Why Vocabulary Development Counts
You have probably often heard it said, “Building vocabulary is important.” Maybe you’ve politely nodded in agreement and then forgotten the matter. But it would be fair for you to ask, “Why is vocabulary development important? Provide some evidence.” Here are four compelling arguments:
1 Common sense tells you what many research studies have shown as well: Vocabulary is a basic part of reading comprehension. Simply put, if you don’t know enough words, you are going to have trouble understanding what you read. An occasional word may not stop you, but if there are too many words you don’t know, comprehension will suffer. The content of textbooks is often challenging enough; you don’t want to spend extra time on understanding the words that express that content.
2 Vocabulary is a major part of almost every standardized test, including reading achievement tests, high-school exit exams, college entrance exams, and armed forces and vocational placement tests. Test developers know that vocabulary is a key measure of both one’s learning and one’s ability to learn. It is for this reason that they include a separate vocabulary section as well as a reading comprehension section. The more words you know, then, the better you are likely to do on such important tests.
3 Studies have indicated that students with strong vocabularies are more successful in school. And one widely known study found that a good vocabulary, more than any other factor, was common to people enjoying successful careers in life. Words are, in fact, the keys not just to better reading, but to better writing, speaking, listening, and thinking as well. The more words you have at your command, the more effective your communication can be, and the more influence you can have on the people around you.
4 In today’s world, a good vocabulary counts more than ever. Far fewer people work on farms or in factories. Far more are in jobs that provide services or process information. More than ever, words are the tools of our trade—in reading, writing, listening, and speaking. Furthermore, experts say that tomorrow’s workers will be called on to change jobs and learn new skills at an ever-increasing pace. The keys to survival and success will be the abilities to communicate skillfully and learn quickly. A solid vocabulary is essential for both.
Clearly, the evidence is overwhelming that building vocabulary is crucial. The question then becomes, “What is the best way of going about it?”
Words in Context: The Key to Vocabulary Development
Memorizing lists of words is a traditional method of vocabulary development. However, you are likely to forget such memorized lists quickly. Studies show that to master a word, you must see and use it in various contexts. By working actively and repeatedly with a word, you greatly increase the chance of really learning it.
Vocabulary Chapters
Chapter 1, like all the other chapters, consists of five parts:
● The first part of the chapter is titled Ten Words in Context. In this activity, you’ll be presented with ten new vocabulary words. Each word will be in boldface. If you click it, you will hear it spoken out loud (make sure your device’s volume is turned up). Next to the word, you will also be shown how to pronounce it (in parentheses). For example, the pronunciation of affinity is (ə-fĭnĭ-tē). If you click it, you will hear it spoken out loud (make sure your device’s volume is turned up). You can find the full pronunciation guide here or refer to it anytime in the main menu right beneath the book’s introduction.
Along with the word’s pronunciation, you will also be given its part of speech. The part of speech shown for affinity is noun. The vocabulary words in this book are mostly nouns, adjectives, and verbs. Nouns are words used to name something—a person, place, thing, or idea. Familiar nouns include teacher, city, hat, and truth. Adjectives are words that describe nouns, as in the following word pairs: former teacher, large city, red hat, whole truth. All of the verbs in this book express an action of some sort. They tell what someone or something is doing. Common verbs include sing, separate, support, and imagine.
Beneath each word are two sentences and, for some, a picture that will help you understand its meaning. In each sentence, the context—the words surrounding the boldfaced word—provides clues you can use to figure out the definition. There are four common types of context clues: examples, synonyms, antonyms, and the general sense of the sentence. Each is briefly described below.
1 Examples
A sentence may include examples that reveal what an unfamiliar word means. For instance, take a look at the following sentence from Chapter 1 for the word incessant:
The children nearly drove their parents crazy on the long car trip with their incessant questions: “Where are we going?” “Are we there yet?” “When can we get out of the car?”
The sentence provides three examples of incessant questions: “Where are we going?” “Are we there yet?” and “When can we get out of the car?” What do these three examples have in common? The answer to that question will tell you what incessant means. Look at the answer choices below, and choose the one you feel is correct:
___ Incessant means
a. silent.
b. wise.
c. nonstop.
All of the examples given in the sentence are questions that young children on car trips ask over and over. So if you chose c, you picked the correct answer.
2 Synonyms
Synonyms are words that mean the same or almost the same as another word. For example, the words joyful, happy, and delighted are synonyms—they all mean about the same thing. Synonyms serve as context clues by providing the meaning of an unknown word that is nearby. The sentence below from Chapter 2 provides a synonym clue for dispassionate.
The surgeon’s voice was dispassionate when he told the patient’s family that the operation had failed, but despite his calm tone, his eyes looked very sad.
Instead of using dispassionate twice, the author used a synonym in the second part of the sentence. Find that synonym, and then choose the letter of the correct answer from the choices below.
