Chapter 1

Applying dictionary and vocabulary skills (part 1)

Learning objectives
Following this meeting, you should be able to
a. Using a dictionary
b. Finding the meaning of difficult words; and
c. Recognizing word, grammar and context clues
effectively in order to comprehend and answer the activities.

Dictionary
Dictionary is a book that lists the words of a language in alphabetical order and gives their meaning, or that
gives the equivalent words in a different language. This meeting describes how to find and construe of meaning
contained in dictionary.
Activity 1: Finding the correct meanings
Instructions: Answer the following questions, or determine the meaning of word in bold by referring to the
dictionary entries listed below. Write the numbers of the correct definition that relate to the bold words in the
left spaces.

1. 1. The spooky buildings were abandoned

2. 2. We were attracted by the magnetism of the speaker’s
personality

3. 3. The pianist’s eminent suitability for recording studio

work

4. 4. The victim recognized her bag in that truck.

5. 5. They will waive all rights to the money

Mini dictionary
a.ban.don | əә'bandəәn | verb [ trans.] 1. Give up completely (a course of action, a practice, or a way of
thinking) • discontinue (a scheduled event) before completion: against the background of perceived threats, the
tour was abandoned. 2. Cease to support or look after (someone); desert: her natural mother had abandoned
her at an early age. • leave (a place, typically a building) empty or uninhabited, without
intending to return: derelict houses were abandoned.

mag•net•ism | 'magnəә-tizəәm | 1. The class of phenomena exhibited by the field of force produced by a magnet
or by an electric current. 2. The study of magnets and

uny.ac.id 2
their effects. 3. The force exerted by a magnetic field. 4. Loosely, magnetic flux. 5. Unusual power to attract,
fascinate, or influence: the magnetism of money. 6. Animal
magnetism.

em•i•nent | 'eməәnəәnt | adjective 1. (of a person) famous and respected within a particular sphere or
profession : one of the world’s most eminent statisticians. • [ attrib. ] used to emphasize the presence of a
positive quality. 2. Towering above others; projecting; prominent: the Empire State Building, eminent among
the skyscrapers. 3. a. Outstanding in performance or character; distinguished: an eminent historian. b. Of high
rank or station. 4. Possessed or shown to a remarkable degree; noteworthy: a man esteemed for his eminent
achievements. [Middle English, from Old French, from Latin ēminiēre, to stand out : ex-. out + - minere, to
stand, project ].
em'i•nent-ly adv.

rec'og'nize | 'rekig-niz; 'rekge-niz | verb [ trans. ] 1. Identify (someone or something) from having encountered
them before; know again : I recognized her wig fell off. • identify from knowledge of appearance or character:
Pat is very good at recognizing wildflowers. • (of a computer or other machine) automatically identify and
respond correctly to (a sound, printed character, etc.). 2. Acknowledge the existence, validity, or legality of :
defense is recognized in Mexican law | he was recognized as an
international authority.

waive | wãv | verb [ trans. ] refrain from insisting on or using (a right or claim) • refrain from applying or
enforcing (a rule, restriction, or fee) : her tuition fees would be waived. USAGE Waive and waiver should not
be confused with wave and waver. Waive is a transitive verb that means 'surrender (a right or claim), 'and
waiver is its related noun, meaning 'an instance of waiving' or 'a document recording such waiving'

Thesaurus
A thesaurus is a book that lists synonyms. Synonyms are words that have the same, or nearly the same
meaning; big and large are synonyms, as are love and affection. Antonyms are words that have opposite
meanings, such as happy and sad.

Activity 2: Describing Antonyms and Contrasts

Instructions
1. Describe the meaning of antonyms that are written in italic.
2. Discuss your answer with your friends.

1. Ben is fearless, but his brother Jim is timorous.

Clue:
You may infer the meaning of timorous by answering the question “If Ben is fearless and Jim is very different
from Ben with regard to fear, then what word describes Jim?”
Write your answer in the following line.

2. Dad gave credence to my story, but Mom’s reaction was one of total disbelief. Clue:
You may infer the meaning of credence by answering the question “if Mom’s reaction was disbelief and Dad’s
reaction was very different from Mom’s, what was Dad’s reaction?” Write your answer on the following line.

