Prefix Suffix 283v3u

Majalah Ilmiah Unikom, Vol.5, hlm. 57—64 MEANING GUESSING WORD

IN READING COMPREHENSION

Bidang Humaniora GUESSING WORD MEANING IN READING COMPREHENSION IIS KURNIA Jurusan Sastra Inggris Universitas Komputer Indonesia Many of non - native students, the Indonesian students in this case, when they are reading an English article or textbook often think that they have to stop and look up in the dictionary the meaning of each unfamiliar word they find. This may be a useful way to develop their vocabulary, but it is absolutely inefficient in reading comprehension. The students perhaps will spend a great amount of time to read even a very simple paragraph. They don’t realize that they also often come across many unfamiliar words when they read an article or textbook written in their mother language (Indonesian), but they continually keep on reading. The students are not expected to know all words in English texts. By guessing words meaning the students will be able to figure out the meanings of words without consulting the dictionary. Guessing word meanings.

a great deal on their teacher. They become the ive reader; they only answer the questions when the teacher asks them. In academic situation the students are expected to be active readers. One of the reason is that the students are going to read a lot of texts written in Bahasa Indonesia or English. The text can be from journals, newspapers, or textbooks.

INTRODUCTION We have to face the truth that there are many Indonesian students who graduated from secondary school, even from universities, who still have difficulties in reading English journals or textbooks. Based on our experience, there are many Indonesian students who read word by word and they stop reading when they find some difficult words. They believe that they can interpret the text if they understand every word. They are also translating while they are reading. In fact, good readers do not read word by word but read groups of words and they try to guess the difficult words.

There are many common techniques that can be mastered by the learners in improving their skill in reading comprehension, but only one that will be discussed in detail in this article; that is guessing word meaning. Some techniques in reading comprehension are:

Actually, in our country students still depend Alamat koespondensi pada Iis Kurnia, Jurusan Sastra Inggris Universitas Komputer Indonesia, Jalan Dipati Ukur 114, Bandung 40132.

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1.

It is very clear that the topic of the series words above is book

Scanning

Scanning is very fast reading. When the learners scan, they skip over many words. They have to look for some information as quickly as they can. Scanning is especially important for improving the learners’ reading. Many of learners try to read every word. If they learn to scan, they can learn to read and understand faster.

5. Understanding Paragraphs What is paragraph? A paragraph is a group of sentences. All the sentences in a paragraph are about one topic. The topic and the main idea are important. They help learners to understand meaning quickly, and they help us what we read.

2.Guessing Word meaning 6. Finding the pattern of organization As we read English textbook for college courses, we may find many words that are unfamiliar words to us. Don’t expect we will know all words in our texts. By guessing word meanings we will be able to figure out the meanings of words without consulting a dictionary. This skill will be explained later in detail.

Patterns are important. We use them to help us understand and . In fact, without patterns we couldn’t live! For example, we know the pattern of our home- we can find things in dark. And we also have a time pattern in our daily lives- we do not have to decide every day when to have our meals and when to look for the mail. We follow the usual patterns.

3. Previewing and predicting When we preview, we look for information. We can make guess about what is in the book. When we make guesses like this, we are predicting. Previewing and predicting help learners read faster and understand better. This is because we are already thinking about what we will read. We should always preview and predict before we read.

In languages there are patterns, too, but each language has different patterns. To read well in English, you must be able to find the patterns used in English. They will help you understand and what you read. There are four patterns of organization: a. Listing The writer gives a list of examples or reasons. Signal words for the listing pattern First, and, one, some, second, too, other, many, third, also.etc

4. Learning to look for the topic What is topic? A topic is a word or phrase (a few words) which tells what something is about. For example, a friend may ask you . “ what is this book about?” your friend doesn’t want to know everything about the book. He or she just wants to know the topic.

b. Time order the writer gives information in time order for example : Wars in American history: 1776- American revolution 1812- war of 1812 1861- civil war 1914- World War I

The topic is the key to understanding what we read. It also helps us . For example: we may find a series of the following words Table of contents index title page chapters cover page

c. Cause and effect 58

GUESSING WORD MEANING IN READING COMPREHENSION

7. Skimming

stem, and a suffix. According to the Oxford Dictionary, A prefix is syllable, e.g. pre- or un-, placed in front of a word to change its meaning. a word element placed at the beginning of a root or stem. Stem or root is a word element, often taken from Latin or Greek, that serve s a base to which other element are added to modify the root itself. The stem will not be specifically discussed in this article.

