23 d
De-vowelled Words Each of a pair selects a card from their sets, then rewrite the word by
omitting the vowels. Then, the other has to guess the word. e
Ghost Writing Each of a pair selects a word and write down the word in the air or on their
partner’s back. Their partner has to guess the word. f
Categories In pairs or small group, learners organize their cards into some categories. For the
example whether the words have hot or cold, masculine or feminine, good or bad, or sweet or sour.
3. Guessing from Context
In reading and listening, learners will always meet new unknown words. Therefore, making an intelligent guessing is important. Here are some
recommended steps for guessing from context. a
Decide the part of speech of the unknown word. Its position in the sentence and suffix might be the clue.
b Look for further clues in the word’s immediate collocates – if it is a noun,
check whether it has an article or not to indicate whether the word is countable or uncountable. If it is a verb, check whether it has an object or not.
c Look at the wider context, including the surrounding clauses and sentence –
especially if there is ‘signposting’ such as but, and, however, so. They might be a clue to guess the whole context.
PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
24 d
Look at the form of the word for any clue. For the example the word downhearted. It consists of the word down, heart, and –ed.
e Make a guess to the meaning of the word using the above strategy.
f Read on and see if the guess is confirmed. If not – and the word seems critical
to the understanding of the whole text, go back and do the above steps. If the word does not seem critical, carry on reading. The meaning will be clearer
during the reading process.
4. Coping Strategies for Production
Guessing from context is a very useful strategy in listening and reading. However, this strategy cannot be applied in speaking and writing. When learners
need to produce a sentence with an unknown word, coping strategy can be used. In order to replace the unknown word, they can use vague words. They can use
phrases like a sort of, a kind of, thing, etc. For the example, they produce a tool for cutting wood instead of axe.
Other ways of covering such a problem are: a
Paraphrasing Paraphrasing is used as in ‘a bed for carrying sick people’ when the word
stretcher is unknown. b
Describing Describing is used as in it’s like a chair, it’s got four legs, you sit on it, but
it hasn’t got a back when the word stool is unknown. c
Using rough synonym
PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
25 Using rough synonym as in ‘the car is broken’ when learner wants to say
‘the car will not start’. d
‘foreignising’ the equivalent L1 word In
Spanish, carpeta means folder in English. Then, learner just omits the
final –a when they want to produce the word folder since they do not know the word.
e Using gesture and mime
For the example, when they want to say saw or hammer but they do not know the word, they just move as if they used the tool.
f Using the L1 word
Learners sometime use the L1 word in the hope that the listener will know it or that it will not be very different in the L2.
5. Using Dictionaries
