Rationale of the study
Synonyms do exist in almost every language, including English English, as Howard Jackson states, is a language rich in pairs of synonyms These pairs (or groups) of synonyms give us various choices when we want to convey one and the same idea They make a language flexible and varied However, to choose the appropriate word among a group of synonyms for a specific situation is not simple If we can do this, we may feel absolutely satisfied because we have expressed ourselves not only correctly but also lively and emotionally We can create a mental picture for the reader by using words that are specific and accurate Thank to this, our utterances or sentences are very persuasive and appealing to readers or listeners On the contrary, if the word we use is not suitable, we may feel embarrassed and even uneasy
This fact proves one thing that pairs or groups of synonyms are not substitutable in every situation Two words may be synonymous and equally appropriate for one context, but not so in another There are some underlying factors that make them different from one another Even native speakers, who are aware of these factors, sometimes find it hard to express themselves by not being able to choose the most suitable word An example in Vietnamese is that when a young girl wore a new orange T- shirt with the pattern of a butterfly on it, her mother liked it very much and wanted to pay a compliment to her However, she happened to find no words to say what she wanted to Her mind seemed to be empty, and she felt very confused She said to her daughter that “Thoa hôm nay có cái áo sặc sỡ thế!” Yet she was completely dissatisfied with her word choice because in Vietnamese “sặc sỡ” has a neutral, or sometimes rather negative sense, whereas her comment on her daughter‟s T- shirt was entirely positive After a while, a friend of the girl came and saw the T- shirt, she exclaimed: “¤i, chị có cái áo thật là rực rỡ!” Then the girl‟s mother appeared to be released from her uneasiness and confusion now that she found the key to her problem of vocabulary
“Rực rỡ” is exactly the word she wanted to use for her compliment, and that word gives an extremely different impression of how she felt about the T- shirt
Therefore, using synonyms flexibly and effectively is really a challenge for students learning a foreign language
First year students at English Department, College of Foreign Languages, Vietnam National University, have not learnt language theory, so a majority of them are not highly aware of the factors underlying a pair or a group of synonyms As a result, they make a lot of errors in using synonyms Nevertheless, these errors can be restricted and corrected if the students are warned about those factors
That is why this study is carried out, to investigate the factors underlying the use of synonyms, and to help first year students to improve their use of synonyms in writing.
Scope of the study
This study is confined to English synonyms only It is not a contrastive analysis of synonyms, so Vietnamese synonyms are not mentioned They are just given as illustrations for the universal properties of synonyms Even within English synonyms, only several groups are investigated owing to the fact that the number of English synonyms is huge, and certainly a minor research can hardly cover all of them
Once the study is developed, it can be seen that there are several factors underlying the use of synonyms; however, not all of these factors make synonyms become challenging to students, so only the factors that cause students to make errors are discussed in details The other factors are just listed for reference
Although students at higher levels of English still make mistakes in using synonyms, only first year students are taken into consideration as they are appropriate subjects for the purpose of the study.
Aims of the study
This study is carried out to serve three major purposes:
- To conduct an investigation into different aspects of English synonyms
- To address the issue of using some specific groups of synonyms of first year students in English Department, College of Foreign Languages, Vietnam National University
This is done by making the students to do some tests Then their errors in the tests are picked up and examined for causes and sources
- To provide some recommendations for preventative and curative measures to help improve first year students‟ use of synonyms.
Organization of the study
There are three main parts in this thesis The first part is INTRODUCTION in which the rationale, scope, aims, and design of the study are presented so that readers can have a general view of the thesis
The second part of the thesis is DEVELOPMENT This part is sub-divided into three main chapters The first chapter deals with theoretical background and review of literature In this chapter, all the basic knowledge of synonyms, namely definition, characteristics, and classification are reviewed Chapter 2 is about the methodology of the study It describes the research questions, informants, data collection instruments, and analytical framework Chapter
3, the backbone of the thesis, deals with data analysis and discussions This chapter mainly presents the errors in using synonyms by first year students and discusses their causes as well as suggests preventative and curative measures Through this last chapter, teachers and students may find useful methods to apply in their real teaching and learning
The CONCLUSION part presents concluding remarks, implications for teaching and learning synonyms, and suggestions for further research.
The knowledge of synonyms, factors distinguishing them, and the skill of componential analysis are required for identifying and analyzing first year students‟ errors in using synonyms Therefore, this chapter deals with the basic concepts and ideas to set the theoretical background for analyses which will be carried out later in this study
There are different definitions and discussions on synonyms from various semanticists
Some representatives are John Lyon, W Kreidler, Michael McCarthy, Norbert Schmitt, etc
Their points of view on synonyms will be discussed and compared to establish a comprehensible and rich theoretical background that serves the purpose of the thesis
Sense relation is an internal meaning relation that holds between words within the vocabulary system of the language In other words, it is the paradigmatic relation, the relation between different words that might have been chosen on the „vertical‟ axis The most obvious sense relations are those of „sameness‟, „oppositeness‟, and „including‟ Such terms as synonymy, antonymy, and hyponymy are used to refer to these relations respectively
So synonymy is a type of sense relation or lexical relation, a subject of semantics It is the relation of sameness that holds between two or more words Therefore, the matter of synonymy and the use of synonyms are mentioned in almost all books on semantics and vocabulary
Many well- known linguists have given their own definitions of synonyms, mainly in their books of semantics or vocabulary Though the ideas are quite similar, they are expressed in different ways
Charles W Kreidler (1998:97) writes about synonyms in his book Introducing English semantics According to him, synonymy is an instance of mutual entailment, and synonyms are instances of mutual hyponymy He takes the following example:
literature review 4 1.1 Overview of synonyms
Definition of synonyms
Many well- known linguists have given their own definitions of synonyms, mainly in their books of semantics or vocabulary Though the ideas are quite similar, they are expressed in different ways
Charles W Kreidler (1998:97) writes about synonyms in his book Introducing English semantics According to him, synonymy is an instance of mutual entailment, and synonyms are instances of mutual hyponymy He takes the following example:
(b) Jack is a sailor Because the truth of (a) entails the truth of (b) and vice versa, and also the falsity of (a) entails the falsity of (b) and vice versa, seaman and sailor are synonyms
Linguistic semantics with a famous representative, John Lyon, defines synonyms as
“expressions with the same meaning” Similarly, Michael McCarthy (1997) says “synonymy means that two or more words have the same meaning.” He takes series of examples as begin and start, sofa and settee, below, beneath and under(neath), etc D.A Cruse (1986) in the book Lexical semantics states that synonyms are pairs or groups of lexical items bearing a special sort of semantic resemblance to one another Howard Jackson (2000:92) also mentions
“sameness of meaning” that holds between two words when discussing synonyms
So each linguist uses a different expression, but they all agree that synonyms are pairs or groups of words with the same meaning Only Lyon differs from other linguists in using the term “expressions” He makes clear this point by explaining that his definition does not restrict the relation of synonymy to lexemes, so lexically simple expressions may be synonymous to lexically complex expressions Denying this, Kreidler (1998:98) affirms that synonyms are typically single lexemes of the same weight Therefore, Mr Jenkins is our postman and Mr
Jenkins is the person who delivers our mail may have the same meaning, but postman and the person who delivers our mail are not synonyms
For the purpose of this study, synonyms are confined to lexemes, but not necessarily
“single lexemes of the same weight”, and certainly they must be categorized as the same part of speech So, die, pass away and kick the bucket are considered members of a group of synonyms This will serve as a working tool in this thesis.
