Building Your Vocabulary One of the main reasons college students dislike reading is because the difficulty in understanding what it is they read—primarily because of unfamiliar vocabulary. If we can’t understand what we read, then we can’t engage with the reading. The result is that we simply read the words on the page without understanding what it is we are reading. Two strategies you can use to study vocabulary: context clues and word parts. CONTEXT CLUES How do you usually find out what a word means? Context refers to the words surrounding the unfamiliar vocabulary word, which provide clues to the words meaning. A context clue is the information that surrounds a new word. Authors will use signal words to help the reader identify the context clue being used. There are four basic types of context clues: Types of Context Clues Signal Words Example Synonyms or, that is Punctuation clues (commas, semicolons) Example: I am famished, that is starving, because I haven’t eaten all day. Antonyms but, not, unlike, although, however, in contrast, yet, on the one hand, on the other hand Example: Although I just ate, I am still famished. General Context There are no signal words, just use the clues form the sentence and your general knowledge of the sentence’s topic. Example: After running a marathon, I am feeling quite sluggish. CONTENT ADAPTED FROM AN OPEN COURSE FROM BROWARD, LICENSED UNDER A CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 LICENSE. | 2 Examples for example, such as Example: Many people experience phobias in their everyday lives. For example, arachnophobia is an extreme fear of spiders. Rather than looking in a dictionary, a reader can save the time searching for a word, simply by using contextual clues to determine what a word means. S-A-G-E is an acronym for the four most common contextual clues. S-YNONYM The meaning of unfamiliar vocabulary words may be understood by other similar words in the sentences around them. Example:  If we access ourselves favorably, our self-esteem will be high, but if we judge ourselves negatively, it will suffer. A – NTONYM The meaning of unfamiliar vocabulary words may be understood by other dissimilar words in the sentence or sentences around it. Example:  Religions in America are not static, but changing, especially in this period of shifting values. G – ENERAL Sense of the Word The meaning of unfamiliar vocabulary words may be understood by the general sense of the word and the sentence containing it. Example:  A former employee, irate over having been fired, broke into the plant and deliberately wrecked several machines. CONTENT ADAPTED FROM AN OPEN COURSE FROM BROWARD, LICENSED UNDER A CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 LICENSE. | 3 E – XAMPLE The meaning of unfamiliar vocabulary words may be understood by an example given by the author, either in the sentence containing the vocabulary word or in a sentence near it. Many textbook authors make use of this context clue. Example:  Nocturnal creatures, such as bats and owls, have highly developed senses that enable them to function in the dark.