The Dictionary and My Obsession for Linguistics – Part Two

        My obsession with learning language through the dictionary has given me a great deal of joy and enhanced my knowledge and love of words. This post will be an example of how Dr. Nash taught me to use the dictionary to understand the structure and meaning of words. 

Headword: bur·​geon·​ing    Syllabication: ˈbər-jə-niŋ
       Source: Library Journal (2022)

When we spell words by sound, we assign different spellings to the same sound. Students would use a specific worksheet to examine words in the dictionary and the example below shows how students learned encoding/decoding strategies. 
 

Word:

Burgeoning

 

Phonetic transcription:

ˈbər-jə-niŋ

1st

sound

2nd

 sound

3rd

sound

4th sound

5th

sound

6th

sound

7th sound

Syllable type * (see appendix) 

 

R.C.S.

V.T.S.

C.S.

Frequency

1

3

2

21

1

1

1

Phoneme

(Diacritical marks)

                   /er/

/j/                    /ə/

                    /ĭ/ 

 

Grapheme

b

ur

g

eo

n

  i

ng

 
        After completing the exercise above, students discuss anything from vowels, phonetic symbols (i.e., diacritical marks), accent marks, parts of speech, definitions, semantics, syntax, synonyms, antonyms, and etymology, which are all pathways to word recognition and language comprehension (Duke & Cartwright, 2021; Seidenberg & Borkenhagen, 2020). After such lively discussion and learning through discovery, students become peer-tutors and teach the word using a precise spelling format. Students follow these steps sequentially:  

1.     The word we are going to spell by sounds is (i.e., burgeoning)
            a.       what is the word we are going to spell by sounds? (Students repeat word)
(Repeat steps 2-6 below for each sound in the word)

2.     What is the _________ (first, next, last) sound you hear in the word burgeoning  

a.     What is the _________ (first, second, third, fourth, etc.) most common way to spell that sound?

3.     Write the letter(s) and say the sound.

4.     For assignments (graphemes) that have diacritical marks (phonemes) use A – C below      
                A.    What mark do we use to identify that sound?
                B.    Make the mark and say the sound.
                C.    Put in slash marks and say the sound.
5.     Underline the letter(s) and say the sound.  
  
After students have completed steps 2-5, they then finish the spelling format with steps 6-10 below:

6.     Put in caret marks and say each distinctive sound.

7.     Loop and say each distinctive sound.

8.     Underline the word and say it quickly using its syllables.

9.     Write the word and say each assigned sound.

10.  Look up and spell the word out loud by letter names.

Throughout this precise layout and the steps above, student errors are corrected quickly by employing a model, lead the student through the process using precise questions, and a procedure to test all the discoveries. This process not only prevent errors but increases the joy of learning through successful language development. 
 
Sincerely, 

Shawn Anthony Robinson PhD

References

Duke, N. K., & Cartwright, K. B. (2021). The science of reading progresses: Communicating advances beyond the simple view of reading. Reading Research Quarterly, 56, S25-S44.

Seidenberg, M. S., & Borkenhagen, M. C. (2020). Reading science and educational practice: Some tenets for teachers. The Reading League Journal, 1(1), 7-11.

Appendix A

The following definitions of syllable types (see Appendix A) are based on the configuration of letters within the syllable (Nash & Robinson, 2022).

  • “Closed Syllable because it has an isolated vowel followed by one or more consonants within the syllable.
  • Open Syllable because it does not have a consonant to the right of an isolated vowel within the syllable. 
  • R-Controlled Syllable because the sound of the vowel or vowels preceding the (r) are masked by the overwhelming sound of the (r) within the syllable.
  • Final E Syllable because it ends with a silent (e) and the isolated vowel preceding it has a long vowel sound.
  • Vowel Team Syllable because it contains two or more vowels with one sound within the syllable.
  • Consonant-LE Syllable because it contains a voiced consonant letter that is followed by an “L” and a silent “E” within the syllable.”

 

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