Session 2: Investigating Language Using English Thesaurus

How can students benefit from the using of thesaurus?

Experienced (or even non-experienced) teachers always complain to students, 'I understand that you wanna convey the "blah blah blah" meaning(s), but you don't need to use the word(s) "blah blah blah" so often. See. How many 'blah blah blah' words have you used? Try to increase the variety of your vocabulary!' After hearing this, students will absolutely be puzzled: how can I improve my variety of vocabulary with you giving me a solution?

Thesaurus will be a way-out for this puzzle. Students type in the overused words, find out their synonyms, decide whether the intended meanings have changed in an unfavourable way or there are any changes in the grammatical structures, and substitute the overused words with the synonyms. That's how simple it is.

But of course, the process of making the decision whether the intended meanings have changed in an unfavourable way still requires the assistance and cultivation of English teachers.

In the following paragraph, a student has overused three words: 'nice', 'good', and 'like':

On the first day, we met our class teacher Mr Wong, we thought he would be very strict to us. After one week, we found Mr Wong was very nice! We like this secondary school and we like to be in 1A. This is a good school and 1A is very good. The teachers in this school are very kind and nice and our classmates are also kind, friendly and nice. We like each other very much.

With the help of a thesaurus, the above passage can possibly be changed into this:

On the first day, we met our class teacher Mr Wong, we thought he would be very strict to us. After one week, we found Mr Wong was very friendly! We love this secondary school and we *relish being in 1A. This is a wonderful school and 1A is very harmonious. The teachers in this school are very kind and welcoming and our classmates are also kind, friendly and gentle. We appreciate each other very much.

*As seen in the above passage, when we change the 'like' in 'like to be in 1A' to 'relish', it needs to be followed by a gerund/noun phrase. This may require teachers' professional help to students, especially students with lower ability.