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Phonology is the study of the sounds within a language.

The individual sounds are called "phonemes" and are the building blocks for words. When learning a language, phonology is important for ELLs as they will need it in order to be able to decode words which will help with reading and writing. The phonology of the L2 can also be accompanied by transference of their L1. This makes decoding with phonology easier as they can use similar sound-symbol relations between languages (Shanahan, 2017).

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Hickey, P. J., & Lewis, T. (2013). The Common Core, English learners, and morphology 101: Unpacking LS.4 for ELLs. Language and Literacy Spectrum, 23, 69–84. https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1005288.pdf

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1. I'm thinking of... This game is similar to "eye spy" but with sounds. You describe the word by giving hints for the beginning, middle, and end sounds (Starke, 2020). This challenges students to think about the sounds they're hearing but also the sounds of other words that are used as hints. As student vocabulary and confidence grows, the words can become more complex and definitions used as hints.

2. Sound Bingo using words that sound similar, such as 'pat' and 'bat', students listen and work to identify the word on their bingo card. Visual aids can be used with the words and the game can progressively get harder where students explain the difference in the words and the meaning of them.

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Morphology is the study of the smallest units within a language that hold meaning (Hickey & Lewis, 2013).

This is important for ELL students because as they learn new vocabulary or read unfamiliar words, they can identify the morphemes they know to help determine the meaning of a word. This can be coupled with any cognates in their L1 to help support understanding the meaning of new words. Morphological awareness can also take small words and build upon them to help create larger words, for example, plurals or words with prefixes and suffixes.

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1. Matching Morphemes using cards that have different prefixes, roots, and suffixes, students work to combine the pieces in order to make a real word. That can be made easier or more challenging by changing the amount of components such as roots and prefixes only, all 3 or multi-syllabic words. Once a word is created, students can then be challenged to define the word and use it in a sentence.

2. Sight word catch can be played by having the dolch words for the grade written on index cards. Laying out a few at a time, more will make it more challenging. The leader with say one of the sight words on the table and the students have to identify the words. When the leader says go they can point to the word. This will challenge ELLS to read and recognize various words that can be found in various contexts. This will also support fluency, word solving and writing skills (Linguistics for Teachers of ELLs, n.d.).

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3. Change it! Working on developing phoneme manipulation, in a small group setting students can take turns passing around a word and changing one sound at a time to create a new word. This can become more challenging by having the last student use the word in a sentence.

4. Clap and tap Students will use one or two syllable words and clap or tap out the syllables they hear. These words can be accompanied with images but eventually content words and multisyllabic words can be used. This helps build awareness of sounds and syllables within words.

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Linguistics for Teachers of ELLs. (n.d.). Morphology in the classroom. https://linguisticsforteachersofells.weebly.com/morphology-in-the-classroom.html

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3. Word Trees is where students start off identifying one morpheme and then add different affixes to it to change the word (Hickey & Lewis, 2013). For example, act -->action--> active--> react. This helps to encourage students to identify the morphemes they know within words to determine the meaning of it. This can become more challenging by looking for multisyllabic words.

4. Root Jeopardy can be used as a review game after students have learned different morphological families. Students will be given a root word and challenged to come up with 3-5 words using that word (Hickey & Lewis, 2013). To increase the difficulty, they can provide definitions and sentences to go with each one. Another challenge would be to provide the word and students have to match or provide the definition to go with based on their identification of the morphemes.

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Families can walk around the house or neighborhood looking for objects that rhyme with the starting word. After finding 2-3 things, decide on a new starting word. For example, starting word is "clock", you may wander around the house and find a "sock" or a "block". As an added challenge, the rhyming words can be written down and/or drawn out to see they written pattern that forms. This works to boost vocabulary and phonemic awareness/manipulation.

This page explains the importance of phonemes. It also had ideas on other ways to focus on identifying phonemes.

https://www.readingrockets.org/topics/phonological-and-phonemic-awareness/articles/tips-teaching-your-child-about-phonemes

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You are welcome to print copies or republish materials for non-commercial use as long as credit is given to Reading Rockets and the author(s). For commercial use, please contact [email protected].

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Tips for Teaching Your Child About Phonemes

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Discover simple at-home activities you can use to help your child understand the connection between the letters of the alphabet and the sound associated with each letter.

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Read and search is an activity where students can read a book at home with their family. When they come across a challenging word, they write it down and search for the morphemes within it to help not only read the word but determine the meaning. This can be done with any level of reading, and as the books get harder they can become exposed to more challenging words.