Activity 3: Matching Synonyms

Instructions
1. Match the words in the left column with their synonyms in the right column by writing the letters a
through j on the correct lines.
2. Discuss your answer with your friends.

1. repulsive a. sympathetic
2. belligerent b. depressed
3. melancholy c. infamous
4. compassionate d. stormy
5. valiant e. insightful
6. perceptive f. reckless
7. rash g. warlike
8. pompous h. courageous
9. notorious i. disgusting
10. tempestuous j. self-important

Activity 4: Referencing
Instructions:
1. Read the following essay about the dumping of hazardous waste.
2. Fill in the table below by writing the referent for each word or phrase in the preceding column.
3. Check your work with another student.
The Effect of Dumping Hazardous Waste
By Elizabeth A Mikulecky

(1) In recent years, concern about the environment has been growing. (2) The public has become aware of
many common, dangerous dumping practices. (3) These practices, some of which have been going on for years,
have increased as the population has grown. (4) Recent publicity has drawn public attention to one form of
environmental pollution – the dumping of hazardous chemical waste.
(5) This waste includes heavy metals (such as mercury) and other by-products of technology. (6) Such
chemicals cause cancer, brain damage, and high infant mortality rates.
(7) Dumping of the waste is difficult to supervise. (8) And, in fact, even careful dumping has resulted in the
destruction of whole areas.
(9) When waste is first put into the dump, it is usually sealed in large metal drums. (10) As time passes, the
metal rusts, and the waste materials begin to leak out into the surrounding soil. (11) This has two effects
on the environment. (12) First, the local soil is often permanently destroyed and it must be removed.
(13) It becomes additional hazardous waste needing to be stored somewhere else. (14) Second, the
chemical waste can sink lower and lower into the soil and reach the water tables deep below the earth’s
surface. (15) The latter effect produces pollution of the water sources for many miles around. (16)
Sometimes the waste spreads into a river bed. (17) From there, it is likely to be carried to one of the
oceans, spreading the pollution around the world.

Sentence Word or Referent

phrase

9 It
11 This
12 It
13 It
17 There
17 it
Activity 5: Matching game – Word pair race
Instructions: this is a matching task. In five minutes, write as many correct pairs of verb+noun phrase as
possible. Example: do  verb + research  noun

References
Mikulecky, B. & Jeffries, L. (1996). More reading power. New York: Wesley Addison Longman.
Shepherd, J. F. (1987). College vocabulary skills. Boston: Houghton Mifflin. Thornbury, S. (2002). How to
teach vocabulary. Essex: Longman.
Chapter 2

Applying dictionary and vocabulary skills (part 2)

Learning objectives
Following this meeting, you should be able to
Guess meaning from context in sentences;
Use grammar to guess word meaning

Guessing meaning from context in sentences

When you try to guess the meaning of an unknown word, you use the text surrounding the word-the context.
One sentence may be enough to give you the meaning, or you need to use a longer passage.
Example : Do you know what “misogynist” means? If not, try to guess: A misogynist is?
Now read these sentences. Try to guess what misogynist means.

a. She realized that her boss was a misogynist soon after she started working for him.
b. It is difficult for a woman to work for a misogynist. She is never sure of the reasons for his
criticism.
c. She knew that no woman would ever get a top-level job in a company owned by a misogynist.
We know from sentence a, b and c hat a misogynist is a man.

This exercise will help you develop the skill of guessing vocabulary in context if you:

 Do not use a dictionary!


Do not try to translate the unknown words into your own language. Instead, you should try to
describe them or give words with similar meanings in English!
Activity 1: Guessing meaning (1)

Instruction
1. Guess the meaning of the word from the context of the sentences.2. Then compare your work with another
student.
1. What does “ravenous” mean?

Could I have a piece of bread? I missed breakfast and I’m simply ravenous. The poor horse was ravenous and it
ate the leaves and bark off the trees.
2. What does “flippers” mean?

We were all surprised to see how fast Johnny was swimming. Then we saw that he was wearing flippers.
With my flippers on my feet, I felt like a fish. I had never swum so fast and so far!

3. What does “mold” mean?

The liquid plastic was poured into a mold and left there until it was hard.

The dentist first makes a mold of his patient’s teeth. From that he makes a model of the teeth to decide how to
correct any problems.
4. What does “porch” mean?

