Vocabulary Building Discussion

Vocabulary Building Discussion

by Vaisiney Chandrasekaran - BTESL -
Number of replies: 0

For today’s vocabulary strategy, I decided to use the context clues strategy to learn new words. I focused on reading a few paragraphs from an article and tried to guess the meaning of unfamiliar words based on the context around them.

I came across the word "cognizant" in a sentence that read, “It’s important to be cognizant of the time limits when submitting assignments.” From the context, I could tell that “cognizant” had something to do with being aware of or mindful of something, particularly time limits in this case. After confirming with a dictionary, I learned that “cognizant” means being aware or having knowledge of something.

Strategy: Context Clues

  • I read the surrounding text carefully.
  • I used the surrounding words and the overall message to figure out the meaning of new words.
  • I confirmed my guesses by looking up the definition in a dictionary.

This strategy worked well for me, and I feel it helps improve both my understanding of the text and my ability to infer the meanings of new words without immediately relying on a dictionary. I'll definitely keep using this strategy to expand my vocabulary!