Language structures include several concepts. Syntax is the way in which words are placed in sentences, and includes nouns, verbs, adjectives, and function words that connect and hold the sentence together (Foorman et al., 2016). Awareness of syntax patterns helps people understand the text. Semantics is awareness of word meanings and their use in context (Ricketts et al., 2016). Related to semantics, morphology is the study of the smallest unit of meaning in a word. Furthermore, morphological awareness is the ability to identify and manipulate morphemes including affixes (i.e., both prefixes and suffixes). Morphemes that cannot stand by themselves are bound morphemes. Conversely, derivational morphemes change base words through modifying their meaning and/or word class. For example, fair to unfair or teach to teacher are examples of derivational morphemes (Dilgard et al., 2022).
Literacy Engagement Action Project