ELT365 · D176 — Vocabulary in Context: Guess Without a Dictionary

Idea — Guessing word meaning from context is a learnable strategy. Teach it explicitly: look at grammar class, surrounding words, text topic, and logic.

Example — ‘The vessel capsized in high winds.’ Unknown word: capsized. Clues: vessel = ship, high winds, bad outcome. Inference: turned over.

Try — Select three words in a text learners probably don’t know. Walk through the four-step strategy for one word, then ask learners to apply it to the other two.

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