Chapter 11: Expanding Your Vocabulary
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Presentation Transcript
Chapter 11: Expanding Your Vocabulary College Reading and Study Skills, Ninth Edition by Kathleen T. McWhorter
Objective: • This chapter will help you to identify the words you need to add to your vocabulary and to use the resources that can expand your vocabulary. • LEARNING PRINCIPLE: Rehearsal improves both your ability to learn and to recall information.
General Approaches to Vocabulary Expansion • Read Widely • Use Words You Already Know • Look for Five-Dollar Words to Replace One-Dollar Words “The movie was very good.” “The movie was thrilling and inspiring.”
General Approaches to Vocabulary Expansion • Build Your Word Awareness • Consider Working with a Vocabulary Improvement Program
Using Reference Sources • Dictionaries: word meanings plus pronunciation key, word origin, part(s) of speech, variant spellings, synonyms, language history. • Thesauruses: dictionary of synonyms. • Subject Area Dictionaries • A Dictionary of Economics • Taber’s Cyclopedic Medical Dictionary
Learning Specialized Terminology • Make lists (see exercise 5). • Circle or draw a box around terms in your lecture notes. • Mark new terminology in your textbooks.
Systems of Learning Vocabulary • The Vocabulary Card System Conglomerate con-glom'-er-it Front def: an organization comprising two or more companies that produce unrelated products. ex: Nichols company owns a shoe factory, vineyards in France, soft drink factories, and Sara Jane pastry company. Back
Systems of Learning Vocabulary • The Computerized Vocabulary File Using a word-processing program, create a computer file for each of your courses, and in a table or columns, enter the words that you want to learn.
Summary Questions • What can you do to expand your overall vocabulary? • Which reference sources are helpful in vocabulary building? • How can you identify which specialized terms to learn? • How can you use the vocabulary card system to help you learn vocabulary?
Take a Reading Road Trip! Go to the LIBRARY OF CONGRESS in Washington, D.C., and visit the Vocabulary Development module on your CD-ROM.