Re: 14213 Module 3 Task 4 (Team Task)

[Tansy]

Re: 14213 Module 3 Task 4 (Team Task)

Items 1-6 เลือกตอบวิธีใดวิธีหนึ่งเพียงวิธีเดียวจาก 3 วิธีต่อไปนี้:
In items 1-6, choose ONE of the following approaches to finding out word meaning.
0. a. Definition: (N) a statement or action expressing disapproval of or objection to something
b. Strategy or method used: Dictionary
c. Clue or source: Oxford English Dictionary Online

00. a. Definition: support__
b. Strategy or method used: guessing meaning from context clues
c. Clue or source:…The manager fully endorsed everything the Chairman had said
000. a. Definition: to go to a place again___
b. Strategy or method used: word analysis
c. Clue or source: re + visit

As a native English speaker (just my wildest imagination), these approaches don’t work for me! Question 4-6 are very easy that I can answer them offhandedly. If I use these approaches, I’ll go crazy.

Part II Guess or find the meaning of the highlighted words (items 4-6).
Reading passage II
Famed author Nelle Harper Lee was born on April 28, 1926, in Monroeville, Alabama. Lee is best known for writing the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel To Kill a Mockingbird (1960). The youngest of four children, she grew up as a tomboy in a small town. Her father was a lawyer and also owned part of the local newspaper. For most of Lee's life, her mother suffered from mental illness, rarely leaving the house.
One of her closest childhood friends was another writer-to-be, Truman Capote (then known as Truman Persons). Tougher than many of the boys, Lee often stepped up to serve as Truman's (4) protector (=defender). Truman, who shared few interests with boys his age, was picked on for being sensitive and for the fancy clothes he wore. While the two friends were very different, they both had difficult home lives. Truman was living with his mother's relatives in town after being largely (5) abandoned (=forsaken) by his own parents.
Soon after Lee finished the manuscript for To Kill a Mockingbird, she helped Truman Capote write an article for The New Yorker which would later evolve into his nonfiction masterpiece, In Cold Blood. In July 2015, Lee published her second novel Go Set a Watchman, which was written before To Kill a Mockingbird and (6) portrays (=depicts) the later lives of the characters from her Pulitzer Prize-winning novel. Lee died on February 19, 2016, at the age of 89.
^
My answers are in parentheses.
ู^
Explanation:
Seeing that ‘protector’ is a noun, I simply define it with another noun ‘defender’. It’s perfectly natural. No need to apply approach a, b or c.

The word ‘abandoned’ is a past participle in a passive form. My brain immediately and instinctively comes up with another past participle ‘forsaken’ which has the same meaning of course. Again, resorting to approach a, b or c, I can easily become insane.

The word ‘portrays’ is obviously a ‘singular verb’. Despite the lack of contextual clues, any native English speaker uses ‘portrays’ and ‘depicts’ interchangeably.

Getting the right answers for Item 4-6 does not require approach a, b or c. The correct answers just pop up immediately and automatically. Hence, I’m in great difficulties with team task, trying to twist my brain around to cite approach a, b or c.

Admittedly, I use contextual clues to find the answers for Questions 7-14, but not dictionaries.
Conclusion: Approach a, b and c are good tools for learners, but students should not be required to cite them to prove that their answers are correct. They should be allowed to explain how they get the right answers in their own words expressing their own ideas--approach a, b and c should only serve as guidelines. In the exam, will I be required to cite approach a, b or c?

[Chirasiri]

The exams are multiple-choice questions, so the online practices are designed to get students to explain their approaches to the tasks which may involve some agreements or differences among group members.
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