Improving spelling through a better understanding of word structure

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How aware were the teachers of word structure before the training?

When they were interviewed teachers mentioned a range of mistakes children could make in their spelling.

Nearly half of the 20 teachers interviewed spoke of problems children had in making the connection between letters and sounds. This included, for example, spelling words like ‘white’, which can be a problem because the ‘h’ is silent.
Only a small number of teachers (4) talked about children’s lack of knowledge of word structure causing difficulties with spelling. According to the researchers, that was because the spelling strategy that primary teachers favour is to make sound-letter connections.

Teachers also had a limited awareness of word structure.

Before the course only a quarter of the 20 teachers were able to give a definition for the word ‘morpheme’, i.e. any chunk of a word which carries meaning.
Only 36% of teachers were able to make the link between prefixes (such as ‘re-‘ in ‘rework’) and suffixes (such as ‘-ness’ in ‘darkness’) and meaning.
Those who could make the connection were more likely to talk about a prefix such as ‘un-‘ or ‘pre-‘, for which there are synonyms (‘not’ or ‘before’) than suffixes, such as ‘-ness’ which change the function of a word (in this case changing an adjective e.g. ‘dark’ into a noun ‘darkness’).

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Research Home Themes \| Find digests \| About the digests resources glossary researchers contact TRIPS Introduction What were the aims of the training and what impact did it have on teachers and pupils? How aware were the teachers of word structure before the training? How did the teachers change as a result of the training? Were there links between children's improved spelling and the training? What were the aims and design of the study? What training did the teachers receive to improve their knowledge of word structure? How did the teachers raise children's awareness of word structure in lessons? What are the implications? Where can I find out more? Glossary Send us your feedback Collated digests To view/remove/add notes and save your collated digests click here Get Word Reader Improving spelling through a better understanding of word structure This digest found in English Send to a friend Word doc 90KB Printer friendly Collate for later How aware were the teachers of word structure before the training? When they were interviewed teachers mentioned a range of mistakes children could make in their spelling. Nearly half of the 20 teachers interviewed spoke of problems children had in making the connection between letters and sounds. This included, for example, spelling words like ‘white’, which can be a problem because the ‘h’ is silent. Only a small number of teachers (4) talked about children’s lack of knowledge of word structure causing difficulties with spelling. According to the researchers, that was because the spelling strategy that primary teachers favour is to make sound-letter connections. Teachers also had a limited awareness of word structure. Before the course only a quarter of the 20 teachers were able to give a definition for the word ‘morpheme’, i.e. any chunk of a word which carries meaning. Only 36% of teachers were able to make the link between prefixes (such as ‘re-‘ in ‘rework’) and suffixes (such as ‘-ness’ in ‘darkness’) and meaning. Those who could make the connection were more likely to talk about a prefix such as ‘un-‘ or ‘pre-‘, for which there are synonyms (‘not’ or ‘before’) than suffixes, such as ‘-ness’ which change the function of a word (in this case changing an adjective e.g. ‘dark’ into a noun ‘darkness’).