On nice days, old Mrs. Willows always sat out on her porch and watched the people pass by.
From the second floor porch, there was a wonderful view of the ocean.

5. What does “stoop” mean?

The old man walked slowly along, all stooped over and leaning on a stick.
When I stooped down to get a better look, I realized that it was a dead rabbit. It must have been hit by a car.
6. What does “eaves” mean?

Some birds had built a nest high up on the eaves of our house.

Houses in the mountains have wide eaves so the snow will not pile up against the windows.
7. What does “pressing” mean?

Mr. Brewster had some very pressing business, so he had to leave before the meeting was over.
The state of environment is one of the most pressing problems of our time.

8. What does “gaudy” mean?

She was wearing such a gaudy clothes that it was easy to find her in the crowd.

My mother always said that old ladies shouldn't wear bright colors. She thought that they would look gaudy and
foolish.
9. What does “dike” mean?

After so much rain, the river flowed over the dike and into the fields.

People in this area began building dikes many centuries ago. It was the only way to keep the sea out of their
villages.
10. What does “shred” mean?

He read the letter carefully and then tore it to shreds.

Sammy was a real mess when he came home: his clothes were in shreds and he was covered with mud.
(taken from Mikulecky, 1996: 49-52)

Using Context Clues

Context clues are hints in the sentence that help good readers figure out the meanings of unfamiliar words.
When we look at the “context” of a word, we look at how it is being used. Based on how these words are used,
and on our knowledge of the other words in the sentence, we make an educated prediction as to what the
challenging vocabulary word may mean. For example:

Examine this line from Lewis Carroll’s poem, “Jabberwocky”:

The frumious Bandersnatch!

Though neither “fumious” nor “Bandersnatch” were words before Carroll coined them, readers are able to get
meaning out of the construction based on how the words are used. A reading of the whole poem i helpful way
to introduce context clues to your students.

Activity 2: Defining Context Clues

Instructions
1. Read each sentence and determine the meaning of the word using cross sentence clues or your prior
knowledge.
2. Then, explain what clues in the sentence helped you determine the word meaning.

1. Dignity: Even when the police officers put the handcuffs on my mother, she maintained her dignity,
holding her head up high as she was marched off the protest site.

Definition:

What clues in the sentence lead you to your definition?

2. Splendid: The rays from the rising sun shined splendidly through our kitchen window.
Definition:

What clues in the sentence lead you to your definition?

3. Particle: John was so hungry that he didn’t leave a single particle of the muffin on the plate.

Definition:

What clues in the sentence lead you to your definition?

4. Elegant: Cassie took her time when she wrote in cursive, slowly making each word out of an elegant
series of arcs and loops.

Definition:

What clues in the sentence lead you to your definition?

5. Injustice: Kevin thought that it was a great injustice that girls could wear earrings in the school while
the boys could not.

Definition:

What clues in the sentence lead you to your definition?

6. Decline: After Gears of Pain 6 came out, the amount of people playing Gears of Pain 5 declined.

Definition:

What clues in the sentence lead you to your definition?

7. Paradise: When Rex had a bone, a warm spot to lie, and someone petting him, he was in paradise.

Definition:
What clues in the sentence lead you to your definition?

8. Fascinate: Alvin went to the museum every Saturday because he was so fascinated
by art.

Definition:

What clues in the sentence lead you to your definition?

9. Yearn: Even though John had a good job and a nice family, he yearned for more.

Definition:

What clues in the sentence lead you to your definition?

10. Seldom: Since professional athletes have to stay in peak physical shape, most athletes seldom eat junk
food.

Definition:

What clues in the sentence lead you to your definition?

11. Delicate: Tracy held the flower as gently as she could, fearing that the delicate
stem would break.

Definition:

What clues in the sentence lead you to your definition?

12. Remark: Jennie didn’t like the jacket her mother bought her until several strangers made remarks
about how much they liked it.

Definition:

What clues in the sentence lead you to your definition?

