English Language Arts and Reading.4.3.B

The student is expected to

use context within and beyond a sentence to determine the relevant meaning of unfamiliar words or multiple-meaning words;

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.

The meaning of a word is relevant when it connects directly with the subject. Since words often have more than one meaning, they can be used in different ways and in diverse contexts. Students are expected to investigate the meaning of a word that logically connects to the sentence, paragraph, or text being read. For instance, the word bank relates to both a financial institution and the rising ground bordering a river. If the text being read is about landforms, the first meaning (financial institution) would be irrelevant to the text, whereas the second meaning would be directly connected to the topic being studied.
Many words in the English language look and/or sound like other words but have completely different meanings. These multiple-meaning words require students to use the information around the word, either spoken or written, to determine how the word should be interpreted. One example of multiple-meaning words is homonyms, words that have the same spelling and usually sound alike but have different meanings and require context to determine which usage is intended. For example, the homonym pitcher could refer to a position on a baseball team or a container for liquid.
Authors often include hints, or clues, to help the reader understand unfamiliar words. These hints are found in words (e.g., synonyms, antonyms), word parts (e.g., affixes and roots), phrases (e.g., definitions, examples), and sentence structure (the use of conjunctions to signal relationships between ideas.) Students should use the words or sentences that precede or follow a specific word or sentence to help them determine meaning.

Research

Nagy, W. E., Anderson, R. C., & Herman, P. A. (1987). Learning word meanings from context during normal reading. American Educational Research Journal, 24, 237–270. Retrieved from https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.3102/00028312024002237

Summary: This study investigated incidental learning of word meanings from context during normal reading. A total of 352 students in third, fifth, and seventh grades read either expository or narrative passages selected from grade-level textbooks and were tested on their knowledge of difficult words from the passages. Small but reliable gains in knowledge of words from the passages read were found at all grade and ability levels.