Characteristics of synonyms
Two words are synonymous only when they are compatible with the same subjects
For example, hard and difficult are synonyms when they are compatible with subject, so
“Integral calculus is a hard subject” also means “Integral calculus is a difficult subject”
However, while hard chair or hard knock is familiar, there are no such things as difficult chair and difficult knock This is to say that synonyms have different ranges of compatibility, the ranges overlap but they are not co-extensive
Another characteristic of synonyms is that the bridging rule is not applicable for them, i.e the fact that A is synonymous with B and A is synonymous with C does not necessarily means that B is synonymous with C Thus, funny is synonymous with humorous when compatible with story, and funny is synonymous with peculiar when compatible with feeling, but humorous and peculiar are not synonyms
Funny story = humorous story } humorous # peculiar Funny feeling = peculiar feeling
Classification of synonyms
“Absolute synonyms” is the term John Lyon used for pairs or groups of synonyms that can be substituted for one another in any given context, whereas Jackson (2000) would rather call this „strict synonyms‟ In this research, these two terms are used interchangeably Lyon establishes a set of three criteria to assess whether a pair of synonyms is absolute or not
(i) all their meanings are identical (ii) they are synonymous in all contexts (their collocational ranges are identical) (iii) they are semantically equivalent (their meaning or meanings are identical) on all dimensions of meaning, descriptive or non-descriptive) More simply, Jackson states that the choice between strict synonyms would have no effect on the meaning, style or connotation of what was being said or written Cruse also makes a short explanation of absolute synonyms with the condition that all their contextual relations are identical
Although many linguists mention absolute synonyms and classified them as one type of synonyms, they all agree that this type of synonyms is really rare Some linguists even argue that absolute synonyms do not exist If they do, it is only when semantic change is taking place This means that when two words appear to become strict synonyms, either of them will change its meaning or fallen out of use Jackson takes sky and heaven as an example At first, these two words denoted both the physical firmament and the spiritual realm of God and the angels Then sky came to denote just the physical, and heaven just the spiritual
The scarcity of absolute synonyms is justified with different words as “uneconomical”,
“unnecessarily redundant”, “wasteful”, “luxurious”, etc We do not need a completely free choice between two words for a particular context because we can well do it with only one
Non-absolute synonyms (or partial synonyms) should be distinguished from near synonyms, as Lyon proposed
Near synonyms are words which are more or less similar, but not identical in meaning
Some examples are mist and fog, stream and brook, dive and plunge, ask and beg, etc
Partial synonyms are synonyms which fail to satisfy all the three conditions for absolute synonyms The failure of any of those three conditions makes a pair of synonyms non-absolute Take big and large as an example They are partial synonyms because not all their meanings are identical Besides, they have different collocational ranges Big can collocate with house, sister, mistake, etc Large can also collocate with house and sister but it does not collocate with mistake
Another classification of synonyms makes it easier for us to follow Apart from absolute synonyms, there are five other types, but only three of them are mentioned here because the other two types do not serve the aim of this thesis:
Semantic synonyms are synonyms which differ in denotation (like near synonyms described above)
Stylistic synonyms are synonyms which differ in connotation For example, while thin is neutral, skinny is pejorative and slender is flattering
Semantic stylistic synonyms are synonyms which differ in both denotation and connotation This type makes up the majority of synonyms in English
As indicated in the scope of the study, there are many factors underlying the use of synonyms, but for the purpose of the study, only the factors which cause difficulties for freshmen at university are mentioned and investigated in this part of the research Hence, such factors as dialect difference (or geographical distribution) and syntactic behavior or pragmatic value are neglected.
