored, through which proper knowledge of vocabulary will be acquired. Especially, most of the abstract words in the 4th year social studies are Sino-Korean, teaching those words in the social studies class is important.
In order to effectively teach abstract vocabulary in the social studies subject, teachers are advised to learn how to reorganize the contents in each lesson of the tes subj. It is crucial that the teacher understands social studies education. teachers of social studies education must have a good understanding of both important ideas in social science and students’ interest and ideas. It depends on the teachers’ will, and time and energy that teachers devote to.