Vocabulary and Dictionary Skills

VOCABULARY & DICTIONARY

SKILLS

English 72 – E. Buchanan – Porterville College

Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education Inc. 2

Define vocabulary.1

Vocabulary − all the words used or understood by a person

A Context Clue − the information that surrounds a new word, and is used to understand its meaning

CHAPTER TWO

Use Context Clues to Study Vocabulary

S•Synonyms

A•Antonyms

G•General Context

E•Examples

A SAGE Approach

2 Classify context clues.

CHAPTER TWO

S

• Parentheses ( )

• Dashes -- --• Commas , ,• Or• That is

Words with the samemeaning

Synonym Signal Words

Prince William’s bride followed the conventions (traditions) of society by wearing a white gown.

2Classify context clues.

CHAPTER TWO

A

• But• However• In contrast• Instead• Unlike• Not• Yet• On the other

hand

Words with the

oppositemeaning

Antonym Signal Words

Cheryl often flouted the rules, unlike her twin who always obeyed them.

Classify context clues.2

CHAPTER TWO

G

• Definition• Description• Logic• Reasoning • Prior knowledge• Word pictures

Surrounding words

General Context Clues

We could tell by her indifference to the chocolate cake that she wasn’t a fan of desserts.

Classify context clues.2

CHAPTER TWO

E

• Consisting of• Including• Like• Such as• For instance • For example• Colons :• Dashes -- --

Examples can reveal meaning.

Example Signal Words

Legumes include such vegetables as peas, beans, and lentils.

Classify context clues.2

Let’s Practice - handout

Dictionary Skills

We discovered that the authors often include the meaning of a word through context clues. But what do you do if you come across a difficult word and no context clue was provided? You look it up in the dictionary.

On Monday, Nevada became the first to approve

a license for "autonomous vehicles" -- in other words, cars that cruise, twist and turn without the need for a driver -- on its roads. The license goes to the prodigious Google, known more for its search engine and e-mail service that nonetheless has been known to plummet into other big ideas such as space elevators to Internet-enabled glasses. (Taken and modified from: www.cnn.com/ “Google Gets License to Operate Driverless Cars in Nevada” by the CNN wire staff. 5/8/12.)

You probably got the overall message: Google has been approved a license for cars that do not need a driver. However, there was a word in the paragraph that did not have a context clue, prodigious.

It may be an important word to know the meaning of in order to completely understand the paragraph. Let’s look it up in the dictionary.

Dictionary Entries Dictionary entries provide more than just the

meaning of the word.

1. Syllabication – How is the word broken down into syllables?

2. Pronunciation – How do you pronounce the word?

3. Function of the word – What is the part of speech?

4. Etymology – Where did this word come from? What is the history of the word?

5. Other forms – What are the different forms made by adding to or changing the word’s suffix (ending)?

Dictionaries

Listed below are some recommended Collegiate (which means “of or intended for college students”) Dictionaries.

Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary The American Heritage Dictionary The Random House Dictionary

We used a hard copy dictionary to find the meaning of the above word, but there are also many on-line dictionaries. Let’s look up another word in this paragraph – plummet. This time we will use an on-line dictionary.

Listed below are some on-line dictionaries you may want to try out. 

http://www.merriam-webster.com/ http://dictionary.reference.com/ http://www.yourdictionary.com/

So now we have figured out three words. We know what autonomous means by the context clues

provided. And what does prodigious mean? And plummet? On Monday, Nevada became the first to approve a

license for "autonomous vehicles" -- in other words, cars that cruise, twist and turn without the need for a driver -- on its roads. The license goes to the prodigious Google, known more for its search engine and e-mail service that nonetheless has been known to plummet into other big ideas such as space elevators to Internet-enabled glasses.

Let’s go on a dictionary scavenger hunt.