Using Cognates to Scaffold Context Clue Strategies for Latino ELs

Abstract

Teachers can use the rich linguistic backgrounds Latino English learners (ELs) bring to their classes to scaffold the learning of using‐the‐context strategies. Teachers can show their Latino ELs to use English–Spanish cognates to guess at the meanings of unknown words, thereby increasing both comprehension and vocabulary knowledge.

The Journey of a Word: An Action Research Intervention of Morphemic Analysis and Etymology for a Middle School Gifted and Talented Class

“…Morphemic analysis equips students with a practical and reliable strategy to break down words into their smallest meaningful units in order to define them (Harris et al, 2011; Kucan, 2012; Mckeown et al, 2018; Swanson et al, 2017). Etymology promotes students’ understanding of language, as it provides them with background knowledge about how the English language has come to include words from such a variety of origins (Montelongo et al, 2011; Rasinski et al, 2011, 2017; Yurtbaşı, 2015). Because a great number of morphemes in the English language originated in other languages, the hope was that teaching etymology and morphemic analysis strategies in conjunction with one another would amplify students’ growth in knowledge, skills, and understanding related to vocabulary and language.…”

“…This intervention combined instruction of etymology, the histories, and origins of words, with morphemic analysis strategies, procedures that examine the parts of words. Many experts (Harris et al, 2011; Kucan, 2012; Mckeown et al, 2018; Montelongo et al, 2011; Rasinski et al, 2011, 2017; Swanson et al, 2017; Yurtbaşı, 2015) recommend using etymology in order to help students make connections between words’ meanings and their origins, thus deepening their understanding and also recommend the use of morphemic analysis strategies in vocabulary interventions in order to equip students with strategies that allow them to break down words into their parts to discern their meanings. Because these skills relate to essential elements of language, the hope was that these combined strategies would increase students’ knowledge, skills, and understanding of language, vocabulary, and complex texts.…”

Measuring Reading Strategy Use

“…However, learning to recognize cognates often requires explicit instruction and encouragement (Jiménez, 1997;Montelongo, Hernández, Herter, & Cuello, 2011), as well as some tacit morphological knowledge. The more multilingual learners are encouraged to use their home language in reading contexts, the more connections they are able to make across English and other linguistic systems, and the greater their ability to pick up lexical clues for comprehending (Rodríguez, 2001).…”

Parent Book Talk to Accelerate Spanish Content Vocabulary Knowledge

“…Vocabulary selections can also include cognates—words that are similar across languages in meaning and spelling (e.g., oceano [ocean]; Montelongo, Hernández, Herter, & Cuello, ). Because cognates facilitate some transfer of knowledge across languages (e.g., from Spanish to English), they can be a semantic resource for DLLs in the shared book reading process (Bravo, Hiebert, & Pearson, ).…”