Morphological Awareness and Its Importance in the EFL Classroom
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Abstract
Core linguistics covers the areas of phonetics, phonology, morphology, and syntax. It is not unusual for university English language lecturers, high school English language teachers, or English as a Foreign Language (EFL) teachers to fear linguistics subjects such as phonetics or grammar. Regardless of such fears, morphology is one area that EFL teachers might consider embracing. Morphology deals with the structure of words and lexical properties of language or vocabulary. EFL teachers and language researchers have traditionally put significant importance on the teaching of vocabulary; however, some vocabulary teaching methods have had mixed results. The authors’ aim in this article is to highlight the benefits for EFL teachers in having morphological awareness, or a working knowledge of morphology, and encourage EFL teachers to use this knowledge effectively with their learners. The authors of this article point out that EFL teachers can use their morphological awareness not only to explain vocabulary but also to explain spelling patterns and grammatical word forms in lessons involving reading, writing, or speaking. The authors’ primary goal is to persuade EFL teachers to expand their morphological awareness to pursue a form-focused instruction that emphasizes the importance of the analysis of prefixes, roots and suffixes in English language lessons, particularly vocabulary lessons. In addition, the authors hope that EFL teachers will apply their morphological awareness to help improve EFL learners’ English pronunciation. After providing a background of the field of morphology, a definition of morphology, anxiety issues among teachers, and the term morphological awareness, the authors focus on five factors involving the study of morphology that can benefit EFL teachers: (1) how teachers’ morphological awareness increases the speed of lexical acquisition for learners, (2) how it improves learners’ pronunciation, (3) how it improves learners’ awareness of spelling patterns, (4) how recognition of cognates stimulates learning of vocabulary for learners, and (5) how morphological awareness enhances literature studies for learners.
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