Syntax and Morphology
Syntax is commonly known as grammar. It involves correct use of the rules governing
language structure.
Morphology is use if the rules governing word structure
Understanding the rules about word and sentence formation is essential to children’s
language development because without these skills, a child will have difficulty
understanding what is said to them. They will also have difficulty expressing themselves.
The simplest and most effective method of supporting learning about grammar and word
structure is through language stimulation techniques. These techniques are explained
below, with reference to the classroom context.
The Blank Model of Questioning (Blanks, 1978 as cited in Bevan, 2007) suggests that
questions should be tailored so that 75% are within the child’s comfort zone, and 25%
should extend the child’s language to new areas.
Common language stimulation techniques, include:
• Teachers talking about their actions, and the actions of others
• Expanding on student’s utterances
• Repeating the student’s utterance to make it structurally correct.
• Modeling correct structures to children
Some examples include:
The teacher talks about what they’re doing focusing on a particular grammatical
structure. For example:
“Yesterday I wrote on the board (irregular past tense). Today I am writing on the
board” (present progressive –ing).
The teacher talks about what the student is doing. This provides the student with
a model for correct adult like speech. For example:
“Mason’s finished his work (regular past tense –ed), Peter you are still working
(present progressive –ing). “
The student is asked to repeat after the teacher. For example:
Student: “I went to she’s house”
Teacher: “her, I went to her house”
Student: “I went to her house”
The teacher expands on the students comment to add more information. For
example:
Student: That girl is wearing a dress
Teacher: Yes, the girl is wearing a lovely sparkly dress. She looks very pretty.
Teacher repeats the students comment to make it grammatically correct. For
example:
Student: The boys runned to the oval.
Teacher: The boys ran to the oval
Produced by the Riverina Schools Project Partnership, 2007
Strategies for when students produce incorrect structures
Model the correct way. For example:
Student: I stay at her house last night.
Teacher: You stayed at her house last night.
Talk about why the sentence was incorrect. Talk about why the teacher’s model is
the correct way. For example:
Teacher: “When things happen in the past we put
– ed on the end of some words. That way I know you mean the past and
it’s already happened.”
Ask the student to imitate the correct production. Ideas for prompting:
Tell me again…
Can you repeat…
Listen carefully…
Some children may not be able to produce the correct structure. They may not
even be able to repeat it. This is often a sign they do not understand the structure
of the sentence. It is best not to frustrate the student. In these cases, provide as
many examples of the correct structure as possible throughout the day.
Ideas for explaining some common grammatical structures
Regular Past Tense
-ed at the end of a word means the action has already been done.
Possessive ‘s.
‘s at the end of a word tells us the person owns something.
Present Progressive –ing
-ing on the end of a word means that it happening now.
Regular Plural s
‘s’ at the end of a word tells us that there is more than one.
Practical Opportunities for Practicing Morpheme Understanding
Big Book Reading - Morphemes
Draw attention to particular morphemes in books while reading.
Discuss with the students what that part of the word means
“Lots of words in this book end with –ed. What does that mean? Why do the
words end in –ed?”
“Because it happened before or in the past”
“What might we say if it was happening now?”
“What other words can we put –ed onto?”
Produced by the Riverina Schools Project Partnership, 2007