Language Awareness and Analysis Language Awareness Raising Task on Prefixes and Suffixes Prefixes & Suffixes • Prefixes and suffixes are sets of letters that are added to the beginning or end of another word. They are not words in their own right and cannot stand on their own in a sentence. Prefixes Suffixes Prefixes are added to the beginning of an existing word in order to create a new word with a different meaning. For example: word happy play Suffixes are added to the end of an existing word. For example: prefix new word word suffix new word un- unhappy fear -less fearless re- replay slow -er slower Why should prefixes & suffixes should be taught? • Teaching prefixes and suffixes is an important part of building better readers. Roots, prefixes and suffixes are the essential building blocks of all words. Teaching them help students understand the meaning behind different vocabulary words and students that learn prefixes have the capabilities of breaking down unfamiliar words into segments that are easily understood, learning new words becomes simpler. • Prefixes, suffixes, and roots are one of the most essential strategies for unlocking the meaning of new words available to students. By understanding different prefixes and suffixes meanings, students often have the tools needed for decoding difficult words. Teaching prefixes and suffixes provide students with skills that will last them throughout their school years and beyond. Students should learn prefixes in order to demystify the process of spelling and reading. How prefixes & suffixes can be taught? • flash card drills • Infering the meaning of an unknown word in written context via prefixes and suffixes • Through charts and fill in the blanks • Self-studying the most common prefixes and suffixes Design of the Task • Level the participants: Pre-intermediate prep class students (17) • Duration: 5 weeks • Steps of the Task: A worksheet of prefixes and/or suffixes for each week Guess the root and the meaning of the example words as a pre-task (replay-heartless) Explanation of what prefixes and suffixes are Doing the worksheet of the week (pair-check) Brainstorming on other words with the suffixes/prefixes of the week At the end of 5 weeks getting feedback via report questions Report Questions • Can you be able to infer unknown words now? • How is your language awareness on the subject improved?
