VOCABULARY: BUILDING AND UNLOCKING

Reading in a second or foreign language poses two main challenges. One is the immediate challenges we face when we come across unfamiliar words when we are reading. This may cause us not to be able to gain meaning from what we are reading. The other challenge is to build our vocabulary so that we may be able to recognize more words when we are reading, which will help us comprehend more effectively. In this session, we will learn some techniques for dealing with difficult words during the process of reading. We will then learn some techniques for enriching our vocabulary so that we will be able to use our larger store of vocabulary to help us become more effective readers.

ACTIVITY 1: Overview of Techniques for Dealing with Difficult Words Task 1:

Discuss: What do you do when you come across a word that you do not know when you are reading? Discuss the possible steps you could take to help you understand more of what you are reading. Step 1 Step 2 Step 3 Step 4

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Task 2:

The passage you will read is about dealing with difficult words when you read. Read the passage and answer the comprehension questions that follow to check your understanding of the text. Dealing with Difficult Words When you are looking for meaning, you often get it despite an unfamiliar word. Sometimes, however, a strange word makes you slow down or even stop because you have lost the author's meaning. Such a word deserves attention. How much attention it deserves depends mostly on your reading purpose. The first step is to note the word mentally, or make a pencil mark in the margin, and read on. Going on prevents further interruption of the author's thought. It also gives you a chance to find out whether the rest of the passage makes the meaning clear enough for your purposes. When reading for pleasure, you can usually learn enough about a word from its context. It is more important to go on enjoying the book than to find out how the dictionary defines every new word. The second step is to return to troublesome words after completing a passage, and try to work out what each one means; the need for this step increases with the amount of comprehension required. Saying the word aloud may help you to recognise it as one you have heard and then to recall how it was used. If this fails, you can often make an intelligent guess based on what you have learned from reading the whole passage; another look at the context may confirm or improve upon the guess. A knowledge of common prefixes, roots and suffixes helps too. By analysing the parts of a word, you can often work out the whole meaning. With practice you can learn to recognise new words as 'relatives' of familiar ones: e.g. familyfamiliar and dictionarydictatepredict contradict. When you make a real effort in these various ways to work out the meaning for yourself, you not only understand the word better, but you remember it better too along with the way it has been used. Even if you decide to look up the word, the thinking you have done will help you to get maximum benefit from consulting the dictionary. The third step, using the dictionary, is important for two kinds of words. The first group consists of words which must be understood to understand the rest of the passage adequately. Basic terms in a textbook belong to this group. The second group consists of words you know you have met before but still do not fully understand. If you come across a word three times, then clearly it is a word you should master.

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Your first aim when you have located the word is to find the meaning which fits the context in which you have met it. You should compare this with your own definition and note the difference. Having looked up the word, however, you should learn all you can about it. This small extra effort may save you the trouble of looking it up again, and may yield information which will help you attack other words. For example, note other meanings of the word. Check on the pronunciation, for you may hesitate to use the word if you are unsure of how to say it. If the word has synonyms you know, try to discover the slight differences in meaning. Note how the word can be changed to form some other part of speech, e.g. appropriateappropriately. Finally, record important words and terms, with sample phrases or sentences using each one correctly. You can keep a glossary at the back of each subject notebook, or a set of cards / slips. Use odd moments to test yourself on what you have recorded. Improving your vocabulary and word attack skills in these ways should bring significant improvement also in reading speed and comprehension.
From: Floyd, J. (2007). Study Skills for Higher Education: English for Academic Success. Selangor August Publishing

1. To be efficient, a reader must a. skip unfamiliar words. b. recognise all the words he meets. 2. The best way to learn new words is to a. read worthwhile novels. b. read and listen more.

c. never skip an unfamiliar word. d. easily recognise many words.

c. spend more time with the dictionary. d. study vocabulary lists.

3. The passage suggests that such a student might improve by a. substituting reading for outside activities. c. finding ways to meet more words in use . b. spending more time on his studies. d. memorising more definitions. 4. The importance of a word to the reader is determined mostly by a. its context. c. its pronunciation. b. the number of meanings it can have. d. how badly the reader needs the word. 5. When we first meet a strange word in our reading we should a. ignore it. c. analyse it. b. notice it and read on. d. look it up in the dictionary.

