English for Careers

Chapter 1Mastering Language—Resources and Words

English for Careers: Business, Professional, and Technical, 10th ed. Smith and Moore

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Your goals for Chapter 1: Develop the “dictionary habit” Use all parts of your dictionary Use a thesaurus Use a reference manual Expand your vocabulary

English for Careers: Business, Professional, and Technical, 10th ed. Smith and Moore

© 2010 Pearson Higher Education,Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. • All Rights

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Why study the English language?

Standard English is the language of the workplace.

It is essential to career success.

English for Careers: Business, Professional, and Technical, 10th ed. Smith and Moore

© 2010 Pearson Higher Education,Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. • All Rights

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Vocabulary-building tools … Books General interest magazines/Web sites

Trade organization journals/Web sites

Radio and television Speeches and lectures Conversations

English for Careers: Business, Professional, and Technical, 10th ed. Smith and Moore

© 2010 Pearson Higher Education,Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. • All Rights

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Help you develop strong communication skills: Vocabulary Pronunciation Standard English Current usage Industry language Career information

English for Careers: Business, Professional, and Technical, 10th ed. Smith and Moore

© 2010 Pearson Higher Education,Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. • All Rights

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Dictionaries describe how English is used, including: slang

street language

and other non-Standard words

AIN’T has been in some dictionaries since 1951!

English for Careers: Business, Professional, and Technical, 10th ed. Smith and Moore

© 2010 Pearson Higher Education,Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. • All Rights

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Dictionaries don’t prescribe how to use words…

They just tell you how words are used…

It’s up to YOU to make intelligent and appropriate word choices!

English for Careers: Business, Professional, and Technical, 10th ed. Smith and Moore

© 2010 Pearson Higher Education,Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. • All Rights

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The dictionary helps you decide.

So does your textbook, which focuses on Standard English – spoken and written in

the workplace

English for Careers: Business, Professional, and Technical, 10th ed. Smith and Moore

© 2010 Pearson Higher Education,Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. • All Rights

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Can you identify these printed versions? Abridged Pocket College Encyclopedic Unabridged Combination

English for Careers: Business, Professional, and Technical, 10th ed. Smith and Moore

© 2010 Pearson Higher Education,Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. • All Rights

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Now see if you can identify various sections of a dictionary:

Front Matter Everything before the first A word

Entries All words from A to Z Back Matter Everything after the last Z word

English for Careers: Business, Professional, and Technical, 10th ed. Smith and Moore

© 2010 Pearson Higher Education,Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. • All Rights

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History of a word

Context in which the word is used

Words derived from entry word

Show alphabetical range of page

Etymology

Usage label

Run-ins

Guide words

Identify parts of a dictionary entry:

English for Careers: Business, Professional, and Technical, 10th ed. Smith and Moore

© 2010 Pearson Higher Education,Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. • All Rights

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Some words have more than one correct spelling.

The spelling shown first is the preferred spelling.

The dictionary will show them joined by “or” - the.ater or the.atre

When “also” precedes a second spelling, the second one is less acceptable.

lovable also loveableAvoid using the second one in business writing.

English for Careers: Business, Professional, and Technical, 10th ed. Smith and Moore

© 2010 Pearson Higher Education,Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. • All Rights

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The dictionary also clarifies when compound words require hyphens.

hand-me-down apple pie nationwide recover (get well) or re-cover (cover again)

English for Careers: Business, Professional, and Technical, 10th ed. Smith and Moore

© 2010 Pearson Higher Education,Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. • All Rights

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Dictionaries use codes. Here are possible examples for the word interpret:

Syllables – in.ter.pret Pronunciation – in-'tƏr-prƏt, -pƏt Definitions – to explain or construe meaning

Parts of speech – n. adj. conj. vt. vi.

Etymology – Middle English, French, & Latin

English for Careers: Business, Professional, and Technical, 10th ed. Smith and Moore

© 2010 Pearson Higher Education,Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. • All Rights

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If you’re writing and you can’t think of the right word, where should you look for inspiration?

A Thesaurus

English for Careers: Business, Professional, and Technical, 10th ed. Smith and Moore

© 2010 Pearson Higher Education,Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. • All Rights

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A thesaurus lists

Synonyms Antonyms and other related words

English for Careers: Business, Professional, and Technical, 10th ed. Smith and Moore

© 2010 Pearson Higher Education,Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. • All Rights

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Can you think of a better word?

Offensive

unsuitable

Ugly

unattractive

No good

not acceptable

English for Careers: Business, Professional, and Technical, 10th ed. Smith and Moore

© 2010 Pearson Higher Education,Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. • All Rights

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Can you think of a better word? Stupid

unintelligent Outdated

retro Bad

unsatisfactory

English for Careers: Business, Professional, and Technical, 10th ed. Smith and Moore

© 2010 Pearson Higher Education,Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. • All Rights

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How a REFERENCE MANUAL can help you…

Explains grammar rules and shows examples of proper sentence structure. Lists rules for … PunctuationCapitalizationExpressing numbers in writingAbbreviations … and more

English for Careers: Business, Professional, and Technical, 10th ed. Smith and Moore

© 2010 Pearson Higher Education,Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. • All Rights

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Other uses for a reference manual …

Answers word questions – choosing the correct spelling and usage of “troublesome” words

Provides writing guidelines – content, tone, paragraphs, sentences, and writing style

Shows formats for producing business documents

English for Careers: Business, Professional, and Technical, 10th ed. Smith and Moore

© 2010 Pearson Higher Education,Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. • All Rights

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Checkpoint

Your Keys to Career Success

Expand your vocabulary

Use Standard English

Read widely

Use reference tools and resources