This page talks about how you can use morphology at home and teach new words using words they already know.

https://www.colorincolorado.org/article/use-words-teach-words

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Students who comprehend the most from their reading are those who know a lot about words. These students know about word prefixes, suffixes, word roots, and multiple meanings of words. This knowledge expands their vocabulary, which helps when they encounter new words during reading. As students reach the upper elementary grades and the reading becomes more complex, word knowledge becomes even more important.

Families can help develop word knowledge through simple conversations focused on words. For example:

Start at the root

Begin with a simple root word, such as push. Ask your child to come up with words they know that contain that word, such as pushing, pushed, pushover, push-up. Talk about how all these words have some shared meaning related to the word push.

Multiple meanings

Many words have more than one meaning. While sitting at the dinner table, choose a word and brainstorm as many meanings and uses for the word as you can think of. Some words to start with: spring, frame, check, light.

Consider the prefix

Numeric prefixes like bi- and tri- are a part of many words kids know and use. Discuss words like tricycle, tricep, triangle. All these words share the prefix tri-, which means three. Can they develop a list of words that begin with the prefix bi- (like bicycle and binoculars)? This gives you a great chance to introduce new words, like bicentennial, bicep, and biped. You can generate similar word lists with the numeric prefixes uni, octo, and cent.

Word learning and vocabulary growth takes time and patience. Don't expect your child to learn each new word after one conversation. True word learning happens after being exposed to words several times. We all learn about words throughout our lifetime. You're getting your child off to a great start by developing an early interest in words.

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Subscribe to Growing Readers! Have Growing Readers delivered each month right to your inbox! (In English & Spanish) Sign up here > Students who comprehend the most from their reading are those who know a lot about words. These students know about word prefixes, suffixes, word roots, and multiple meanings of words.

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Shanahan, T. (2017, July 15). Phonics for English learners? Shanahan on Literacy. https://www.shanahanonliteracy.com/blog/phonics-for-english-learners

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Starke, K. (2020, July 24). Phonological awareness in the classroom. TeachHUB. https://www.teachhub.com/teaching-strategies/2020/07/phonological-awareness-in-the-classroom/

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Syntax is the formation of sentences associated with grammar rules.

Syntax helps develop meaning through word order, structure and punctuation (Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, n.d.). This is important to learn, especially for ELL students as different languages can have different syntax. Understanding this can help to clarify the meaning of words and sentences to increase comprehension.

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1. Sentence Analysis is where students are given a piece of a rich text to analyze. Depending on the ability of the student this piece can be more or less challenging. The level of questioning can change with this too. Questions can range from simple identification of components within a sentence such as who, what when, where, etc. This can progress to identifying connectives where words or phrases connect to earlier used words or phrases (Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, n.d.). This can help to clarify meaning and intention with sentences.

2. Fill in the blanks is an activity where students are given a passage that has some of the words missing and they need identify a word that can fit and make sense. This can help them to focus on different aspects of syntax and vocabulary. The types of words can become increasingly difficult as students progress. When starting out students can reference a word bank to help support their thinking.

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3. Sentence Scramble - students take pieces of a sentence and rearrange them to make a grammatically correct sentence. Lower students can have images or pictures to support them but higher level students can be challenged withe more complex sentence that include prepositions, conjunctions, and new vocabulary words.

4. Sentence Addition - starting off with a simple sentence, students must add on to the sentences using details such as adjectives, phrases, and clauses. As students progress in ability they can be challenged to use more academic vocabulary or create sentences in different tones or tenses.

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Semantics is the study of meaning in language and how it is used to represents ideas and concepts.

This is important for ELLs to learn and understand as a phrase can have different meanings based on the context it is used in (Linguistics for Teachers of ELLs, n.d.-b). Things that are commonly used in languages and cultures, such as idioms and metaphors, rely on context for understanding. When reading for comprehension, semantics may be needed to understand events and overall message within stories.

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1. Language Detectives encourages students to look closer at words. Specifically, they can look for cognates between their L1 and L2. This, and the origins or roots of words, can be used to help break down and understand the meaning (Linguistics for Teachers of ELLs, n.d.-b). As students progress in their abilities more complex and academic words can be used for this activity.

2. Word Map (semantic maps) helps students to create a visual that relays the meaning and connections of words or phrases (Zorfass, Gray, & PowerUp WHAT WORKS, n.d.). Students identify a word in the text they do not know and work to identify context clues to determine the meaning. They use a variety of resources such as dictionaries, images, and context clues to help. This aligns with various CCSS that ask students to apply, determine, or demonstrate their knowledge of language using context.

