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=Components & Structures in Language & Communication=

Instructions
Students will be assigned a section. Each group will investigate their assigned component or structure of language. The group members will then contribute the information to their section of the wiki. It is required that you explain what your component is and how it is supported in early learning programs. It is suggested that you get creative and include written text, embedded video, and or pictures if appropriate. The discussion board rubric will be used to grade this activity. You will find tutorials in the resources folder, and in the assignments folder, that can help with parts of this activity. Each group member will be in parentheses next to the heading you are to participate in. Be sure to communicate with each other as to what part you will each contribute.

//First step is to join the wiki by clicking the join button in the upper left. This will send the instructor an email asking for a membership request. Once the instructor adds you to the membership, you can come in the wiki and click edit. After you click edit you can add your contribution. Be sure to click save after you have added your contribution.//
 * How to make your contributions**

Phonology (Nikki, Carolyn, Greta)

 * Greta Samuels Phonology**

In the book “Early Childhood Language Arts” by Mary Renck Jalongo, Phonological Awareness is described as: sensitivity to the sounds of language. Phonological awareness does not involve written letters. The ages of Phonological Awareness can be further described as: Startle to loud, sudden sounds Relax to comforting sounds Become interested again when a sound is played repeatedly Experiment with sounds Respond to familiar sounds Participate in Action Rhymes Show interests in books that include pictures of familiar objects Attempt to name objects or make the sounds of animals that are pictured Enjoy songs, stories, rhymes, and finger plays Recognize their names Recognize rhymes (sound alikes) Are aware of sound/symbol relationships (Macaroni begins with “m” like my name Blend phonemes and split syllables(splitting the beginning sound “d” from the word duck)
 * Phonology**
 * Newborns:**
 * Infants and Toddlers :**
 * Early Preschoolers:**
 * Kindergartners/First Graders**

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 * You Tube Video Phonological Awareness: Greta Samuels**

Morphology (Gerara, Sharon, Danielle)
Sharon Morphology is a branch of linguistics that deals with the structure and form of words in a language. It is the study of words and their internal construction. Below is a video that does a great job of explaining morphology in easy to understand language. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=syjbhT45J14

In order to understand morphology, it is important to understand morphemes. Here is another great link for morphemes: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4dSPjgGjmvM

Morphemes are a meaningful linguistic unit consisting of a word, for example __man__, or a word element, such as __ing__ in walk__ing__. They can not be divided into smaller meaningful parts. It is the smallest unit of a word. They are the basic building blocks in words and all words contain one or more of them. They are parts of words, such as a //prefixes//, //suffixes//, or //root// words. Prefixes are at the beginning of words. Examples: dis, re, un, pre, dis, etc. Suffixes are at the end of words. Examples: ful, less, ness, er, or, etc. Root words are the main word. Examples: happy, agree, spell, write, view, etc. The words morph or change with the addition of a prefix or suffix. Examples: __un__happy, __dis__agree, __mis__spell, __re__write, __pre__view, or care__ful,__ pain__less__, dark__ness__, teach__er__, act__or__, etc. Here is a link to a common chart with prefix and suffix: www.prefixsuffix.com/rootchart.php This is important for all preschool to learn how to construct basic words of the English language. One way to reinforce this concept is to use sight words with the simple 3 letter root words. The teacher could add prefixes or suffixes as the child learn the root words. A teacher could do this verbally for young children learning language. For example if a child says "sing" the teacher could repeat the word sing and next add singing. The teacher could construct simple sentences for the child. "I hear you sing, so you must like singing." This could be done with ELL students and students who are learning about English.

Gerara: To add, the number of morphemes that a word has can be identified by the number of syllables it has.

1 Syllable - Cat 2 Syllables - Ba/by 3 Syllables - Tri/ang/le 4 Syllables - Wa/ter/mel/on
 * Examples**
 * Most teachers teach syllables by having their students clap while saying the word.**

Other morphemes include homonyms, which are words that sound alike but have different meanings and spellings (i.e. they're, their, and there) and homographs, words spelled the same but have different meanings and pronunciations (i.e. bow and arrow, bow of a ship, etc.).

