Running head: TEACH WORD FAMILIES

Using Graphic Representations to Teach Word Families

Roxana Shirazi
American College of Education

Using Graphic Representations to Teach Word Families

Using Graphic Representations to Teach Word Families

Ive always rejected the notion that language learning should be the rote memorization of
vocabulary and grammar rules. Of course, memorization is an important aspect of learning as
required by the presence of irregular verbs and varied vocabulary. The key is to facilitate
retrieval once a language component has been relegated to memory. Introducing students to
cognates is a novel way to engage students with language. Teaching cognates shows that mere
memorization can be replaced with emerging patterns. We can show students that they are not
just passive recipients of language being taught at them, rather, they are active agents of learning.
Indeed, I had a very positive response when I taught cognates to my students. Moreover, when I
conducted a comprehension check, I found that my students were able to recall and identify
cognate words faster, with a higher accuracy rate, than non-cognate words.
Uzun and Salihogly (2009) conducted a study where, out of a corpus of 80,000 TurkishEnglish words, 2411 were cognates. Specifically, they found that 1287 EnglishTurkish
cognates and 1124 false cognates, 96 of which share at least one sense of meaning in each
language, and thus are partial false cognates (p. 584). Cognates urge students to dissect a word
and produce intelligent guesses. Teaching cognates has allowed ample opportunity for spelling
and pronunciation practice and has piqued students interest in reading. I plan to have students
identify cognates in texts as a new way to engage in reading comprehension. As found by Solak
and Cakir (2012), transfer between cognates occurs mostly with closely related languages and
in learners with a good level of reading proficiency, cognitive flexibility and metalinguistic
awareness (p. 433). Although my students and I still have a long way to go with a limited
reservoir of Turkish-English cognates, I know that, overall, students responded positively to
creating visual representations of new vocabulary, grammar, and syntax.
Cognates and false cognates will be taught in separate lessons and each lesson will have
an accompanying PowerPoint, as attached. In teaching cognates, I have two aims, the first is to

Using Graphic Representations to Teach Word Families

teach students how to monitor for patterns and the second is to teach them how to extract
meaning from context. These skills and abilities can be used in listening, reading, and writing.
During the first cognate lesson, I encourage students to actively listen and compare the Turkish
cognates and the English cognates. Following the PowerPoint presentation, students will have
the opportunity to create a cognate burger. The top bun is the English cognate, the bottom bun
is the Turkish cognate and the middle burger patty with feature a sentence using the cognate.
Please see the example below:

We will do a reading where students identify cognates in a group and work to make
sentences. I will monitor and check to make sure the correct grammar is being used. Once they
have constructed their burgers, they can glue it anywhere in the room. The homework I assign
will parallel this practice except a cake with replace the burger. This way, there will be more
variety in the dcor in the room. Please see an example of the cognate cake below:

Using Graphic Representations to Teach Word Families

The PowerPoint for false cognates will be presented to the class once theyve had ample
opportunity to identify English and Turkish cognates in reading, listening and writing activities.
Once I have established the importance of identifying patterns in language, I proceed to the
second aim of teaching cognates: extracting meaning from context and engaging in intelligent
guessing. The PowerPoint presentation begins with the false cognate pasta. In Turkish the
word pasta means pastries. I use the images of a plate of spaghetti and meatballs alongside a
cake to highlight the difference. I encourage them to deduct the meaning of pasta from the
sentence: would you like meatballs with your pasta? Furthermore, I urge them to become
detectives in search for clues.
In order to highlight the difference between cognates and false cognates, I decided to
employ a stark visual contrast for false cognates: skull and crossbones. One bone will have the
Turkish and the other bone will have the English cognate. The skull will house a picture of the
English definition of the word. I felt a pictorial representation of the English definition is

Using Graphic Representations to Teach Word Families

important, as this will reinforce the meaning. Under the skull and crossbones will be a sentence
using the English definition correctly. Please see the example below:

False cognates activities in class will be done for the rest of the week. Students will be
assigned Turkish words, have to find the English false cognate, and write a sentence for
homework. However, this time they will construct a dark cloud with two lightning bolts. The
cloud will have a picture of the definition while the bolts have the Turkish and English false
cognates on each. Below the cloud and lightning bolts, the students will write a sentence with the
assigned word. Please see the example below (bey means mister in Turkish):

Using Graphic Representations to Teach Word Families

s
Art projects are perceived to be mostly for young learners. However, I find that my
seventh grade students respond very well to creating art geared towards English language
acquisition. I have created several color-coordinated charts, which grasps students attention for a
short amount of time. However, I have found that when they, themselves, create the charts or
pieces of art to decorate the classroom with, they are more prone to internalizing and retaining
the information. They feel a sense of ownership and pride over their creations and they enjoy
pointing out their work to fellow classmates.
Cognates help students practice grammar structure, pronunciation, and spelling. It helps
develop their ability to recognize patterns, utilize context clues, and, most importantly, distances
them from mundane grammar drills and vocabulary memorization. There are also many cognates
in Turkish and English regarding professions. We will be studying the future tense and I look
forward to incorporating cognates into the lesson.

Using Graphic Representations to Teach Word Families

References
Solak, H. G. & Cakir, A. (2012). Cognate based language teaching and material development.
Procedia Social and Behavioral Sciences, 46, 431- 434.
Uzun, L. & Salihogly, U. M. (2009). EnglishTurkish cognates and false cognates: Compiling a
corpus and testing how they are translated by computer programs. Pozna Studies in
Contemporary Linguistics, 45(4), pp. 569593. doi:10.2478/v10010-009-0031-5