Tools for Reading Multisyllabic Words

Decoding multisyllabic words is similar to decoding CVC words. Students us their knowledge of grapheme-phoneme units to decode and fluently read CVC words. Students use their knowledge of grapheme-phoneme correspondence, morphemes*, and syllables to decode multisyllabic words for pronunciation, spelling, and meaning.

Teaching both syllables and morphemes should begin when students have the knowledge of letter-sound correspondences. Students begin analyzing words at birth through the oral language of those in their environment. They analyze words for their sounds and meanings. These are necessary survival skills to communicate their needs. Babies usually change the tone of their cries to match their need at the time. This is the beginning of effective communication that evolves into more precise tones of individual letters and words, as children get older. This knowledge is later transferred to written letters and words. Most students begin noticing and using letters/words in the years leading up to their formal years of education. The amount of written language exposure before they arrive in a formal classroom often dictates the amount of letter and word knowledge a student will have upon entering Kindergarten.

Students who are reading CVC words are analyzing and taking mental notes of how designated sounds of individual and groups of letters are blended to form different sounds. Students rely on these mental notes to assist them as words become increasingly more complex in how the letters are joined together to create words of meaning.

Most students need formal instruction of how to analyze words into a variety of different manageable word parts. Students are taught letter-sound correspondences that are used to decode CVC words by grapheme-phoneme units. Students are taught morphemes that can be used to separate words into chunks or units of meaning for pronunciation, spelling, and meaning.

There are six types of syllables that are taught to assist students in chunking words into smaller parts to help them decode the pronunciation. The English language has six major types of syllables described in the chart below.

Type of syllable CVC Final e Open Vowel Diagraph r-controlled Constant – le
Example cat

log

bit

set

cut

kite

bone

bake

cute

 

me

sky

be/gan

mu/sic

oi – foil

ee – keep

ea – beat

oa boat

oo – zoom

ar – car

ir – girl

er – her

ur – fur

or fork

marble

puddle

bugle

maple

little

Syllables types are usually taught beginning with closed syllables and then moving onto Final e syllables or to the right on the chart. There are steps that usually ease the process of finding syllables in multisyllabic words. The first step is to underline all the vowels in a word. Each syllable has one vowel or vowel digraph. If you count the underlined vowels this will tell you how many syllables are in that word. The second step is to look for affixes. These are natural syllable breaks. Step one and two can be reversed. The third step is looking for double constants that can be separated, such as pp or cn. This is when finding syllables can become harder. Words like jester or jostling both have the double constant “st.” The word jester cannot be separated between the -s- and -t-, yet the word jostling can be separated between the -s- and -t-. Jester has the suffix -er, which makes the word splitable between the -te-. The word jostling has two different suffixes -le and -ing. The syllable/suffix -le takes the -t- to make the syllable -tle. Then the suffix -ing is added that requires dropping the -e- before adding the -ing. This makes the syllable split between the -st-. Once there is just one vowel or vowel team in each syllable, it is time to read the word. Students should read one syllable at a time, such as /off/, /set/, /ting/; then blend the syllables together – /offsetting/.

Orally, students can be taught to clap out a word into syllables, once the word is pronounced for them. Another way to find syllables orally is to place your hand under your chin and then pronounce the word aloud. Each time your chin dips is a syllable. Syllable knowledge increases the accuracy of language pronunciation and comprehension. Syllable knowledge also increases student decoding and encoding skills.

Morphemes are usually taught one at a time, such as -ing or -est. The meaning is discussed along with its origin of language, like Latin or German. Writing words and developing sentences that include the morpheme will increase the relevancy to the student. The study of morphemes usually increases student comprehension, vocabulary, and spelling and usage of different words.

*Morphemes are the smallest units of meaning. Base words are called free morphemes. Affixes might be an inflectional, derivational, or a bound morpheme.

 

 

 

Why Include Morphology Analysis in Literacy Instruction?

Students usually benefit immensely from learning how to analysis morphemes—spelling, vocabulary, comprehension, and word memory. Students benefit across all subjects of education, as all subjects usually dictate that you must know how to read in order to successful pass each subject matter. Each subject contains words that are unique to that subject. Those words paint the picture(s) of that subject, such as in music-symbol, baritone, allegro or in math-adding, multiply, deduct. Research shows that teaching students about morphological awareness usually increases their ability to comprehend written passage(s) (Carlisle, McBride-Chang, Nagy, & Nunes, 2010). In the same article Carlisle, McBride-Chang, Nagy, & Nunes (2010) noted that learning how to analysis words or learning how to break down words into smaller units of meaning shows a strong correlation between morphological awareness and vocabulary knowledge. What is morphology and when should educators begin formal instruction of morphology?

