The research indicates that learning Latin roots, prefixes and suffixes enhances decoding, spelling and vocabulary (Adams, 1997). Does increased decoding lend itself to greater reading comprehension as well? When teachers instruct English prefixes, suffixes and roots, they provide students with an additional decoding strategy. The research also demonstrated that a knowledge of Latin and Greek root words improved the English skills of students through a broad range of grade levels (Holmes, 1995). The research indicates that the teaching of Latin had a uniformly positive effect on English verbal skills (Holmes, 1995).
Holmes and Keffer compiled a list of the 150 most frequently used nouns, verbs, and adjectives in Latin and Greek from a variety of reference works. The first goal of the study was to recognize root words, and then apply those roots to learning English derivatives. One group subsequently underwent six weeks of practice on a computer program designed to drill Greek and Latin roots and the decoding of English words. In a study titled “A Computerized Method to Teach Latin and Greek Root Words: Effect on Verbal SAT Scores,” two groups of students took a pretest and posttest of the SAT (Scholastic Aptitude Test). Studying Greek and Latin roots can improve verbal standardized test scores as well as increase vocabulary. As a result, these children are at a disadvantage in content area studies (Hennings, 2000). Students who have grown up in homes with adults who have not completed high school or college may not have been exposed to the specialized vocabulary derived from Greek and Latin roots. In addition, teachers should facilitate recognizing prefixes within content area studies, analyzing prefixes with numerical and negative connotations and evaluating suffixes. To help students learn word clusters, teachers should guide students to highlight Greek and Latin roots as they occur and use Greek and Latin roots to connect new words with already familiar words. Literature Review Students learn clusters of words instead of one word when they analyze, sort and search for related words rather than memorize definitions (Hennings, 2000). I believe that by practicing roots, suffixes and prefixes, reading comprehension will increase for a 14-member Language Arts class of intermediate ELLs. Students must answer questions involving words such as emancipation proclamation. History Standards of Learning test and a tenth grade Biology test, which include many words with Latin roots. Would it help to model and practice word study with Greek and Latin bases and roots, if many science and history vocabulary contain these same roots? Eventually these students must take the eleventh grade U.S.
One idea intrigued me as a way to increase the vocabularies of ELLs. Unless students can generalize a word’s meaning to apply it to a new context, vocabulary work remains an isolated skill, and very little transfer of learning takes place (Routman, 1994). The traditional ways of teaching vocabulary resulted in students being unable to use words out of context or in writing. As a result, this research explores ways to embed the important words in the classroom environment in ways that are entertaining and informational for all students. The amount and type of words that sixth grade English language learners are required to know is daunting. Sixth grade intermediate ELLs take Math and Science in the grade-level classroom and remain with an ESOL teacher for Social Studies and Language Arts. ELLs compose approximately 42 percent of the student population. Glasgow has a diverse student population with 65 languages spoken by students from 33 countries. Rationale This project involves sixth grade intermediate English language learners (ELL) at Ellen Glasgow Middle School in Fairfax County, Virginia. In addition, this research examines student attitudes and beliefs in a student survey before and after instruction. The data compares the results of the Degrees of Reading Power (DRP) and the Gates-MacGinitie tests before and after the instructional phase.
Because many Latin word stems resemble Romance language words, this research explores whether direct instruction in Greek and Latin roots increases reading comprehension for middle school English language learners. Increasing Word Power for Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Students with Greek and Latin Roots Michelle Clayton Ellen Glasgow Middle School Fairfax County (VA) Public Schools Submitted June 2003 Research Question: What happens to reading comprehension for second language learners when Greek and Latin etymology is emphasized in vocabulary study? Abstract In English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) classes, there is continued interest in vocabulary development.
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