Guessing Vocabulary from Context

Procedures: A. Look at the unknown word and determine its part of speech. Is it a noun, verb, adjective or adverb? B. For each part of speech, look at the words around to to give you clues as to what the word means. This is the words context. - Nouns: are there adjectives that describe it? What verb is near it? What does this noun do, or what is done to it? - Verbs: what nouns go with it? Is it modified by an adverb? - Adjectives: what noun does it describe? - Adverb: what verb does it modify? C. Look at the relationship between the sentence describing the unknown word and other sentences. - Is there a contrast, or an effect, being described? Sometimes this relationship will be signaled by a conjunction like but, because, if, when or by an adverb like however or as a result. D. Use the knowledge you gained from steps A C to guess the meaning of the word. You might also use familiar parts of the word itself, like prefixes or suffixes. E. Check if your guess was correct. See if you can replace your guess with the word. If your guess fits into the sentence and makes sense, it might be correct!

Remember: you wont always be able to guess from context, so it is OK to be wrong. Even if youre wrong, you still became very familiar with the word, which will help you remember it for next time. Most of the time, your guesses will be very close to the meaning of the word, even if you dont guess the exact dictionary definition.

Adapted from: Upton, T. (2007). Reading skills for success: A guide to academic texts. Ann Arbor, MI: The University of Michigan

Example
Culture is transmitted in society. Dont we learn our culture by observing, listening, talking and interacting with many other people? Shared beliefs, values, memories and expectations link people who grow up in the same culture. A. Part of Speech: transmitted is a verb (or an adjective; it depends on how picky you are). B. Context: Culture is transmitted. C. Relationship: I know that transmitted does something to culture. In the sentence after this one, it says we learn our culture. Other sentences say shared and link. D. Guess: Actually, I do remember hearing the word transmission before, and that referred to a message. Maybe transmitted means sending a message? E. Check: Culture is [a message sent by] society. Dictionary Definition: cause (something) to pass on from one place or person to another. Synonyms: carry, transfer, communicate Accuracy: I wasnt perfect, but I was very close! I think my guess helped me understand the overall message of the reading, even if I didnt pick the exact dictionary definition.

Adapted from: Upton, T. (2007). Reading skills for success: A guide to academic texts. Ann Arbor, MI: The University of Michigan