WORD ANALYSIS

WHAT IS WORD ANALYSIS?

y Word analysis is the way to study English words,

especially unfamiliar words to find their root words. It is easy to guess the meaning of most root words . Furthermore, additional letters or words which are added at the beginning or at the end of the words are also easy to guess. This will help you to read English books when you know the root words, for example, magazines, cartoons, and textbooks are easier, faster and enjoyable.

y Word Analysis, also called "phonics" or "decoding," is

the process of using the relationships between spelling and pronunciation at the letter, syllable, and word levels to figure out unfamiliar words. For more proficient readers, Word Analysis also refers to knowledge of the meanings and spellings of prefixes, root words, and suffixes. Word Analysis instruction can be very effective in helping beginning readers learn to read with understanding

Assessments
y Word Analysis (Phonics) Assessments should be done with any learner who is

having consistent trouble decoding words. Start with an informal assessment of letters and sounds. Using the lower case letters of the alphabet, point in random order to various letters and ask the leaner to say the sound (not the name) of the letter. Does the learner know them all? Is the ability automaticthat is, without hesitation?
y Next assess the basic principles of English phonics. ABE teacher Sylvia Greene created

such a test, complete with a guide to which principles apply to which words. After giving this test to a learner, you can tell which Word Analysis principles are known and which need to be taught or reviewed.

Published Word Analysis assessments do not always include enough multisyllabic words to evaluate how well learners can chunk word parts. You may want to supplement them with your own informal teacher-made tests. Here are the six syllable types that you can use to test and practice syllabication skills:

y closed (by a consonant), CVC or CCVC as in cot, plan - vowel is short y open (ends in a vowel), CV as in go - vowel is long y final silent -e as in in/flate - vowel in last syllable is long y vowel combinations (digraphs) as in sail, teach - two vowels make one sound y R-controlled when any vowel is followed by an r - vowel sound is changed. The vowel

is neither long nor short as in doc/tor, per/son, curd, part/ner, bird.

y final -le as in bu/gle where the le sounds like ul