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3. Odd One Out is where students identify what word does not belong with the others. This requires students to use context in order to determine what the relationship among words is. For beginning ELLs this can be real objects and simple groups. As students progress, the vocabulary and groups become more challenging and can require students to be able to voice or explain their rationale.

4. Context Hunt is where students are given a text to read that has a number of vocabulary words underlined. They then need to highlight various context clues that help to determine the meaning of each vocabulary word. This can range from simple sentences and visuals to academic vocabulary and figurative language.

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Synonym Scavenger Hunt is where students are given a few describing words and have to go find different items that fit that description. For example, a blanket can fit a variety of words such as soft, fluffy, cozy or smooth but those same words could be used to describe something completely different. This helps students to build vocabulary in a real-world context. They can start with simple, everyday words but expand to explaining why the words or objects fit and provide other synonyms to describe it.

This site provides a variety of already created semantic practice activities that can be used to develop student vocabulary.

https://www.twinkl.com/resources/speech-language-and-communication-areas-of-need-primary-send-inclusion-teaching-resources/expressive-language-salt-inclusion-key-stage-1-year-1-year-2/colourful-semantics-speech-and-communication-salt-inclusion-teaching-resources

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Colourful Semantics Resources - SALT Inclusion - Twinkl

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Using our Colourful Semantics resources, you can help children to become more confident and independent in forming and structuring sentences.

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Cartoon Creation is where students find different pictures in magazines and newspapers to cut out and glue in order. They use these images to create a story using sentences, speech bubbles, etc. This can be made more challenging by giving the student a prompt for their creation. The family member can follow this up by talking about the cartoon and asking questions that encourage the student to provide more detail.

This link can provide further explanation and ideas for Syntax support at home.

https://www.handyhandouts.com/viewHandout.aspx?hh_number=233&nfp_title=Teaching+the+Fundamentals+of+Grammar+and+Syntax+at+Home

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by Becky L. Spivey, M.Ed.

The formation of language begins at birth. A baby's cries communicate the need for help and attention. The baby responds to a parent's touch by calming down. Later, the baby begins to produce sounds that name or request familiar objects or family members; ba ba (bottle), ma ma (mother), da da (father), pop pop (pacifier). We don't think of this immersion of language as the beginning of developing grammar and syntax, but it is. Children are "speaking" and someone is responding appropriately! As a child's language develops, parents can help children understand how to use their language more effectively through their own use of appropriate (classes of words, their forms, and functions) and (the arrangement of words and how we put them together for a specific meaning). Some children with speech and language difficulties have problems understanding, pronouncing, and using even the simplest and smallest units of a word (-ed, - ing, -s). Therefore, their sentences may present as immature and sometimes illogical.

Children begin to realize that the more words they hear and repeat, the more their world is expanding. As early as two years of age, children are attempting to use prepositions, nouns, pronouns, and verbs together; "Me up mama," "want my ba," "you go dada." The more words children use, the more they experience. Even though children put together crazy sentences (that may make sense to a parent) or questions that are cute and comical, parents should always respond to their child's communication attempts with correct grammar and syntax. Responding to your children with baby talk when they are trying to communicate with you teaches them that this type of talk is correct and appropriate.

Syntax is how we order the words in a sentence to produce a certain meaning. Grammar refers to using the correct word forms in sentences.

Children with speech and language difficulties often:

Use words in the wrong order (their sentences don't make sense or are misleading).

Struggle to use pronouns correctly (identifies self as 'she,' 'her,' or 'me' when 'I' is correct).

Cannot grasp how to use word endings (-ed, -ing, -s) correctly.

Do not understand how to connect sentences or thoughts using conjunctions (and, but, or, yet).

Do not understand verb tenses (past, present, future).

Need practical experiences to understand some concepts.

Need to use concrete material to understand plurals (one doll, two dolls).

Here are some strategies to use with children at home to help improve their use of grammar and syntax.

Use correct grammar and syntax when speaking or responding to your child.
Don't focus on correcting your child. For example, if your child says, "Her hitted me!" you should respond, "Did she hit you?" Always respond as an adult. Don't use baby talk.

Cut pictures of everyday items from magazines, paste them on cards, and have the child give a sentence verbally describing the object to the other players for them to guess the item. ("It has icing you can eat and candles that tell how old you are.")

Cut simple scenes from magazines and glue them on cards.

Give the child open-ended prompts, and have the child complete your prompts verbally or write sentences. ( Picture of dog playing catch with his owner -"What is/was the dog/owner doing?" "The dog is/was/will..., His owner is/was..., The ball is/was..."-this gives the child opportunities to use the correct form/forms of the verbs.)