Speed is often important when we are reading. We may have a lot to read but not much time. For this kind of reading we usually do not want to now and everything. We only want to find out something about the book or article. We can do this by skimming.

Suffix is the word element that is attached to the end of a root or word. Both prefixes and suffixes change the meaning of the root and form a new word. For Example: The root word “act”. The word will change in form, meaning and function when different prefixes and suffixes are added.

We may want to skim ; • newspaper or magazine articles. • Book covers in a bookstore • Library books • Mystery, detective, or other novels.

“ act” Action, actor, actress, acting, active, actively, acted, activate, react, deactivate, reaction, reactor, activity. The series of the words above shows us that by using the affixes one root word of “act” can be changed in various meanings and forms.

The writer shows how one thing can cause another Big snowstorm (cause)----------school is closed (effect) d. comparison The writer shows how two things are alike and how they are different

Skimming for point of view Skimming is helpful when we want to find out quickly about the writer. We may want to find out what the writer thinks about something. This is the writer’s point of view.

Prefixes The definition of Prefix according to the Oxford Dictionary is syllable, e.g. pre- or un-, placed in front of a word to change its meaning. Pre- means ‘before’; a prefix, therefore, is what comes before the stem. It usually changes the meaning of the word.; for example, the prefix un- changes a word to the negative. Unpredictable means not be able to be predicted., unruly means not easy to control, unsightly means not pleasant to look at.

GUESSING WORD MEANING Using Affixes (Prefix and Suffix) to guess vocabulary It is often possible to guess the meaning of the unfamiliar words if we understand the way words in English are generally formed. Affixes

Another example is the prefix bi -, which has the meaning of two or twice. It can be find in the words like bilateral ; the definition according to Oxford Dictionary is between two side; bilingual means speaking or using two language . We have already seen how suffixes change

Prefix stem suffixes Many English words are made up of a combination of three words elements: a prefix, a 59

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the parts of speech of word. Let us now consider some prefixes, their usual meaning, and how they change the meanings of English words. Prefixes Study these tables Negative and Positive Un-

Size

Location Intrer-

Time a n d order Pre-

Semi-

Mono-

Non-

Mini-

Super-

Ante-

Bi-

In-

Micro-

Trans-

Fore-

Hex-

Dis-

Ex-

Post-

Oct-

Re

Extra-

Prefixes of Size

Number

Meaning

Multi-

examples

Un-

unpunched

In-

incomplete

Im-

not, not enough

good

Impossible

Il-

Illegal

Ir

Irregular, irrelevant

Non-

Not connected with Bad, wrong

non impact

Dis-

Opposite feelings Opposite action

Disagree Disconnect

Anti-

Againsrt

Antisocial

De-

Reduce, reverse

Under-

Too little

Demagnetize, code Underestimate

Re-

Do again

Reorganize

Over-

Too much

Overheat

Mis-

Meaning

Examples

Semi-

Half, partly

Semiconductor

Equi-

Equal

Equidistant

Maxi-

Big

Maxicomputer

Micro-

Small

Microcomputer

Mini-

Little

Minicomputer

MacroMega-

Large

Macroeconomies Megabyte

Prefixes of Location

Negative and Positive Prefixes Negative Prefixes Prefix

Prefix

Prefix

Meaning

Examples

Inter-

Between, among

Interface, interactive

Super-

Over

Supersonic

Trans-

Across

Transmit, transfer

Ex-

Out

Exclude, extrinsic

Extra-

Beyond

Extraordinary

Sub-

Under

Subschema

Infra-

Below

Infra-red

Peri-

Around

Peripheral

Prefixes of Time and Order

Mispronounce

de-

60

Prefix

Meaning

Examples

AntePrePrime-

Before First

Antecedent Prefix Primary, primitive

Post-

After

Postdated

Retro-

Backward

Retroactive

GUESSING WORD MEANING IN READING COMPREHENSION

- er - ist - ness

Prefixes of Number Prefix

Meaning

Examples

Semi-

Half

Semicircle

Mono-

One

Monochromatic

Bi-

Two

Binary

Tri-

Three

Triangle

Quad-

Four

Quadruple

Penta-

Five

Pentagon

Hex-

Six

Hexadecimal

Septem

Seven

September

Oct-

Eight

Octal

Dec-

Ten

Decimal

Multi-

Many

Multiprogramming, multiplexor

- en - ify

- ic - ical - ish - ive

Noun – Forming - Suffixes

Other Prefixes

SUFFIX

MEANING

EXAMPLES

- ance - ence - er, or

S t a t e Quality of a person who a thing which

Performance indepenence progammer, operator compiler, accumulator

- ation - tion

the act of

execution

- ist - yst - ness - ion - ing - ment - ity - ian - ism

a person who

analyst, typist

condition of action state activity state, action state, quality pertaining to condition/ state domain/ condition condition/ state

cleanliness conversion multiplexing measurement electricity electrician magnetism