Connotation
In addition to literal, dictionary meanings, words often have implied, emotional meanings known as connotations These connotations play an important role in the search for the „right words‟ because they sometimes clash with the writer‟s intended meaning or view
Distinguishing between two words that seem to mean the same but have different colors and shapes and suggestions, this is essential to the art of writing, and also of speaking The dictionary can tell you only what a word points to, it cannot tell you what it feels like
Unspeakable in the dictionary means the same as unutterable but the former is always used to mean something base or vile, while the latter usually means some rapturous or divine thought or emotion
Another example is that in the following sentence, the word pushy conflicts with the meaning in the rest of the sentence
The pushy citizen patiently waited for his turn at the microphone before confidently expressing his concerns about the city council’s recent decision to staff the fire station with volunteers
A pushy individual probably wouldn‟t have waited patiently for his turn to speak, but rather would have barged in whenever he felt emotionally led to do so Perhaps, a more appropriate descriptive word for an individual who “patiently waited” before “confidently expressing his concerns” might be assertive
Two words may largely share a denotation, in referring to a particular entity, but they may have divergent associative and emotive meaning Therefore, it is very important for a writer to choose words which have appropriate connotations; otherwise, it might cause offence to the readers, or at least make the writer misunderstood Moreover, connotations can help the description become not only more exact but also more lively and vividly Push and shove may serve as an example here: their denotation largely overlaps, that is „forceful propulsion forward‟; but shove connotes roughness or haste, which push does not So “The bus was so crowded that I was shoved forward and back again ad again” sounds more descriptive than
“The bus was so crowded that I was pushed forward and back again and again”
The following table lists some group of words which have similar dictionary meanings but are different in connotative meanings
4 time-tested old out-of-date
7 up-to-date new newfangled
10 inquisitive curious nosy Some other examples are: (all the words on the left are neutral) Ambiguous equivocal (deliberately)
Famous notorious (disreputably) Hate loathe (with repugnance or disgust) Misuse abuse (of privilege or power) New novel (strikingly)
Formality of the context
Language cannot be used in isolation from the context When something is said or written, vocabulary needs to be chosen carefully basing on who is saying, to whom, when, where and why It is the relationship between the content of a message, its sender and receiver, its situation and purpose, and how it is communicated, which altogether make up register In terms of register, Halliday proposes three key components which restrict the selection of vocabulary They are field, tenor, and mode:
Field: the subject matter and purpose of a message (travel‟s brochure, etc.) Tenor: the relationship between sender and receiver (boss to employee, friend to friend, etc.) Mode: the channel of communication (phone call, written report, notice, etc.) Basing on these three components, contexts are often divided in such types as formal vs informal/slang/colloquial, written vs spoken, technical vs non-technical
As a result, one word in a pair of synonyms may be used in a more formal context than the other; or one of the pair may belong to slang or colloquial English, while the other is in more general use The level of formality you write should be determined by the expectations of your audience and your purpose For example, if you are writing a cover letter for a job application or a college academic essay, you should write in a formal style If you are writing a letter to a friend, something personal, or even something for a humorous or special interest magazine when informal writing is expected, you would use a more informal style Formality exists on a scale, from formal to semiformal, and to informal
Formality of the context is very important in writing in the sense that if the writer writes in a wrong style, it may cause offence or create a distance between the writer and the readers
For instance, if the writer uses colloquial language or slang in an application form, the reader may feel that they are offended Consequently, the applicant is likely to be refused On the contrary, while writing to a close friend, if the writer uses too formal words, the reader will think that the writer stands on ceremony with him/her, and so keeps a distance from the writer
Following are some examples of synonym pairs, the ones on the left are usually used in an informal or less formal context while the ones on the right in a more formal context:
Collocation
According to Howard Jackson (2000), collocation refers to a structural or syntagmatic relations that a word contracts with other words occurring in the same sentence or text It is concerned with the meaning arising from co-occurrence, more specially to meaning arising from predictable co-occurrence
Two things should be marked in Jackson‟s idea Firstly, collocation is not only about synonyms It is structural or syntagmatic relation held between a word and any word that can co-occur with it in a sentence Besides, collocation most clearly occurs in specified syntactic relation, e.g S + V (kettle + boil), or V + O (boil + kettle), or A + N (red + wine) These should be called „grammatical collocation‟, in order to differentiate it from „lexical collocation‟, which is the subject of this study
Secondly, collocation is predictable It is a relation of mutual expectancy or habitual association The occurrence of one word predicts the greater than chance likelihood that another word will occur in the context The statistical terms „greater than chance likelihood‟ suggest that the mutual expectancy of two words could be stronger or weaker, depending on both the direction of expectancy and the number of alternative predictable words For example, between kettle and boil, the collocation from kettle to boil is stronger than that from boil to kettle because the number of verbs that regularly co-occur with kettle is less than the number of nouns that regularly co-occur with boil Similarly, wreak has a stronger collocational relation with its object nouns than does settle because wreak occur predominantly with only two nouns (havoc and revenge) whereas settle occurs with a whole range of nouns: dispute, argument, stomach, nerves, child, etc
In agreement with H Jackson, Michael McCarthy (1997) claims that there is a binding force or a „marriage contract‟ between words, and some words are more firmly „married‟ to each other than others He takes example of blond and brown Both can co-occur with hair, but the relationship between blond and hair is stronger than that between brown and hair
(given blond, there is hardly anything else to think of besides hair, but given brown, we can think of a large number of other nouns) McCarthy gives high opinion of collocation, saying that it is fundamental in the study of vocabulary, and it deserves to be a central aspect of vocabulary study
An example taken from McCarthy‟s book “Vocabulary” illustrates the influence of collocation on word choice Some everyday words denoting size are considered to see how they collocate with a random selection of single nouns:
Major v ? x x v= collocates ?= questionable x= does not collocate
One remarkable thing about collocation is that until relatively recently, the intuitive method was the only one possible for lexicologists to discover it, and it is the method that is reflected in the content of most dictionaries Adult native speakers also have a good intuitive knowledge of typical collocations However, it is not a reliable method for investigating a statistical probability, which implies a degree of accuracy This, fortunately, have been cured by today‟s corpora of a hundred million words Computers scanning huge amounts of text can confirm and augment those intuitions, or can make explicit what we use automatically in our everyday language Vietnamese learners, unfortunately, have not been familiar with these corpora The traditional way of learning still have influence on them, so they often learn just the meaning of each individual word but not a lexical chunk or phrase That is why collocation is really challenging to them.
Denotation
Denotation is the most obvious aspect of meaning, so it is the first thing people are often concerned about when they learn or use a word However, it is listed as the last factor in this part because denotations of words, if learnt carefully, are not very troublesome Therefore, it is considered just as a minor factor in this thesis
In fact, it is denotative meaning of words that creates the type of synonyms which John Lyon identified as near synonyms Near synonyms, in nature, are the synonyms whose denotations are more or less similar but not identical Involve and include can serve as an example here According to Oxford dictionary, involve means to have or include something or somebody as a part, an element, a condition, or a result, whereas include means to have something as part of a whole The remarkable thing is that involve specially refers to a situation or an event, but include does not Thus, it should be „The accidents involved several vehicles‟, but not „The accident included several vehicles‟
The difficulty with denotation is often caused by the translation into L1 Obviously, there are always lexical gaps between any two languages As a result, a word in L2, which does not have any exact equivalent in L1, will be at risk of being translated without being stored its original meaning If the learners choose the word in L1 first, and translated it into L2, there is great likelihood that they will make mistake For example, both remark and evaluate can be translated into Vietnamese as „nhận xét, đánh giá‟, their denotations in
English are quite different Remark means „to write or to say something as a comment, to observe something‟, while the denotation of evaluate is „to assess or to form an idea of the amount, quality, or value of somebody or something‟ Hence, it is more suitable to say „I can‟t evaluate his ability without seeing his work‟ than to say „I can‟t remark his ability without seeing his work
It seems that concrete words with similar denotations are quite easy to be distinguished because the difference is visible However, the problem becomes much harder when it concerns abstract words Ask and beg, for instance, are sensitive words, which are just slightly different Which word to choose will be determined by the writer‟s evaluation on the attitude of the agent of the action
Generally speaking, these four factors have the function of distinguishing synonyms and help writers to take a word out of a pair or a group of synonyms to express their idea most appropriately It is worth noting that synonyms in a pair or a group are not always distinguished by only one factor Two or more factors can be combined to distinguish the same pair or group of synonyms For instance, big and large are different not only in terms of their collocation but also of their formality Big can collocate with sister while large cannot
Besides, large is more formal than big.
