Getting a Fix on Vocabulary: Understanding and Using Prefixes, Suffixes, Bases, and Compounds

By Janie Duncan and Raymond C. Clark

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Getting a Fix on Vocabulary is a practical, thoughtfully designed resource that helps English learners make sense of how English words are built--and how a single word can unlock an entire family of related terms. By focusing on morphology (bases, affixes, and compounds), the book gives learners the analytical tools they need to interpret unfamiliar words, expand vocabulary efficiently, improve spelling and pronunciation, and recognize meaningful patterns across the language.

Through clear explanations and guided practice, students learn how prefixes, suffixes, and roots carry meaning, how these parts combine to form new words, and how understanding one form can lead directly to understanding many others: contain, maintain, retain, unretained, detainable, detention. This approach not only supports vocabulary expansion, but also builds confidence by demystifying complex words that frequently appear in academic reading, media, and everyday communication.

To reinforce learning, each lesson concludes with a fictitious "generic" news story that showcases selected bases, affixes, and compounds in context. These newspaper-style readings expose learners to vocabulary commonly used in media and public discourse. Topics include pandemics, climate change, saving wilderness areas, international baseball, and other globally relevant issues. Each story is also available as a downloadable audio "radio broadcast," allowing learners to develop listening comprehension while hearing how morphological patterns sound in natural speech.

Features

*Free accompanying AUDIO program, available to download from https: //www.prolingualearning.com/ or to stream on https: //www.youtube.com/@ProLinguaLearningAudio

Reinforces spelling and pronunciation by highlighting consistent morphological patterns.

Includes fictitious news-style readings at the end of each lesson that showcase targeted vocabulary in context.

Covers media-relevant topics such as climate change, pandemics, wilderness preservation, and international sports.

Useful as a core vocabulary text or as a supplement to reading, writing, or grammar courses.

Sample Materials available to download

Contents

Introduction

Lesson 5: Science Award

Lesson 21: Pandemic Inevitable

Lesson 21: Radio News Script

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• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0866472703
• ISBN13: 9780866472708
• Release Date: March 2009
• Publisher: Pro Lingua Learning
• Length: 120 Pages
• Weight: 0.90 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.4" x 8.5" x 11.0"

Customer Reviews

Very Helpful for ESL students

My intermediate and advanced ESL students have found this book very beneficial for vocabulary development. It systematically teaches prefixes and suffixes with much practice. It has been around for awhile, but I hope it will continue to be available.