Prefix

Meaning

Examples

Pro-

For

Program

Auto-

Self

Automatic

- dom - ship

Co-

Together

Coordinate

- ary

Neo-

New

Neoclassical

Pan-

All

Pan-American

freedom relationship, nership,

part-

binary Verb – Forming – Suffixes SUFFIX

Suffixes

- ize - ate - fy - en

A suffix is what is attached to the end of the stem. It has been explained above that prefixes usually change the meaning of the word. Suffixes, on the other hand, change the word from one part of speech to another. For example, - ly added to the adjective quick gives the adverb quickly. Let us now consider some suffixes and their usual meanings. SUFFIXES NOUNS - ance - ence - or

MEANING

EXAMPLES

To make

Computerize automate, activate, calculate simplify harden, widen

Adverb – forming - Suffix SUFFIX MEANING - ly

VERBS ADJECT ADVERBS - ize - able - ly - ate - ible - fy - less 61

In the manner of

EXAMPLES elect roni call y, logically comparable

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Adjective – Forming - Suffixes SUFFIX

MEANING

EXAMPLES

- al - ar - ic - ical

Have the quality of

logical circular automatic electrical

Capable of being

comparable visible

Like, full of

dangerous religious

- able - ible - ous - ious

Characterized by Without Like

-ful

Having Quality of To make or do

- less - ish - ed - ive - ing

in a sentence, that is, by looking at its context. Understanding words through context will be helpful in reading process. There are some common ways in guessing difficult words by context: 1.

di-

2.

helpful colorful careless childish

3.

punched interactive programming processing

4.

Using a short definition with a verb “to be” e.g. A catlass is a short curved sword. Using Appositives e.g. Mercury, the silver-coloured metal used in thermometers, is usually in a liquid form. Using Clauses e.g. Airships, which are cigarshaped, steerable balloons, have many uses, such as filming, advertising and entertainment Using Punctuations e.g. In laser printing, the greater the number of dpi (dots per inch), the higher the quality of the image produced. Using Contrasts e.g. The bite of garter snake, unlike that of the deadly cobra, is benign. Using Synonyms (Usually expressed in a word “or”) e.g. The husky, or sled dog, of the North is a hardly breed. Using Examples e.g. Percussion instruments, such as drums, cymbals and tambourines, were the preferred instruments in the study.

USING CONTEXT TO GUESS WORD MEANING

5.

Building a powerful vocabulary means more than learning new words. It means learning new ways to think about words. In the previous subject, we can guess the word meaning by learning how most English words are formed (prefix-root-suffix) in the following matter you will learn some thinking skills that will help you guess the meaning of unknown words.

6.

7.

Using the context to guess unknown words What is the context?

CONCLUSION Recognizing affixes and knowing their usual meanings can be valuable when the students meet new words. When the learners come across irreparable, for example, they might analyze it something like this. The prefix ir(meaning not), the stem repar (from the verb ‘repair’), and the suffix –able (meaning ‘possible to’ or ‘not capable of being’). The whole word, irreparable, means impossible to repair, or not capable of being repaired.

According to Miculecky and Jeffries (1998), context is the sentence or sentences around a word. You can often guess the meaning of words you do not know by using the context. Guessing meaning from context Students sometimes learn to guess a word they don’t know by looking at how it is used 62

GUESSING WORD MEANING IN READING COMPREHENSION

Another example, the word unmagnetize might be analyzed in the following way : the prefix un- (meaning not), the stem magnet (noun), and the suffix –ize (meaning ‘to be or make like). The meaning of the whole word is not to be or not to make like the magnet.

REFERENCES Arnaudet, M.L. & Barret, M.E. (1984). Approaches to academic reading and writing. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice Hall. Blake, K.A. (1989). College reading skills. New Jersey: Prentice Hall. Grellet, F. (1981). Developing reading skills. New York: OUP. Mikulecky, B.S & Jeffries, L. (1998). Reading power. New York: Addison Westley Longman. Mullen, N.D. & Brown, C.P. (1987). English for computer science. Oxford: Walton Street.

Using stems and affixes in this way will not always tell us the exact meaning of an unknown word. It will often help the students guess the approximate meaning, however. The learners will be able to see from the context whether their guess is correct or not, and will not have to stop to consult a dictionary if it looks right.

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