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Task 3:

Read the passage by yourself again. This time, note the steps to take when you come across difficult words while you are reading. 1. There are some steps suggested which may be used in dealing with new words encountered while reading. What are the steps? 2. In groups of 4, draw a flow chart of the steps you need to take when you come across unfamiliar words in the text. Use this space for preparation and recording your discussions of the steps. Step 1 : Step 2 Step 3 Step 4

Discuss this in your groups of four before you present your flowchart 1. What are the reasons given for Step 1? -prevents further interruption of the authors thought -gives a chance to find out whether the rest of the passage makes the meaning clear enough for your purpose 2. List three ways of working out the meaning of a word without using the dictionary. -saying the word aloud to check if u have heard the word b4 -make an intelligent guess based on context des from reading -apply knowledge of common prefixes root word or suffixes -read the sentences -predict the meaning by experience b4 -ask other people that knows the meaning 3. What types of word should Step 1 be used for? -words which must be understood to understand the rest of the text
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-words that make u slow down or stop because you have lost the authors meaning

Put your flow charts up on the wall. What was similar or different about your flow charts? What is similar or different between your steps? Discuss.

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ACTIVITY 2: Techniques for Dealing with Difficult Words Understanding Prefixes and Suffixes
In the English language, you can change the meaning of some words by adding prefixes (extra letters at the beginning of words). There are 14 prefixes which are very important. Why are these 14 prefixes important? According to Richard E. Hodges of the University of Puget Sound in a booklet titled: "Improving Spelling and Vocabulary in Secondary School" published by the NCTE in 1982; page 30: "If you were to examine the 20,000 most used English words, you would find that about 5,000 of them contain prefixes and that 82% (about 4,100) of those words use one of only fourteen different prefixes out of all the available prefixes in the language." Therefore, understanding how the prefixes change the meanings of words will help you to be able to work out the meanings of words with these prefixes. In this section, you will be gradually introduced to these prefixes, after which you will practice through a series of quizzes which will help you to apply your knowledge contextually.

Task 1:
Fill in the blanks with the correct meaning of the prefixes.

over means too much___________ excited (adj.) overexcited spend (v.) overspend confident (adj.) overconfident

super means more than_ market (n) supermarket natural (adj, n) supernatural hero (n) superhero

multi means ___many layered (adj) multilayered tasking (n) multitasking purpose (n) multi-purpose

out means ___over_____ run (v) outrun sell (v) outsell grow (v) outgrow

non means ______not____ verbal (adj) non-verbal smoking (adj) non-smoking returnable (adj)- non-returnable

in means ___________not_______ competent (adj) incompetent convenient (adj) inconvenient expensive (adj)- inexpensive

im means ____not______ possible (adj) impossible patient (adj) impatient perfect (adj)- imperfect

il means ____________not legal (adj) illegal legible (adj) illegible logical (adj) - illogical

ir means ________not______ replaceable (adj) irreplaceable responsible (adj) irresponsible relevant (adj) - irrelivant

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This exercise is based on the nine prefixes of the previous exercise. For each of the six questions choose the correct words to complete the sentence:
1. She can talk on the phone, type an email and listen to music all at the same time. She's good at (multitasking / supertasking /out-tasking ) 2. He's difficult to work for. He makes loads of silly mistakes and loses his temper easily. He is (impatient / unpatient ) and (incompetent /imcompetent) 3. The hotel is a long way from the city centre but it's so cheap we think we'll book it. It's (nonconvenient / inconvenient ) and (inexpensive / outexpensive). 4. I took this toothpaste back to the (multi-market / supermarket) where I bought it but they told me it was (non-returnable / irreturnable ) and wouldn't give me my money back. 5. You can't smoke in this building which can be used for business meetings or as a (super-purpose multi- purpose), (non-smoking / unsmoking) community hall. 6. He says he has (overnatural /supernatural) powers and can talk to ghosts but I think it's (inpossible / impossible)to communicate with the dead.