Componential analysis
Some semanticists and lexicologists have suggested that meanings of words can be analyzed into a finite number of features or components, which are universal to all languages, and from which the meanings of all words can be composed by new, unique combinations
This approach is called „componential analysis‟ The features or components enable us to organize lexical fields in terms of what the entities within them have in common and what distinguishes them from one another The common feature among the members of a lexical field is a semantic marker The markers and the distinguishing features are put together in a table in componential analysis The squares in the table are filled with plus (+) or minus (-) to show that a specific entity has or does not have the feature Sometimes both plus and minus (+/-) are used for a square to indicate that either may apply Following is an example
On discussing componential analysis (CA), McCarthy (1997) states that CA tends to present a rather static, abstract view of the vocabulary of a language It is also sometimes difficult to state precisely what the components of a given word are, and subjective judgements vary This is because our lexical competence is highly variable, is dynamic, in constant change and development Therefore, a learner‟s analysis may be different from others‟ Jackson (2000) also affirms that there is no sure way of establishing what the universal set of semantic components might be Only the analysis of considerable numbers of lexemes in many different languages will reveal what such a set of components might plausibly look like And it may well be the case that the meanings of many lexemes cannot be exhaustively described by means of semantic components, especially those lexemes that have a more abstract reference (e.g nạve, aware, wise, foolish, sophisticated, etc.)
In spite of the difficulties in identifying the semantic components of a word, there are four major components of word meaning that are helpful for us They are listed below
- denotation, which includes conceptual and referential meaning; denotation exists by virtue of what it refers to
- connotation, including stylistic, affective, evaluative, and intensifying, is the pragmatic communicative value the words acquires by virtue of where, when, how, and by whom, for what purpose and in what context it is or may be used
- structural meaning, which is the meaning of a word acquired by virtue of its membership in a system or a set
- categorical meaning, which serves as a classificatory basis.
methodology 16 2.1 Research design
Research questions
From the observation of real teaching and learning, the researcher believes that first year students make many errors concerning the use of synonyms Classifying and understanding the causes of those errors are therefore necessary for teaching and learning vocabulary; therefore two research questions were raised:
- What errors do first year students often make in using synonyms?
- What are the causes of those errors?
Data collection instruments
To answer the research questions, a test has been designed It has been used to make students provoke their errors in using synonyms, basing on the belief that actual errors will come up in spontaneous production, either by means of speaking or writing An analysis of the result of the test will show the real situation of the freshmen in using several familiar groups of synonyms
As shown in the literature review, there are four factors distinguishing synonyms, which are challenging to learners Therefore, the test was designed with four exercises, each concentrating on one factor Exercise 1 focuses on denotation, exercise 2 on collocation, exercise 3 on connotation, and exercise 4 on formality Exercises 1, 2, and 3 are of multiple- choice type, while exercise 4 asks for substitutions The pairs or groups of synonyms in these exercises were chosen at random, not confined to any part of speech or a certain topic or field
The only criterion is that they are all words for intermediate level, which is the level of the first year students at ED, CFL, VNU The selection of exercises was made basing on the belief that synonyms of any part of speech and any specific field are distinguished by the same factors in the same way Besides, students at ED, CFL, VNU learn different types of writing such as description, narrative, letters (both formal and informal), and academic essays They are also exposed to different contexts of speaking such as everyday conversation, delivering presentation, etc Thus, the groups of words in the test should also be varied to cover as many topics as possible.
Informants
The informants are 60 freshmen in English Department, College of Foreign Languages, Vietnam National University of Hanoi They are chosen basing on the belief that at a particular stage of learning, the learner operates a different internal process First year students are estimated to have approached intermediate level; hence, in terms of competence, they have generally covered most basic grammatical categories, and are developing the basic skills in listening, speaking, reading, and writing They have also been exposed to quite a large amount of central vocabulary of such familiar fields as culture, education, health care, sports, arts, and science As a result, they are judged to have adequate ability to express themselves on some general topics
In terms of time length in learning English, they all have spent at least seven years at secondary school, and the first semester at the university
In general, the whole group is homogeneous in its age, cultural background and experience, and knowledge of both mother tongue and foreign language.
Procedures
After the test had been carefully designed, they were delivered to the chosen subjects
Sixty students were gathered in a classroom, and the test was distributed to them The students were asked to do the test in 30 minutes without referring to any dictionary or source of reference They were also encouraged not to talk to and consult their friends for the answer
When the allowed time was over, their works were collected whether they had finished or not
The papers were then searched for errors These errors made up the data for the thesis, and were analyzed to serve the goals of the thesis.
Analytical framework
The main framework of this research is componential analysis (or semantic feature analysis) This technique of analysis is based on the components of word meaning as describes in the literature review For a given group of words set in a specific context, their components of meaning may be analyzed in terms of denotation, connotation, associative meaning, and categorical meaning The identical components make up the semantic markers of the group, and the distinguishing features show that only one word is appropriate in the given context
Their appearance _ me They told me yesterday that they could not come to the party
A surprised B astonished C amazed D astounded Firstly, the components of meaning of the four options are analyzed and compared, and then shown in the following table: with wonder because unexpected because difficult to believe so as to cause confusion so as to leave one helpless to act or think surprise + + astonish + + amaze + + astound + +
From the componential analysis, the semantic marker of the four words surprise/astonish/ amaze/astound is determined to be „with wonder‟ (i.e a pleasant feeling) Each of the four options has its own distinguishing feature, which may be either the cause or the effect of the action described in the verbs Next, the context is considered: The appearance of some people caused „me‟ to feel wonder The reason is determined that „me‟ did not expect that those people would come (unexpected)
The analysis of semantic components of the four options and the context makes it evident that surprised is the right word to complete the sentence.
