Active Vocabulary, 6th edition

Helps students build and use strong vocabularies

Active Vocabulary makes the study of vocabulary improvement interactive and enjoyable. Through thematic readings, self-tests, and interactive exercises, students can apply their skills to writing, personal experience, art, and many other formats that generate excitement about improving their vocabularies. Each activity plays on individual learning styles to help students learn new words in a large number of contexts.

The Sixth Edition retains the book’s strong visual appeal, as well as its philosophy that an essential part of learning vocabulary is repeated exposure to a word. As a result, it provides eight to ten exposures to each vocabulary word throughout the text, plus additional instances in the review section and activities throughout the book. With new readings and additional words, this edition of Active Vocabulary offers greater exposure to a more diverse wordbase than ever before.

Students, if interested in purchasing this title with MyReadingLab, ask your instructor for the correct package ISBN and Course ID. Instructors, contact your Pearson representative for more information.

• NEW! Word Reactions activity instructs students to make lists of vocabulary words in different categories: words students like, words they find useful, or words they find especially difficult to pronounce. Students also have an opportunity to create their own category. The activity gets students to think about different aspects of a word and their feelings towards it, and thus connect with their vocabulary better.

• UPDATED! Conversation Starters offer new topics that give students the opportunity to start using vocabulary words from one chapter or for another section and in casual, oral settings.

• UPDATED! Using the Dictionary section has been updated with a new Guide Words Practice exercise, and the section on using dictionary entries includes new information on dividing words into syllables.

• Predicting Activities on the second page of each chapter allows students the opportunity to discern the meaning of a vocabulary word before looking at its definition to emphasise the value of context clues while reading.

• UPDATED! Completing Analogies section has an updated matching and fill-in-the-blank exercise.  

• Word Wise sections include six types of activities that teach students skills for vocabulary expression:
  • Internet Activities
  • Context Clue Mini-Lessons
  • Collocations
  • Word Pairs
  • Connotations and Denotations
  • Interesting Etymologies

• Getting Started chapter familiarises readers at the outset with the book’s learning objectives, dictionary entries, parts of speech, and analogy exercises. It also discusses the benefits of using flashcards and word maps.

Thematically organised academic readings

• NEW and UPDATED! Three new and two updated readings, as well as fourteen new words have been added to the text.

• Thematic Readings at the beginning of each chapter introduce ten new vocabulary words in context in a variety of formats, from worksheets to essays, to show students that new words can appear anywhere. Students have the opportunity to discover the meaning of these words via context clues rather than direct definitions.

• Vocabulary Words are chosen from disciplines that most students will encounter during their academic careers to relate the text to students’ lives.

Ample practice and opportunities for application

• Self-Tests in various formats include text and sentence completion, true/false situations, matching, and analogy exercises that allow students to practice critical thinking skills and monitor their learning.

• Word Visions allow students to connect vocabulary words to visuals as part of self-tests or interactive exercises.

• Interactive Exercises give students the chance to really think about the meaning of words and encourage them to start using them actively through writing, making lists, or answering questions.

• Word Part Reminders are exercises that allow students to use the word parts they’ve learned in the chapter.

• Review Chapters appear five times throughout the text and focus on the preceding four chapters. Each chapter divides words into different activity groups and test students’ cumulative knowledge of the text. Words appear in test, written, visual, puzzle, and collaborative formats.

• New Word Reactions activity instructs students to make lists of vocabulary words in different categories: words students like, words they find useful, or words they find especially difficult to pronounce. Students also have an opportunity to create their own category. The activity gets students to think about different aspects of a word and their feelings towards it, and thus connect more effectively with their vocabulary.
• Three new and two updated readings, as well as fourteen new words have been added to the text.
• Updated Conversation Starters offer new topics that give students the opportunity to start using vocabulary words from one chapter or for another section and in casual, oral settings.
• Updated Using the Dictionary section has been updated with a new Guide Words Practice exercise, and the section on using dictionary entries includes new information on dividing words into syllables.
• Updated Completing Analogies section has an updated matching and fill-in-the-blank exercise.