TKT: KAL Part 1 Lexis: Word formation – trainer’s notes

Description

Participants consider different types of word formation. They correct and improve on definitions of each type before testing each other’s understanding through a game. There is a TKT: KAL sample task practising this area for participants to take away.

Time required: 25 minutes

Materials required:

Participant’s Worksheet 1 (one copy per participant)

Participant’s Worksheet 2 (one copy per participant)

Sample Task (one copy per participant)

Slips of paper (3 per participant)

Aims: to raise awareness of the different types of word formation

to work towards a clear understanding of the different types of word formation

to practise a sample task from TKT: KAL

Procedure

1. Elicit briefly what participants understand by the term ‘word formation’. Point out that this is one of the areas which may be tested under Part 1 of TKT: KAL. Elicit some examples of any kinds of word formation.

2. Give out Participant’s Worksheet 1. Participants should match the different types of word formation with the examples in the boxes. When they have done this, they should check with a partner and then add 2 or more further examples to each box. Check answers and examples together as necessary (see Key below).

3. Give out Participant’s Worksheet 2. In pairs or small groups, participants correct the definitions for each type of word formation. Feed back answers (see Key below).

4. Give out slips of paper to each participant. Each participant writes an example of three of the categories on a separate slip of paper. They then mingle and when the music stops/ you clap hands, etc, they show one slip to another member of the group. The other member must say what kind of word formation the slip shows an example of. Repeat until all the slips have been shown.

5. Discuss the following questions with the group:

How might knowledge of word formation help the teacher in the classroom? (It could be useful for teachers to know these terms as it could help them to:

work with reference resources

understand cohesion in texts

help learners focus on word formation © UCLES 2009. This material may be photocopied (without alteration) and distributed for classroom use provided no charge is made. For further information see our Terms of Use at http://www.teachers.cambridgeESOL.org/ts/legalinfo

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design tasks on word formation.)

Would it be useful or not for teach learners the lexical terms used in this unit? (Participants may have differing views on this. Invite a range of opinions and arguments. TKT: KAL does not imply that the terms used in the test must be taught to students. Teachers should decide what is appropriate for their own students.)

6. Give out the Sample Task. Participants can complete this at home. They should spend no more than 8 minutes on this task.

Additional information

In the KAL exam, tasks may go across some of the areas listed in the syllabus or focus just on one area as here.

See the TKT: KAL Sample Paper questions 1–6 for an example task in which word formation is touched on. https://www.teachers.cambridgeesol.org/ts/teachingqualifications/kal

Spelling rules are covered in questions 7–13 of the same sample paper.

TKT: KAL is neither a test of terminology nor a test of methodology. However, the practical application of the knowledge tested in TKT: KAL will help to improve the practice of teaching.

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TKT: KAL Part 1 Lexis: Word formation – answer keys

Key to Participant’s Worksheet 1

1 F walked, walkabout

2 D CEO, UN, asap

3 E ‘y’ at the end of a word changes to ‘ies’ for plural/present tense 3rd person singular or ‘ied’ for past tense

The final ‘e’ of adjectives is not dropped when adding ‘ly’ for the adverb.

4 B im-, mis-, -able, mini-, multi-, -est, ‘s, -ian

*5 A big, -ing, pro, table, run, -ible, -ment

6 C airport, weekday, sofa bed, mobile phone, single-handed

*Note: morphemes include words like ‘break’, which can also be part of compounds such as breakfast, breakdown, etc

Key to Participant’s Worksheet 2 (corrections in bold or crossed out)

Compounds

These are words formed from two or more words, and the meaning of which comes from both words in the compound. Compounds can only be nouns, e.g. bookshelf, evening meal, adjectives, adverbs, verbs, prepositions.

Morphemes

These are the smallest possible units of meaning in a language. There are two kinds of morpheme – those which must be attached to another word, e.g. un-, and those which can stand alone, e.g. countable. The word handbags contains three morphemes.

Acronyms

A word formed from the first letters of several words and that is pronounceable as a normal word, e.g. JPEG or radar. Sometimes it is also used to refer to just a string of initials representing the first letter in a group of words but pronounced as letters rather than as a word, e.g. HTML.

