Word Analysis: a mini lesson 2

    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. Scholars have asserted that “…students with learning disabilities benefit greatly from direct instruction that helps them understand and apply the principles underpinning the construction of words in the English language” (Westwood, 2008; pg. 6-7). Therefore, when considering the Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary 11th edition as a tool to explore words, there are a few points that relate to the Four-Part Processing Model which illustrate how students read or identify words. 

Dreamtimes 2020

Part 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 laborious on page 695 in the Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary 11th edition. The phonetic transcription is /lə-ˈbȯr-ē-əs/. Below is how we map out sound to letter. 

 

1st sound 

2nd sound 

3rd sound 

4th sound 

5th sound 

6th sound 

7th sound

Phonemes

 

/ə/

 

 

/ē/

/ə/

 

 

Graphemes

l

a

b

or

i

ou

s 

These points address what we hear and see when using the dictionaries phonetic symbols (i.e., less than dark print or pronunciation):

  •  There are seven phonemes, which are represented by a letter or combination of letters.  
  •  The primary stress is on the second syllable, bor-
  • 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 (i.e., a & ou). 
  •  The word has four syllables organized around vowels.  
  • The letters [l] 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

Students are exposed to multiple meanings of words (Anderson, 1964), strengthening the meaning processor through accessing the dictionary. Laborious as a term is an adjective and has two definitions. 

 Analyzing the word, we can identify the base *labor*, meaning work. The suffix -ous is located on page 660. As reading teachers we should “teach students effective strategies for analyzing and encoding words” (Westwood, 2008; pg. vii). By equipping students with this type of instruction, they gain fundamental linguistic knowledge through critically analyzing words. 

There are a couple of points to consider with this type of instruction for students:

 1.     We can discuss the construction of the syllable types and hear how the words labor, labored, and laboring all retain the pronunciation of a long /a/ sounds in the first syllable.  

2.  Yet, when adding the -ious to the end of the word, the accent shifts to the second syllable, and the letter a no longer retains the long /a/ sound, but rather the /ə/ sound. 

3. Students can see and hear other words with similar sounds and spelling patterns in the beginning (i.e., labellum), middle (i.e., proabortion), end (i.e., devious). 

a.     For instance, in the word label, the letter “a” retains the long /a/ sound. Yet, when we add -lum- to the word, the letter a shifts to the schwa /ə/ sound. We also know the primary accent is then in the second syllable.  Note: the schwa sound is never on the stressed or accented syllable. 

Hint: do you notice any familiar orthographic units in laborious that are similar to the word in the last blog (i.e., dubious)? If so, what other words can you build with that orthographic unit? And what other words are built from the base ‘labor? 

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.  

Learning to read may be viewed as a time-consuming and laborious process, but we should never stop trying! 

Here is a testimony of a teacher learning this type of instruction. 

Until next time, 

Shawn Anthony Robinson PhD. 

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

Westwood, P. (2008). What teachers need to know about spelling. Aust Council for Ed Research. 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Unpacking Systematic Barriers for Black Boys with a Learning Disability in Special Education

Image
Special Education classrooms are a melting pot of students who are creative, innovative, and waiting for an opportunity to shine. These are the generalized qualities the students come with as their hard-wired gifts. Students all still need to learn how to read through direct, explicit and systematic instruction, and that will only happen through effective  literacy instruction that is culturally responsive  and teacher training. Literacy should be the great equalizer for students to become academically independent. Not every student will get exposed to quality literacy instruction which pushes them to reach their full potential or positions them to achieve their freedom. However, it should be at the top of the list for educators, policymakers and administrators to train teachers to excel in literacy instruction.  Although the demographics of classrooms are changing to reflect increasingly diverse students, what remains unknown in Special Education is why there is a persi...
Read more

Learning to Read – The Key That Opened The Door

Image
As a young kid, I had always struggled with reading and avoided it at all cost. Reading should be an activity that one does for pleasure and opens their mind to endless dreams. However, reading was not an activity I enjoyed. I was engaged in behaviors that were destructive in order to avoid it. I had to attend an alternative program for two years of high school because I could not control my temper. I was angry for many reasons, but the main one was that I was not able to read.   I was not diagnosed until the age of 18 and graduated from high school reading at an elementary level. My options were very limited. Yet, my life changed in 1996 when my mentor, an angel, Dr. Robert T. Nash literally saved my life and gave me HOPE as a student who was in Special Education. He and his colleague Dr. Kitz told me I was one of the most illiterate students they had meet, but that it was not my fault. They both said the system failed me. Dr Nash saw talent in me, told me I had a gift, b...
Read more

Balancing Resources for Literacy: How Policy Impacts Literacy Quality and Modern Illiteracy Rates

Image
The Science of Reading (SoR) has become a central focus in education, emphasizing evidence-based practices for teaching literacy skills. However, alongside these instructional methods, the role of policy in shaping literacy outcomes is often overlooked.  Understanding how resources—both public and private—are allocated can shed light on why certain literacy disparities persist, even with advances in the SoR.  This piece explores the balance of resources and inequities through the lens of the equation  LQ = R {Pub + Priv (M)} - I , which highlights how policy decisions impact literacy quality and modern-day illiteracy rates. Figure 1 : A black and white vector illustration depicting the balance of resources for literacy, showing books and coins on a balanced scale, symbolizing the relationship between educational resources and funding. Created by an AI illustration tool. While instructional approaches are critical for improving reading skills, how resources are distributed...
Read more