Context Clues Learning New Words

How can I learn new words? How important is it to increase my vocabulary? What happens to my comprehension as a result of poor vocabular?

There are several tricks to learning new words and increase comprehension and reading rate skills If you stumble over many unknown words, it affects your comprehension and your reading rate

It’s hard to remember certain words from college reading because they aren’t words that are used often or every day—they aren’t used as often in a conversation First, try to remember the word in the context in which it was used, then visualize the word in a situation that is meaningful to you Create a scenario for your new word Recall your new word in a meaningful phrase or scene

USE CONTEXT CLUES -Often words are defined directly in the sentences in which they appear—the sentences offer CLUES to help you get the meaning of the word

Several Types of Context Clues Definition: The unknown word is defined within the sentence or paragraph Example: With a week of adventures behind them, the hungry campers quickly started to devour the pizzas that had been ordered for them, eagerly eating every crumb. (The definition is set off by a comma and a phrase in which the word appears is followed—devoured means to eat greedily

Descriptive Details: Descriptive details suggest the meaning of the unknown word. Example: Even though the NHL player for the United States team lost his momentum when he was tripped by his opponent, he quickly regained his energy and moved the puck toward the goal. (The last part of the sentence describes momentum—forward motion)

Examples: An example before or after the word suggests the word’s meaning Example: After three days at sea, the fisherman was famished. He said he could eat an entire whale if catching one were still allowed. (Saying he could eat an entire whale demonstrates that famished means extremely hungry)

Comparison: A similar situation suggests the meaning of the unknown word. Example: Before being offered a generous five- year contract, the quarterback underwent more scrutiny than a fugitive being investigated by the FBI. (Scrutiny means inspection—they use the comparison to the FBI who thoroughly examines the records of fugitives)

Contrast: An opposite situation suggests the meaning of the unknown word. Example: Even though her dog was docile most of the time, he became a fierce tiger difficult to control when a stranger entered the house. (Even though are signal words indicting that an opposite is coming—docile means the opposite of control—it means to be obedient)

USE WORD PARTS TO HELP UNDERSTAND WORDS MEANING Roots Prefixes Suffixes (I gave you a list of common roots, prefixes, and suffixes—we will use them and be quizzed over them)

USE YOUR DICTIONARIES (ENGLISH/ENGLISH) Remember, unless a word is crucial to your understanding, try to move forward and get the central meaning of the passage Stopping in the middle of a paragraph breaks your concentration and causes you to forget what you are reading Use the strategies we discussed before you stop while reading—preview for unfamiliar words, write word down and look up when you come to a good stopping point

Finally, notice words with multiple meanings. When this happens, you must use the context of the sentence and paragraph in which the word occurs—study the context for its meaning Example: Do you part your hair in the middle? Gloria tried out for the part of Josephine in the college play.

Now, let’s practice!!!

Descriptive Details: Descriptive details suggest the meaning of the unknown word.