When a student reads Dad for Father, he made what error?

When a student reads Dad for Father, he made what error?

• A. Graphophonic
• B. Semantics
• C. Syntactic
• D. Pragmatic

Answer: (B)

This item tests semantic substitution in reading—when a reader uses a word with the same or related meaning instead of the exact word the author wrote. Reading “Dad” for “Father” shows the student grasps the meaning but not the precise lexical item. “Dad” is a casual synonym of “Father,” so the meaning is still clear, but the error lies in choosing an alternate word based on meaning rather than decoding or recognizing the exact form. This isn’t about sounding out letters (graphophonic), and it isn’t about grammar structure (syntactic) or how the language is used in context (pragmatic). It’s about meaning: the reader substitutes a semantically related term. To help, focus on vocabulary precision and cues for exact words in the text, alongside practice with synonyms and word-choice checks.

This item tests semantic substitution in reading—when a reader uses a word with the same or related meaning instead of the exact word the author wrote. Reading “Dad” for “Father” shows the student grasps the meaning but not the precise lexical item. “Dad” is a casual synonym of “Father,” so the meaning is still clear, but the error lies in choosing an alternate word based on meaning rather than decoding or recognizing the exact form.

This isn’t about sounding out letters (graphophonic), and it isn’t about grammar structure (syntactic) or how the language is used in context (pragmatic). It’s about meaning: the reader substitutes a semantically related term. To help, focus on vocabulary precision and cues for exact words in the text, alongside practice with synonyms and word-choice checks.