What do you do when

CHAPTER 2 you come across

unfamiliar words but

DETERMINING you don’t have a

dictionary? This chapter
will show you how to

MEANING FROM use context to figure

out what unfamiliar
words mean.

CONTEXT
When a reader read, there are several words you don’t know. In fact, it is very hard
to find someone who really masters the whole vocabulary of a language because of
its very large amount. Then, to overcome this vocabulary problem, most readers
suppose that the best way is by using dictionary. Undeniable, dictionary is the most
helpful thing to solve vocabulary problem, but dictionary is not always available and
when this happens, reader will be in trouble, of course. So, to face this situation,
there are various strategies that can be used to solve this problem and one of them
is by using context.
You should be able to use the context in the sentences to help you determine
the meaning of the word, that is, the words and sentences surrounding the
unfamiliar word.
The benefits are:
• this strategy is fast because you don't interrupt your reading.
• this strategy helps your comprehension because you stay focused on the general
sense of what you are reading.
• this strategy helps build vocabulary because you are more likely to remember the
words.
• this strategy allows you to enjoy your reading more because you don't have to
stop often.

EXAMINING CONTEXT
Imagine you receive the following memo at work, but you don’t have a dictionary
handy. If you find any unfamiliar words in this memo, circle them, but don’t look them
up yet. Just read the memo carefully and actively.

TO: Department Managers

FROM: Herb Herbert, Office Manager
DATE: December 5, 2000
RE: Heater Distribution

As I’m sure you’ve noticed, the heating system has once

again been behaving erratically. Yesterday the office
temperature went up and down between 55 and 80 degrees.
The problem was “fixed” last night, but as you know, this
system has a history of recidivism. Chances are we’ll have
trouble again soon. Building management has promised to
look into a permanent fix for this problem, but in the
 meantime, we should expect continued breakdowns. To keep
everyone warm until then, we have ordered two dozen
portable heaters. Please stop by my office this afternoon to
pick up heaters for your department.

As you read, you may have come across a few unfamiliar words. Did you circle
erratically and recidivism? You don’t need to look these words up because if you do
a little detective work, you can figure out what these words mean without the help of
a dictionary. This is called determining meaning through context. Like a detective
looking for clues at the scene of a crime, you can look in the memo for clues that will
tell you what the unfamiliar words mean.

LOOK FOR CLUES

Let’s start with erratically. In what context is this word used?

As I’m sure you’ve noticed, the heating system has once again
been behaving erratically. Yesterday the office temperature
went up and down between 55 and 80 degrees.

Given these sentences, what can you tell about the word erratically? Well,
because the heating system has been behaving erratically, the temperature wavered
between 55 and 80 degrees—that’s a huge range. This tells you that the heating
system is not working the way it’s supposed to. In addition, you know that the
temperature “went up and down” between 55 and 80 degrees. That means there
wasn’t just one steady drop in temperature. Instead, the temperature rose and fell
several times.Now, from these clues, you can probably take a pretty good guess at
what erratically means. See if you can answer the question below.
Which of the following means the same as erratically?
a. steadily, reliably
b. irregularly, unevenly
c. badly
The correct answer is b, irregularly, unevenly. Erratically clearly can’t mean
steadily, or reliably, because no steady or reliable heating system would range from
55 to 80 degrees in one day. Answer c makes sense— the system has indeed been
behaving badly. But badly doesn’t take into account the range of temperatures and
the ups and downs Herb Herbert described. So b is the best answer and is, in fact,
what erratically means.
You probably also circled recidivism in the memo. What does it mean? The
particular phrase in which it is used—“history of recidivism”— should tell you that
recidivism has something to do with behavior or experience. It also tells you it’s
something that has been happening over a long period of time. You also know that
this history of recidivism leads Herb Herbert to conclude that there will be trouble
again soon. In other words, although the system has been “fixed,” he expects it to go
back to its old and erratic ways soon. Thus, you can assume that a history of
recidivism means a history of which of the following?
a. long-lasting, quality performance
b. parts that need replacement
c. repeatedly falling back into an undesirable behavior
 The answer is c. It should be clear that answer a cannot be correct, because
the memo says that the heating system has a history of needing fixing. It may also
have parts that need replacement (answer b), especially since the memo says that it
breaks down regularly. But the memo clearly indicates that c is the best answer,
because every time the system is fixed, it soon goes back to having the same old
problems.
Recidivism, by the way, is most commonly used to describe criminals who fall
back into crime after they’ve served their sentence.

HOW MUCH CONTEXT DO YOU NEED?

In the previous example, you would still have been able to understand the main
message of the memo even if you didn’t know—or couldn’t figure out—the meanings
of erratically and recidivism. (You don’t need to know what those words mean to
know you should go pick up heaters for your department.) But sometimes your
understanding of a passage depends upon your understanding of a particular word
or phrase. Can you understand the following sentence, for example, without
understanding what affable means?

The new manager is a very affable person.

The trouble with adjectives like affable is that it can be very difficult to figure
out what they mean without sufficient context. If someone describes your new
manager as “affable,” you’ll certainly want to know what it means, but a sentence like
the one above doesn’t tell you much. Is affable something good or bad? Should you
be worried or glad? No matter how good a detective you are, there simply aren’t
enough clues in this sentence to tell you what this word means or even whether
affable is positive or negative. You simply need more context.

Here is another sentence to expand the context for affable. Clearly affable is
something good. Now can you determine more precisely what it means?

The new manager is a very affable person. Everyone likes her.

a. friendly, approachable, nice

b. pretty, good-looking
c. extremely talkative

USING GRAMMAR TO GUESS WORD MEANING

Another way context can help you guess meaning is by giving you information about
the grammar. When you find a word you do not know, look at the grammatical
structure of the sentence. It will tell you about the function of the word—as a noun,
verb, pronoun, adjective, or adverb, etc. Then you have a much narrower range of
choices for guessing the meaning.
In the following paragraph, there is one word that you probably do not know.
Look at the grammatical structure of the sentence and decide whether the word is a
noun, verb, adjective, or adverb. Then guess the meaning.
 The news that John was resigning from his job surprised us all. We
simply couldn't fathom why he wanted to leave now that the
company was finally doing so well.

What is the grammatical function of fathom in this sentence? If you wrote

"verb' you were correct. Only a verb makes sense here after "couldn't."
Now can you guess what fathom means? If you answered "understand" or
something similar, you were correct.

IN SHORT
You can often figure out what unfamiliar words mean from the context in which they
are used. Look for clues in the words and sentences surrounding unfamiliar words to
help determine what they mean. Even if you can’t figure out the exact meaning of a
word, you should at least be able to determine whether the word means something
positive or negative.

Mikulecky, Beatrice S., and Linda Jeffries. 1996. More Power Reading: Reading Faster,
Thinking Skills, Reading for Pleasure, Comprehension Skills. United States of
America: Addison-Wesley Publishing Company.
Chesla, Elizabeth. 2000. Read Better, Remember More (Second Edition). New York:
Learning Express, LLC.