Let me guess!
I taught English in Thailand for many years. I remember very well some of my students' reading books. Above almost every sentence, they had written about five or six Thai words - obviously meanings that they had taken from their English-Thai dictionaries.
No wonder they didn't like to read. For them, reading English meant using their dictionaries every time they saw an unfamiliar word. How boring! This week I am going to show you a better way. You will still use your dictionary, but you will use it much less often because you will be able to guess the meanings of many words just by reading the story.
Newspaper stories are perfect for building this skill. The main ideas are usually repeated several times, so synonyms (words with very similar meanings) are common. The main ideas are also explained in more detail as the story continues, so you can often gradually figure out what unfamiliar words mean. And if you find any technical terms, there is a good chance the writer has explained them for you. You will see examples of all of this in this lesson.
Synonyms
Let's start with a technique that we practiced in a previous lesson - understanding unfamiliar words in a headline by reading the lead and looking for synonyms. What does the word "nabbed" mean in the story below?
Drug lord nabbed
Bogota - AFP Alberto Orlandez, the alleged head of a Colombian cocaine cartel, has been captured and faces charges in both Columbia and the United States, police said Sunday.
Obviously, the word "nabbed" must mean "captured". What about the term "drug lord"? Can you figure that out as well? Actually, there is a synonym for "lord" in the story. It is the word "head" (leader). And it is not hard to figure out from the story that the police think Mr Orlandez is the leader of a drug gang.
Using the details
We can't always depend on finding synonyms to help us understand the meanings of unfamiliar words. In fact, most of the time we will need to use other methods. Probably the best method of all is simply to keep reading the story and gradually build up an understanding of the word you don't know. The story below contains a very good example.
This story is about coral, the hard, living structures that we find near the seashores in Thailand. Coral provide the environment for the many beautiful fish and seaplants that are so interesting to divers. Read through the story below and try to find out the meaning of "bleaching".
For example, try to find out if it is something good or something bad. What happens during bleaching? What kinds of things become bleached? What causes the bleaching? If you can answer all these questions, you will have a very good idea of what bleaching is.
Bleaching of corals subsides
Coral bleaching in the Gulf of Thailand peaked last month and stopped spreading, according to Bangsaen Institute of Marine Science director Pichai Sonjang.
"The bleaching rapidly damaged corals during April and June and we found that it began subsiding last month," Mr Pichai said.
Many patches of coral have been damaged by the bleaching, especially the staghorn coral which is more sensitive than other kinds. In some areas, over 80 percent of staghorn died compared to 20-60 percent of other kinds.
Scientists believe that the main cause of coral bleaching is the warming of the sea which forces zooxanthallae, an algae living with and colouring the coral, to extract itself from the coral shell.
The mostly brown and green coral in the gulf turns pale yellow, pink or white, If the situation does not reverse, it gradually dies.
Finding explanations
Newswriters know that their readers are ordinary people like you and I. We are not experts about most of the stories we read. For that reason, writers usually explain difficult technical terms.
I hope that you noticed that the previous story contained an example of this. I doubt that many of you knew the word zooxanthallae. Did you see that the writer explained what it was? Go back and take a look.
The story below contains another example of this "reader-friendly" service. Read it to find out what an electrostatic precipitator is.
New electrostatic precipitator in use
Chachoengsao - The Bang Pakong electricity power plant will try to control air pollution by using for the first time a machine that eliminates dust particles produced by the burning of bunker oil.
The electrostatic precipitator was put into operation because dust and soot has been spewing out of the plant daily with the use of bunker oil to power their generators. According to EGAT Governor Veeravat Chalayon, a precipitator will absorb about 88 per cent of dust particles, reducing dust particles from 250 milligrams per cubic metre to 30 milligrams per cubic metre.
This week's activity
This week I have given you an exercise that will help you build your ability to guess the meanings of unfamiliar words from context. Just follow the directions. The most important thing, however, is for you to use this skill in your own reading. So put aside your dictionary and try to understand new words by reading the text that surrounds them. Only turn to your dictionary when it is absolutely necessary.
ACTIVITY
Read each of the short stories below and answer the questions which follow.
iTV firm wins fee reprieve
Royalty payment deadline extended
Siam Infotainment Company, the operator of iTV (Independent Television), yesterday appeared to have won a reprieve with a government committee's agreement to let it postpone its payment of a 300-million-baht royalty to the state.
The committee responsible for coordinating UHF television operations yesterday agreed to extend the July 3, 1998 deadline for iTV to pay the first instalment of 300 million baht by another 673 days on the grounds that it was due to some flaws of the state that iTV had been unable to use some of the offices of a state-run TV station for its operations and that its business had been affected by the baht devaluation.
1. Find a word in the story which means "fee".
2. If you win a "reprieve", it means that you have been allowed to ______something unpleasant.
Toilet seat hygiene not to be sniffed at
Toilet seats are more hygienic than many other surfaces in the average home, including chopping boards, kitchen surfaces and sinks, according to a report on Wednesday.
A survey of 15 homes by researchers from the University of Arizona in Tucson found the toilet seat was the cleanest of 14 sites in kitchens and toilets.
3. If something is "hygienic", it is ______.
North media mum on cattle
North Korean media has covered a rare visit this week by South Korea's richest man, but mostly kept silent on his gift of 500 cattle, Seoul officials said yesterday.
Tycoon Ching Ju-yung, 82, crossed the border into North Korea with the cattle on Tuesday.
