Understanding and Using Medical Terms, Intermediate Level. 3rd Edition.

Welcome to the third edition of Understanding and Using Medical Terms, Intermediate Level. This new edition has undergone major improvements in many aspects of the book including a great variety of exercises, organization, introduction and presentation of terms, contextualization, and an extensive use of illustrative pictures for almost all terms.

This book is designed for university students and professionals who are studying English as a Foreign language (EFL) at an intermediate level. It provides a solid foundation in medical scientific English to enable them to understand and communicate in medical/scientific situations.

It is meant to meet the need for non-native speakers of English to acquire medical vocabulary. The vocabulary items in this book are all commonly used in the medical-paramedical field. The material is arranged in nineteen chapters, and each chapters is divided into manageable sections. These are presented to the student in a regular, controlled fashion. Target words and their derivations are contextualized to illustrate their meanings and are systematically introduced so that vocabulary development can lead to enhanced language acquisition.

Word-formation boxes are provided to emphasize the importance of having a sound knowledge of the meanings and significance of prefixes and suffixes. These are invaluable in helping students guess the meanings of many unknown words they will inevitably encounter in their textbooks and at work. Explanations, varied exercises, and illustrations are provided to aid, motivate, and test students’ learning. Short reading passages illustrating the use of vocabulary items from each section are also provided along with appropriate exercises.

To the Student

‘Read, study, and learn’ is the key to getting the most benefit from this book. Read through each entry very carefully, studying the definitions, explanations, and examples which illustrate the meaning of the word. Then read and study them again until you have learnt what the word means and can use it in context. At the end of each section, exercises are provided so you can practice, and you can check how well you remember the vocabulary you have been studying.

Remember to study the information in the word-formation boxes. Learning the meanings of prefixes like post-, anti-, and hyper-, and suffixes like -itis, -ectomy, and -graphy will make it possible for you to guess successfully the meanings of many unknown words. Recognizing word endings like -ation, -al, and -ize will help you to decide if a word is a noun, an adjective, or a verb.

To the Teacher

The vocabulary items in this book are presented systematically, following the principles of learning that lead to successful language acquisition. The items are divided into nineteen chapters that cover the most commonly-used words in the medical-paramedical field. The principal aim of this book is to ensure that students build up a solid lexical base. This will solve many of the difficulties learners have with both receptive and productive language. For learning to occur, the learner must pay attention to the new material and make an effort to learn

1. Every attempt has been made to write definitions and examples in language that students

will understand, and various exercises are provided for each chapter. Also, at the end of each

chapter, there is a review section focusing on the vocabulary in the chapter. Vocabulary items,

once introduced, are recycled as frequently as possible in later exercises. Weekly quizzes should

be given to test the items covered. Such achievement tests not only inform the teacher about the

progress of his students, they also aid the learning process by motivating learners to study and by

giving another meaningful repetition (recycling) of the vocabulary items.