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Thursday, May 01, 2008

Identifying Hiponyms

Identifying Hiponyms

Hyponyms are the synonyms which name members of the same category but at different levels specificity. The hyponyms in the passage are underlined:

jane was re-reading page 9, as the teacher had suggested. the page was very difficult for her. in fact, the whole chapter was almost impossible to understand. she took a break, sighed, and went back to her book. she wished that the teacher would assign easier reading materials.

Notice that there is a pattern in the use of hyponyms: each succeding hyponym is more general than the one preceding it. This is quite common in english, and it seems to fit in with the topic/comment order, in which new information is stated before the old one.

In focus exercises, student can learn how to use such knowledge about hyponyms to improve
their reasing comprehension.

As always, it is good idea to encourage students to discover patterns such as the one
for hyponyms, rather than giving them a rule at the outset.






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