Finding the meanings of words

Submitted by Marc Stewart on 27 August 2018.

This set of steps (taken from Coady & Nation (1988)) with a worked example shows students one process for doing a ‘best guess’ of what to do when they come across a new word. Followed by a set of 10 exercises with some lovely, unusual words.

Editor's note
Fully mapped to GCSE and the new 2018 Functional English content

Resource File(s)
e3l1l2workoutmeanings.pdf
Resource type
Handout or guide
Worksheet(s) or assignment
Physical format
4 page PDF
Level
Entry Level 3
Level 1
Level 2
GCSE L1-5
English
FE E3.11 Use strategies to find meaning of words e.g. dictionary, context, word types
FE L1.17 Read & understand a range of specialist words in context
FE L1.16 Recognise vocabulary typically associated with specific types and purposes of texts (e.g. formal, informal, instructional, descriptive, explanatory and persuasive)
FE L2.17 Analyse texts, of different levels of complexity, recognising their use of vocabulary and identifying levels of formality and bias
GCSE English Reading AO2 Explain & analyse language & structure
See also
Level 2 vocabulary and spelling activity
Call My Bluff
Dictionary Challenge
What's a thesaurus?
A Thesaurus is NOT a Dinosaur
Dictionaries and thesauri
Dictionary Challenge
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