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Guide to College Reading, 6/e Kathleen T. McWhorter Chapter 4 Learning New Words PowerPoint by JoAnn Yaworski © 2003 Pearson Education, Inc., Publishing as Longman Publishers This Chapter Will Show You How to: Use the dictionary and the thesaurus Pronounce unfamiliar words Develop a system for learning new words © 2003 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Longman Publishers Four Levels of Vocabulary Words you use in everyday speech or writing. Words you know but seldom use in speech or writing. Words you’ve heard or seen before but cannot define. Words you’ve never heard or seen before. © 2003 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Longman Publishers Word Information Sources The dictionary Subject area dictionaries The thesaurus © 2003 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Longman Publishers Dictionaries The Collegiate Dictionary The Unabridged Dictionary Subject Area Dictionaries © 2003 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Longman Publishers The Thesaurus A Thesaurus is a dictionary of synonyms: 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. © 2003 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Longman Publishers Using a Thesaurus 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. © 2003 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Longman Publishers Using Your Dictionary Definition of a word Word’s pronunciation Part of speech History Special uses can also be found © 2003 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Longman Publishers 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 © 2003 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Longman Publishers Etymology Etymology: A words origin and development. Its history, traced back as far as possible to its earliest use. Often traced back to another language. © 2003 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Longman Publishers Restrictive Meanings Definitions that apply only when the word is being used with respect to a specific topic or field of study. Ex: The word “curve” has 2 meanings – one for baseball and another for math. © 2003 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Longman Publishers Multiple Meanings 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. © 2003 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Longman Publishers Spelling The entry gives the correct spelling of a word. Shows how the spelling changes when a word is made plural or endings. Ex: Word + Ending: budget – budgetary – budgeter © 2003 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Longman Publishers Spelling (cont.) 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. © 2003 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Longman Publishers Pronouncing Unfamiliar Words Divide compound words. Divide words between prefixes. Notice that each syllable is a separate, distinct speech sound. Notice that each syllable has at least one vowel and usually one or more consonants. Divide words before a single consonant, unless the consonant is the letter “r.” Divide words between two consonants appearing together. Divide words between two vowel sounds that appear together. © 2003 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Longman Publishers A System for Learning New Words 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. © 2003 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Longman Publishers Visit the Companion Website http://www.ablongman.com/mcwhorter Take a Road Trip to the Library of Congress! Visit the Vocabulary module in your Reading Road Trip CD-ROM for multimedia tutorials, exercises, and tests. © 2003 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Longman Publishers