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Classroom Linguistic Routines

2. Supporting Morphology

A morpheme is the smallest unit of meaning in a word, and morphology is the study of word structures. A morpheme such as the letter, 's' is used as a plural for words, and can consist of combinations of other letters and sounds that result in meaning. Prefixes, suffixes, roots - these are all examples of morphemes that use letter combinations to influence word meaning.

We know how well our students have mastered morphological awareness, or morphology, when we note their level of decoding skills. New language learners are always homing their morphological skills. Some students are better at getting to the meaning of words through roots and morphology, which increases with the more exposure students have to reading and writing across the curriculum. With increased awareness of how words work within their morphological structure, the better students will be able to do on their own in recognizing new words.

Struggling Readers

Students who lack the knowledge of morphological structure will have more long-term difficulty in recognizing and learning words on their own (Ariza, 2010; Banks, 1993). Lack of awareness of morphological structure of words is correlated with low vocabulary and reading comprehension (Peregoy & Boyle, 2001). Many ELLs struggle with reading in their native language, but as they continue to struggle with a new language, it isn't always as transparent. Teaching morphology and morphological awareness can tell us the extent to which they struggle depending upon how long they take to gain the skills. If delays are longstanding, and meaning doesn't begin to surface within and around morphology and phonology, we might need to look deeper. In the meantime, teach morphology directly.

Morphology Instruction

Teaching morphemes improves spelling, and helps to build decoding strategies. As new and more challenging words are encountered, students can strengthen their ability to decode with instruction in morphology, especially with morphologically complex expository text in other content areas. With knowledge of, and skill in, morphology, students can separate words into meaningful units thus strengthening decoding skills, vocabulary, reading fluency, and overall comprehension. Below are some suggestions for the teaching of morphology, and building student skills in morphological analysis:

  • Teach students the patterns of morphology through word etymology to include: Anglo-Saxon morphemes, Latin, and Greek.
  • Teach students prefixes and suffixes, word endings and meaningful units of words as they change meaning when attached to their root word. For example: 'ed, 'ing, 's endings and other bound morphemes that result in changes of word meaning.
  • Teach students free morphemes that stand alone in meaning, yet can change word meaning in compound words such as "man," how they work into content-specific words and academic vocabulary.
  • Teach syllabication through syllable types, and how they divide.
  • Teach base words, compound words and function words.
  • Teach morphemes within the context of sentences to allow for cross-content application, and facilitate comprehension and understanding. Delay a focus on spelling until meaning is mastered.
  • Teach word inflection and derivation as they change the meaning of words in affixes, suffixes, and their grammatical impact on tense, gender, number and person. For example, changing 'walk' from present to past tense adding 'ed' to form walked, or 'walk' adding 's' and what changes it impacts.

Adapted from National Institute for Literacy, 2008