CORRECTING BASIC READING

SUBSKILLS DEFICIT:

VOCABULARY, SYNTAX, AND SEMANTICS

LET’S TEST YOUR VOCABULARY!

big, great, high, large or tall? - Choose the correct answer.

1. There is a nice house with a _____ garden.

2. Albert Einstein was a _____ physicist.

LET’S TEST YOUR VOCABULARY!

big, great, high, large or tall? - Choose the correct answer.

3. She is a very _____ child for her age.4. A _____ rate of inflation makes exports uncompetitive.

LET’S TEST YOUR VOCABULARY!

big, great, high, large or tall? - Choose the correct answer.

5.  My mother is six feet _____.6.  He is making a _____ mistake.7. Can you see the _____ trees behind the lake?

LET’S TEST YOUR VOCABULARY!

big, great, high, large or tall? - Choose the correct answer.

8. The city has a _____ level of pollution.9. This pullover isn't _____ enough.10. My grandfather lived to a _____ age.

VOCABULARYThe body of words used in a particular language.

-Oxford Dictionary

A sum or stock of words employed by a language, group, individual, or work or in a field of knowledge.

-Merriam Webster Dictionary

Vocabulary is defined as a set of words used in a language, book, content area, or by an author and words known to an individual.

-Gunning, 2003; McKeown and Curtis, 1987

VOCABULARY

SYNTAX the way in which linguistic elements (as words) are put together to form constituents (as phrases, clauses and sentences)

-Merriam Webster Dictionary

REVIEW OF…1.CLAUSE• A clause is defined as a

group of related words that contains a subject and predicate (verb) but does not state a complete thought.

Examples: which Rob shookif it ever became public

2. PHRASE• A phrase is defined as a group of

related words that may contain a subject but does not contain predicate (verb) and vice versa. 

Examples: on the tableA vase of roses

REVIEW OF…

Semantics is a sub discipline of linguistics which focuses on the study of meaning. Semantics tries to understand what meaning is as an element of language and how it is constructed by language as well as interpreted, obscured and negotiated by speakers and listeners of language.

SEMANTICS

SUB SKILLSThese sub skills are used to improve understanding towards becoming good communicators, especially of English.It is right and just to correct the deficits students encounter with these skills especially to future teachers who will use English as their medium of instruction.

• Words that we do not understand and use are not part of our vocabulary.

• We need to improve and expand our vocabulary through READING.

• A good vocabulary and a good reading go hand in hand.

YOUR SUB SKILLS’ RELATIONSHIP

A single lexical item has many concepts attached to it therefore can be conjugated further as to their focus.

READ...

• People who do not know the meanings of words are most probably poor readers.

• Reading depends largely on word-meaning knowledge.

• Words evoke feelings, images, attitudes and ideas.

NOTES