comprehending :: making & repairing meaning :: sentence-level :: [grammar] ::

semantics

"Context clues are very important for broadly comprehending text as well as for specifically learning new words. Instruction in context problem solving pays great dividends. It's akin to the old adage about catching fish for a man as opposed to teaching that man how to fish." (Greenwood, S. C., & Flanigan, F., 2007, p. 249) 

Working Definition

Within the context of this document, vocabulary is used to describe the meaning of words known in isolation. Semantics, on the other hand, is used to describe the process of connecting words with other words by meaning. This would include knowing word meanings within the context surrounding words in a sentence or phrase, being able to map or web words connected by meaning, being able to arrange gradients of meaning (happy, pleased, disappointed, upset, livid), being able to gain meaning from multiword semantic units such as idioms, cliches, expressions, phrases, and metaphors.

Prompts

• record an idiom, simile, or metaphor the author uses and the page it is found on. What does the idiom, simile, or metaphor mean?
• record an interesting word the author used and the page the word was used on. Create a semantic map showing how this word relates to other words that you know.
• record two opposite words found in your reading. Create a gradient scale or semantic gradient listing the descriptive words that would be between the two opposites you chose.

© 2014, Robert Pottle