//A chart with several homonyms//


 * Derivational morphemes** completely change the meaning of a word by adding a suffix (-ful, -less, -ness, -er, -or, etc). An example of a derivational morpheme is **beautiful**. By adding the suffix -ful to beauty, the word beauty goes from being a noun to an adjective -- //beautiful//.
 * Inflectional morphemes** are morphemes that show tense, number, possession or comparison.

For children still acquiring the English language, they have a clear idea of what the word for one thing is, but when it comes down to the word for two or more of that item, they struggle and just put an -s at the end, which actually works for most words (i.e. dog > dogs, house > houses, etc.). However, that's not always the case though because of words like mouse (mice) or person (people). The same thing tends to happen with verb tense (i.e. Mom readed a book to me). It is important for children to learn the correct verb tenses and plural forms of words. Teachers can help their students learn these concepts by using flashcards with a picture and the singular form of that word and then underneath, have the plural form with the correct ending in red so students can tell the difference. The same thing can be done with verb tense. A fun activity could include a matching game, where one card is the singular version or present tense of a word and the child must find the plural version or past tense of a word.

//A cute cartoon showing the troubles of inflectional morphemes, even for adults!//

//Danielle// //History of Morphology// //The concept of Morphology is contributed to the German Poet, novelist, playwright and philosopher Johann Wolfgang Van Goethe. The words origin is Greek morph- means shape and morphology is the study of form. Morphology had a hand in palying a vital role in the reconstruction of the Indo European language in 1816. Morphology also exists in biology refers to the study of the form and structures of organisms and in geology refers to the evolution of land forms. Morphology in terms for the meaning for linguistics refers to the mental system and how it involves word formation. Morphology did not emerge as a distinct sub branch of linguistics until the nineteenth century.// //References:// http://santosmorphology.blogspot.com/2011/05/history-of-morphology.html

Syntax (Isra, Tiffany)
Syntax derives from the Greek word //syntaxis//, which means arrangement. In [|linguistics], syntax is the study of the [|rules] that govern the ways in which [|words] combine to form [|phrases], [|clauses], and [|sentences]. It can also be used to refer to the rules of sentence structure in any natural language. Syntax is a major component of grammar. In the English language, there are grammar rules that define how words and phrases should be put together to form sentences. However, according to Carl Le Baker these grammar rules are different for each individual depending on the atmosphere they were raised in. "[I]t is a mistake to believe that some English speakers follow rules in their speech and others do not. Instead, it now appears that //all// English speakers are successful [|language] learners: they all follow unconscious rules derived from their early language development, and the small differences in the sentences that they prefer are best understood as coming from small differences in these rules. . . . The differences of the sort that we are looking at here follow lines of social class and ethnic group rather than geographical lines. Thus we can speak of [|//social varieties//] or [|//social dialects//]."
 * //Syntax//**

 (Carl Lee Baker, //English Syntax//, 2nd ed. MIT Press, 1995) Syntax is supported in early learning programs by the interactions children have with their teachers and peers. Playing, reading, and talking in the classroom, will help children to expand on the grammar rules naturally within them. Overtime children will begin to fully understand the rules of the English language and the exceptions to the rules. Based on Carl Lee Baker’s quote, it is important for teachers to have an understanding of the background of each child in order to support their language development.

//**Video on English syntax **//

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 * //Practical classroom applications to teach syntax//**


 * Include aspects of syntax on written assignments and oral presentations. It is important that all students (including ELLs) improve their syntax in written and oral presentations. Include components that assess the use of active voice vs. passive voice, correct tense use, transition words, correct use of clauses, or avoiding dangling participles. You can also use written assignments to encourage ELLs to write more complex sentences.


