2.1: Words Influence Literacy
- Page ID
- 147335
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\(\newcommand{\avec}{\mathbf a}\) \(\newcommand{\bvec}{\mathbf b}\) \(\newcommand{\cvec}{\mathbf c}\) \(\newcommand{\dvec}{\mathbf d}\) \(\newcommand{\dtil}{\widetilde{\mathbf d}}\) \(\newcommand{\evec}{\mathbf e}\) \(\newcommand{\fvec}{\mathbf f}\) \(\newcommand{\nvec}{\mathbf n}\) \(\newcommand{\pvec}{\mathbf p}\) \(\newcommand{\qvec}{\mathbf q}\) \(\newcommand{\svec}{\mathbf s}\) \(\newcommand{\tvec}{\mathbf t}\) \(\newcommand{\uvec}{\mathbf u}\) \(\newcommand{\vvec}{\mathbf v}\) \(\newcommand{\wvec}{\mathbf w}\) \(\newcommand{\xvec}{\mathbf x}\) \(\newcommand{\yvec}{\mathbf y}\) \(\newcommand{\zvec}{\mathbf z}\) \(\newcommand{\rvec}{\mathbf r}\) \(\newcommand{\mvec}{\mathbf m}\) \(\newcommand{\zerovec}{\mathbf 0}\) \(\newcommand{\onevec}{\mathbf 1}\) \(\newcommand{\real}{\mathbb R}\) \(\newcommand{\twovec}[2]{\left[\begin{array}{r}#1 \\ #2 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\ctwovec}[2]{\left[\begin{array}{c}#1 \\ #2 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\threevec}[3]{\left[\begin{array}{r}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\cthreevec}[3]{\left[\begin{array}{c}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\fourvec}[4]{\left[\begin{array}{r}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \\ #4 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\cfourvec}[4]{\left[\begin{array}{c}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \\ #4 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\fivevec}[5]{\left[\begin{array}{r}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \\ #4 \\ #5 \\ \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\cfivevec}[5]{\left[\begin{array}{c}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \\ #4 \\ #5 \\ \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\mattwo}[4]{\left[\begin{array}{rr}#1 \amp #2 \\ #3 \amp #4 \\ \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\laspan}[1]{\text{Span}\{#1\}}\) \(\newcommand{\bcal}{\cal B}\) \(\newcommand{\ccal}{\cal C}\) \(\newcommand{\scal}{\cal S}\) \(\newcommand{\wcal}{\cal W}\) \(\newcommand{\ecal}{\cal E}\) \(\newcommand{\coords}[2]{\left\{#1\right\}_{#2}}\) \(\newcommand{\gray}[1]{\color{gray}{#1}}\) \(\newcommand{\lgray}[1]{\color{lightgray}{#1}}\) \(\newcommand{\rank}{\operatorname{rank}}\) \(\newcommand{\row}{\text{Row}}\) \(\newcommand{\col}{\text{Col}}\) \(\renewcommand{\row}{\text{Row}}\) \(\newcommand{\nul}{\text{Nul}}\) \(\newcommand{\var}{\text{Var}}\) \(\newcommand{\corr}{\text{corr}}\) \(\newcommand{\len}[1]{\left|#1\right|}\) \(\newcommand{\bbar}{\overline{\bvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\bhat}{\widehat{\bvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\bperp}{\bvec^\perp}\) \(\newcommand{\xhat}{\widehat{\xvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\vhat}{\widehat{\vvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\uhat}{\widehat{\uvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\what}{\widehat{\wvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\Sighat}{\widehat{\Sigma}}\) \(\newcommand{\lt}{<}\) \(\newcommand{\gt}{>}\) \(\newcommand{\amp}{&}\) \(\definecolor{fillinmathshade}{gray}{0.9}\)Vocabulary Strategies: Preparing to Comprehend What You Read
Why do instructors insist on teaching you vocabulary? It turns out your ability to understand key vocabulary in a reading directly affects your ability to comprehend the overall text.
