Improving Literacy by Teaching Morphemes

Terezinha Nunes is Professor of Educational Studies at the University of Oxford and Fellow of Harris-Manchester College, Oxford.Peter Bryant is Visiting Professor of Psychology at Oxford Brookes University, UK and Emeritus Fellow of Wolfson College, Oxford.

'Although primary teachers are the main target audience for this book, I think that teachers and trainers of adult literacy would also find it instructive in terms of broadening their understanding of how we learn to spell.' - Kerry Doyle, Northbrook College of Further and Higher Education 'The book is a challenge to advocates of predominantly phonetic approaches to spelling and to those who think good spelling is simply a matter of effective memorisation. Convincing research evidence is presented from a number of schools in London and Oxford suggesting that teaching morphemes will help to overcome some of the problems associated with the lack of spelling-sound correspondence in the English language.' - escalate.ac.uk

• Part 1: What is the Issue? 1. Morphemes and Literacy: A Starting Point 2. What Knowledge of Morphemes Do Children and Adults Show in the Way That They Spell Words Part 2: What Does the Research Tell Us? 3. From the Laboratory to the Classroom 4. An Interview Program for Teaching Children about Morphemes in the Classroom: Effects on Spelling 5. An Intervention Program for Classroom Teaching About Morphemes: Effects on the Children’s Vocabulary 6. Can We Increase Teacher’s Awareness of Morphology and Have an Impact on Their Pupils’ Spelling? Part 3: What are the Overall Implications? 7. Morphemes and Literacy: Context and Conclusions