The World of Words
How important are they?
The World of Words
Semantics (from Greek, smantik)
the study of meaning.
It focuses on the relation between signifiers,
such as words, phrases, signs and symbols, and what
they
stand for.
Words: the power of expression
Words a short film
Look for 9 words that
describe
each scene.
How many different
meanings of similar words
can you find?
Words a short film
Key
words:
Play, Blow, Break, Split,
Run, Fly, Fall, Light, Space
Play
Play (to start)
Theatrical Play
a Sports Play (move)
Play as a verb (Playing)
Play Ball (Start of
baseball)
To Play (music)
Play
Blow
Blow
Blow
Blow
Blow
Blow
air (verb)
your nose
as a noun (hit)
Fish (Blow up)
(break)
Blow
Break
Break as a verb (smash or
damage)
Break as a noun (broken bone)
Break (to move away in a game)
Brake (car brake)
Break (Billiards move)
Breaking Up (lose a cellphone
connection, to end a romantic
relationship)
Break
Split
Split (to cut something into two
pieces)
Split ( gymnastic move)
Split (divide between people)
Banana Split (Dessert)
Split ( to rip open)
Split
Run
Run (run in the stocking)
Running( to run)
Runny (leaking nose or paint)
Running Faucet
Run the light (break traffic
rules)
Run away (to escape)
Runway (landing strip)
Run
Fly
Fly (act of flying)
Fly (an insect)
Fly (zipper of your pants)
That is not going to fly
(idiom meaning something is
unacceptable)
Fly
Fall
Fall (the act of falling)
Waterfall
Fall (fall asleep, in love)
Fall (season) ~ U.K.,
autumn
Fall
Light
Light (opposite of heavy)
Light as a feather
(idiom meaning very light)
Light
(physical brightness: Sun, flashlight,
bulb),
Light (to ignite)
Let there be light
( idiom meaning higher awareness)
Lightning
Light
Space
Space (the universe)
Space Bar (computer key)
To give space (un. noun)
Space
Re:Words
Words how to teach
them?
What difficultlies can mulitiple
word meanings present in the
classroom?
As a teacher how can we deal
with this?
Make a weakness a
strength:
How can we make this a
teaching tool?
Words ~ the list goes
on!
Functional bat, bowl, can, face, fall, fit, foot, hand, hit, light, mean, park,
pet, pitcher, play, punch, ring, rock, roll, run, saw, star, stick, top, trip
Early Elementary back, bank, bark, bend, block, board, bomb, border,
box, bright, brush, cap, capital, change, character, check, checker, clear,
count, cover, cycle, degree, direction, draw, drill, even, fall, fire, freeze, force,
head, inch, iron, key, kind, letter, lie, line, match, mind, model, motion,
mouse, odd, order, past, period, place, point, pole, power, present, property,
right, rose, ruler, safe, scale, seal, season, second, shake, ship, side, solid,
solution, space, spring, stamp, staple, state, story, stuff, table, tense, track,
turn, watch, wave, work
Late Elementary act, angle, atmosphere, bitter, cast, charge, country,
court, credit, current, depression, draft, due, edge, film, flood, friction, front,
fuse, gum, interest, judge, negative, lean, matter, motion, organ, party,
plane, plot, produce, product, raise, rate, reason, report, school, screen,
sense, settle, shock, spell, source, staff, stand, staple, state, tip, wage,
volume
Secondary base, bass, chance, channel, coast, constitution, content, crop,
division, formula, gravity, interest, issue, lounge, market, tissue, operation,
pitch, process, program, view, value, volume, waste
Teaching multiple meanings
Excessive time in understanding multiple meaning words can
provide a delay that disrupts either reading fluency or oral
language comprehension.
Language used by textbooks and teachers are rife with
ambiguity, as is much of the humor used in social
language (Spector, 2007).
A study found that 72% of the most frequently occurring 9,000
words contained multiple meanings (Johnson and Pearson,
1984).
Practice with multiple meaning words accomplishes
several things:
1. Encourages metalinguistic skills, such as thinking about why
certain words have certain labels.
2. Kill two birds with one stone learn two words for the price of
one.
3. Prepares for common sections of standardized vocabulary tests.
4. Provides a bridge for working with context.
Classroom Goal Examples ~
1. Min-jun will identify another meaning of functional multiple
meaning words when given one meaning.
2. Seo-yeon will identify two meanings of age appropriate multiple
meaning words.
3. Woo-jin will provide one definition of age appropriate multiple
meaning words when given another definition.
4. Sun-mi will provide two definitions of age appropriate multiple
meaning words.
Easier technique ~
The World of Words
"By words we learn thoughts, and by thoughts we
learn life."
- Jean Baptiste Girard
(1775 1815)