Taken from http://www.ereadingworksheets.com/free-reading-worksheets/reading- comprehension-
worksheets/context-clues-worksheets/

Using grammar to guess word meaning

Another way context can help you guess meaning is by giving you information about the grammar. When you
find a word you do not know, look at the grammatical structure of the sentence. It will tell you about the
function of the word-as a noun, verb, pronoun, adjective, or adverb, etc. Then you have a much narrower range
of choices for guessing the meaning.
In teach of the following sentences, there is one word that you probably do not know. Look at the grammatical
structure of the sentence and decide whether the word is a noun, verb, adjective, or adverb. Then guess the
meaning. Compare your answers with another student. For example : The news that John was resigning from
his job surprised us all. We simply couldn't fathom why he wanted to leave now that the company was finally
doing so well.
What is the grammatical function of fathom in this sentence?

If you wrote “verb” you were correct. Only a verb makes sense here after “couldn't.” Now can you guess what
fathom means?
If you answered “understand” or something similar, you were correct.

Activity 3 : Guessing the meaning

Instructions:

1. Look at the grammatical structure and decide what the grammatical function of the word is. Then try to
guess the meaning.
2. Compare your work with another student.

1. Her father looked askance at the idea of a civil marriage in the city hall. He wanted his daughter to be
married in a religious ceremony.
Grammatical function of askance:
Approximate meaning:

2. After the war, Gunter went back to his hometown to look at the pile of rubble where his house had been.
Grammatical function of rubble:

Approximate meaning:

3. “What a slipshop job this is!” Mr. Jenkins shouted. “Go back and do it again more carefully”
Grammatical function of slipshod:

Approximate meaning:

4. The only person in the room was doddering old man who didn't seem to understand our question.
Grammatical function of doddering:

Approximate meaning:

5. His breath reeked of whiskey, and from the way he walked, we guessed he had been drinking for some
time.
Grammatical function of reeked: Approximate meaning:

(Adapted from Mikulecky, B. & Jeffries, L.,1996 : 53-55)

References

Mikulecky, B. & Jeffries, L. (1996). More reading power. New York: Wesley Addison Longman.
Shepherd, J. F. (1987). College vocabulary skills. Boston: Houghton Mifflin.
http://www.ereadingworksheets.com/free-reading-worksheets/reading-comprehension- worksheets/context-
clues-worksheets/
Chapter 3 Reading for main idea
Learning objectives
Following this meeting, you should be able to
Determine the key ideas of sentences;
Determine the main ideas from paragraphs

Main idea

The main idea of a passage or reading is the central thought or message. In contrast to the term topic, which
refers to the subject under discussion, the term main idea refers to the point or thought being expressed. The
difference between a topic and a main idea will become clearer to you if you imagine yourself overhearing a
conversation in which your name is repeatedly mentioned. When you ask your friends what they were
discussing, they say they were talking about you. At that point, you have the topic but not the main idea.
Undoubtedly, you would not be satisfied until you learned what your friends were saying about this particular
topic. You would probably pester them until you knew the main idea, until you knew, that is, exactly what they
were saying about your personality, appearance, or behaviour. The same principle applies to reading. The topic
is seldom enough. You also need to discover the main idea.

Key idea in sentences

A paragraph, an essay or a book consists of sentences. To get the main idea from those reading material, you
must start learning from sentence.
Wiener & Bazerman (1988) stated that although a sentence may give a great deal of information, it usually
offers one key idea. Readers must be able to find key ideas in order to understand sentence meanings clearly.

The key idea of a sentence usually tells:

- Who a person or what an object is

- What a person or an object is doing Look at the following sentence:

A tall girl in a white dress rushed away into the trees just beyond the gate to Stevens Park.
This sentence tells about a girl. We know that the girl rushed away. All the information about her appearance,
about where she ran, and about the name of the park adds details. These are helpful in completing the scene for
the reader, and very often we need to rely on details to make the main text clearer. But the key idea, the main
thought, in the sentence is simply a girl rushed away.

Activity 1: Getting key idea from sentence

In each of the following sentences, underline the words that give the key idea.

Example: Children who live in a ghetto find fun in the street even when they have no toys.
1. Even teenagers with good driving records pay higher insurance rates than adults.
2. While the prices have steadily declined, personal computers are still too expensive for the
average consumer.
3. Neighborhood action groups make a major difference in the quality of life in most cities.
4. The mayor’s aides canceled a scheduled meeting with an active community group that supported
the mayor’s reelection.

(Adapted from Wiener & Bazerman, 1988, pp. 81)

Main idea in the paragraph.

