Language Essentials for Teachers

By Louisa Cook Moats, Ed.D.

Why study language? Because learning the basics of language helps you understand your students' needs and to teach reading, spelling, and writing explicitly and systematically. In this thorough and well-written book, you'll

• understand the organization of written and spoken English
• discover the connection between language structure and how individuals learn to read
• find helpful chapter exercises and self-tests to ensure you master the language skills presented
• get examples of students' writing to help you interpret children's mistakes
• encounter sample lesson plans and adaptations that apply the concepts of language you are learning

All of this will enable you to recognize, understand, and solve the problems individuals with or without disabilities may encounter when learning to read and write.

Now Available! The Speech to Print Workbook: Language Exercises for Teachers

Now instructors who use Speech to Print in teacher education courses have a companion workbook for their students. Containing all the exercises in Speech to Print, this engaging, interactive workbook gives teachers a wide variety of exercises, including fill-in-the-blanks, multiple choice, matching activities, and translation. As they work through the book, they'll expand their own language of the building blocks of language, learn to recognize and understand the problems with language children may encounter, and discover strategies for teaching children crucial reading, writing, speaking, and listening skills.

Appropriate Courses

• Reading Psychology
  
  
• Language Arts / Writing Methods
  
  
• Reading Instruction
  
  
• Understanding Reading Disabilities
  
  
• Reading, Spelling, and Language
  
  
• Emergent Literacy
  
  
• Reading Methods and Strategies

1. Why Study Language?
   
   
   • What Is Language?
   • Literacy Is the Most Important Goal of Schooling
   • Skillful Teaching Prevents Most Reading Problems
   • Teaching Reading Is Complex and Challenging
   • New Research About Language and Reading
   • How Reading and Spelling Develop
   • Principles of Effective Teaching of Reading, Spelling, and Writing
   • Brief Survey of Language Knowledge
   • Comprehensive Survey of Language Knowledge
     
     
2. Phonetics
   • Speech Sounds Are Elusive
   • Phoneme Counting
   • Speech Sound Identification
   • Phonetic Transcription
   • Summary
   • Supplementary Exercises
     
     
3. Phonology
   • The Phoneme Is a Psychological Abstraction
   • Phonemes and Minimal Pairs
   • Phonetic Variation
   • Allophones
   • Systematic Variation in Speech Sound Production
   • Sequences, Syllables, and Stress
   • Summary
   • Supplementary Exercises
     
     
4. Morphology
   • Morphemes: The Smallest Meaningful Units
   • Individual Differences in Use of Derivational Morphology
   • Derivational Morphology: Intervention
   • Supplementary Exercises
     
     
5. The Structure of English Orthography
   • A Brief History of Writing
   • The Nature of English Orthography
   • Historical Layers in English Orthography
   • Sound-Symbol Correspondences in American English: How They Work
   • Orthographic Conventions
   • Summary
   • Supplementary Exercises
     
     
6. Semantics
   • Varieties of Word Meaning
   • Phrase and Sentence Meaning
   • Pragmatics: Making Sense in Context
   • Reference in Discourse
   • Teaching Vocabulary and Other Aspects of Meaning
   • Summary
   • Supplementary Exercises
     
     
7. Syntax
   • Correct or Incorrect Syntax?
   • Natural Knowledge of Syntax
   • Generative Grammar
   • Phrase Structure
   • Summary
   • Supplementary Exercises
     
     
8. Language and Instruction
   • The Emergent Reader
   • Principles for Teaching Decoding Well
   • Summary: The Power of Instruction

References

1. Case Studies
2. Sample Lesson Plans
3. Additional Examples of Orthographic Patterns in English
4. Syllable Review and Self-Evaluation
5. 100 Words Commonly Used in Writing
6. Developmental Spelling Inventories
7. Answer Key
8. Glossary