ni gw posting in tugas english for nursing 1, susah bgt cari bahannya..
dapet ilham ngerjain ini gara-gara di samping kak Tia (Sastra Inggris Universitas Indonesia 08),, thanks bgt buat kak tia,, padahal gw udah patah semangat :)
Vocabulary Knowledge for Effective Reading and Making Inference
By Juwita Agustin R./ 0906510956
A. Vocabulary Knowledge for Effective Reading
Vocabulary development is the understanding of specific words presented in text or oral language. Vocabulary is an important prerequisite for developing reading comprehension and oral and writtenexpression. Students who do not have a strong vocabulary continue to struggle to gain meaning from text while reading, and struggle to understand new concepts presented in oral discussions. Vocabulary is an essential skill for learning to read and write, and vocabulary strategies are necessary when students are “reading to learn.”
Researchers often refer to two types of vocabulary:
1. Receptive Vocabulary
- Listening vocabulary : the words we need to know to understand what we hear or listen to
- Reading vocabulary : the words we need to know to understand what is presented to us in text
2. Productive or Expressive Vocabulary
- Speaking vocabulary : the words we use in speaking
- Writing vocabulary: the words we use when writing
Instructional Strategies (Key elements):
- Students learn new vocabulary from oral language experiences like listening to adults read to them.
- develop word-learning strategies that we can use with new words that have not been taught directly. include how to use dictionaries and other reference aids to learn word meanings, how to use information about word parts to figure out the meanings of words in text, and how to use context clues to determine word meanings.
- Read on your own, the more words will encounter and the more word meanings we will become familiar with.
- focus on three types of words.
- Important words: words that are critical for understanding a concept or the text
- Useful words: words that students are likely to see and use again and again
- Difficult words. Direct instruction should be provided for words that are particularly difficult for your students.
- Students learn vocabulary more effectively when they are actively and directly involved in constructing meaning rather than in memorizing definitions or synonyms.
(http://www.k8accesscenter.org/index.php/category/background-info/)
B. Making Inference
An inference is:
• gathering clues and reading between the lines
• reaching conclusions on the basis of evidence and reasoning
• “author and me” questions
• Synonyms, deduction, conjecture, speculation, presumption
Inference is just a big word that means a conclusion or judgement. If you infer that something has happened, you do not see, hear, feel, smell, or taste the actual event. But from what you know, it makes sense to think that it has happened. You make inference in everyday. Most of the time you do is without thinking about it. Suppose you are sitting in your car stopped at a red signal light. You hear screeching tires, then a loud crash and breaking glass. You see nothing, but you infer that there has been a car accident. We all know the sounds of screeching tires and a crash. We know that these sounds almost always mean a car accident. But there could be some other reason, and therefore another explanation, for the sounds. Perhaps it was not an accident involving two moving vehicles. Maybe an angry driver rammed a parked car. Or maybe someone played the sound of a car crash from a recording. Making inferences mean choosing the most likely explanation from the facts at hand.
There are several ways to help you draw conclusions from what an author may be implying. The following are descriptions of the various ways to aid you in reaching a conclusion.
1. General Sense
• The meaning of a word may be implied by the general sense of its context, as the meaning of the word incarcerated is implied in the following sentence:
• Murderers are usually incarcerated for longer periods of time than robbers.
• You may infer the meaning of incarcerated by answering the question "What usually happens to those found guilty of murder or robbery.
• If you answered that they are locked up in jail, prison, or a penitentiary, you correctly inferred the meaning of incarcerated.
2. Examples
• When the meaning of the word is not implied by the general sense of its context, it may be implied by examples. For instance: Those who enjoy belonging to clubs, going to parties, and inviting friends often to their homes for dinner are gregarious.
• You may infer the meaning of gregarious by answering the question "What word or words describe people who belong to clubs, go to parties a lot, and often invite friends over to their homes for dinner?"
3. Antonyms and Contrasts
• When the meaning of a word is not implied by the general sense of its context or by examples, it may be implied by an antonym or by a contrasting thought in a context. Antonyms are words that have opposite meanings, such as happy and sad. For instance: Ben is fearless, but his brother is timorous.
• 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?"
• If you wrote a word such as timid, or afraid, or fearful, you inferred the meaning of timorous.
• A contrast in the following sentence implies the meaning of credence: Dad gave credence to my story, but Mom's reaction was one of total disbelief.
• 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?"
• If you wrote that Dad believed the story, you correctly inferred the meaning of credence; it means "belief."
5. Be Careful of the Meaning You Infer!
• When a sentence contains an unfamiliar word, it is sometimes possible to infer the general meaning of the sentence without inferring the exact meaning of the unknown word. For instance: When we invite the Paulsons for dinner, they never invite us to their home for a meal; however, when we have the Browns to dinner, they always reciprocate.
• In reading this sentence some students infer that the Browns are more desirable dinner guests than the Paulsons without inferring the exact meaning of reciprocate. Other students conclude that the Browns differ from the Paulsons in that they do something in return when they are invited for dinner; these students conclude correctly that reciprocate means "to do something in return."
(http://academic.cuesta.edu/acasupp/AS/303.HTM)