How is paragraph Organized?
The family heard the siren warning them that the tornado was coming. They hurried to the cellar. The roar of
the wind was deafening. The children started crying. Suddenly it was silent. They went outside to survey the
damage. (Gear and Gear, 1996: 290)

In Greek Roman times, the cavalry was comprised of members of noble families. This distinction continued up
to the Middle Ages. After the invention of gunpowder, this branch of the military service underwent great
changes. With the development of heavy artillery and air forces, this service has almost disappeared. The
cavalry is then the part of an army consisting of troops that serve on horseback. (Gear and Gear, 1996: 292)

In the 1960s and 1970s, many students in Europe and North America demonstrated against the government.
They hope to make big changes in society. Since then, students are not paying attention to politics; instead, they
are interested only in their future jobs. They are majoring in more practical job subjects. They prefer business
administration to humanities. They are more interested in computer science than in sociology or anthropology.
(Kim and Hartman, 1990: 9).

Activity 2. Getting main idea from paragraph

Read each passage. Write the main idea in the blank space.
Example : In several states across the nation, there has been successful drive to end “social promotion.” In other
words, children who do not achieve the required score on a standardized test will no longer be promoted to the
next grade. Instead, they will have to repeat the grade they have finished. Yet despite the calls for ending social
promotion--many of them from politicians looking for a crowd-pleasing issue--there is little evidence that
making children repeat a grade has a positive effect. If anything, research suggests that forcing children to
repeat a grade hurts rather than helps their academic performance. In 1989, University of Georgia Professor
Thomas Holms surveyed sixty-three studies that compared the performance of kids who had repeated a grade
with those who had received a social promotion. Holms found that most of the children who had repeated a
grade had a poorer record of academic performance than the children who had been promoted despite poor test
scores. A similar study of New York City children in the 1980s revealed that the children who repeated a grade
were more likely to drop out upon reaching high school. The call to end social promotion may have a nice ring
to it in
political speeches. Yet there is little indication that it does students any real good.

Main Idea: Across the country, many states have abolished the policy of “social promotion”

Source: http://dhp.com/~laflemm/reso/mainIdea.htm

1. Functional organization is efficient, but there are two standard criticisms. Firstly, people are
usually more concerned with the success of their department than that of the company, so there
are permanent battles between, for example, finance and marketing, or marketing and
production, which have incompatible goal. Secondly, separating functions is unlikely to
encourage innovation.
(Adapted from MacKenzie , 1997, p.18)

2. In discussing people’s relationships with their boss and their colleagues and friends,
Trompenaars distinguishes between universalists and particularists. The former believe that rules
extremely important; the latter believe that personal relationships and friendships should take
precedence. Consequently, each group thinks that other is corrupt. Universalists say that
particularists’ cannot be trusted because they will always help their friends’, while the second
group says the first ‘you cannot trust them; they would not even help a friend’. According to
Trompenaars'
(Adapted from MacKenzie, 1997, p.31)

3. Marketers are consequently always looking for market opportunities – profitable possibilities of
filling unsatisfied needs or creating new ones in areas in which the company likely to enjoy a
differential advantage, due to its distinctive competencies (the things it does particularly well).
Market opportunities are generally isolated by market segmentation. Once a target market has
been identified, a company has to decide what goods or service to offer. This means that much
of the work of marketing has been done before the final product or service come into existence.
It also means that the marketing concept has to be understood throughout the company, e.g. in
the production department of a manufacturing company such as much as in the marketing
department itself. The company must also take monitored and defeated in the search of loyal
customers.
(Adapted from MacKenzie ,1997, p.52)
References
Flemming, L. (2006). Reading resources. Retrieved January 29, 2009 from
http://dhp.com/~laflemm/reso/mainIdea.htm

Herszenhorn, D.M. (2009, January 28). Components of Stimulus Vary in Speed and Efficiency .
The New York Times. Retrieved from
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/29/us/politics/29assess.html?_r=1&scp=5&sq=h ow
%20effective%20the%20huge%20program%20of%20tax%20cuts%20&st=cse
MacKanzie, I. (1997). English for business studies. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Stolberg, S. G. (2009, January 29). White house unbutton formal dress code. The New York
Times. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/29/us/politics/29whitehouse.html?hp
Wiener, H. S. & Bazerman, C. (1988). Reading skills handbook. (4th ed.).
Boston: Houghton Mifflin.