This section will focus upon strategies for comprehending the meanings of key words in a text without using the dictionary unless absolutely necessary.
The Big Picture: Context Clues
Context refers to surrounding time, place, and circumstances of a situation. We make assumptions about what happens in the world around us by observing context. Consider the following narrative in which a student observes other students in the library:
Context Clues are specific to reading – they are clues found in the surrounding text that help the reader to define a key word.
Why use context clues? This is a very effective and efficient way to get the general meaning of a word that does not interrupt the flow of your reading. You can find the meaning of a word by reading the sentence and considering the words around it
Kinds of Context clues
Watch the video, Word Attack! Using Context Clues to Become a Word Ninja (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pbqJ...ature=youtu.be) . Notetaking is recommended. After watching the video, you should be able to understand how the following types of context clues work to equip you to come up with a reasonable guess when it comes to the meaning of an unknown word:
- Definition Clues
- Synonym/Example Clues
- Antonym/Contrast Clues
- GIST
Bits & Pieces: Word Parts
Your “Plan B” for determining the meaning of a key word should be using word parts, or morphemes. Word parts are exactly what it sounds like – the reader breaks the word into parts and derives meaning by using what is known about the part’s meaning. It doesn’t necessarily interrupt the flow of reading, but, depending upon the reader, it may briefly.
There are Three Categories of Morphemes
Root Words
- Roots are the basis of complex words.
- Prefixes or suffixes may be added to them to modify the meaning.
Prefixes
- Prefixes are added to the beginning of a word to modify the meaning.
Suffixes
- Suffixes are added to the end of a word to modify the meaning.
Let’s try this out. Here is how word parts can be used to define the word “irreversible.”
Break the word into syllables: ir-re-vers-i-ble
At this point, determining which syllables make up which parts can be kind of like solving a mystery. The more word parts you are familiar with, the easier this becomes.
- Root: verse (meaning: turning)
- Prefix: re (meaning: again)
- “reverse” means to turn again, to go back
- Suffix: ible (meaning: able to)
- “reversible” means able to turn again, or able to turn back
- Prefix: ir (meaning: not)
- “irreversible” means not able to turn again, or not able to turn back
Why Would I Do This?
Knowing word parts is efficient. It turns out that when a reader knows a set of 20 prefixes and 14 roots, and knows how to use them, they will unlock the meaning of over 100,000 words. (Imagine adding suffixes!) Would you rather learn 20 prefixes and 14 roots, or would you rather learn the individual definitions of over 100,000 words?
If you are entering a vocational program where there is a large amount of vocabulary, such as medical fields, this is THE way to learn key vocabulary, because discipline-specific vocabulary is often based upon specific, regularly occurring word parts.
Morphemes develop over time, so knowing the etymology, or history, of a morpheme adds to your understanding of them and their many variations.
Tips for Working With Morphemes
- In most cases, a word is built on at least one root.
- Words can have more than one prefix, root, or suffix.
- Words do not always have both a prefix and a suffix
- Roots may change in spelling as they are combined with suffixes (arid arable)
- Sometimes you may identify a group of letters as a prefix or root, but find that it does not carry the meaning of the prefix or root.
When to use the Dictionary
Stopping to look up unknown words while you are reading is highly disruptive to the flow of reading. It effectively keeps you from understanding the broader message of a text. For that reason, we try to determine meanings of key words AS we read, perhaps marking words to look up later. Then return to the reading later to try out your understanding. Using the dictionary to understand key terms should be your LAST option.
That being said, there are many good reasons to use a dictionary. Use a dictionary to:
- Look up key words before or after reading a text.
- Learn how to pronounce a word correctly.
- Find out the origins or history of a word.
- Determine how to correctly break the word into syllables.
Dictionaries have changed considerably over the years, making them much easier to use. You can certainly use a printed book dictionary, or an online dictionary, which are often free, and typically provide audio so you can learn to how to pronounce an unknown word.