AccuracyandAppropriateness:SynonymousandAntonymousWordsUnit5Thescenarioofinstructionprovidedasfollowsisdesignedjustforreference.Theteacherissupposedtocombineillustratingthefocusedpointswithdoingthegivenexercisesintheunit.Unit5Classroomteachingiscompletelypresupposedonpre-readingthetextoutsideclassroom.I.Lead-inHowdopeopleexpress

similar

meaningswithdifferentwords?Mainlybyusingsynonymous

wordsandexpressions.Howdopeopleexpressoppositemeaningswithdifferentwords?Normally,bythegrammaticalmeansofnegation,thatis,toformanegativesentenceorphrasebyusing“not”.Inaddition,bychoosingantonymouswordsandexpressions.SotheknowledgeofsynonymousandantonymouswordsisessentialforlearninghowtoexpressmeaningsindifferentwayssoastoaddvarietyinEnglishwriting.Whatdoyouknowaboutsynonymouswords?Givesomeexamplesofsynonymsfromthetext.Lookatthewordstakenfromthetext:expert,toleranceComparethesynonymouswordsinthefollowingsentences.

1)Dr.Jamesisaspecialist/anexpertininformationretrieval.2)a.Janehadnotoleranceforjokesofanykind.b.Heshowedremarkableendurancethroughouthisillness.Explainwhyin1)thetwoitalicizedwordscanbereplaceable,whilein2)thetwoitalicizedwordsarenotthoughtheyaresynonymouswords.

Inthisunit,wewilllearnhowtousesynonymousandantonymouswordsaccuratelyandappropriatelyinwriting.

I.Lead-inActivatingknowledgemeansmakingwordknowledge

lyinginthemindsofstudentsstartworking.II.ActivatingKnowledgeTherearemanykindsofsynonymouswordsinEnglish.Doyouknowhowtoclassifythem?Twotypes:synonymswithsimilarprimarymeanings—somewordsofthisgroupmaybeusedinterchangeably.(e.g.specialistandexpert)synonymswithdifferentprimarymeanings—somewordsofthisgroupmaynotbeusedinterchangeablyinmostcases.(e.g.toleranceandendurance)SynonymouswordsinEnglishcanalsobeclassifiedinotherways.Synonymsinformal/informalcontextintermsoflevelsofformality.(e.g.stateandsay)SynonymsindifferentdialectsofEnglishpreferablyusedindifferentregionsorcountries.(e.g.assinBritishEnglishanddonkeyinAmericanEnglish)Wecanuseantonymouswordstoshowcontrastinwriting.Howmanytypesofantonymscanbeusedtoexpressoppositemeanings?gradableantonyms:

toexpressamore/less(degree)relationshipofoppositeness.(e.g.strongandweak)complementaryantonyms:toexpressaneither/orrelationshipofoppositeness.(e.g.minimumandmaximum)converseantonyms:toexpressareciprocalrelationshipofoppositeness.(e.g.employerandemployee)Besidesthosetypesofantonyms,thereisonemoretypeofantonymwhichisformedbyaddingaffixes,eitherprefixorsuffix.(e.g.convenientandinconvenient,byaddingtheprefix-intotheroot);(e.g.carefulandcarelessbyaddingsuffixes-fuland-lesstotheroot)II.ActivatingKnowledgeApplyingknowledgemeansdoingyourwritingpracticebasedontheknowledgeyouhaveacquired.TaskOne

Similarmeaningsofsentencescanbeconveyedbyusingdifferentwordsorexpressions.Notethatthechangeofsomeexpressions

mayresultinchangeofwordcollocationswherenecessary.e.g.Wouldyouliketodonate

moneytoourcollection?Wouldyouliketocontributetoourcollection?III.ApplyingKnowledgeTaskTwoandTaskFour

Englishsynonymouswordsorantonymouswordsarechoseninmostcasesdependingonthecontextswhenusedinwriting,asChinesesynonymouswordsorantonymouswordsdo.OnlyafewnumberofEnglishsynonymouswordscanbeusedinterchangeably,andothersynonymscannotbeusedinterchangeablyinmostcases.Besides,Englishsynonymousorantonymouswordsmaynothaveequivalentword-classformsbutequivalentmeanings.(e.g.replaceandtakeover,infrontofandbehind)III.ApplyingKnowledgeTaskThreeAfewnumberofEnglishsynonymouswordsareusedaccordingtogrammaticalrulesinEnglish,butChinesesynonymouswordsarenot.

E.g.1)

a.Alotofstudentsareleavingsoon.(alotof+countablenouns)

b.Agreatdealofmoneywasspent.(agreatdealof+uncountablenouns)2)a.Thereareplentyofgirlsdancinginthehall.(plentyof+countablenouns)b.Thereisplentyofsugarinthecoffee.(plentyofuncountablenouns)3)a.Therearetoomanymistakesinthisessay.(many+countablenouns)b.Therewassomuchtrafficthatwewereanhourlate.(much+uncountablenouns)SomeEnglishsynonymouswordsareassociatedwithparticularchoicesindifferentdialectsofEnglish.(e.g.eraserpreferredinAmericanEnglish,rubberinBritishEnglish)III.ApplyingKnowledgeIV.WritingThroughExperiencingandReadingWritingthroughexperiencingandreadingmeansinvolvingstudentsinwritingpracticebasedontheirpersonalexperienceandwhattheyhavelearnedfromthetext.IV.WritingThroughExperiencingandReadingRewriting

involvesthinkingaboutwhatsynonymouswordswillbeusedappropriatelyinthegivenpassageafterreading.Forthispractice,synonymouswordsareusedtoreplacetheunderlinedwords,e.g.,salariesandearningsinthepassagecanbereplacedbythesynonymouswordpayappropriately.IV.WritingThroughExperiencingandReadingIV.WritingThroughExperiencingandReadingAntonymscansometimesenableustoexpresseconomicallytheoppositeofaparticularthought,oftenforthesakeofcontrast.e.g.deny—admit;buy—sellNotethatthe“not-negation”canservethefunctionofemphasisonoppositemeaningsincomparisonwithacorrespondingantonym.

e.g.moral—immoralornotmoralIV.WritingThroughExperiencingandReadingIV.WritingThroughExperiencingandReadingWritingThroughExperiencingandReadingGuidedwritinginvolvesstudentsinwritingashortpassagebasedonTextAwithsomesynonymousandantonymouswordsorexpressionsgiven.StudentsneedtoreadTextAmorecarefullyandthinkaboutbetterwaystohelptheirrevisionbeforecompletingtheassignmentthroughbrainstorming.Studentsshouldthinkabouthowtostartwithatopicsentencethatgeneralizeswhatarebetterwaysforrevision,howtoendwithaconcludingsentencethatsummarizesthewaysbetterforrevisionorgivessuggestions,andwhatgoesbetweenisthespcificwaysanddetailedexplanationofwhytheyarebetterwaysforrevision,whichshouldbeputinalogicalordersothatthewholepassageshouldbecoherentlyorganized.IV.WritingThroughExperiencingandReadingWritingafterreading(TextB)involvesstudentsinwritingashortpassagebasedonTex