Eng101 Lecture 1
Prepared By Maria Parveen
Lesson -01
Reading and Dictionary
This lesson is in two parts. In the first part:
• uses of a language dictionary
• How to use a dictionary
In the second part of the lesson, you will read an interesting
story.
Definition of Dictionary:
A dictionary is a book that not only lists and records the words
of a language but it also tells you how speakers of the language
spell, meaning, pronounce, define, explain and use the words of
their language.
List of Dictionary Uses (9):
The following is a list of things that can be learned from a
dictionary:
(i)Spelling
(ii)Pronunciation
iii) Part of speech
IV) Origin of word
(v)Meaning/explanation
(vi)Usage/restrictive labels
(vii)Synonyms & antonyms
(viii)Foreign words & phrases
ix) General information.
(i) Spelling:
Many students find English spelling very confusing. So what do
you do? Consult your dictionary. It will clarify your confusion
by showing you the different spellings of the same word.
Exercise:
a) What other possible spellings does your dictionary give for
these words?
Centre Color
(ii)Pronunciation:
Students have problems in pronouncing English words. A
dictionary will help you learn the pronunciation of any word but
only if you are familiar with the symbols in which they are
written.
(iii) Part of speech:
All dictionaries indicate the part of speech a word belongs to -
whether the word is commonly used as a Noun, Pronoun, Verb
(transitive, intransitive), Adjective, Adverb, Conjunction, or
Preposition etc.
iv)Origin of Word:
Some dictionaries indicate the origin and derivation of a word
before it became an English word.
(v) Meaning/ Explanation / Definition of words:
The most important information that a dictionary provides about
a word is its meaning. Most of the words have many meanings
or shades of meaning. Do not just read the first listed meaning
of the word you are looking for. Go down the numbered list.
Look for the meaning that best suits the context in which the
word is used.
Exercise (v-b):
Meaning/ Explanation/ Definition of words.
Use the dictionary to find the specific meanings of the word
‘play’ in each of the following:
1. The boys like to play on the hard court.
2. Amna will play the sitar in the concert.
3. The gardener played the hose on the flower beds.
(vi) Usage/Restrictive Labels:
A dictionary will tell you the usage of words and phrases,
idioms / proverbs of the language.
A dictionary uses different labels like Br(British),
Am(American), fml (formal), infml (informal), col (colloquial),
pl (plural), poetic (poetic), sl(slang).This information is
important in writing.
(vii)Synonyms and Antonyms:
Similar and opposite meanings of words are also given but not
in all dictionaries.
(viii)Foreign words and Phrases:
Dictionaries define / explain many common foreign words and
phrases either with the main entries or in a special section at the
back.
(ix)General Information:
This section varies from dictionary to dictionary. Names of
important persons, places, countries, nationalities, are listed
either in the alphabetical order of words or in special sections at
the back. Some dictionaries may include rules for spelling,
punctuation, list of common first names in English, systems of
weights and measures, conversion tables, etc.
How to use a dictionary?
Learning what a dictionary contains and how it is used will save
much of your time.
Step I: Know the correct order of the letters of the English
alphabet.
• All entries in dictionary are arranged in an alphabetical
order.
• Words are arranged according to the 1st letter.
• When the words begin with the same letter, they are
arranged according to the 2nd letter.
• If both the 1st and the 2nd letters are the same then the
words are arranged according to the 3rd letter, & so on...
Step 2: Finding Words Quickly
A) When looking for a word first thumb through pages quickly.
• Look only at guide words
• When you come to the guide word nearest the word you
want then look down that page for the word.
Guide Words:
B) Look at top of any page in the dictionary. The words in
heavy type/bold face are the GUIDE WORDS. They guide you
to the word you are looking for.
This concludes the first part of the lesson1. Now we move to the
second part which, I hope you will enjoy.
First we are going to show you the text of a story.You will read
a folk tale from North America. The story is about a natural
event.
Raven and the Coming of Daylight
(Gail Robinson and Douglas Hill)
When the earth was very young, it was dark and old like a
winter’s night through all the year’s seasons. Gull was the
Custodian of Daylight, and he kept it locked tight in a cedar box
beneath his wing. Being Custodian made Gull feel very
important, and he was not going to lose his position by letting
Daylight out of the box.
“He is too vain!” screeched Owl, at a meeting of the People
upon Meeting Hill.
“We can never travel, in this darkness, to our half-homes in this
south,” cried Robin. Her breast was bleached of colour for the
lack of light.
Gull agreed to come to the meeting. But it was clear, when he
came, that he was not going to change his mind or listen to what
Raven said. He had come only because it made him feel even
more important to have Raven pleading with him.
“I was made Custodian of Daylight in the beginning of things,”
said Gull. “I am to keep Daylight safe. And I willkeep it safe.”
And he curved his swing tighter around the cedar box.
Raven had run out of words to make Gull see the People’s need
for light. He thought angrily to himself, “I wish this Gull would
step on a large thorn.”
No sooner had he shaped this thought than Gull cried out,
“Squee! My foot!”“A thorn, Cousin?” asked raven innocently.
“Let me see-I will take itout for you.”
But of course it was so dark that he could not see the thorn to
remove it.
“I must have light to take out the thorn,” said Raven.
“Light? Never!” said Gull.
“Then the thorn will remain.”
Gull complained and hopped on one foot and wept, and he
finally opened his cedar box a crack, a crack so narrow that out
glanced a shaft of light no brighter than a single star. Raven put
his hand to Gull’s foot, then pretended not to see the thorn.
Instead, he pushed it in deeper.
“Squee!” cried Gull. “My foot!”
“More light, more light!” shouted Raven.
And the lid of the box raised a further crack, so that light
gleamed forth like a winter moon. Then Raven reached again for
the thorn and pushed it even further into the soft flesh of
Gull’sfoot.
“More light!” roared Raven.
“Squee, squee, squee!” screamed Gull, and in his pain he flung
off the lid of the cedar box.
Like a molten fish the sun slithered from the box, and light and
warmth blazed out over the world.
Nor was it ever to be recaptured, no matter how loudly or how
sadly Gull called to it to return to its safe hiding place beneath
his wing.