 * Anticipating difficult text and/or test questions. Use your knowledge of syntax to anticipate which sentences in an assigned text will be difficult for ELLs. It is common for high school texts to use very complex syntax and this is a stumbling block for many ELLs. Consider using alternative texts that use simpler syntax to get the content to the ELL. The same principle applies to tests and quizzes. Make sure that you are only testing content and not also their ability to decode syntax. Some questions can very easily be modified to make the intent more clear.


 * Using Mad Lib type activities. You can create a cloze passage text that has students choose nouns, verbs, adjectives, prepositions, conjunctions, and adverbs that relates to a particular unit. Students can be instructed to choose nouns and verbs used in the unit (or provided with a word bank) to use in the mad lib. It will also give ELLs practice with other lexical categories.


 * Use syntax to teach important historical concepts. When writing about sequence, cause and effect, or classification, students need to use correct and specific syntax. ELLs will need to be able to create complex sentences to clearly express their understanding of these concepts. For example, in explaining cause and effect, students should employ adverbial subordinate clauses (e.g. sentences that begin or use because, although, when, after, since, before, unless, if, while, in order that, as long as, whereas). You can explain that subordinating conjunctions serve two purposes – first, to connect two clauses in a sentence, and second, to reduce the importance of the clause following the conjunction (i.e. “As a result of the Civil War, the United States became the foremost industrial power.”)


 * It is okay to end sentences with prepositions. It's a relief to know that in good conscience, prepositions are something you can end sentences with.

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 * //Reference://**

Semantics (Amanda, Jessica, Roseanne)
 Semantics is the branch of linguistics and logic concerned with meaning. There are a number of branches and subbranches of semantics, including //formal semantics//, which studies the logical aspects of meaning, such as sense, reference, implication, and logical form, //lexical semantics//, which studies word meanings and word relations, and //conceptual semantics//, which studies the cognitive structure of meaning. (Amanda) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GcBvGToIxgA (Amanda)   Example: a group of students may brainstorm words related to flying. The word FLYING could be put in the middle of the board, and children could generate related words like WINGS, BIRD, AIRPLANE, JET, PILOT, RUNWAY, CLOUDS, etc. The words can be placed in varying distance from the central word depending on how close in meaning they are (BIRD and FLYING are very closely related, but CLOUD may be placed further away.).  http://www.sedl.org/cgi-bin/mysql/framework1.cgi?element=semantics&andor=and&source=&sortby=element (Roseanne)
 * **ACTIVITY TITLE:** Semantic Word Map || **COGNITIVE ELEMENT:** Semantics - Vocabulary ||
 * **ACTIVITY:** Word maps help students make connections among several words that are connected in meaning. Concepts become clearer when words are grouped together by similar criteria such as ideas, events, characteristics, and examples. Word maps work best when the teacher allows students time to brainstorm, generate a list, and participate in whole-class or small group discussion. Once the list is generated, the teacher can allow small groups to work together to create a semantic word map.
 * Notes:** Vocabulary development is a life-long endeavor, but this activity will be difficult for pre-literate children (because of the writing involved).
 * Reader Type:** Emergent readers and developing readers
 * Language:** English ||
 * **SOURCE:** Adapted from the Reading Teacher, V 52 No 3 November, 1 ||

Non-verbal Communication (Kendall, Tanzi)
Nonverbal communication is defined as the process of communicating through sending and receiving wordless (mostly visual) cues between people. For the first few years of life children relay heavily on non verbal communication because they are unable to use verbal communication. An example of this would be a baby turning her head when food is presented to him/her to indicate “no more”, or crying/making faces to indicate dislike for something. As children grow and develop language they use verbal communication in addition to nonverbal communication. There are 8 different types of non verbal communication that I could find: They are: Facial Expressions, Gestures, Paralinguistics ( pitch, loudness, rate, and fluency),  Body language and posture, Proxemics (personal space), Eye Gaze, Haptics (touch) and Appearance.



(Tanzi)