DEVELOPING VOCABULARY

Practice : academic literacy page 28

 INTRODUCTION
- Accurate and correct usage of word
- strategies to improve :
o CONSISTENT READING- textbooks, novels, newspaper, magazines
o USING DICTIONARY- understand exact meaning
 USING A DICTIONARY
- Definition & description
- Pronunciation- phonetic (sound)
- Part of speech of a word- ex: noun or verb
- Synonyms
- Singular or plural [pl.]
- American, British, or standard
- Formal or informal
- 2 diff meanings or usages-
- Tips : back of dictionary- extra grammatical & pronunciation info- in the mid- study
notes & grammar
 CONTEXT CLUES
- hints within a sentence, paragraph- to understand meaning/unfamiliar word
- visual- ex : picture
- 6 TYPES OF CONTEXT CLUES
1. DEFINITION CONTEXT CLUE- definition- ex: “homogeneous”- “ppl with same
characteristic”
Sentence : The company looked into its homogeneous group of consumers and
realised their uniform characteristics and needs.
2. SYNONYM CONTEXT CLUE- the same as- nearly the same- another word of it-
ex: “overjoyed”- “exalted”
Sentence : The CFO was exalted and overjoyed to identify an upward increase in
sales.
 3. ANTONYM CONTEXT CLUE- “willing”- “tentative”
4. DESCRIPTION CONTEXT CLUE- explanations
5. SUMMARY CONTEXT CLUE- “impertinent”- rude, no respect, poor manners,
impolite
6. VISUAL CONTEXT CLUE- picture, illustration, chart, graph
- TIP : context clues- help no dictionary usage
 BUILDING VOCABULARY
- Recognise parts of unfamiliar words
o Root word- not added in beginning or end- ex: photo
o Prefix- added at beginning- change meaning- ex: dis +appear- disappear
o Suffix- added at end- change function-
- ex: nation (noun) + al- national (adjective)
- ex: quick + ly = quickly
- ex: sad + ness = sadness
 ROOT WORDS
- Developed root words- known as word family ( prefix/suffix added)
- Examples
1. USE : useless, usable, used, using, user, misuse
2. EMPLOY : employment, unemployment, employer, employee, employing
3. MANAGE : manager, managing, manages, manageable, unmanageable
- Important to recognize- help to work out meaning
 ( CHECK PREFIX & SUFFIXES IN DIFFERENT PAGE : TABLE)
 COMPOUND WORDS
- One written as 2 words
- Ex: draw bridge becomes drawbridge
Jembatan angkat
- Used frequently in English
- 3 forms of compound words :
1. CLOSED FORM- blended together- ex: afternoon, football, backup, airport,
classmate
2. HYPHENATED FORM : mother-in-law, well-being, three-dimensional
Tanda sambung
3. OPEN FORM : post office, real estate, new world, French fries
 - when doubt using it- check dictionary- hyphen used in prefix- ex: re-creation, re-
formation, re-sign
- example on internet related : E-mail (noun), e-mail (verb), web page, online, e-book,
webcam, dot-com, website
- commonly used compound

 HOMOPHONES
- Words, phrases, or letters- pronounced same- differ in meaning
- Ex: to, too, two
- Common examples :
o There, their- whether, weather- aisle, isle- cell, sell- buy, by- cereal,
serial- course, coarse- hair, hare- complement, compliment- him, hymn-
whole, hole- steal, steel- profit, prophet
- Checked using dictionary (see sect 2.5)-
 KNOWING A WORD
- Passive knowledge ( understanding )
- Active knowledge :
o MEANING
 definition- words have denotation & connotation (in
dictionary)
 negative & neutral connotation
 formal & informal
 academic writing- neutral, formal, unemotional
 o USE
 appropriately & effectively
 put words together that belong together- collocation
 collocation- putting right adjective w/ right noun- right
adverb w/ right verb
 fix its context
 ex: word “kid” in business report- too informal
o FORM
 Knowing part of speech- word, adjective, adverb,
preposition
 Recognize roots, suffix & prefix, spelling &
pronunciation
o WORD GRAMMAR
 Know how to use- to make sense
 countable- ex: apple, 2 apples, 3 apples
 or uncountable- ex: water, air, rice

*note : affix- word element of ( suffix & prefix )

 LEARNING ACADEMIC OR SUBJECT-SPECIFIC VOCABULARY

- Specific subject- specific meaning- special purpose- ex: business study, medical
- Example: word “market”- in business “Sunday-morning food market”
 BUILD YOUR VOCABULARY
- Pick difficult words/terms from lecture notes
- Follow steps- create tables- in divided sections
1. write word- first column
2. second column- write definition of word- in your words
3. look up in dictionary
4. fourth column
- refer to subject-specific dictionary-
- note- difference between general & subject-specific definition

5. last column- write word/term in paragraph- make meaning clear

6. when finished- work with partner- compare words & definition

7. where words/terms are different- use each other definition- write

sentence

8. discuss written sentences

* this will help easier to answer questions properly

 CONCLUSION (OF DEVELOPING VOCABUARY)

- Developing vocabs- help in studies
- can read more broadly
- can express knowledge in detail- using effective word
- Integral part of understanding study
 TIPS
- Work with native speaker- discuss the meaning
- Make it personal- make up rhymes- help enhance word retention- be creative
- Word repetition- repeat several times a day- everyday- use in sentence
 PREFIXES
- Many have Greek or latin origin
- Important to know / understand prefix meanings
 SUFFIXES
- Changes the spelling from root