Download English for Academic Skills Independence [EASI]

English for Academic Skills
Independence
[EASI]
Session 12
Vocabulary
A quick review of Session 11 …
Some grammatical structures go together.
How many mistakes can you find?
The teacher asked us to signing out of Facebook.
We started laugh and tried to finding the sign out button.
Ben: “You should trying to reduce your time on Facebook.”
Jono: “You should stop to bother me!”
A quick review of Session 11 …
Some grammatical structures go together.
How many mistakes can you find?
The teacher asked us to sign out of Facebook.
We started laughing and tried to find the sign out button.
Ben: “You should try to reduce your time on Facebook.”
Jono: “You should stop bothering me!”
By the end of this session you will be able to …
• Distinguish between metaphorical and literal
language in academic writing
• Identify words with the same sound, spelling
or meaning
Metaphor
For example:
Life is a journey.
A metaphor is:
- a word or phrase that means one thing and is used for
referring to another thing in order to emphasise their similar
qualities (the two ‘things’ may not be connected with each
other).
Metaphorical vs Literal
A metaphorical connection between two words/phrases is a
figurative one; it is not literal.
Time is money.
In this case we are linking the idea of financial cost with time.
When time passes, it costs money.
Of course there is no literal connection between these two
words. Time moves forward regardless of money!
Metaphor in academic writing
You might use metaphors when speaking informally,
but less so in academic writing.
A major reason for this is that figurative language can
reduce clarity of meaning, or make meaning more
subjective.
Compare:
The average summer temperature is hotter than hell.
The average summer temperature is 40°C.
The first example is less precise than the second one.
Also, the use of the term ‘hell’, implies something unpleasant
about this temperature. This could depend on an individual’s
point of view though.
Metaphor in academic writing
Metaphor can be considered informal; however, it is still used in
academic writing.
For example:
We are part of the global village.
This is a metaphor,
connecting something
small and local (the village)
with the world context.
Metaphor in academic writing
Metaphor can be considered informal; however, it is still used in
academic writing.
For example:
Grasp literally means to
hold something tightly.
Here, it is being used
metaphorically to mean
‘understand’.
We are part of the global village.
The participants had difficulty grasping the topic.
Metaphors in academic writing
Use them selectively. They can add colour to your
writing, making it more interesting.
However, do not overuse them and make sure that they
are not informal expressions.
If in doubt, use literal language and not metaphors.
Now that we’ve had a chance to grasp metaphors, let’s
get into sense relations…
What is the focus in each sentence?
The participants in this study were students, teachers, and
curriculum developers.
Participants is a family word for students, teachers, and curriculum developers.
Specific
Students, teachers, and curriculum developers were the
participants in this study.
Students, teachers, and curriculum developers are types of participant.
Specific
Sense relations
Knowing how to organise words and ideas in this way helps make
our communication clearer. This is what is meant by ‘sense
relations’.
Hyponymy
This is about relationships between categories.
To make our writing flow
logically, it is helpful to start
with general ideas and then
move to more specific ones.
If we start with something
specific, it might be hard
for others to understand...
For example, all of these
items are types of:
measuring tool
Tablets …
Let’s look at this example:
Tablets are an everyday item.
What is the general topic?
Is it medicines….
… or computers?
Let’s focus on computers…
Tablets …
Tablets are an everyday item.
Computer
other types
of computer
Desktop
Laptop
What is an iPad?
- an iPad is a type of tablet
What is a tablet?
- a tablet is a type of computer
computer is a family word for
desktop, laptop, and tablet
Tablet
Apple iPad
Samsung
Galaxy
Windows
Surface
other types
of tablet
Meronymy
This is about part-whole relationships.
Again, we should organise
our ideas logically:
Specific
If we start with something
specific, it might be hard
for others to understand …
For example, what parts
does have a bicycle have?
frame, wheels, pedals,
chain, cogs, brakes,
handle bars…
Memory …
Let’s look at this example:
He’s having memory problems.
What is the general topic?
Is it cognitive activity….
… or computers?
Again, let’s focus on computers…
Memory …
Computer
mouse
keyboard
monitor
Where is a computer’s memory?
- it is part of the system unit
What other parts are in the system unit?
What other parts are in a computer?
hard disk
drive
system
unit
motherboard
CPU
power
supply
memory
Synonymy and antonymy
Looking back to Session 9:
A synonym is…
…a word that has the same (or a similar) meaning to another
word in some contexts.
For example:
- enormous
and
huge
An antonym is…
…a word that has the opposite meaning to another word.
For example:
- enormous
and
tiny
Homophones (same sound)
His argument was based on questionable _________.
1 All of the local school __________ were present at the meeting.
Phones are not ______ in the exam room.
2
Reading ______ can be very helpful for learning.
Choose the right word for each sentence from the homophones in this box:
1
/’prInsIpəlz/
principals/principles
2
/ə’lɑud/
aloud/allowed
Answers
His argument was based on questionable principles.
1 All of the local school principals were present at the meeting.
Phones are not allowed in the exam room.