Data analysis and discussions 3.1 Discussion of the results of the test
Result of exercise 1
This is type of multiple-choice exercise There were ten incomplete sentences with each followed by four options The task of the students was to circle the options that best complete the sentences The specific result of it is shown in the following table:
Sentence Key Option A Option B Option C Option D
Note: the figure in bold is the biggest percentage of students’ answers to each question
The percentage of the correct answers shown in the table tells us that the students scored best in questions 3, 4, and 5
In question 3, all the four options are about oral activities, i.e telling, speaking, talking, and saying This group of synonyms is quite popular and all the four members are used with high frequency They are distinguished in terms of their denotation as well as collocation Tell lies is a familiar collocation, so it is not challenging to the students, and it is not surprising that all of them had the correct answer
Question 4 checked the students‟ understanding of the three synonymous words: make, do, and work, which are all translated into Vietnamese as làm However, work is different from the other two in terms of syntactic behavior It is an intransitive verb, whereas make and do are transitive, so it is quite easy for the students to exclude it Writes is not synonymous with the three other words, but it may suggest a collocation with crossword Whatever we want to do with a crossword, it seems that we need to use a pen, and write refers to the use of pens as the tool of the action, so write the crossword may be a possibility
Make and do are distinguished by their denotation as well as collocation The common collocations of make are make noise, make mistake, make an effort, make decision, make arrangements, etc The typical collocations of do are do housework, do homework, do the washing-up, do one’s best, do somebody a favor, and so on In terms of denotative meaning, make implies creating something new from the available materials, while do simply indicates an activity That is why it should be „does the crossword‟, but not „makes the crossword‟
Then it is not surprising that 83% of the students could do well in this question
The group of synonyms in question 5 include absolutely, completely, extremely
Thoroughly acts as a distraction The difference in denotative meaning of these three adverbs is very slight In fact, they are used to define one another in dictionary, so they are distinguished mostly by their collocational ranges The true collocation in this question is extremely rich Surprisingly, 95% of the test-takers could recognize this and gave the correct answer
The group of synonyms in question 1 is real/factual/genuine/true The key to this sentence is genuine 63% of the students had correct answer for this sentence, but it is remarkable that most of the incorrect answers concentrate on real It seems that the students can clearly distinguish factual and true but they are confused by genuine and real This is understandable because the difference between these two synonyms is slight A componential analysis of genuine and real will distinguish them from each other, and show that genuine is the most appropriate option
Not imaginary Actual, not just appearing so
The situation in sentence 1 is about the origin of a vase, whether it is original or fake/counterfeit From the componential analysis, we see that both genuine and real have this meaning, which is opposition of fake/counterfeit However, with this meaning, real functions attributively only, so it is not applicable in this sentence, which requires a word with predicative function Genuine, on the other hand, can be used both attributively and predicatively As a result, it is the correct answer to sentence 1 This delicate distinction between real and genuine explains why many students chose real as their answer
The results of question 6 and 9 ranked after the questions mentioned above Two groups of synonyms in these questions are, containing/connecting/ involving/including, and reached/achieved/completed/obtained The members in these groups of synonyms are also just slightly different in their denotation, so they are mostly distinguished by their collocations, which respectively are… accident involving several vehicles, and achieved his ambition
The number of correct answers decreases in questions 2 and 7 when the options were raised among elapsed/expired/ended/terminated and demonstration/display/showing/ manifestation The former group seemed confusing to the students due to the fact that the choices for the four options were quite equal This proves that the students did not really understand the meaning of each word in the group as well as its collocation Even though their meaning is quite similar, expire typically collocates with the things that only last for a period of time and implies their validity, while the others do not That is why expire is the answer to the second question On the contrary, the chosen options in question 7 concentrated on A and
B A few chose C, and no one chose D (maybe manifestation is a new word to them) In fact, all these four options imply the act of making something visible, but they are different in how or for what the act is performed Demonstration means „an instance of somebody showing and explaining how something works or is done‟, display and showing mean „the act of putting something in a place where people can see it easily‟, and manifestation denotes „an event, an action, an object, or a statement that shows something clearly‟ (in order to illustrate an abstract idea, for example) A semantic feature analysis of this group of synonyms may help distinguish them
Make visible Explain how something works
In sentence 7, the subject „I‟ cares about how the new typewriter works, so the best option, as shown in the above table, is certainly demonstration
The next sentence to discuss is sentence 10 This sentence requires the distinction among stunning, shattering, staggering, and amazing The sophisticated difference among these words makes it hard to distinguish them; however, the researcher attempts to analyze their semantic components in the following table
Unable to speak or react
Because hard to believe (size, amount, extent, etc.)
So as to cause confusion stunning + +/- + shattering + + staggering + + amazing + + +
What is noticeable in the table is that shattering is distinctive from the other words in the sense that it causes the feeling of unpleasant surprise, and that feeling is because of a personal tragedy The context of sentence 10 is about a woman‟s divorce, which can be considered a personal tragedy, so shattering is the correct answer to it
The result of the rest question in the first exercise, question 8, is very surprising While the key to it is A (pointing), 70% of the test-takers selected option C (directing) The problem in this question is that pointing, showing, directing, and indicating can all be translated into
Vietnamese as „chỉ ra‟, so they may confuse the students However, the students appeared to recognize that showing or indicating something means „making something outstanding from others‟, not necessarily concerning direction They were only lost between pointing and directing Point, in dictionary, is defined as „to indicate position, direction, time, level, etc on a device‟, while direct means „to turn or aim something in a particular direction‟
Sentence 8 poses the context in which the direction to the beach is shown on a signpost The key to the question, therefore, must be pointing
What can be learned from the result of this exercise is that learners should not learn new words only through translation On the contrary, they should learn the definition of words in the target language to understand what they really mean For instance, some verbs are translated the same into their L1 because they are similar in the purpose, but they may be different in terms of how the action is performed Besides, they also need to learn the denotative meaning of a word in the target language with all their major senses Most synonyms are only partly but not totally identical In other words, their meanings just overlap but not co-extend From tables of componential analysis, we can see that there is only one column in which all the words have the plus (+), while in the other columns, there are just one or two pluses indicating that only one or two words have that sense If the students only base on the semantic markers but not conscious of the distinguishing features, they will mistake that two words can substitute for each other in the contexts which they actually do not
Result of exercise 2
This exercise only focuses on collocation The results are as followed
Sentence Correct collocation Percentage of correct and sufficient answers
5 Full/top marks 10% Maximum marks
6 Revise/study for exam 3% Revise for exam
8 Do/write … essay 3% Write … essay
8 Gave/handed in … essay 3% Handed in … essay
A look at the table shows us that among ten sentences with thirteen collocations, only one collocation in sentence 4, that is do the vocabulary test , was done quite well with 42 students (70%) having the correct answer The first collocation in sentence 3, earthquake struck , was determined correctly by 31 students (52%) Besides these two collocations, all the others proved to be beyond the students‟ current knowledge
