The Importance Of Context Exprehension

is not always accessible when a reader runs into an unfamiliar word. A learner should be aware that many words have several possible meanings. By being sensitive to the circumstances only in which a word is used the reader can decide upon an appropriate definition to fit the context. A person reading should rely on context clues when an obvious clue to meaning is available, or when only a general sense of the meaning is needed for the reader’s reasons of reading. Context clues should not be trusted upon when a precise meaning is needed, when clues suggest numerous possible meanings, as nearby words are not familiar, when the unfamiliar word is a common one that will be needed again; in these cases, a dictionary should be referred. Greenwood and Flanigan (2007) stated that children learn approximately 4,000 words in a school year, but that only 400 of them are learned through direct instruction. If, on average, 90% of the words are learned through repeated, meaningful encounters then this avenue of learning should be optimized (Greenwood and Flanigan, 2007). If repeated, then meaningful encounters are necessary then context clues may be effective in increasing word identification and supporting word meaning. According to Rhoder and Huerster (2002), students might learn word meanings incidentally by using the close context or by a word learning strategy that they have been taught clearly. Using context clues as a strategy could help assist students to identify unknown words