DEVELOPMENT OF MORPHOLOGICAL AWARENESS IN ELEMENTARY EDUCATION:

THE PRACTICE OF SPELLING AS A PEDAGOGICAL TOOL

Abstract

The ability to learn a language refers to a natural faculty of language, shaped, among other elements, by linguistic intuition, which enables learners to acquire a language in all its complexity (Chomsky, 1998, 2015). Speakers' intuition regarding their own language needs to be made explicit, and with this goal in mind, studies on morphological awareness have expanded (Mota & Silva, 2007; Guimarães & Mota, 2018). Morphological awareness refers to the ability to reflect on and manipulate the smallest units of meaning in words, the morphemes (Mota; Silva, 2007). The development of this awareness, as a metalinguistic skill, is crucial for mastering writing, as it aids in identifying morphological patterns in different linguistic contexts (Guimarães; Mota, 2018). In the post-pandemic context, as teachers of upper elementary school students, we observed a more pronounced difficulty among students in standardizing orthographic conventions. In response, we developed a project called “Soletring”, which involved the practice of spelling words—some of which were in English (hence the “-ing” suffix), as it was an interdisciplinary project. Spelling was not used as a mechanical or isolated technique; rather, we aimed to foster a metacognitive skill in students—for instance, they were allowed to write the word on a board before spelling it out. Our goal was for students to identify and apply morphological patterns, understanding that recognizing meaning units is essential for dealing with the orthographic irregularities of Portuguese (Mota; Silva, 2007; Mota, 2009; Guimarãe; Mota, 2018).