In some sentences, the students scored badly not because they did not recognize familiar collocations, but because they did not supply sufficient answers For example, most of them recognized revised for exam but did not recognize study for exam, which is also a very familiar collocation Similarly, handed in the essay was not troublesome for them but gave in the essay seemed to be unfamiliar Besides, in some sentences, the students chose such wrong collocations as maximum marks, examination stress, concentrations time It seemed that they were not thinking of the English collocations, the collocations recognized by native speakers, but they may have based themselves on the translation Those wrong collocations really make sense when they were translated into Vietnamese as điểm cao nhất, áp lực thi cử, thời gian tập trung The word full, on the other hand, is often understood in Vietnamese as đầy, so when it is collocated with marks, it is translated as điểm đầy This phrase sounds really odd and unacceptable in Vietnamese That is why it was not selected by the students
In sentences 2, 3, and 9, the synonym pairs attempt/effort and enormous/massive, and the group banned/disallowed/disqualified are really confusing Their meanings are very similar If the students had never encountered the collocations of these words as in this exercise, their answers must have depended on their intuition only The main problem here is that English lexical collocation is specific to English language Each language interprets the physical world in its own way The way words are chosen to combine together is conventional, and lexical collocations in English bear their own convention Therefore, if a language learner bases himself on his intuition, which is governed by his native language, to create lexical collocations in the target language, the possibility for accuracy is certainly not strong
Besides, English lexical collocations are arbitrary The researcher attempted a componential analysis of the synonyms which are distinguished in terms of collocation, but it cannot always explain the way English words are combined together Following is a semantic feature analysis of immediate and direct, the pair of synonyms which appear in the first sentence
Nearest/shortest With nothing in between
Existing at the present time
Going straight to the point (frank)
From the analysis, we see that both immediate and direct may refer to the distance between two people, two objects, or two events in space with no one or nothing coming between them However, immediate is distinctive in the sense that it can refer to the distance in time, i.e two events that occur one after the other with almost no interval, whereas direct is typical in the sense that it can describe one‟s style in mentioning something The context in sentence 1 is about the aftermath of a hurricane Aftermath itself bears the concept of time It is the circumstance that follows and is a consequence of an event In this specific situation, it is the scenery of destruction left after a hurricane That is why immediate should be a collocate of aftermath, not direct
Similarly, a componential analysis of enormous and massive may explain why earthquake should collocate with massive, not enormous
Concerning weight (heavy) and density (solid)
When we think of an earthquake, we often think of the area of destruction (size), the degree of destruction (how many people are killed or injured, how many buildings are ruined, how many properties are lost, etc.), and we often have in our mind a space filled with dust and ruins Thus, massive seems a better choice to collocate with earthquake
Those are the minority of cases that componential analysis can explain the collocation of words In most cases, it is quite useless Effort and attempt, maximum and full/top, are very similar in meaning In fact, they are used to define one another in the dictionary What creates their different collocations is almost impossible to find Perhaps, we can only resort to the habit of using words together of native speakers Our point in discussing English collocation is, therefore, what makes typical and natural pieces of English language rather than what is acceptable in English
What is implied in the result of this exercise is that collocation is extremely challenging for students This is because of the arbitrariness of English collocation English learners cannot depend only on the meaning of the words to create collocations Their wrong collocations may still be truly understood but would sound odd to the native ears What students should do to solve the problem of collocation is to enrich their vocabulary regularly by learning new words (or deepening the knowledge of already known words) in context through extensive listening and reading Extensive reading is a good way to enhance word knowledge and increase the exposure to the most frequency and useful words.
Result of exercise 3
In this exercise, which concentrates on connotation of words, the students were asked to choose the word which creates positive feeling out of a pair of synonyms in each sentence
Totally, there are ten sentences with ten pairs of synonyms A quick look at the test paper shows that the students score better results in this exercise than in the three other ones
L1 equivaletns Percentage of incorrect answers
1 Slender Mảnh mai Thin Gầy 40%
2 Shyness E thẹn Standoffishness Xa cách, lạnh nhạt
3 Determined Kiên định Stubborn Ngoan cố, cứng đầu
Vẻ ngây thơ cuốn hút
Immaturity Sự thiếu chín chắn
Bảo thủ Opinionated Kiên quyết 10%
6 Up-to-date Tân tiến Newfangled Mới lạ 50%
7 Inquisitive Tò mò Curious Tò mò 35%
8 Propaganda Sự truyền bá Information Thông tin 70%
9 Forthright Thẳng thắn Irresponsible Vô trách nhiệm 30%
Cởi mở Of no principle Vô kỷ luật 17%
Justification for the comparatively good result of this exercise may be that it is quite easy to find connotative meaning of words in the dictionary Special shades of meaning of words are often explained as part of its meaning Words with derogative meaning are also noted in the dictionary Moreover, Vietnamese learners traditionally learn the meaning of words through translation Fortunately, the translation into Vietnamese still keeps the shade of meaning that the target word conveys In other words, there is an L1 equivalent for the L2 word, so the learners can base themselves on the connotation of their native word to guess the connotation of the target word The closer the translation into L1 is to the word in L2, the easier it is for the learners to guess On the other hand, if the translation into L1 does not convey the original meaning of the L2 word, it will be really challenging
The pairs of synonyms in questions 3, 4, 5, 7, 9, 10 seem not to be challenging to the students Among 60 students, a number of 40 (67%) students upwards had the correct answers to these questions Especially in questions 3, 5, and 10, the number of correct answers was big, from 52 to 54 This result, as analyzed above, is due to the closeness in the implied meanings between two languages Nonetheless, the number of correct answers decreases in accordance with the reduction in clarity of the shade of meaning When an L2 word is translated into an L1 word with neutral connotation, it will cause trouble for the students, even though in L2 it has quite clear connotation, either positive or negative This is what happens in questions 1, 2, and 6 In sentence 6, the lexical gap between two languages makes it hard to translate newfangled into Vietnamese and still keep its derogative connotation Its equivalent in
Vietnamese is mới lạ, which cannot convey the idea of „objectionably new‟, because mới lạ is neutral in Vietnamese
In question 8, the number of the correct answers is the least The trouble in this question is that propaganda may have positive or negative connotation depending on the situation in which it is used It is not predetermined to have either positive or negative meaning although its derogative meaning is used more often However, „tuyên truyền‟ in Vietnamese is quite neutral, so it is really challenging for the students in this sentence
The following componential analysis will show the difference between propaganda and information:
It is evident that the translation itself can convey the original shade of meaning, except for question 6 and 8, so it is not hard for the students to have the correct answers L1 words in question 6 and 8 convey neutral connotative meaning, so they are challenging to the students
The incorrect answers in some other questions may be explained by new words, words that the students have not been familiar with However, it is surprising that there were still wrong answers to such questions as questions 9 and 10 because the words in these questions are so familiar that when designing them, the researcher even anticipated that all the answers to them would be correct The students who have the wrong answer perhaps were thinking too hard and put themselves in unnecessary trouble
What should be learned from the results of this exercise is that students should be cautious when they use a word which is translated into their L1 with neutral connotative meaning, especially in sensitive situations Learning words through translation is often regarded as a backward and ineffective way Personally, the researcher believes that any method of learning has its own advantages and disadvantage Translation, through the analysis of this exercise, proves to be useful for learning the connotative meaning of words Translated words usually still keep this type of word meanings Only when there are lexical gaps between two languages do difficulties emerge However, the learner should always check again the meaning of a word in the target language in order to ensure that the word they want to use really means what they mean to say.
