Morphology Is a Valid Strategy for High School Students to Improve Vocabulary.
Tamara Connors Brennan
PSU EDTEC561
Prof. David Popp
Theoretical Explanation
Many researchers have proposed that teaching students word roots unlocks the meanings of unknown words. The majority of words in the English language have origins from Greek and Latin. Ninety percent of English words over one syllable are Latin based, and the remaining 10 percent are Greek based (Rasinski, Padak, Newton, & Newton, (2008, p. 11). Just as phonics teaches word families, Greek and Latin roots will help students sound out words and determine the meanings of words (Padak, Newton, Rasinski, and Newton (2008, p. 29). Nagy & Anderson, 1984, found morphology played an important role in learning vocabulary by allowing students to make semantic connections between related word families. They concluded, “The ability to utilize morphological relatedness among words puts a student at a distinct advantage in dealing with unfamiliar words” (p.323). While research supports the teaching of word roots, no formalized instruction in roots exists at my high school.
Purpose of my study:
Students need vocabulary deciphering strategies in high school. Morphology is a valid strategy for high school students to improve vocabulary. Studies also show an increase in reading comprehension and spelling.
Third through sixth grade students performed better on reading and spelling with morphophonemic training than with just training in phonics (Henry 1988, 1989, 1993).
In the study, “Contributions of Morphology Beyond Phonology to Literacy Outcomes of Upper Elementary and Middle-School Students,” Nagy, Abbott, and Berninger (2006) found “Results showed that when the shared variance among morphological awareness, phonological working memory, and phonological decoding are controlled statistically, morphological awareness contributes ...at all grade levels to reading comprehension, reading vocabulary, and spelling” (p. 143).
"Corson, a British sociologist, even suggests
PSU EDTEC561
Prof. David Popp
Theoretical Explanation
Many researchers have proposed that teaching students word roots unlocks the meanings of unknown words. The majority of words in the English language have origins from Greek and Latin. Ninety percent of English words over one syllable are Latin based, and the remaining 10 percent are Greek based (Rasinski, Padak, Newton, & Newton, (2008, p. 11). Just as phonics teaches word families, Greek and Latin roots will help students sound out words and determine the meanings of words (Padak, Newton, Rasinski, and Newton (2008, p. 29). Nagy & Anderson, 1984, found morphology played an important role in learning vocabulary by allowing students to make semantic connections between related word families. They concluded, “The ability to utilize morphological relatedness among words puts a student at a distinct advantage in dealing with unfamiliar words” (p.323). While research supports the teaching of word roots, no formalized instruction in roots exists at my high school.
Purpose of my study:
Students need vocabulary deciphering strategies in high school. Morphology is a valid strategy for high school students to improve vocabulary. Studies also show an increase in reading comprehension and spelling.
Third through sixth grade students performed better on reading and spelling with morphophonemic training than with just training in phonics (Henry 1988, 1989, 1993).
In the study, “Contributions of Morphology Beyond Phonology to Literacy Outcomes of Upper Elementary and Middle-School Students,” Nagy, Abbott, and Berninger (2006) found “Results showed that when the shared variance among morphological awareness, phonological working memory, and phonological decoding are controlled statistically, morphological awareness contributes ...at all grade levels to reading comprehension, reading vocabulary, and spelling” (p. 143).
"Corson, a British sociologist, even suggests