Introduction
The Value of Vocabulary Building
Words are unique and interesting. A limited vocabulary keeps you from
expressing your real thoughts and feelings. A strong vocabulary gives you the
right words to use at the right time.
Vocabulary building takes patience and
continued effort. Your vocabulary can and should be a reflection of you. Your
vocabulary is you. And like you, your vocabulary should be alive. It should
change and grow to meet your needs.
The Purpose of Vocabulary
Words are great subjects to investigate. When you become a student of language,
and delight in discovering word relationships, and become aware of how you can
make words work for you, you are more likely to stop when you encounter an
unfamiliar word and consider its meaning. If you do this, you will become a
master of words and your vocabulary will grow. You must develop strategies to
conquer unfamiliar words when you find them in your college textbooks and in
your learning to make words work for you. (Hennings, p. xvii)
Why Vocabulary Development Counts
- Vocabulary is a basic part of reading comprehension. If you don't know enough
words, you are going to have trouble understanding what you read. An occasional
word may not stop you, but if there are too many words you don't know,
comprehension will suffer. The content of textbooks is often challenging enough;
you don't want to work as well on understanding the words that express that
content.
- Vocabulary is a major part of almost every standardized test, including
reading achievement tests, college entrance exams, and armed forces and
vocational placement tests. Vocabulary is a key measure of both one's learning
and one's ability to learn. The more words you know, then, the better you are
likely to do on such important tests.
- Studies have indicated that students with strong vocabularies are more
successful in school and that a good vocabulary is an influential factor for
people who enjoy successful careers in life. Words are the tools not just of
better reading, but of better writing, speaking, listening,
and thinking as well. The more words you have at your command, the more
effective your communication can be, and the more influence you can have on the
people around you.
- In today's world, a good vocabulary counts more than ever. Many jobs provide
services or process information, and the skills of reading, writing, listening,
and speaking are essential. The keys to survival and success in the workplace
are the abilities to communicate skillfully and learn quickly. a solid
vocabulary is essential for both of these skills. (Nist & Mohr, p. 1)
Improving your Vocabulary
Throughout your college years, new words will be flooding into your
consciousness. Many of them are the keys to ideas and information that will be
new to you. When students have trouble in a course, the trouble can often be
traced back to their imperfect comprehension of
terms that are essential to an understanding of subject matter. A first-year
science or social science course may introduce you to almost as many new words
as a first course in a foreign language. Then there are also words which may not
literally be new to you, but which have specific meanings within the context of
a specific course and therefore must be learned as if they were new words.
For a college student, a large, wide-ranging vocabulary is a necessary tool for
grasping fundamental ideas and facts. Words are the tools of communication,
learning, and thinking, and a student with an inadequate vocabulary cannot
function effectively and efficiently. (Pauk, p. 308)
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