1. McGraw-Hill © 2007 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Objectives This chapter will explain how you can develop your vocabulary by: Regular reading Using context clues Systematically learning new words Part Three, A Brief Guide to Important Word Skills Vocabulary Development

2. McGraw-Hill © 2007 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. A good vocabulary is a vital part of effective communication. A command of many words will make you a better writer, speaker, listener, and reader. Studies have shown that students with strong vocabularies and students who work to improve limited vocabularies are more successful in school. One study found that a good vocabulary, more than any other factor, was common to people enjoying successful careers. A poor vocabulary can seriously slow your reading speed and limit your comprehension.

3. McGraw-Hill © 2007 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. What are the best ways to develop your vocabulary? The best way to learn words is by experiencing them a number of times in a variety of sentences. Repeated exposure to a word will eventually make it a part of your working language.

4. McGraw-Hill © 2007 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. This method of learning words requires that you make reading a habit. Read a daily newspaper, selecting the features that interest you. Subscribe to one or more weekly or monthly magazines. Try to fit reading for pleasure into your schedule. Redirect half hour to an hour of your recreational time to reading books on a regular basis instead of watching television, listening to music, and the like. You may find that reading can be truly enjoyable, while at the same time, reaping the benefits of an improved vocabulary.

5. McGraw-Hill © 2007 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. You cannot expect to make instant habits of newspaper, magazine, and book reading. Also, you should not expect such reading to be an instant source of pleasure. You may have to work at becoming a regular reader, particularly if you have done little reading in the past. You may have to keep reminding yourself of the enormous value that regular reading can have in developing your language, thinking, and communication skills. If you are determined, and if you persist, reading can become a rewarding and enjoyable activity.

6. McGraw-Hill © 2007 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Using context clues Context clues = surrounding words and sentences that provide clues to the meaning of an unknown word. You can often determine the meaning of a word by considering the context in which the word appears. If you are a regular reader, you will use context clues on repeated occasions to determine the meaning of a word. Through repeated use of context clues to understand an unfamiliar word, you will make that word a part of your natural vocabulary.

7. McGraw-Hill © 2007 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. In combination with regular reading, the use of context clues is an excellent means to vocabulary improvement. Unfamiliar words, encountered often enough in context, eventually become part of one’s natural working vocabulary.

8. McGraw-Hill © 2007 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Systematically learning new words Learning technical words Some of the most important words you must learn and remember are the technical words used in specific subjects. With an introductory course in particular, you must spend a great deal of time learning the specialized vocabulary of the subject. Mastering the language of the subject is a major part of mastering the subject.

9. McGraw-Hill © 2007 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. If you come across a technical word that is not explained, look for its definition in the glossary of words that may appear in the back of the book. Once introduced and explained, many technical words may then recur frequently in a book. To avoid being overwhelmed by a rising flood of unfamiliar terms, you should mark off and master important technical words as soon as they appear.

10. McGraw-Hill © 2007 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Your teacher is the best source of information about important technical terms, usually introducing them in class. Write down each definition in your notes and clearly set it off in your notes by underlining the term and perhaps making a mark in the margin.

11. McGraw-Hill © 2007 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Mark off and write down definitions from your textbook. If a teacher’s definition of a term differs from the one in the text, study the one that is clearer for you. Keep a list of definitions in the back of your course notebooks. Realize the importance of mastering the definitions of key words in a subject. This will help you fully understand and master the subject.

12. McGraw-Hill © 2007 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Learning general interest words General interest words are not technical terms but ones you may come across in your everyday reading. To build your vocabulary, first mark off in your reading words that you want to learn thoroughly. Keep a file of newspaper or magazine pages with new words. Keep a list of words from books or other material you can’t keep in a file folder.

13. McGraw-Hill © 2007 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Every so often, sit down with a dictionary to look up basic information about each word you want to master. Put this information on a vocabulary word sheet. Word: __________ Pronunciation: _________________ Meanings: ____________________________________ _____________________________________________ Other forms of the word: _________________________ Use of the word in context: ________________________ ______________________________________________ Your own sentence using the word: _________________ ______________________________________________

14. McGraw-Hill © 2007 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Study your vocabulary words: 1. Make sure you can correctly pronounce the word and its derivations. 2. Study the main meanings of the word until you can say them without looking at them. 3. Spend a moment looking at the example of the word in context. Continue going back to test yourself on all the words you have studied after you learn each new word. Such repeated self-testing is the key to effective learning.

15. McGraw-Hill © 2007 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Vocabulary flash cards are an alternative method for accumulating words. This method allows you to shuffle the cards so the words can be studied in any order. Front of card: Word Pronunciation Part of speech Forms of the word Example of the word in context Back of card: Different meanings of the word Check beside the meaning that fits the context in which you found the word Sentence using the word

16. McGraw-Hill © 2007 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Learning through vocabulary study books The best of these books present words in more than one sentence context and then provide several reinforcement activities for each word. The more you work with a given word in actual sentence situations, the better your chances of making it part of your permanent word base. The regular use of vocabulary study books and materials, combined with regular reading and with your own ongoing vocabulary word sheets, is a solid way to improve your vocabulary.