English Language Arts and Reading.8.2.B

The student is expected to

use context within or beyond a paragraph to clarify the meaning of unfamiliar or ambiguous 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.

Authors often include hints or clues to help a reader understand the specific meaning of words. Sometimes the reader must consider larger sections of text around an unfamiliar word to discover the context that will help them clarify the meaning of the word’s meaning. Students at this grade level should understand that the information needed to discern the specific meaning of a word could appear in a completely different paragraph than where the word initially appears. Students should identify the implied or explicitly stated relationship between ideas within and/or across paragraphs using strategies such as looking for contrast words or phrases, parallel examples that indicate a similarity, or other types of context clues.

Research

1. Bolger, D. J., Balass, M., Landen, E., & Perfetti, C.A.. (2008). Context variation and definitions in learning the meanings of words: An instance-based learning approach. Discourse Processes, 45, 122–159. Retrieved from: www.pitt.edu/~perfetti/PDF/Context%20variation%20Bolger%20et%20al.pdf

Summary: The authors discuss how words within the context can be used (discourse) as the primary way to learn the meaning of unknown or unfamiliar words. The discussion includes a comparison between deriving a word meaning and learning the work incidentally from context. Learning words is approached as a dynamic and fluid process. The authors frame this way of learning word meanings as an instance-based framework that is less formal but still valuable in learning.

2. Crosson, A. C., McKeown, M. G., Moore, D. W. & Ye, F. (2018). Extending the bounds of morphology instruction: Teaching Latin roots facilitates academic word learning for English Learner adolescents. Reading and Writing, 32(3), 689–727. doi:10.1007/s11145-018-9885-y

Summary: The authors discuss how the morphological analysis of Latin roots can be used to determine the meaning of new words and to clarify texts. The article includes an overview of the impact of abstract words that tend to be used in multiple disciplines. Additionally, the article addresses the complexity of learning advanced vocabulary. Crosson and McKeown recommend that teachers support students in learning academic words and developing morphological analysis. The article provides a deep dive in the discussion and includes tables, figures, and charts.