Cut out cartoon frames from newspaper comics and glue them to cards.
Add a cartoon speech bubble to the cards and have the child write what the character(s) is saying, or have him/her tell you verbally. Ask questions about the cartoon that prompt the child to use different forms of the verb. "What do you think he is saying? What was he saying? What do you think he will say? Where are they going? Where have they been? Where are they?" Write words on note cards - Sentence Scramble. Pick words that make a complete sentence/question and scramble them (include the punctuation mark). Have your child organize the words into a sentence/question that makes sense.

Use closed sentences like "Mad Libs®" for practice using correct word forms.
These kinds of activities are great for practice with verbs, adjectives, and adverbs.

Use everyday objects around the house to teach plurals.
"I have a spoon. You have two ."

Even before children learn to read and write, they can learn to use correct grammar and syntax. Having a grasp of grammar and syntax will help your child with reading comprehension and writing competence.

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Handy Handout #233: Teaching the Fundamentals of Grammar and Syntax at Home

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by Becky L. Spivey, M.Ed. The formation of language begins at birth. A baby's cries communicate the need for help and attention. The baby responds to a parent's touch by calming down. Later, the baby begins to produce sounds that name or request familiar objects or family members; ba ba (bottle), ma ma (mother), da da (father), pop pop (pacifier).

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Pragmatics is the appropriate use of language in social contexts (Beltrán-Planques & Querol-Julián, 2018).

This is important for ELLs to learn in order to communicate effectively in different settings such as social and academic. Pragmatic skills will help ELLs to fully participate in classroom discussions and build relationships with peers. It will help them to interpret complex texts and situations to determine an appropriate response.

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1. Sentence frames can be used to support ELLs as they develop an understanding for pragmatics as it helps them learn how to communicate their idea (Linguistics for Teachers of ELLs, n.d.-a). As students progress, the sentence frame can become more and more open allowing the student the opportunity to express their understanding while still having support. Eventually, the goal will be to remove the sentence frames altogether.

2. Describe it can be similar to activities done at the beginning of the school year to help define routines. Doing this often will serve as a reminder for all students but help to develop the pragmatics for ELLs. This is where students are asked to explain rules and routines. For example, asking "what does active listening look like? sound like?" This can be supported with an anchor chart to showcase student ideas and contributions. This should include images and phrases to support ELLs at all levels.

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3. Model the response is where students and teachers discuss responses to a situation to determine the context and if the response was appropriate. For example, you may ask the student if the response was questioning or rude when someone goes up to a teacher and says "You don't like me. Everyone else got an A except me!" This can be followed up by a discussion of what a better, more appropriate response would be. This can be used for a variety of social situations and context. With beginning ELLs this may be done better with teacher support or options to pick from. As they progress, you can remove the options and allow students to determine their own identification of responses.

4. Journal reflection can be used to have students reflect on situations that happened to them, or situations given as an example. They can describe what happened, how they felt, what was said, etc. This can also be used a social-emotional activity for students. Beginning ELLs can benefit from sentence frames that are supported with drawings. As they progress, their reflections become more detailed and include alternative ways they could have responded to the situation.

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Role-play situations with students can help to develop pragmatics at home. This can be situations outside of school like greeting a neighbor or ones at school such as asking a teacher for help. These help a student understand the different situations and responses or approaches that are appropriate for each context. As students develop in their abilities they can focus on adjusting or changing different aspects of the interactions such as tone, body language, and social cues. They can also begin to work with more challenging situations that may need them to adjust their language use.

This website offers different ideas and situations for families to work on at home in order to support pragmatics development. It also offers ideas of pragmatic pieces to point out to students or work on understanding.

https://globalspeechtherapy.com/teaching-pragmatic-language-skills-at-home-7-ideas-for-busy-parents/

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Children really do say the darndest things! But sometimes these things can be disruptive or embarrassing for parents. Children who have difficulty with pragmatic language skills can cause disruption without even realizing what they are doing.

What are pragmatic language skills? This refers to the use and understanding of language in social interactions, such as:
👄 Conversational turn-taking
👉 Staying on topic
🤫 Not interrupting others
👀 Using appropriate eye contact
🤷🏼‍♀️ Clarifying answers when the listener isn't following
🤣 Using humor appropriately
👋🏽 Using and understanding body language

What can parents do at home to teach pragmatic language skills? Here are 7 ideas for busy parents.

Have children brainstorm possible problems for their age group related to their day, such as problems that may arise during play dates, school, or with siblings.

