‘Word Relationships’ EAL Strategy: Explanation and Rationale

‘Oh dear,’ said the old dear looking at the stuffed deer in the window.

‘What’s wrong dearie?’ said her friend, Deirdre.

‘It’s just very dear, my dear. I can’t afford it after all.’

The words that make up a language possess a range of relationships.

These may be the result of logic, history or chance.

In the example above we have a homophone (as in dear and deer), a homonym (as in the multiple uses of ‘dear’, each a different word despite the identical spelling and pronunciation), a suffix (‘-ie’ in dearie, a diminutive) and a word (Deirdre) that sounds similar to two others (deer and dear), yet appears to have no known link to these.

Paying attention to the relationships between words can help any learner develop a better understanding of the language they are studying.

If you know what the suffix ‘-ing’ means, you can make educated guesses about the relationship of new words ending in ‘-ing’ to similar words you already know.

There may be cases where such guesses prove incorrect (‘-ing’ does not act as a suffix in the word ‘thing’) but we can learn exceptions from these, and there will be many cases where the application of knowledge proves correct.

Understanding word relationships can provide shortcuts.

For example, the opportunity to classify words.

Coming to understand a relationship even as basic as the shared characteristics that all nouns possess can have a profound effect on how you use and think about language.

For EAL learners, relationships that we take for granted may be difficult to spot, seemingly obtuse, or may even appear as downright irrational.

Such is the nature of language.

It grows from the way it’s used, not from some reasoned decision-making process.

English, with its long history of evolution, copious loan words, and spelling abnormalities, is more an old, gnarled oak tree than a smooth-barked young birch.

Demystifying, drawing out and exemplifying word relationships for your EAL learners is a great strategy to use.

It builds their confidence, helps them spot patterns, and lends explanation to what sometimes seems arbitrary or confusing.

Here are three examples of how to do it.

‘Word Relationships’ Example One

Take opportunities to make connections between the roots of words, illustrating these for your EAL learners.

For example, ‘muscle’ and ‘muscular’.

Focussing on these connections helps learners to start grouping together and classifying words in their minds.

Another example is ‘number’ and ‘numerous’.

Or ‘psychic’ and ‘psychological’.

One option is to set your EAL learners the challenge of collecting as many words as they can that all share a similar root.

Alternatively, you could help your EAL learners to start building lists in their books, each of which focusses on a different word root.

The primary benefit here is that learners are thinking about words and identifying relationships.

The secondary benefit is that learners are engaging with English at a deeper level, allowing them to gain an understanding of some of the internal structures that underpin the language.

‘Word Relationships’ Example Two

Draw attention to homophones and homonyms.

Homophones are words that are spelt differently but pronounced the same, for example, ‘wood’ and ‘would’.

Homonyms are words that are spelt and pronounced the same but have different meanings.

For example, ‘fox’ (the animal) and ‘fox’ (to deceive or confuse someone).

By making these kinds of relationships clear, you can help your EAL learners develop a better understanding of the complexities of language and how individual words work.

This makes it easier for them to untangle meaning in ambiguous cases (be they spoken or written).

It also reveals some the arbitrary nature of many aspects of English.

No one ever sat down and decided it would be good idea for ‘wood’ and ‘would’ to sound the same. It’s simply happened because of language usage over time.

‘Word Relationships’ Example Three

Make a list of common suffixes and prefixes.

Place this on the wall of your classroom, or give a copy to your EAL learners, for them to use as a reference tool.

Spend some time talking to your EAL learners about the meaning of different suffixes and prefixes. What it is they do, and how they modify other words.

Find (or get learners to find) examples of suffixes and prefixes in action.

Supplement these with images.

For example, you and your EAL learner could create a sheet of verbs, all ending with ‘-ing’. Alongside these, you can have a series of illustrations.

The process of creating such a sheet sees your EAL learner focussing on the relationships between words and thinking about the patterns that connect certain words.

The result then acts as a self-scaffolding tool the learner can use repeatedly over time.