Affixation

There are two kinds of affixation in English: prefixes and suffixes. Prefixes are attached to the beginning of a word, while suffixes are added at the end. Affixes can have a grammatical function, e.g. plural ‘s’ or the past tense ending ‘–ed’. They may also change a word’s part of speech, e.g. happy-happiness, careful- carefully. Often prefixes and suffixes also have particular meanings attached to them, e.g. un-/ il-/ ir-/ re- have a negative meaning when attached to an adjective.

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Word families

These are words which all come from the same base word, e.g. direct, direction, director, directing, undirected.

Spelling rules

These are rules which govern how words are written in English. They help particularly with knowing when to double letters and the spelling of adverbs. They can also guide the spelling of silent letters i.e. letters in a word which do not contribute to a word’s pronunciation, e.g. climb, knife, sign.

Key to Sample Task

1 D 2 A 3 B 4 C 5 E 6 A 7 B 8 C

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TKT: KAL Part 1 Lexis: Word formation – Participant’s Worksheet 1

1. Label these sets of words 1–6 with the kinds of word formation, A–F, they exemplify.

N.B. Some sets may exemplify more than one kind.

A: morphemes B: affixes C: compounds

D: acronyms E: spelling rules F: word families

1 walk, walking, walker

2 FAQ, EFL, ATM

3

“i before e except after c”

Double the consonant at the end of words if it is a single consonant in a single syllable word containing a short vowel.

5 -s il-

-ed break -tion sock

4

un- -ly re -ish dis -er

-ment

6 birthday, toothbrush, to catch sight (of)

2. Add at least two more examples to each box.

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TKT: KAL Part 1 Lexis: Word formation – Participant’s Worksheet 2

The following definitions of these terms for different types of word formation are all slightly wrong. Reword them so that they are exact.

Compounds

These are words formed from three or more words, and the meaning of which comes from the main word in the compound. Compounds can only be nouns, e.g. bookshelf, evening meal.

Morphemes

These are the smallest possible words in a language. There are two kinds of morpheme – those which must be attached to another word, e.g. un-, and those which can stand alone, e.g. countable. The word handbags contains two morphemes.

Acronyms

A word formed from the first and last letters of several words and that is pronounceable as a normal word, e.g. JPEG or radar. Sometimes it is also used to refer to just a string of initials representing the first letter in a group of words but pronounced as letters rather than as a word, e.g. HTML.

Affixation

There are two kinds of affixation in English: prefixes and infixes. Prefixes are attached to the beginning of a word, while suffixes are added in the middle. Affixes can have a grammatical function e.g. plural ‘s’ or the past tense ending ‘–ed’. They may also change a word’s lexical set, e.g. happy-happiness, careful-carefully. Often prefixes and suffixes also have particular meanings attached to them e.g. un-/ il-/ ir-/ re- have a negative meaning when attached to an adjective.

Word families

These are words which are all related by topic to a base word, e.g. direct, direction, director, directing, undirected.

Spelling rules

These are rules which govern how words are pronounced in English. They help particularly with knowing when to double letters and the spelling of adverbs. They can also guide the spelling of silent letters, i.e. letters in a word which do not contribute to a word’s pronunciation, e.g. climb, knife, sign. © UCLES 2009. This material may be photocopied (without alteration) and distributed for classroom use provided no charge is made. For further information see our Terms of Use at http://www.teachers.cambridgeESOL.org/ts/legalinfo

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TKT: KAL Part 1 Lexis: Word formation – Sample Task

A teacher is researching word formation in preparation for teaching aspects of it to a class.

For questions 1 – 8, match the examples with the types of word formation listed A – E. You will need to use some of the options more than once.

Types of word formation Examples

A compound words 1. AWOL, PIN

B words with affixes 2. onto, in order to

C morphemes 3. teacher, receptionist

D acronyms 4. can, not, -ing

E word families 5. satisfy, satisfaction, dissatisfied

6. barman, headmaster

7. unfortunately, mispronunciation

8. un-, will, -ly