TRT Podcast #192: Structured Word Inquiry – with Dr. Pete Bowers
Dr. Pete Bowers explains “structured word inquiry,” an exciting type of instruction that engages learners of all ages in making sense of our (surprise!) logical spelling system. In this episode, Dr. Bowers shares the research behind morphology, explains why words typically called “irregular” are usually not, and advocates for morphology instruction even with our youngest readers.
Listen to the episode here
Full episode transcript
Images courtesy of Dr. Bowers
Resources mentioned in this episode (in order of mention)
- Article: Bowers, P.N. & Kirby, J.R. (2010) Effects of Morphological instruction on Vocabulary Acquisition, Reading and Writing: An Interdisciplinary Journal, 23, 515–537.
- Website: Real Spelling Toolbox
- Article: Devonshire, V., Morris, P., & Fluck, M. (2013). Spelling and reading development: The effect of teaching children multiple levels of representation in their orthography. Learning and Instruction, 25, 85-94.
- Article: Ng, M. M., Bowers, P. N., & Bowers, J. S. (2022). A promising new tool for literacy instruction: The morphological matrix. Plos one, 17(1), e0262260.
- Article: Goodwin, A. P., & Ahn, S. (2013). A meta-analysis of morphological interventions in English: Effects on literacy outcomes for school-age children. Scientific Studies of reading, 17(4), 257-285.
- Article: Goodwin, A. P., & Ahn, S. (2010). A meta-analysis of morphological interventions: Effects on literacy achievement of children with literacy difficulties. Annals of dyslexia, 60(2), 183-208.
- Article: Galuschka, K., Görgen, R., Kalmar, J., Haberstroh, S., Schmalz, X., & Schulte-Körne, G. (2020). Effectiveness of spelling interventions for learners with dyslexia: A meta-analysis and systematic review. Educational Psychologist, 55(1), 1-20.
- Article: Chomsky, C. (1970). Reading, writing, and phonology. Harvard Educational Review, 40 (2), 287–309.
- Article re: Active View of Reading: Duke, N. K., & Cartwright, K. B. (2021). The science of reading progresses: Communicating advances beyond the simple view of reading. Reading Research Quarterly, 56, S25-S44.
- Article re: Morphological Pathways Framework: Levesque, K. C., Breadmore, H. L., & Deacon, S. H. (2021). How morphology impacts reading and spelling: Advancing the role of morphology in models of literacy development. Journal of Research in Reading, 44(1), 10-26.
- Article: Share, D. L. (2023). Blueprint for a universal theory of learning to read: The Combinatorial Model. Society for the Scientific Study of Reading Conference.
Chicago - Article: Share, D. L. (2021). Is the science of reading just the science of reading English?. Reading Research Quarterly, 56, S391-S402.
- Video: Pete Bowers teaching “does”
- Chapter in a book: Perfetti, C. A., & Hart, L. (2002). The lexical quality hypothesis. Precursors of functional literacy, 11, 67-86.
- Book: The American Way of Spelling, by Richard L. Venezky
- Pete Bowers’ book: Teaching How the Written Word Works
- Facebook group: Learning How Words Work with Structured Word Inquiry ( SWI )
- Facebook page: SWIRV: Structured Word Inquiry Research Vanguard
- Book: Beneath the Surface of Words, by Sue Scibetta Hegland
- Website: WordWorks Kingston
- Web page: The High Frequency Word Project
- Website: Rebecca Loveless’ Illuminate Words
- Website: Fiona Hamilton’s Wordtorque
- Book: Reader, Come Home, by Maryanne Wolfe
- Article: de Jong, T., Lazonder, A. W., Chinn, C. A., Fischer, F., Gobert, J., Hmelo-Silver, C. E., … & Zacharia, Z. C. (2023). Let’s talk evidence–The case for combining inquiry-based and direct instruction. Educational Research Review, 39, 100536.
Other helpful resources
- Video: Spelling-Out Orthography in SWI to build graphemic and morphological knowledge
- Video: Make Spelling Joyful through Scientific Inquiry: Pete Bower’s TEDxYouth talk
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Lavinia Andrew
Hi, I am working with children in upper primary and plan on using morphology as part of my spelling program. Is using syllables recommended at all? It’s a regular part of my spelling lesson where I get the children to break their words into syllables but is there any point in using their time to do this if I use a morphologic approach? Or can you point me in the direction of where I could find out please?
I really enjoyed this pod! I learnt so much and will be implementing word sums and using morphological matrixes as part of my teaching. Thank you so much!
Anna Geiger
Great question, Lavinia! Some people feel strongly that teaching the six most common syllable types is the way to go. Others feel that we should avoid them completely and focus only on morphology. Others teach a more hybrid approach. Some words lend themselves to syllables and others more obviously to morphology. If this sounds tricky, you’re right – it is!
It can be helpful when spelling to have students tap the syllables and spell each syllable. You could then have them circle the morphemes, noting how morphemes and syllables can overlap. This would NOT be something supported by the SWI (structured word inquiry) approach, but it makes sense to me personally – at least according to my current knowledge.
What do you think?