Print Skills (Alphabetics)
Word Recognition:
Word Analysis (WA)
Word analysis is more commonly known as "phonics" or "decoding."
It refers to learning an alphabetic language's sound-symbol correspondences
so that words may be "sounded out" by the reader. It also
includes the ability to recognize and take advantage of the recurring
spelling patterns of a language; this ability can then help the reader
to recognize words quickly and accurately. For those readers with advanced
word analysis skills, the term also refers to knowledge of the meanings
and spellings of prefixes, root words, and suffixes.
First to letters - How well do your learners know the sounds of consonants
and of short and long vowels? In random order, point to letters and
ask for the sound, not the name, of the letter. Do they know them all?
Is the ability automatic--that is, without hesitation? This is
the first step in learning to decode words; each step needs practice
until the response is automatic. Some beginning and adult poor readers
are too disabled to acquire automaticity
but most can reach mastery. Assess this initial skill of any reader
who is having consistent trouble decoding words.
Other steps of WA to assess word attack skill:
- consonant blends to automaticity: st, sp, pr, bl...
- consonant digraphs (two letters, one sound) to automaticity: ch,
sh, ck, ph...
- vowel combinations: digraphs ai, oa ..., and dipthongs ( two letters,
sounds blended) au, oi ...?
- blending consonants and vowels to form syllables: /s/ /i/ /l/ to
/si/ /l/ to sill; or /ch/ /I/ /k/ to chick.
- syllabication rules
Word Analysis inventories assess most of the possible phonetic letter
combinations. Some tests use lists of real words that contain the different
phonic elements, but those tests that present pseudowords instead of
real words have the advantage of avoiding words that learners might know
as sight words. Being able to read the word stop is not
proof that the learner knows the short sound of o, but being able
to read the pseudoword stoz does. Several assessments use pseudowords
to evaluate word analysis skills. In some pseudoword inventories, the
particular letter combination being assessed is noted so that you can
have a record of those word parts or constructions each learner needs
to work on.You can download Sylvia Greene's Informal Word Analysis
Inventory from the "Resources" section of this web site. A timed test
such as the Test of Word Reading Efficiency (TOWRE) gives a measure
of word analysis automaticity.
Structural Analysis
Structural analysis is the process of interpreting word parts that
make up a word. "...[U]sing word parts enables the reader to determine
the pronunciation and meaning of unknown words. This word identification
technique is effective especially if it is used along with phonic analysis
and context clues" (Miller,
p.123).
Structural analysis skill is assessed with teacher made inventories.
Ask learners to divide compound words or to underline the root word
or the affix in words with prefixes and/or suffixes.
Practice can have the same format as the assessment. This activity
is a good illustration of how components work together to further skill
in each - learning about affixes is both word analysis and a rich word
meaning activity.
Compound Words
Time spent on looking at compound words can be a fun activity that
helps learners focus on word parts. If each of a pair of words is understood,
their joined meaning is usually clear. Understanding how each of a pair
affects the meaning of the compound word can increase a learner's bank
of general knowledge in addition to extending word knowledge, as with
buttermilk, scarecrow, overpass, and headquarters.
Affixes (prefixes and suffixes)2
The ability to recognize and know how to use suffixes is developed
throughout K-12 with its earliest introduction in first grade of inflectional
suffixes that have to do with the grammar of a sentence -s,
-ed, -ing, and of derivational suffixes that change
the part of speech, for example, -er meaning "one who" as in
teacher, or -en meaning "made of" as in golden.
Different from suffixes--which indicate parts of speech and use in
a sentence--prefixes are additions to root words that form a new word
with another meaning from that of the root word. In the word disagree,
the prefix dis- meaning not changes the direction of meaning
of the root, agree. Prefixes are introduced in reading texts
around the third grade with the most common ones un- meaning
"not" as in unclear or "opposite" as in unfold and under-
as in underpaid.
An interesting illustration of the complexity of English orthography
are the several prefixes that indicate "not": un-,
dis-, im- as in impossible, in- as in inaccurate,
mis- as in misunderstand, and ir- as in irrational.
Syllabication
Pseudoword analysis tests often include some but not enough polysyllabic
words for you to evaluate how well learners can chunk word parts. Ability
to syllabicate is most often assessed with teacher made tests. Here
are six syllable types that you can test and use for practice to improve
syllabication: (As with any rules, there are exceptions.)
- closed, CVC or CCVC as in cot, plan - vowel is short
- open, CV as in go - vowel is long
- vowel combinations (digraphs and dipthongs) as in sail, bread
- two vowels make one sound
- final silent -e as in air/plane - vowel in last syllable
is long
- final -le as in bu/gle - vowel sound in (consonant, vowel)
+le syllable is a schwa (uh)
- R controlled - any vowel followed by an r. Vowels
are neither long nor short as in doc/tor, per/fect,
curd, part/ner, first.
Lists of affixes, compound words and syllable types can be found in
most teaching materials accompanying reading programs. In
addition, you can find information in other resources.
See the Test Bank for
published assessments of Word Analysis.
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