Morphology Is a Valid Strategy for High School Students to Improve Vocabulary.

Using Morphological Analysis to Teach Vocabulary In English and French Classes
By Constance O’Sullivan and Charlotte Ebel

Teachers as Scholars Institute Princeton University July, 2004 Marguerite Browning, Professor

Foreword Vocabulary instruction via morphological analysis requires syntactic knowledge and an awareness of the multiple levels of cognitive ability whether the target vocabulary is in English or in a second language. In this project, we will posit several strategies for accomplishing this task in order to facilitate the acquisition and maintenance of new vocabulary for our high school students in English and in French.

English Vocabulary Acquisition through Morphological Analysis
Constance O’Sullivan According to the research of Baker, Simmons and Kameenui of the University of Oregon on “Vocabulary Acquisition: Synthesis of Research” new learning builds on what the learner already knows. Critical factors that contribute to vocabulary development include generalized linguistic differences, memory deficit, differences in strategies for learning new words, differential instructional procedures and depth of word knowledge. Through depth of word knowledge is association, comprehension and generation. Research suggests that after the age of seven the ease in which a student gains vocabulary levels off. Thus vocabulary growth varies among students and as a result the vocabulary gap grows increasingly larger over time. The question that comes to mind is “What happens at the high school level when the study of vocabulary is part of the curriculum?” High School students, (a group I call the “entertain me generation”) today have had access to computers and the Internet since they were in first or second grade. Because of this the study of vocabulary is considered boring if it is not accompanied by an activity. There are two ways to pursue this; the first is through an interactive student/computer program complete with bells and whistles. The second

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