4. If you are "mum" on something, you ______about it.
5. A tycoon is a very ______person.
Monk held after a moment of truth
Kanchanaburi - A monk was arrested in Tha Muang on Thursday after a man was shot dead during a game of Russian roulette.
Two other monks, one of them a vice-abbot, were also taking part in the game and have been brought in for questioning.
In Russian roulette, the player spins the cylinder of a revolver loaded with only one bullet, aims the muzzle at his head, and pulls the trigger.
6. Explain what "Russian roulette" is.
EU may slap ban on Thai orchids, fruits
The European Union might prohibit the import of Thai orchids as well as vegetables and fruits soon if they do not meet EU standards, a foreign ministry official said yesterday.
Karun Ruechuyothin, deputy spokesman, said the British Agriculture Ministry had found aphids in Thai orchids since April last year despite several earlier warnings.
Following an EU council directive, the affected orchids had been destroyed, but an import ban might be slapped on future blooms if they fail to be certified against pests, Mr Karun added.
7. If you "slap a ban" on something, you ______it.
8. Find an example of "pests" in the story above.
School still affected by industrial stench
Rayong - Medical complaints continue to flood the nursing room at Map Ta Phut Pan Phitthayakan School now that its 1,000-plus students and staff have moved back.
They had been relocated to share facilities with another school for a year because they were subjected to the foul and possibly toxic smell emitted by petrochemical plants in nearby Map Ta Phut Industrial Estate over several years.
9. A "stench" is a bad ______.
Racket over nets alleged
Chumphon - Some fisheries Department officials have allegedly been allowing fishing for anchovy with seines (heavy weighted fishing nets) in a protected area of Muang District in exchange for bribes.
About 50 fishermen from Chumphon yesterday filed a letter with provincial governor Surapol Kanchanajittra, accusing some officials of the Fisheries Office District 3 of neglecting to take action against 80-100 trawlers from Chanthaburi, Rayong and Trat.
They said the trawlers enter a no-fishing zone off Chumphon to catch anchovy with seines having small nets every day.
According to the complaint, each fishing boat wanting to fish in the protected area must pay 2,000-5,000 baht per month to some Fisheries Department officials.
10. Explain what "seines" are.
11. What's a "trawler"?
12. If you give a "bribe", you ______to an official to let you do something against the law
Bkazevic spots French flaws
Croatian coach Miroslav Blazevic said yesterday that he believes France's defence is more vulnerable than its record in the World Cup shows.
"My view is that the French defence isn't that strong," Blazevic told a news conference at the team's base in eastern France.
"I know that seems like a paradox because they have only conceded one goal in this competition and that was a penalty," said Blazevic. "But the two full-backs (Lilian) Thuram and (Bixente) Lizarazu both push forward a lot and that leaves space on the flanks. Then the French defence is open."
13. A "flaw" is a (a) strength (b) method (c) weakness (d) trick
14. If you are "vulnerable" you have (a) strength (b) method (c) weakness (d) trick
15. A "paradox" is something which is (a) the opposite of what you would expect (b) exactly what you would expect (c) easy to see and understand (d) an interesting idea
Teacher’s Note
The ability to understand unfamiliar words from context is one of the most important reading skills you can help your students develop. While most programmes cover this subject, few do it very systematically. Hopefully, this lesson will help you start.
In this week's lesson, your students will get practice with three of the most common techniques used to guess words from context. The first is looking for the synonyms writers use to avoid needless repetition. There is a lot of this in news writing simply because the style is so repetitious - as we have seen in previous lessons.
The second technique involves gradually building up an understanding of an unfamiliar concept by using any details and examples in the story that are used to develop the concept. Again, there are many examples of this in newswriting as the story develops the information provided in the headline and lead. The final technique is very straightforward - taking advantage of any direct explanations provided by the writer. This is especially common in news stories which contain technical vocabulary.
I suggest that you go through the examples I have given in the introduction with your students. The first example ("nabbed" and "drug lord") is quite easy and it involves a technique I introduced in my previous lesson on headlines and leads.
The second example ("bleaching") is a little more sophisticated. As you read through the story, notice that you get a progressively clearer understanding of what it means. We gradually find out that it is a process which damages coral and it is caused by the warming of the sea and by the departure of an essential algae. And in the last paragraph we found out the most essential information that it involves changing the normal colour of the coral.
If you want to go further with the story, have the students find a synonym for subside (stop spreading) as well. Then, of course, there is the technical term zooxanthallae, but that is covered in my explanation of the next technique.
One more thing: it is important that your students realise they don't have to understand every word to get the gist of a story. In this lesson, for example, they can ignore many nonessential words and still get a good understanding of the stories.
If you want more on the subject of vocabulary, you might want to try the two books in my Focus on Words series. They are both available from Post Books (Tel 240-3700, Extension 1692).
Answers 1. payment 2. postpone 3. clean 4. keep silent 5. rich 6. It is a game in which the player spins the cylinder of a revolver loaded with only one bullet, aims the muzzle at his head and pulls the trigger. 7. prohibit 8. aphids 9. smell 10. heavy weighted fishing nets 11. a fishing boat 12. pay (or "give") money 13. weakness 14. weakness 15. the opposite of what you would expect
•This lesson was prepared by Acharn Terry Fredrickson, BA Stanford, MA (TESL) University of Minnesota, Manager of the Educational Services Department at the Bangkok Post and general editor of this programme.