Task 2: More Exercises

Fill in the blanks with the correct meaning of the prefixes. re means ___again count recount (v): check the results of a competition or election again do redo (v): do something again sit resit (v): take an exam again because you failed it the first time you took it out means ____more than run outrun (v): run faster that someone or something else fox outfox (v): get an advantage over someone by being more clever or more cunning that him/her dated outdated (adj): out-of-date or no longer suitable for modern purposes mini means ___ small series miniseries (n): series of programmes broadcast over a short period of time bus minibus (n): small bus skirt miniskirt (n): short skirt

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micro means ____small electronics microelectronics (n): the study, science or manufacture of very small electronic parts for computers etc. surgery microsurgery (n): medical operations that are done using very small pieces of equipment and powerful microscopes brewery micro brewery (n): small independent business that produces small amounts of special beers under means _______not enough paid underpaid (adj): not getting enough money for the work you are doing cooked undercooked (adj): not cooked for long enough staffed understaffed (adj): with not enough workers to do a particular job quickly or efficiently mal means _______not treat maltreat (v): deal with someone in a cruel or bad way function malfunction (v): not work properly or not work at all nourished malnourished (adj): becoming ill because you have not eaten enough food or the right food mis means ______not or wrong count miscount (v): wrongly calculate a number fire misfire (v): not work properly (about a gun or engine) fit misfit (n): a person who doesn't belong in a group because he or she acts differently to others in the group Exercise: This exercise is based on the seven prefixes of the previous exercise. For each of the six questions choose the correct words to complete the sentence:
1. There are too many of us to fit in the car. I think we're going to have to hire a__________ for the holiday. a. minibus b. microbus c. underbus d. misbus 2. A spokesperson says the spacecraft ___________ during its launch yesterday. a. misfunctioned b. misfired c. malfunctioned d. was malnourished 3. Even though she's ___________ she stays there because she loves the work so much. a. understaffed b. underpaid c. paid under d. misfired

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4. Waiter! This food is awful. The potatoes are completely ____________ and the steak is cold. a. misfired b. maltreated c. undercooked d. malnourished 5. I'm glad my doctor is an expert in __________. That means I won't have much of a scar after my operation. a. minisurgery b. microsurgery c. micro brewing d. very small microsurgery 6. The election officials said there have been a _____________ and that they will be holding the _______ later today. a. undercount / recount b. miscount / recount c. miscount / malcount d. recount / miscount

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ACTIVITY 3: All in the Family

Words are learnt more easily when they are grouped according to word families (semantic groups). The brain groups seems to group these words according to their relationships within topical areas. In this activity, we will learn groups of words which are related topically through a series of quizzes.

Task 1:

Fill in the blanks with words which are related to the theme Environment

The Environment
environmental
relating to the natural world and the effect humans have on it

the environment
the natural world, including the air, water and land in or on which people, animals and plants live

environmentally friendly / green

environmentalist

designed not to damage or harm the environment

person who wants to protect the environment from being damaged by human activities

1. We need to do more to protect the environment from pollution. 2. Using cars and burning coal are examples of things that may cause ___environmental__ problems for all of us in the future. 3. He says using __environmentally friendly____ washing powder means that fewer chemicals go into our waterways every year. 4. She's very _green__, she never drives a car. She bikes everywhere. 5. She's an_environmentalist_____. She believes that planting trees will help slow down global warming.

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Environment Problems
the greenhouse effect global warming / climate change carbon footprint
an individual's or organisation's total output of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases caused by their everyday actions

pollution

an increase in the amount of carbon dioxide and other gases in the atmosphere which the majority of scientists think causes global warming

human-caused increase in the global temperature. Scientists prefer to use the term 'climate change' because some parts of the world may become colder rather than warmer

damage caused to water, air, etc. by harmful substances or waste

1. She's been on three international flights this year, so she's worried about her _____carbon footprint___ 2. Pollution from cars, factories and planes all contribute to what's known as _____the greenhouse effect__ 3. We need to lower our greenhouse gas emissions so that we can reduce the threat of ______global warming/climate change______ 4. Many of the workers complained that the ____pollution___from the factories was making them ill.

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recycle

collect and treat rubbish to produce useful materials which can be used again

conserve energy / electricity / power

keep and protect something from waste

Environment Solutions
organic
not using artificial chemicals in the growing of plants or raising animals for food and other products

a bottle bank

a large container which people put empty bottles and other glass objects into so that the glass can be used again

wind farm

a place where wind turbines (tall structures with blades that are blown round by the wind) are used to produce electricity from the power of the wind

1. We use the ___a bottle bank___in town to recycle our green, brown and clear bottles. 2. It's possible to ______recycle____plastic drink cups to make pencils. 3. Even though _______organic___food is a bit more expensive I think it tastes so much better because they don't use any chemicals in making it. 4. To____conserve enegy/electricity/power____, he turned his central heating down and wore more clothes instead. 5. Everyone says they think ____wind farm__ are a good idea but no-one actually wants them near their house because they make such a racket.
Adapted from: http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/flatmates/episode182/index.shtml

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