Morphology is the study of word formation. Words are single or a combination of morphemes. Morphemes are the smallest units of meaning. The different units of a word dictate its meaning, adding or subtracting different units of meaning help to fine tune its meaning. There are different types of morphemes that are used to orchestrate word meaning.

  • Unbound or free – These morphemes can stand alone and are usually the heart or base of a word. These are words like; spell, port, or graph.
  • Bound – These morphemes cannot stand alone. Bound morphemes are added to free morphemes and are generally referred to as affixes, like “ful”, “re”, “il”, “est” or “bi”.
  • Derivational – These morphemes change the meaning or direction of the word, such as hope, hopeless, hopelessly or hope, hopeful, hopefully.
  • Inflectional – These morphemes indicate a grammatical feature, such as numbers or a comparative. These morphemes are usually suffixes, like “s”, “ed”, or “ing”.

It is important to note that a vowel may function as a connector of meanings within a word, such as in therm + o + meter (Donah & White, 2017). There are others morphemes, such as conjunctions that serve as connectors of words within a sentence.

Students begin learning unconsciously about morphemes as they learn oral language. This is when they begin to add and subtract different morphemes (sounds) to form different words of meaning to better communicate their thoughts with other individuals. Students unconsciously build their vocabulary based on their environment. Some students may begin transferring their oral language knowledge to understand written words before they begin their primary school education. Most students are ready to begin discussing the analysis of word chemistry in kindergarten. The timeline will be different for each student. In most cases the student will begin the conversation about the spelling or different parts of word. Teachers might begin the conversation by asking questions about words that are familiar to that student or group of students, like “this” or “his”.

Studying the way morphemes interact, combine, and change the meaning of words seems like a daunting, laborious task that many students just assume avoid altogether. Addressing morphology in spontaneous and planned instruction may ease the task of learning the chemistry of words. Often students ask questions about words or groups of words that lend to the opportunity to have a “mini” word discussion. The depth of discussion about the question should be relevant to the learning level of student(s). Intentional instruction might be included throughout the instructional day within each subject of study. The when, how, and what of the lesson will be dependent on student ability or grade level. The format of planned instruction usually differs, taking into account time and student ability. Some lessons may last 5 minutes, others 30-45 minutes. Planned instruction might include metacognitive modeling, independent practice, small-group word exploration/collaboration, or interactive games. This is vocabulary or lexicon development and comprehension skill development, which are part of the foundational skills necessary to read and write effectively.

References

Carlisle, J.F., McBride-Chang, C., Nagy, W., & Nunes, T. (2010). Effects of

instruction in morphological awareness on literacy achievement: an

integrative review. Reading Research Quarterly, 45(4), 464-487.

https://doi.org/10.1598//RRQ.45.4.5.

Donah, S. & White, N.C. (2017). Morphemic awareness. International Dyslexia

Association Conference-Atlanta, GA.

Morphology-Word Analysis

While reading a novel to a group of Grade 5 students, I came across a “new” or unfamiliar word.  The class and I began a discussion about the meaning of the word.  First, we looked for clues in the surrounding words and decided that there was not enough information to come to an absolute conclusion.  So, we began dissecting the word into smaller units of meaning or morphemes.  Many students did not know how to break down the word into morphemes, nor did they know the meaning(s) of the smaller units of the word.  But through further discussion, students began to focus on smaller units of the word and what those parts might mean. The meaning of the word began to ooze, which allowed students to make an educated conclusion of what new word might mean.  This is a form of morphology.

Morphology is the study of word structure.  The analysis of words or encoding and decoding of words helps individuals to understand their origin and how the word parts fit together.  Word analysis also helps students to learn the meaning(s) of morphemes and how the word parts conclude its meaning.  Word analysis also increases student background knowledge, which increases student ability to comprehend written passages.  Word analysis also increases student ability to spell and pronounce words.  Morphology should be introduced in the primary school years.  Morphology should be explicitly taught.

 

References

Birsh, J.R. (2011). Multisensory teaching of basic language skills.

Baltimore:  Paul H. Brookes Pub Co.

Moats, L. (2000). Speech to print. Baltimore: Paul H. Brookes Pub Co.

error

Enjoy this blog? Please spread the word :)