Lectured by: Miss Yanna Queencer Telaumbanua, M.Pd. Reading Skill Lectured by: Miss Yanna Queencer Telaumbanua, M.Pd.

Chapter V: Vocabulary 1. Word-attack Skill a. Vocabulary Problem @ A problem  no good enough vocabulary to read @ Moderate readers  50.000,- different words in L1 reading @ Graded readers  seldom > 3500 word level

Continued... @ Different interpretation what is meant by ‘a word’  very large @ L1 readers do not learn 50.000,- words when teaching them but by meeting them in context and assimilating the meaning @ extensive reading programme  the most effective way of improving both vocabulary and reading skills in general

Continued... @ Using dictionary properly + organizing a programme of vocabulary building @ Increasing the amount of material they read  the best way of all. @ The teacher can’t develop the students with loaded unfamiliar words. @ Naturally, it is unexpected to understand all words in a text  safely skipped without losing any message, although possible any word blocks comprehension

b. Lexical Items and Attack Skills @ Lexical item : any word or group of words with a meaning that needs to be learnt as a whole. @ Some lexical items consist of more than one word. @ Identical words represent more than one lexical item. @ An example: every phrasal verb is a single lexical item, consisting of several words.

Continued... @ The examples: speak up, switch on, put up, turn off etc. @ Another example: saw, represents several differetn lexical items , of see in present tense of see, and the instrument for cutting wood. @ some words are alike having different meanings. @ Word-attack skills is familiar to teachers than lexical item attack skills.

Continued... @ Word-attack skills is closely related to skills needed by young learners in the earlier reading process. @ Teaching them by ignoring new words.

c. Structural Clues It is important to establish grammatical category of word represented by the new item, a first step to understand. E.g knife is a noun  know where to put it in a sentence. Working out the part of speech of the new word is the beginning of making sense of the text.

Continued... Checking the reader’s comprehension by asking them to answer questions. Using nonsense words as a starting point and moving on to authentic sentences containing unfamiliar lexical items. Don’t allow them to check in dictionaries. Its purpose is to demonstrate its part in the structural pattern, its structural meaning rather than its lexical meaning.

d. Morphological Information Understanding the meanings of affixes and the way they are used to build words is extremely useful in tackling new lexical items. It can’t be practiced to elementary students since they have a substantial vocabulary to provide other examples of the same affix. Examining the structure of complex words and understanding the patterns of compound words.

e. Inference from Context It is not enough to help the students to deal with new words by mastering phonics, sentence structure and word structure. Another way is to interpret by asking what is meant, then consulting to dictionaries. Don’t use the dictionary too much because it may have a harmful effect on the students’ reading habits when keeps stopping to look for up new words  a less effective reader.

Continued... Consulting continuously to the dictionary makes the reading speed slow and more seriously the thought process is interupted to continue a development of thought in the text. To avoid using the dictionary too much by: Promoting extensive reading so the students’ vocabulary can grow naturally. Developing the skill of inferring the meaning of a word by considering its context.

Continued... Inferring meaning is a skill owned in some degree in the readers’ L1 such as learning vocabulary in L1: meeting the words frequently and in concrete situations, then assimilating their meanings + making use of the context (the words give us a rough idea of its meaning + every subsequent occurence the meaning becomes a little more precise).

Continued... See its work as follows. Cover the numbered sentences on p.70 with a piece of paper. Now read them one at a time After reading first, consider how much information you have about the meaning of the word ‘tock’. Go to find out how much more you know after reading sentence 2 etc.

Continued... 1. She poured the water into a tock. 2. Then, lifting the tock, she drank. 3. Unfortunately, as she was setting it down again, the tock slipped from her hand and broke. 4. Only the handle remained in one piece.

Continued... Inference is not always good to use for FL readers because of : Less exposure to the language than L1 readers so more concious effort to learn words. Most students are not aware ‘possible to understand new words without being told what they mean, Bright & McGregor, 1970.

Continued... Suggestions: Show them it’s possible Encourage them to adopt a positive attitude (finding lexical items not dictionaries)

Continued... Specific training can be done: Training to infer meaning from context by using their intelligence to an extent that is not always common in language classes., e.g. Sentences contains nonsense words: getting a good deal of information but no really understand. Getting them to suggest what range of words could be used to complete given sentences (possibilities are not limitless).

Continued... 3. Showing that possible fillers for any particular slot in a given sentence are limited to make us work out the sort of thing an unknown word must mean by careful study of its context. 4. Assuring their inference with supporting evidence. 5. Don’t stop for a new word, read on and return to it later if necessary.

Continued... We don’t need to understand every word exactly, it depends on the reader’s purpose and how crucial the word is to the text. The more we read, the more exact our understanding of words becomes.

Continued... 6. Supply a short text, or several short text containing the same nonsense word replacing the same FL word in the original version which are familiar. 7. Use the nonsense words genuinely but unfamiliar FL words., choosing correct alternative among subtitutions in the sentece. 8. Practice to longer texts.

Continued... 9. Having clues  important words need to be taught and selected when practicing inference and assure no other new words in the context will interfere with the attempt to deduce the meaning. 10. Lexical density of the text (the proportions of new words it contains)  the high proportion of new words in the text, the accumulation of uncertainty may be too great for inferences to be drawn.

For your attention. Any thing to be discussed?