Result of exercise 4
This exercise seems to be the most difficult and challenging for the students to do It requires the students to find out the word which does not fit the context in each sentence It was the same context in all sentences, which was predetermined to be formal; thus, their task, in fact, was to point out informal or colloquial words that cannot be used in academic writings and replace them with a more suitable ones The exercise was sub-divided into two parts
Totally, there were ten sentences In the first four sentences, no hints were supplied The students had to seek the wrong words themselves However, in the last five sentences, the inappropriate words were printed in bold as clues for the students, so they just needed to replace the words to correct the sentences
The results of this exercise were very astonishing Beyond the author‟s imagination, no student could give any correct answer to the first four sentences The author had anticipated before delivering the survey questionnaire that the students had got used to the formaility of the context, and even had practiced writing in different styles, namely formal and informal
But this result proves that they had not Even though the words belonging to informal styles in the first four sentences are very popular, the students could not recognize them
Following is the specific result of this exercise:
1 a lot of x a great deal of
5 big great, large, considerable, remarkable, massive, dramatic, enormous, sharp considerable
6 things appliances, devices, equipment, products, machines, materials devices
7 stuff ingredients, materials, garbage, products, chemicals materials
8 find out seek, know, search for, realize, explain, figure out, point out, determine, carry out, etc ascertain
9 done again redone, made, spent, repeated, trained again repeated
In the last six sentences where there were hints for the students, the scores were much better; but remarkably, these scores were not based on a better understanding of the situation In fact, it seems that the students substituted the unsuitable words with any synonym they know, but not the synonyms whose formality that they were sure about It was certain that in such cases, coincidences would occur The synonyms the students know may incidentally coincide with the expected substitutions, so they had correct answers The author infers this because in sentences 8 and 9, although the students could use different synonyms to replace the given words, most of those synonyms do not meet the requirement of this exercise They have not been aware that two-word verbs belong to informal language, therefore, they replaced find out with point out and done again with trained again
Besides, many of the substitutions they use are not suitable in terms of other factors such as denotation and collocation For example, enormous reduction or sharp reduction seem awkward collocations in English, know and carry out are not synonyms of find out, and done again is not similar in meaning with such words as made or spent Besides, the students used some words that sound odd to replace the given word Maybe they have not really understood the meanings of those words, or they may have stored the meanings of those words wrongly in their minds For instance, some students used considerate, considering, considered to replace big These students may have mistaken the different forms of the verb consider for considerable
What can be inferred from this result is that the students are not really aware of the formality of the context They do not recognize even the most popular informal words which should not be used in formal writing Therefore, raising awareness of this factor is absolutely necessary Moreover, the students should also be alert of the most popular colloquial or informal words so as to avoid using them in academic writing
In general, to help the learner truly understand the meaning of words, the teacher needs to teach words in context According to Richards (1976), knowing a word means knowing how often it occurs (frequency), the accompany it keeps (collocation), its appropriateness in different situations (connotation and formality), its syntactic behavior, its underlying form and derivations, its word associations, and its semantic features It is highly unlikely that an L2 student will be able to grasp even one meaning sense of a word in one encounter, let alone all of the degrees of knowledge inherent in learning a word But as the student meets the word through variety of activities and in different contexts, a more accurate understanding of its meaning and use will develop Nation (1990: 43-5) indicates that various studies create a range of 5-16 encounters with a word in order for a student to truly acquire it Therefore, an important aspect of this gradual learning is that the instructor consciously cues reactivation of the vocabulary
Teaching a word in context makes it easier for students‟ understanding and retention of the word The more vivid and authentic the context is, the better it is It is the fact that when we see something with our eyes, especially something striking, amazing, or even disgusting and terrible, we remember the event and related things easier We also retain it in our mind longer Due to this, teachers had better attach the teaching of the target word to some specific objects (as teaching tools), or make up some situations in which the use of the target word takes place For example, when distinguishing dramatic or colorful from flamboyant, the teacher can show the picture of a room decorated and painted in two different ways, then attach each word to each picture to show different connotations the two words convey.
Major findings
Basing on the results of the test, which were carefully analyzed in , the researcher has reached the following major findings
Firstly, first year students make a large number of errors in using synonyms Their errors are mostly using synonyms with inaccurate denotation, unsuitable connotation, wrong collocation, and inappropriate formality
Secondly, the cause of their errors is determined to be the unawareness that synonymous words are different from one another in some aspect, and cannot be substitutable in all contexts When they have to choose a word out of a pair or a group of synonyms to fit a given context, the students do not base themselves on such factors as denotation, connotation, and collocational ranges of the words, and the formality of the context They have not had the fundamental knowledge of the meaning of words They seem to depend mostly on their intuition, or their recognition of familiar phrases, or sometimes on the translation into their mother tongue In this way, only good lucks can help them have the correct answer
Another finding is that among the four factors distinguishing synonyms which are studied in this thesis, connotative meaning of words is not very troublesome to the students In contrast, collocational ranges of words and the formality of the context are really challenging to them The researcher proposes a possible explanation for this phenomenon that the connotative meaning of a word is easier to find in dictionaries than the collocational ranges and the style of context in which the word is used Moreover, the translation into L1 can usually keep the shade of meaning of an L2 word, and so this type of meaning is easier for the students to acquire However, it seems pointless to base on the translation into L1 to learn the collocational ranges of a word or its style (used in formal or informal context) These factors are also scarcely informed in dictionaries Therefore, they are certainly problematic to any language learner
Last but not least, the researcher, through the engagement into componential analysis, has recognized that knowledge of semantics is important and necessary for really acquiring a word Without a systematic theoretical background, the knowledge of word meanings become fragmental, and it is easy to lead to misunderstandings Therefore, the learner, at a particular stage of learning, needs to be equipped with the fundamental and systematic knowledge of word meanings so as to produce natural and effective language.
