Word Analysis and the Four-Part Processing Model: A Mini lesson

    The Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary 11th edition is a reliable, though underutilized, resource in English Language Arts (ELA) classrooms. Ideally, ELA goals are to teach the fundamental aspects of linguistics among students of various academic abilities and dialects. When considering the dictionary as a tool, there are couple points that relate to the Four-Part Processing Model which illustrated how students read or identify words (Seidenberg & McClelland, 1989).  

Point 1

For the lower-level processors (i.e., orthographic & phonological), Moats (2020) asserts that “one can use phonic or dictionary symbols to transcribe the phonetic properties of words, but the disadvantage of such a phonic representation system is that many speech sounds must then be presented with letter combinations…” (pg. 32). Now let’s analyze the word dubious on page 385 in the Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary 11th edition.


The phonetic transaction is ˈdü-bē-əs and how it is mapped out sound to letter is below. 

Phonemes 

1st sound 

2nd sound 

3rd sound 

4th sound 

5th sound 

6th sound 

 

 

/ū/

 

/ē/

/ə/

 

Graphemes

d

u

b

i

ou

s


There are couple points to address when using the dictionaries phonetic symbols (i.e., less than dark print or pronunciation):

·      There are six sounds and seven graphemes. 

·      The primary stress is on the first syllable du-

·      The 10th most common way to spell the sound /ē/ is with the letter i as in the word marine. 

·      The schwa is a complex sound as there are various vowel spelling combinations. The eight most common way to spell that sound are with the letters ou as in doubled. 
 
·      The word has three syllables and organized around vowels.  

·      The letters [d] and [b] in both syllables are considered the onset as those consonants come before the vowel. 
 
After students have been exposed to the lower-level processors, it is time to explore both meaning and context processors. 

Point 2
 
For the meaning processor and how it relates to access the dictionary, Anderson (1964) asserts “…experience with the multiple meanings of words, and to have developed some awareness of shades of meaning and some sensitivity to word choice” (pg. 335). Dubious as a term is an adjective and has two definitions. 
 
Analyzing the word, we can decide that the root is *dwo- meaning two. Providing access to this type of linguistic knowledge aids students with the fundamental knowledge of decoding and encoding words and building from morphological units. Then students can see and hear other words with similar sounds and spelling patterns in the beginning (i.e., duplicate), middle (i.e., erbium), end (i.e., acidulous). Erbium is a word listed on a Chemical elements table and a term students may have not been exposed to yet. For the word acidulous, can you identify the meaning of “acid” and the suffix? Acid is a homograph (see page 10). 

Point 3: Therefore, when we critically reflect on the word’s definition and consider all the elements learned, we can put the word into perspective (i.e., context) with the following activity. 
 
Direction: read the sentence and write a definition or synonym for the word. Use contexts clue to help you determine the words meaning. 
 
As conference planners for the upcoming dyslexia event, we are confident that the hotel will hold our reservation; however, if we are dubious about the reliability of the reservation, we will call to confirm. 

Reflecting question: How would you incorporate the Four-Part Processing Model with Anglo Saxon words with younger kids? Share your thoughts in the comments! 

take care, 


Moats, L. C. (2020). Speech to Print. Language Essentials for Teachers . Paul H.

Seidenberg, M. S., & McClelland, J. L. (1989). A distributed, developmental model of word recognition and naming. Psychological Review, 96(4), 523–568.

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