2
Reading aloud can be very helpful for learning.
Choose the right word for each sentence from the homophones in this box:
1
/’prInsIpəlz/
principals/principles
2
/ə’lɑud/
aloud/allowed
Homographs (same spelling)
Some words are spelled the same, but have different sounds:
- perfect (verb) and perfect (adjective)
/pə’fect/
- They worked hard to perfect the model after testing.
/’pɜ:fIct/
- She got a perfect score in the exam.
How do you
pronounce ‘perfect’
in each of these
sentences?
Homographs
Some words are spelled the same, and also sound the same:
- park (verb) and park (noun)
/pɑ:k/
- It took a while to park the car.
/pɑ:k/
- Let’s have a walk in the park.
both words:
- are spelled the same
- sound the same
- are a different part
of speech
Polysemy
Some words that have the same spelling (homograph) and same
sound (homophone) as other words, and a related meaning.
For example:
head
/hed/
- Your wear a helmet to protect your head.
/hed/
part of the body
above the neck
- We met the head of the marketing department. person in charge
both words are related to
the idea of being at the top
Same sound, spelling, and/or meaning?
same sound
same spelling
/ðeə/
/ðeə/
there / their
(location)
(possession)
/’mInIt/ /maI’nju:t/
minute / minute
(60 seconds)
(very small)
/dIə/ /dIə/
dear / dear
(expensive)
(precious)
/’sɅmIt/ /’sɅmIt/
summit / summit
(mountain)
(government)
So…
Homophones:
sound the same
Homographs:
sound the same
look the same
Polysemes:
sound the same
look the same
mean the same
same meaning
…onomies
-
Hyponyny
Meronymy
Synonymy
Antonymy
Homonymy
Polysemy
That’s a lot of …onomies!
Remember that onomies are not your enemies…
…they are your friends.
…thanks to Hilpert (2013) for the joke…
Useful links
Exercises
Similes and metaphors:
http://www.englishdaily626.com/similes-metaphors.php?002
Hyponyms:
http://vlearn.fed.cuhk.edu.hk/?module=sense&submod=cont6&subsubmod=contv3#senrel
a
Meronyms:
http://vlearn.fed.cuhk.edu.hk/?module=sense&submod=cont6&subsubmod=contv4#senrel
a
Homophones:
http://www.usingenglish.com/quizzes/100.html
Homonyms, homographs & homonyms:
http://www.englishmaven.org/Articulate/Homonyms,%20Homographs,%20and%20Homop
hones%20Quiz%20-%20Quizmaker%20output/quiz.html
Polysemes:
http://www.ello.uos.de/field.php/Semantics/Semanticsidentifyhomonymsandpolysemes#vi
ps_7463
Reference
Hilpert, M. (2013, August 17). Sense relations [Video file]. Retrieved from
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B_iR4AKywfc
Zinglife. (2011). Android tablet [image]. Retrieved from
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/74/Zinglife_10%22_
Android_Tablet.jpg
End of classroom session
Have a look at the following slides if you would like
more information on metaphor
Life is a journey
Here, the word ‘life’ is being connected
in a figurative way with the idea of
travelling from one point to another.
Other life metaphors:
Life is a minefield.
What life metaphors do you
use in your own language?
Life is a puzzle.
Life is a dance.
Life is a game of cards.
Metaphor
A metaphor is a word or phrase that means one thing
and is used for referring to another thing in order to
emphasise their similar qualities (the two ‘things’ may
not be connected with each other).
For example:
Life is a journey.
Time is money.
Metaphor
A metaphor is a word or phrase that means one thing
and is used for referring to another thing in order to
emphasise their similar qualities (the two ‘things’ may
not be connected with each other).
For example:
Life is a journey.
Time is money.
We live in a global village.
Metaphor
A metaphor is a word or phrase that means one thing
and is used for referring to another thing in order to
emphasise their similar qualities (the two ‘things’ may
not be connected with each other).
For example:
Life is a journey.
Time is money.
We live in a global village.
We’ll need to dig up twenty references for this essay.
Traps
Literally…
When I told him, he literally hit the roof.
Literal = actual / real
- Did he actually hit the roof?
Of course, he did not really hit
the roof; he just got very angry.
Instead of using ‘literally’, we could leave out the adverb
altogether, or perhaps say ‘completely’.
Use ‘literally’ when you are being literal.
Simile
A simile is a kind of metaphor that uses the word like or as.
For example:
Life is like a box of chocolates
She sings like a bird.
It’s as clear as crystal that they’re going to win the game.
He ran as quick as lightning.
Another reason for hyponymy and meronymy…
A great way to build your vocabulary is to group new
words together according to how they relate to each
other.
The word piston is hard
to learn on its own.
However, grouping it
under the holonym
engine helps because
it provides context.
Homonyms can be divided into two groups:
- words with the same sound, but a different spelling
(homophones)
- their and there
- think of microphones, telephones…
audio
things related to
sound
- words with the same spelling (homographs)
- change and change
- think of photographs, seismographs…
visual
things we look at