Freeman & Freeman Chapters 7 & 8

These two chapters covered Morphology and its implications for teaching. Some of what was covered was a nice review of material that I have read in other classes. Content and function words were among the terms that were reviewed.Some new material was discusses especially with respect to teaching grammar and whether or not it has a positive outcome when taught.

The book stated that the teaching of grammar rules did not assist in learning a new language. Freeman and Freeman claim that the knowledge of certain parts of speech is acquire and to try and teach it would be fruitless. Freeman and Freeman reached this conclusion when they refer to a summary of studies done by Weaver. What I want to know is if both native and non-native speakers were both analyzed. What is curious is whether or not the study actually took into consideration non-native speakers. I just wonder if grammar rules would actually help those learners. I guess I do not know that answer at this point but it is very interesting. (APP topic?)

I liked reading about how different languages are classified such as the polysynthetic languages, analytic, and synthetic. When the book was talking about Latin and how verbs are used it made sense because I think there is a connection between Spanish and Latin.Something that was very interesting was reading about the stress that is used in compound words and noun phrases. For example, the word highchair has the stress on the first syllable 'high' and if it was a noun phrase the stress would be on 'chair' but I have no idea how I know and use that, I just do. Also, when thinking about the words toothbrush and haircut, the words do not fully represent its meaning.

The book brought up the point that people brush more than one tooth and they get more than one hair cut so should it be, teethbrush and hairscut? I just thought that was a very good observation.The idea of clipping is a cool concept to think about. I think sometimes it can be a little trendy for lack of a better word. What I mean is I have heard someone use the term "bestie" which would mean "best friend" I do not think that is a perfect example of clipping but it gets the point across that meaning could be lost with certain clippings. I have also heard (and am sometimes guilty of using) "apt" for apartment and "rents" for parents.

I liked the story about Friddle. I think that student really thought on his feet!

Lastly, there are many implications for teaching when thinking about Morphology. It makes sense that students would not be able to make meaning out of complex, compound words by simply breaking them down. Would it be better to let the student know of the pronunciation, write down all the words the student was unaware of in the text and then investigate and use them further??After reading Chapter 8 it further solidified the idea that WORDS NEED TO BE LEARNED IN CONTEXT!