Since children are experiencing this firsthand, they will have a lot of insight. This is a great opportunity to learn more about what children are facing each day and what worries them (or doesn't worry them at all).

2. Brainstorm Solutions

Using the problems that were previously brainstormed, have children brainstorm as many ways as possible to solve a problem before choosing the best alternative. Talk about the consequences of each solution from each person's perspective and whose responsibility it is to solve the problem.

Let the children throw out all their ideas and talk through each one. Some may be completely silly (ex. like offering $1 million to someone) or inappropriate. Let the creativity flow and take advantage of these teachable moments.

When children attempt to collaborate to resolve a conflict in a mutually satisfactory way, reinforce this behavior. Discuss what the problem was, the appropriate solution they came up with, and how that solution makes you proud or happy.

What are social stories? Social stories are short stories that explain what to expect, emotions, personal space, and problem-solving. Depending on the age of the children, they can be picture-based, word-based, or a combination.

Social stories address an array of problems that may arise such as an upcoming fire drill, how to solve conflicts in the classroom, what to do if there is a substitute, or other scenarios. Get the whole class involved by having them write social stories together. Have them take pictures (or draw pictures), write sentences to describe a scenario, and develop a solution.

For more information on social stories, check out: CarolGraySocialStories.Com

Every day, there are situations that arise that can lead to emotional breakdowns, classroom management issues, or are just overwhelming. Before these situations occur, give the children a heads up and talk through the steps.

Be sure to discuss steps from start to finish, even the ones that are routine. It's helpful to let children know what to expect first, second, and so on. Also, discuss things that may come up and what to do if things don't go as planned. For example, forgetting lunch or looking for a seat at the lunch table.

When possible, have children work in small groups for schoolwork or projects. This helps encourage interaction and language in a variety of activities. Before beginning group work, review rules and social etiquette for class

Most children use some form of social media, allowing them to communicate with others but also exposing them to risks. As much as possible, discuss etiquette for using social media with students, specifically talking to and about each other online. Incorporate social media posts into assignments and discuss what is appropriate and what is not.

[us_btn label="Problem-Solving Scenarios" link="url:https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Problem-Solving-Scenarios-BUNDLE-7680975|target:_blank" align="center"]

Problem-solving Flashcards

For a time-saving activity, check out this Powerpoint deck that contains problem-solving scenarios for everyday, COVID, and holiday scenarios. Each card prompts students to state the problem, impact on self or others, and generate solutions.

For ideas to teach pragmatic language skills in the classroom, check out my blog Pragmatic Language Skills in the Classroom

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Teaching Pragmatic Language Skills at Home - Global Speech Therapy

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Children who have difficulty with pragmatic language skills can be disruptive without realizing what they are doing.

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1. Fors, A. (n.d.). Language components and development. Allison Fors – Speech Therapy. Retrieved May 13, 2025, from https://allisonfors.com/language-components-and-development/

2. Giovanelli, M. (2014). Teaching grammar, structure and meaning: Exploring theory and practice for post-16 English language teachers (1st ed.). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315762029

3. Lessard-Clouston, M. (n.d.). Focusing on form: A teacher’s research update on form-focused instruction. CALR Journal, 1, 1–14. https://web.aou.edu.lb/research/Documents/Focusing%20on%20form.pdf

4. Putri Utami, N. (2023). The role of linguistic in English language teaching. In Proceedings of the Conference on English Language Teaching (pp. 544–551). https://proceedings.uinsaizu.ac.id/index.php/celti/article/view/531

5. Teaching Grammar in Context. (2019, May 1). YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XERPdwe0HHQ

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Beltrán-Planques, V., & Querol-Julián, M. (2018). English language learners’ spoken interaction: What a multimodal perspective reveals about pragmatic competence. System, 77, 80–90. doi:10.1016/j.system.2018.01.008

Linguistics for Teachers of ELLs. (n.d.-a). Pragmatics in the classroom. https://linguisticsforteachersofells.weebly.com/pragmatics-in-the-classroom.html

Linguistics for Teachers of ELLs. (n.d.-b). Semantics in the classroom. https://linguisticsforteachersofells.weebly.com/semantics-in-the-classroom.html

Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education. (n.d.). Syntax. Mass Literacy. https://www.doe.mass.edu/massliteracy/skilled-reading/language-comprehend/syntax.html

Zorfass, J., Gray, T., & PowerUp WHAT WORKS. (n.d.). Connecting word meanings through semantic mapping. Reading Rockets. https://www.readingrockets.org/topics/vocabulary/articles/connecting-word-meanings-through-semantic-mappingReading