___ Dispassionate means
a. unreasonable.
b. unemotional.
c. disturbing.
The author uses two terms to describe the surgeon’s tone of voice: dispassionate and calm. Therefore, dispassionate must be another way of saying “calm.” (The author could have written, “The surgeon’s voice was calm.”) Since calm can also mean “unemotional,” the correct answer is b.
3 Antonyms
Antonyms are words with opposite meanings. For example, help and harm are antonyms, as are work and rest. Antonyms serve as context clues by providing the opposite meaning of an unknown word. For instance, the sentence below from Chapter 1 provides an antonym clue for the word opulence.
The opulence of the magnificent, luxurious resort was in stark contrast to the poverty of the little fishing village at its gates.
The author is contrasting the resort and the fishing village, so we can assume that opulence and poverty have opposite, or contrasting, meanings. Using that contrast as a clue, pick the letter of the answer that you think best defines opulence.
___ Opulence means
a. closeness.
b. riches.
c. permanence.
The correct answer is b. Because opulence is the opposite of poverty, it must mean “riches.”
4 General Sense of the Sentence
Even when there is no example, synonym, or antonym clue in a sentence, most of the time you can still figure out the meaning of an unfamiliar word. For example, look at the sentence from Chapter 1 for the word affinity.
My cat has an affinity for small, dark hiding places—I’ve often found her asleep in my dresser drawer, under the footstool, and inside my suitcase.
After studying the context carefully, you should be able to figure out the connection between the cat and small, dark hiding places. That will be the meaning of affinity. Which of the three answer choices below best expresses that meaning?
___ Affinity means
a. a preference.
b. a fear.
c. ignorance.
Since the sentence says that the cat is often found in these places, it is logical to conclude that the cat has a preference for them. Thus answer a is correct.
By looking closely at the pair of sentences provided for each word, as well as the answer choices, you should be able to decide on the meaning of the word. As you figure out each meaning, you are working actively with the word. You are creating the groundwork you need to understand and to remember the word. Getting involved with the word and developing a feel for it, based upon its use in context, is the key to word mastery.
It is with good reason, then, that the directions at the top of page 8 tell you to use the context to figure out each word’s meaning. Doing so deepens your sense of the word and prepares you for the next activity.
● The second part of the chapter is titled Matching Words with Definitions.
According to research, it is not enough to see a word in context. At a certain point, it is helpful as well to see the meaning of a word. The matching activity provides that meaning, but it also makes you look for and think about that meaning. In other words, it continues the active learning that is your surest route to learning and remembering a word.
Note the caution that follows the activity. Do not proceed any further until you are sure that you know the correct meaning of each word as used in context.
Keep in mind that a word may have more than one meaning. In fact, some words have quite a few meanings. (If you doubt it, try looking up the word make or draw in a dictionary.) In this book, you will focus on one common meaning for each vocabulary word. However, many of the words have additional meanings. For example, in Chapter 1, you will learn that fledgling is an adjective meaning “inexperienced,” as in the sentence “Myra and her sisters are excited about their fledgling catering service.” If you then look up fledgling in the dictionary, you will discover that it has another meaning as a noun—“a young bird that has recently acquired its flight feathers,” as in “We watched a robin giving flying lessons to her three fledglings.” After you learn one common meaning of a word, you will find yourself gradually learning its other meanings in the course of your school and personal reading.
● The third part of the chapter is titled Sentence Check 1.
Here are ten sentences that give you an opportunity to apply your understanding of the ten words. After inserting the words, check your answers in the limited answer key at the back of the book. Be sure to use the answer key as a learning tool only. Doing so will help you to master the words and to prepare for the last two activities and the unit tests, for which answers are not provided.
● The fourth and fifth parts of the chapter are titled Sentence Check 2 and Final Check.
Each practice tests you on all ten words, giving you two more chances to deepen your mastery. In the fifth part, you have the context of an entire passage in which you can practice applying the words.
You now know, in a nutshell, how to proceed with the words in each chapter. Make sure that you do each activity very carefully. Remember that as you work through the activities, you are learning the words. How many times in all will you use each word? If you look, you’ll see that each chapter gives you the opportunity to work with each word six times. Each “impression” adds to the likelihood that the word will become part of your active vocabulary. You will have further opportunities to use the word in the crossword puzzle and tests that end each unit.
In addition, many of the words are repeated in context in later chapters of the book. Such repeated words are marked with a small circle (°).
A Final Thought
The facts are in. A strong vocabulary is a source of power. Words can make you a better reader, writer, speaker, thinker, and learner. They can dramatically increase your chances of success in school and in your job.
But words will not come automatically. They must be learned in a program of regular study. If you commit yourself to learning words, and you work actively and honestly with the chapters in this book, you will not only enrich your vocabulary—you will enrich your life as well.
Eliza Comodromos and Paul Langan