English Language Arts and Reading.7.2.B

Previous Next
The student is expected to

use context such as contrast or cause and effect to clarify the meaning of words; and

vocabulary strand teks talk image

Knowledge and Skills Statement

Developing and sustaining foundational language skills: listening, speaking, reading, writing, and thinking--vocabulary. The student uses newly acquired vocabulary expressively.
an organizational pattern that explains reasons why something happens or has happened and/or the consequences of something happening
Authors often include hints or clues to help the reader understand the specific meaning of words. Sometimes these hints can be found in the sentence structure surrounding an unfamiliar word. Students should recognize that conjunctions, such as however and so, as well as phrases, such as resulting in and as opposed to, can indicate the relationships between ideas in and across sentences. Identifying the implied relationship between ideas helps signal to students how the unfamiliar word should be interpreted. For example, in the sentence "Through this experiment we found that Subject A exhibited signs of phototropism, as opposed to Subject B, which showed no growth in response to light," students should use the contrast phrase as opposed to and the information that follows to create context for the meaning of the word phototropism.

Research

Ilter, I. (2019). The efficacy of context clue strategy instruction on middle grades students' vocabulary development. Research in Middle Level Education, 42(1), 1–15. https://doi.org/10.1080/19404476.2018.1554522

Summary: This study compares the effectiveness of instruction on the use of context clues for wide reading practices in terms of their impact on vocabulary. Forty-four randomly selected sixth-graders were assigned to experiment and controlled control conditions. Students selected for the control groups used a wide strategy approach. However, students selected for the experimental group were taught how to use context cues to infer meaning. Direct instruction was used to present the concept to the students. At the end of the study, 30 multiple-choice items were used to determine the level of understanding of word meanings in context. the findings suggest that the experimental group out performed the control group. The results suggest that teaching students how to infer meaning from context clues is an instructional strategy that positively impacts the level of student achievement in reading.