1 Concluding remarks
Implications of the study results
The most general implication of this study is that learning a word does not mean just learning its meaning, but more significantly learning how to use it correctly and effectively
Choosing the best word out of a group of synonyms to fit a specific context is a proof that the learner has learned that word in a right way
There may be some students, who have already been aware of the factors that distinguish synonyms, but to be aware of a problem does not mean that the problem could be solved immediately or easily It is just the necessary condition but not the sufficient condition
Moreover, the aim of this thesis is to help students make not only accurate but also effective and appealing word choice As a result, the author really hopes that every student, good or not good, aware or unaware of the factors underlying synonyms, can find something useful in this part of the thesis
With all the characteristics of synonyms analyzed in depth in chapter 1, and the errors of learners critically studied in chapter 2, the following lessons can be drawn out in order to aid teachers and students to work on synonyms more effectively
Firstly, the teacher needs to raise students‟ awareness of the factors distinguishing synonyms
A problem can only be solved when the people involved are aware of the reasons for it Now that the reasons for the errors in using synonyms have been discovered, they should be highlighted The students, when aware that there are factors underlying the use of synonyms, will be more careful and alert about using them
Secondly, the teacher should teach words in context Teaching a word in context makes it easier for students‟ understanding and retention of the word The more vivid and authentic the context is, the better it is It is the fact that when we see something with our eyes, especially something striking, amazing, or even disgusting and terrible, we remember the event and related things easier We also retain it in our mind longer Due to this, teachers had better attach the teaching of the target word to some specific objects (as teaching tools), or make up some situations in which the use of the target word takes place Nowadays, teaching words in context becomes easier with the aid of modern and advanced facilities such as computers and projectors These help provide the teacher with lively pictures and films, which are very useful in putting the learners in the context
Thirdly, promoting a deep level of processing is a good way for teacher to teach meanings of words This idea is taken from Norbert Schmitt (1997), who claims that better learning will take place when a deeper level of semantic processing is required because the words are encoded with elaboration When students are asked to manipulate words, relate to other words and to their own experiences, and then to justify their choices, these words associations are reinforced Students need to be encouraged to think aloud, give reasons for their word choices, and to extend their learning of the world outside the classroom, for example report when they encounter the word in the real world
Fourthly, we have seen that componential analysis is very useful in learning the deep layers of word meaning, so the teacher are advised to help the learner to develop semantic feature analysis skill Channell (1981) argues for including semantic feature analysis, the analyzing of meaning components of words, in teaching and learning Such analysis has also been recommended for reviewing activities (Stieglitz, 1983)
Another implication for the teacher is that he/she should supply elaborate feedback It is advisable for the teacher to use such specific terms as wrong collocation, inappropriate connotation, or formal or informal in the margin instead of just word choice
For learners, the most significant implication of this study is that they have to be aware of the difference between synonymous words Their meanings only overlap but do not totally coincide, so they are just substitutable in a given context, but not in every context
When writing or speaking to a teacher, a learner should think as simply as possible
Learners should bear in mind that the simplest word is the best word, and the shortest statement is often the most effective If they have to vary words in their productive language, the students should be careful so that they would not get lost during the process of substitution Each word listed as a synonym for the word they are using may have its own unique connotation or shade of meaning that makes it slightly different from the original word
Besides, learners certainly should enrich their vocabulary regularly by learning new words (or deepening the knowledge of already known words) in context through extensive listening and reading.
Suggestions for further research
The researcher is highly aware that the thesis has some shortcomings, which, to some extent, may affect the reliability of the research results She will try to avoid or overcome these weaknesses in further research
All the comments on this thesis and recommendations for a better research in future are highly appreciated To bring this thesis to a higher level and deeper analysis, the following areas are suggested being investigated:
- A similar research but with more subjects and more systematic test-items
- A contrastive study on English synonyms and Vietnamese synonyms
- A study on different aspect of word choice As choosing synonyms is just an aspect of word choice, there are other equally important aspects as well, and they deserve to be investigated into so as to help students improve their word choice in particular, and develop their writing skill in general
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College of Foreign Languages, Department of Post-Graduate Studies
I Circle the best answer for the following sentences:
1 The vase is definitely not _, but just a very good imitation
2 My passport last month, so I will have to get a new one
4 She always the crossword in the paper before breakfast
5 All his companies had been successful and he was known to be _ rich
6 The main road through Salisbury was blocked for two hours today after an accident _ several vehicles
7 I would be most grateful if you give me a _ of this new typewriter
8 If you walk along this lane, you will see a signpost to the beach
9 By the age of twenty five, he had his ambition of becoming a pianist
10 Her divorce was a(n) _ experience for her and she still hasn’t fully recovered
II Cross out any of the words in italics that do not form common collocations with the words in bold:
1 The president visited the affected region in the direct/ immediate aftermath of the hurricane
2 A massive relief attempt/ effort is underway
3 The city was struck/ affected by an enormous/ massive earthquake shortly after midnight
4 We have to do/ make/ write a vocabulary test every Friday
5 He got full/ maximum/ top marks in the listening test
6 She’s busy reviewing/ revising/ studying for her exam
7 He suffers badly from exam nerves/stress/worries, which affects his concentration length/span/time
8 I realized it was a one-direction/ one-way/ single-way street, so I had to carry out/ do/ make a U-turn
9 She was banned/ disallowed/ disqualified from driving for a year
10 This car has a powerful/strong engine
III Underline the words which give positive feeling or favorable attitude in each pair of synonyms in the following sentences:
2 My inability to warm up to strangers is caused by shyness/standoffishness
3 He is stubborn/determined not to make the same mistake as before
4 Jane marries John because of his boyish charm/immaturity
5 Dave is opinionated/strong-minded
6 I always support your newfangled/up-to-date ideas
7 Catherine is often curious/inquisitive about other people’s personal affairs
8 They tried to change our minds by propaganda/information
9 When my candidate makes slashing changes against the opposition, he is irresponsible/forthright
10 When my candidate reverses his mind after election, it proves he is open-minded/a man of no principle
IV The following sentences appear in formal writing Identify the words or phrases that do not fit the context and replace them with more suitable ones In the last six sentences, the problematic words or phrases are in bold
1 With women especially, there is a lot of social pressure to conform to a certain physical shape.