Transcript Chapter 2:Using Your Dictionary Essential Reading Skills Third

Chapter 2:Using Your
Dictionary
Essential Reading Skills
Third Edition
Kathleen McWhorter
© 2007 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Longman Publishers.
Buying Your Dictionary
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Should have desk or collegiate
dictionary plus pocket dictionary.
Online dictionaries.
Misspeller’s dictionary.
© 2007 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Longman Publishers.
Using a Dictionary
Become familiar with the information it
provides:
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Pronunciation
Meanings
Parts of speech
Spelling of other forms of entry word
Restrictive meanings
Etymology (word history)
© 2007 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Longman Publishers.
Abbreviations
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Dictionaries provide a key to
abbreviations used in the entry itself as
well as commonly used in printed
material.
Key appears on the inside cover or in first
few pages of the dictionary.
© 2007 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Longman Publishers.
Word Pronunciation
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Pronunciation of the word is given in
parentheses.
Some words have two accents.
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Primary stress and a secondary stress.
Primary one stressed more heavily and in
darker type.
© 2007 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Longman Publishers.
Etymology and
Restrictive Meanings
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Most dictionaries include etymology and
restrictive meanings.
Etymology is the origin and development
of a word. Example curve was derived from
the Latin word curvus.
Restrictive Meanings are the definitions
that apply only when the word is being use
with respect to a specific topic or field of
study. Example curve has two restrictive
meanings—baseball and math.
© 2007 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Longman Publishers.
Multiple Meanings
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Most words have more than one
meaning. Choose the meaning that fits
the way the word is used in the
sentence context.
Meanings are grouped by part of
speech and numbered consecutively in
each group. The most common
meanings are listed first.
© 2007 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Longman Publishers.
Choosing Correct Meaning
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Try to use parts of speech to locate the
correct meaning.
Skip definitions that give slang and
colloquial meaning.
Read each meaning until you find a
definition that seems correct.
Test your choice by substituting the
meaning in the sentence.
© 2007 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Longman Publishers.
Spelling
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Dictionary entry give the correct spelling of a
word.
Entry show how the spelling changes when a
word is made plural or endings are added.
Entry show alternative spellings of words when
there are two ways to spell a word.
Entry shows how the word is divided into
syllables.
Verb entries contain verb’s principal parts: past,
present, third person tense and participle.
© 2007 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Longman Publishers.
Usage Notes and Idioms
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Usage note or synonym section of the entry
for words that are close in meaning to
others.
Idiom is a phase that has a meaning other
than what the common definitions of the
words in the phrase indicate. Example,
“wipe the slate clean” means “to start over”
© 2007 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Longman Publishers.
Pronouncing
Unfamiliar Words
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Divide compound words into the individual words.
Divide words between prefixes and roots and/or roots and
suffixes.
Pronounce each syllable in separate, distinct speech
sound.
Syllable has at least one vowel and one or more
consonants.
Divide words before a single consonant, unless r.
Divide words between two consonants appearing
together.
Divide words between two vowel sounds that appear
together.
© 2007 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Longman Publishers.
Using Word Mapping
Word mapping is visual method of word
study.
Meaning
(as used in
reading)
Other
Meanings
Word
Part of speech
2 Synonyms
Other
Word parts
© 2007 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Longman Publishers.
Using Word Mapping
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Write the sentence containing the word at the top of map.
Look up word in dictionary.
Write the word’s part(s) of speech in “part of speech” box.
Study dictionary entry for meanings of word and write in
“other meanings” box.
Write two synonyms in “synonyms” box.
Analyze the word’s parts and identify any prefixes, roots,
or suffixes.
At the bottom of map write two sentences using the word.
Include other interesting information about word in “other”.
© 2007 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Longman Publishers.
Test Taking Tip #2:
Active Test-taking
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Try pronouncing the word to yourself.
Read all the choices before you select and
mark an answer.
Many vocabulary tests are timed and your
score is based on the number of correct
answers you get in a specific period of time.
Find out if there is a penalty for guessing.
© 2007 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Longman Publishers.
Visit the Companion Website
http://www.ablongman.com/mcwhorter
© 2007 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Longman Publishers.