Introduction
In grammar, morphology is the study of the formation of words and the inflected structures of such words within a particular language. Learners and instructors should have a good understanding of morphology for them to excel in language use. A renowned researcher, Dr. Nonie Lesaux, has postulated the three best strategies for teaching morphology within the classroom context (Sedita, 2018). Firstly, the subject should be taught as a unique element of the vocabulary advancement initiative throughout the upper elementary school years (Sedita, 2018). Secondly, the language’s morphological awareness should be taught as a cognitive stratagem. In this strategy, the learner should recognize that they do not know a particular word, analyze the words for recognizable morphemes, and think of the possible meaning based on the parts of the word (Sedita, 2018). Thirdly, learners need to recognize the function of roots, suffixes, and prefixes, and how words get changed. Indeed, the outlined Lesaux’s proposals may help in expanding the learners’ lexicon in a specific language.
How Morphology Affects English Language Learners and Instruction
Morphology affects English learning and instruction methods that are used in teaching the language. To the instructors, Morphological awareness enables instructors to fashion their English teaching methods as a cognitive strategy in which they establish some steps that the learners should adopt in learning some words (Sedita, 2018). Learners’ application of morphemes to infer the meaning of complex words enhances the development of reading comprehension among learners (Amirjalili & Jabbari, 2018). Morphological instruction is also effective in accelerating the acquisition of spelling by English language learners and their English-dominant peers (Amirjalili & Jabbari, 2018). Accordingly, creating awareness of derivational morphology through instruction is regarded as one of the prerequisites to learning new English words as well as reading. As discussed above, morphological awareness has a positive impact on language literacy and the expansion of a learner’s lexis knowledge. Conclusion
Morphemes are the smallest units that contain meaning in a word. This part of a word has a meaning but it can not be subdivided further. From this explanation, base words, prefixes, and suffixes are morphemes (Sedita, 2018). The aforementioned categories of morphemes can be combined in different ways to express a particular meaning or play certain grammatical functions (Sedita, 2018). However, some morphemes are free, as they can stand on their own while others are bound and must be attached to other words (Sedita, 2018). In conclusion, morphological awareness enables students to express the existence of morphemes in a certain language.
References
Amirjalili, F., & Jabbari, A. (2018). The impact of morphological instruction on morphological awareness and reading comprehension of EFL learners. Cogent Education, 5(1), 1523975. Web.
Sedita, J. (2018). Using morphology to teach vocabulary [Keys To Literacy]. Web.