Reading Strategy: Guessing Meanings of Words from Context Instructor: XU Ying Extensive Reading 1

# Steve Jobs’ Stanford Commencement Speech script

# I am honored to be with you today for your commencement from one of the finest universities in the world. Truth be told, I never graduated from college, and this is the closest I've ever gotten to a college graduation. Steve Jobs’ Stanford Commencement Speech

# It is impossible for you to know the exact meaning of every word you read, but by developing your guessing ability, you will often be able to understand enough to arrive at the total meaning of a sentence, a paragraph, or an essay. Guessing is a productive strategy.

# What is “context”? Context Linguistic Non-linguistic

6 Context Clues Synonym clues: like, or; commas, dashes, or parentheses… Antonym clues: but, yet, while, unlike, rather than, as opposed to, on the other hand… Example clues Clues of word association

7 1. Our uncle was a nomad, an incurable wanderer who never could stay in one place. The comma (,) indicates a phrase in apposition, which could be used as a synonym of the unfamiliar word. Wanderer is the synonym of nomad. Examples

8 2. Unlike her gregarious sister, Jane is a shy, unsociable person who does not like to go to parties or to make new friends. The word unlike signals that Jane’s sister is the opposite of her, and since Jane is shy and unsociable, her sister must be active and sociable. Examples

9 3. An Olympiad is a period of 4 years that begins in a leap year—1960, 1964, 1968, and so on. The dash ( — ) after a leap year indicates that examples will be followed to illustrate the phrase. A leap year means a year that contains 366 days. Examples

10 4. One morning a neighbor awakened John at six o’clock by cutting down a tree with a power saw. First, saw is a noun. Second, it is a tool used to cut down a tree. Third, a power saw makes loud noise when it is used to cut down a tree. Examples

11 Pair Work In the following exercise, do NOT try to learn the italicized words. Concentrate on developing your ability to guess the meanings of unfamiliar words using context clues. Attention! Be content with a general idea about the unfamiliar word; the exact definition or synonym is not always necessary.

12 It’s difficult to criticize cultural imperialism, such as the use of English on the Internet. How do you denounce something whose negative effects are so hard to see? They are, indeed, quite inconspicuous compared to other, more obvious forms of imperialism. Economic imperialism is more tangible; people can touch and see the results. And certainly political and military imperialism are not at all subtle. Their extreme actions are quite obvious. And their excesses are easy to denounce. criticize; accuse; condemn not noticeable; not immediately obvious obvious; actual; able to be touched not obviousextreme actions

13 Homework Exercises on page 112 & 131 Further development on 4a Teaching Platform

14 Thank you !