Literacy

The VOCABULARY is so unfamiliar that I don't understand much of what I read.

pusillanimous

saturnine

A deep and broad vocabulary is essential for college learning. More importantly, the ability to LEARN new words is paramount to developing a deep and broad vocabulary. Most, if not all, courses include new vocabulary that must be learned to fully comprehend the key concepts being taught. The good news is that once you learn HOW to learn new words, you can generalize that learning to any new vocabularies. Learning new words is somewhat individualistic in nature - in other words, while we may all use some of the same vocabulary-building techniques, we also develop favorite strategies that work well for us. The first step is to try several strategies and decide how YOU best learn new words.

The two SECRETS of learning new words:

The definition of a word is only the BEGINNING level of understanding. To FULLY understand and internalize word meanings and be able to use words correctly IN CONTEXT, a deeper understanding of new vocabulary is required. Learn SYNONYMS for the new words, learn ANTONYMS, list characteristics, list contexts in which the words might be found, and connect the words to known words/concepts.

Most of us need about 7 exposures to new information before we can say we have "learned" it. The same is especially true for learning new words. "Over learning" of new words is a practice in which you force repeated exposures to the words and word meanings until you are fluent with them. Turning these process into a GAME (Concentration, Go Fish, matching games, etc.) is one possible way to allow for multiple exposures to the words.

Strategies for Learning new Words:

Linguistic Approach - using the etymology of words to understand the meaning of affixes, root words and how the morphology of the language affects words meanings.
Vocabulary journal - many students have found success in keeping journals of new words and referencing it often during a course. Many times this allows students to use the CONTEXT of the words in print to understand the meaning.
Flashcards - as noted in the flashcardexchange.com link below, there are electronic services in which you can build flashcard databases of vocabulary words or simply use 3 x 5 or 4 x 6 cards and make your own.
Visualization and illustration - these techniques allow people who learn visually to draw/sketch symbols or pictures that represent word meanings.
Mnemonics - link the new words to a known word or concept that triggers your memory.

Resources:

General Approaches to Unfamiliar Vocabulary Words: http://muskingum.edu/~cal/database/general/reading.html#GeneralApproach
Frayer Method of Vocabulary Development: http://www.longwood.edu/staff/jonescd/projects/educ530/aboxley/graphicorg/fraym.htm
Flashcardexchange.com: http://www.flashcardexchange.com/
Visualizing Vocabulary: http://www.writingproject.org/pub/nwpr/quarterly/Q2002no3/simmons.html
Strengthening Vocabulary Development: http://www.itrc.ucf.edu/forpd/courseinfo/lesson7.pdf

Students: Volume	Students: Format	Students: Vocabulary	Students: Retention
Instructors: Volume	Instructors: Format	Instructors: Vocabulary	Instructors: Retention