My Journey's blog

Learning Object # 8

 

Topic:  Deducing the meaning of words thorough logical analysis

Target Learners:   Fourth year HS

Introduction:

            In this lesson you will learn how to get meaning of words through logical analysis and background knowledge.

Objective: deduce meaning of words through logical analysis.

Discussion:

            Using logic and background knowledge, we can guess the meaning of some difficult words and not be too much dependent on the dictionary.

            Example:

                        1. The commercial said that nothing could hebetate the blade of knife, not even using it against metal or stone.

            Here the phrases “blade of the knife” and “using it against metal or stone” give us the clue that hebetate has something to do with the sharpness of a blade. It becomes clear to us that the phrase “nothing could hebetate” means nothing could remove the sharpness. So, the meaning of hebetate is to “make dull”

1. When the clandestine activities of the syndicate were discovered by the police, they were arrested immediately.

 

Clues: Syndicate, discovered, arrested

Meaning: secret and often unlawful or illegal.

Summary:

            We cannot avoid coming across difficult words in our readings. There are times when the definition of the difficult word is directly stated, but in most cases, it is not. In those cases we can rely on logic and our background knowledge or contrasts that we can find in the text.

Assessment:

 

Guess the meaning of the underlined words based on the clues given.

1. Even if the beauty of the fresh flowers is transitory because they die up easily, it is still more advisable to use them as a decoration rather than plastic ones.

 

Clue: they die up easily                  meaning:

1. The movement of the cat was so torpid; it was not able to catch the mouse.

Clue: it was not able to catch the mouse            meaning:

1. She married a nabob with a mansion and hectares of land.

Clue: mansion, hectares of land              meaning:

1. The pusillanimous soldiers immediately escaped when the enemy killed their general.

Clue: immediately escaped                       meaning:

1. The teacher showed clemency by letting the student take another exam rather than giving him a failing grade.

Clue: letting the student take another exam.      Meaning: