Transcript The word

Guide to College Reading, 8/e
Kathleen T. McWhorter
Chapter 4
Learning New Words
PowerPoint by Gretchen Starks-Martin
St. Cloud State University, MN
© 2008 Pearson Education, Inc., Publishing as Longman Publishers
THIS CHAPTER WILL SHOW YOU HOW TO:
1.
2.
3.
Use the dictionary and the
thesaurus
Pronounce unfamiliar words
Develop a system for learning
new words
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Four Levels of Vocabulary




Words you use in everyday speech or writing.
(decide, daughter, date)
Words you know but seldom use in speech or
writing. (document, disregard, destination)
Words you’ve heard or seen before but cannot
define. (denounce, deficit, deductive)
Words you’ve never heard or seen before.
(doggerel, dogma, deleterious, diatropism)
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WORD INFORMATION SOURCES



The dictionary
Subject area dictionaries
The Thesaurus
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Dictionaries
 The
Collegiate Dictionary
 The Unabridged Dictionary
 The Online Dictionary
Merriam-Webster: www.m-w.com
 American Heritage:
www.yourdictionary.com

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Subject Area Dictionaries
Taber’s Cyclopedia Medical Dictionary (for
nursing)
 A Dictionary of Anthropology
 The New Grove Dictionary of Music and
Musicians
 A Dictionary of Economics.
 Black’s Law Dictionary

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The Thesaurus
A Thesaurus is a dictionary of
synonyms used to:
 Locate the precise term to fit a particular
situation.
 Find an appropriate descriptive word.
 Replace an overused or unclear word.
 Convey a more specific shade of
meaning.
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Using a Thesaurus
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Start with the index to locate the word you are
trying to replace.
Turn to those sections, scanning each list and
jotting down all the words you think might
work.
Test each of the words you selected in the
sentence in which you will use it.
Select the word that best expresses what you
are trying to say.
Choose only words whose shades of meaning
you know.
© 2008 Pearson Education, Inc., Publishing as Longman Publishers
USING YOUR DICTIONARY
Pronunciation
 Part of speech
 Meanings
 History (etymology)
 Special uses can also be found:
restrictive meanings, multiple meanings
 Spelling of other forms of the word

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Abbreviations
v.t. – means: transitive verb
 < – means: less than
 c. – means: circa; about; around the
time of
 Obs. – means obscure
 Fr. – means French
 pl. – means plural

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Etymology
Etymology:
 A word’s origin and development.
 Its history, traced back as far as possible
to its earliest use.
 Often traced back to another language.
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Restrictive Meanings

Definitions that apply only when the word
is being used with respect to a specific
topic or field of study.

Example: The word “curve” has 2
meanings – one for baseball and another
for math.
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Multiple Meanings
1.
2.
3.
4.
Use parts of speech to locate the correct
meaning.
Skip definitions that give slang.
Read each meaning until you find a definition
that seems correct.
Test your choice by substituting the meaning
in the sentence with which you are working.
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Spelling
The entry gives the correct spelling of a
word.
 Shows how the spelling changes when a
word is made plural or endings are added.


Example: Word + Ending:
budget – budgetary – budgeter
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Spelling
Includes alternative spellings of words
when there are two acceptable ways to
spell the word.
 Shows how the word is divided into
syllables.
 Contains the verb’s principal parts.

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Usage Notes
Collegiate dictionaries have a Usage Note
or Synonym section for words close in
meaning.
 Example: The usage note for the word
indifferent may explain how it differs from
unconcerned, detached, and uninterested.

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Idioms
An idiom is a phrase that has a meaning
other than what the common meanings of
the words in the phrase mean.
 Example: “wipe the slate clean” means “to
start over.”

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Other Aids
Lists and tables may be printed at the
back.
 Example:






weights and measures
periodic table for chemistry
biographical listings for famous people
a pronouncing gazetteer
abbreviations, signs, and symbols
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Locating Words Rapidly
Use the guide words at the top of each
dictionary page, one in the left corner and
one in the right.
 The words on that page are alphabetical
between the two guide words.

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PRONOUNCING UNFAMILIAR WORDS
1.
Divide compound words.

2.
Divide words between prefixes and
roots and/or between roots and
suffixes.

3.
house/broken
post/pone
Notice that each syllable is a separate,
distinct speech sound.

ex/pen/sive = 3 syllables
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PRONOUNCING UNFAMILIAR WORDS
4.
Notice that each syllable has at least one vowel
and usually one or more consonants.

5.
Divide words before a single consonant, unless
the consonant is the letter “r.”

6.
hu/mid
[fa/vor, mor/on]
Divide words between two consonants
appearing together.

7.
as/sign
pen/cil
Divide words between two vowel sounds that
appear together.

te/di/ous
© 2008 Pearson Education, Inc., Publishing as Longman Publishers
See pages 119120 for
examples.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
USING WORD MAPPING TO
EXPAND YOUR VOCABULARY
When you find a word you don’t know, locate the
entry for the word in a dictionary.
Study the dictionary entry to discover other
meanings of the word.
Find or think of two synonyms (words similar in
meaning)
Write two sentences using the word.
Analyze the word’s parts. Identify any prefixes,
roots and suffixes.
In the box labeled ”Other” include any other
interesting information about the word.
© 2008 Pearson Education, Inc., Publishing as Longman Publishers
A SYSTEM FOR LEARNING NEW WORDS
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Make note of new words.
Write the word on the front of an index card.
Once a day, take a few minutes to go through
your pack of index cards.
Sort the cards into two piles—words you know
and words you have not learned.
Review them often to refresh your memory.
See Figure 4-1 for a Sample Index Card
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LEARNING STYLE TIPS
Creative Learner: Experimenting with
new words in both speech and writing.
 Pragmatic Learner: Creating lists or
computer files of words you need to learn
and use.

Are you a creative learner
or a pragmatic learner?
© 2008 Pearson Education, Inc., Publishing as Longman Publishers
SELF-TEST SUMMARY
What reference sources are useful in
building a strong vocabulary?
 How do you pronounce unfamiliar words?
 Explain the index card system.

© 2008 Pearson Education, Inc., Publishing as Longman Publishers
Visit the Companion Website
For additional readings, exercises, and
Internet activities, visit this book’s
Companion Website at:
www.ablongman.com/mcwhorter
If you need a user name and password,
please see your instructor.
© 2008 Pearson Education, Inc., Publishing as Longman Publishers
My Reading Lab
For more practice on vocabulary, visit
MyReadingLab, click on the Reading Skills tab,
and then click on Vocabulary---Library of
Congress, Washington, D.C.
www.ablongman.com/myreadinglab
© 2008 Pearson Education, Inc., Publishing as Longman Publishers
TEST-TAKING TIPS:
Taking Vocabulary Tests
Try pronouncing the word to yourself.
“Hearing” the word may just make it more
familiar.
 Read all the choices before you select and
mark an answer. Choose the “best”
answer.
 Many vocabulary tests are timed. So be
sure to work at a steady, efficient pace.
 Find out if there is a penalty for guessing.

© 2008 Pearson Education, Inc., Publishing as Longman Publishers