Reading is the act of processing text in order to derive meaning. To learn to read, children must develop both fluent word reading and language comprehension (Gough & Tunmer,1986). Language comprehension is built upon vocabulary and morphology, knowledge, syntax, and higher-level language skills.
How Syntax Contributes to Reading Development
Syntax refers to the formation of sentences and the associated grammatical rules (Foorman, et al., 2016 ). "Syntax skills help us understand how sentences work—the meanings behind word order, structure, and punctuation. By providing support for developing syntax skills, we can help readers understand increasingly complex texts" (Learner Variability Project).
Syntactic skills are correlated with reading comprehension and language comprehension (Westby, 2012), although the nature of the relationship is still being studied (Oakhill, Cain, & Elbro, 2015). A number of recent studies have shown that syntax and grammar are predictors of later reading comprehension ability (Logan, 2017).
Promoting Syntax Development in the Classroom
Knowledge of how grammatical elements such as pronouns, lexical references, and connectives function in sentences allows young children to follow the ideas in a sentence and understand its meaning (Oakhill, Cain, & Elbro, 2015). Children do not need to know the names of these grammatical terms, but they do need to develop understanding of how sentences work in natural speech and in text. Working with sentences can be part of a class's engagement with complex text. Complex text offers rich language; teachers can facilitate a discussion of short snippets of text to help students parse rich sentences and develop understanding.
Teach Linguistic Structures Such as Pronouns, Lexical References, and Connectives
Teaching these support students to track and follow the meaning within sentences (Oakhill, Cain, & Elbro, 2015).
Example: Marcy was very thirsty for a cold drink* so she gulped her iced lemonade* quickly!
- Pronouns: she, he, his her, their, they, them
- *Lexical references: when a different word or phrase is used to refer to the original word
- Connectives: and, also, because, so, then, before, during, after
Teach Word Functions by Asking Students a Series of Questions About a Sentence
Example from Literacy How: Our wet, hairy dog crawled under my bed during the thunderstorm.
- Ask who or what did it? dog (looking for the namer/noun — the who/what)
- Ask what did it do? crawled (looking for the action word/verb — the do)
- Ask 'how many, what kind, which one? wet, hairy (looking for adjectives describing the namer)
- Ask where, when, how, why? under the bed, during the thunderstorm (looking for adverbs that tell about the action)
- A Syntax-focused Kindergarten Lesson, from Literacy How (Video)
- Connectives, from Institute of Education Sciences (Video)
- Recommendation 1 from the IES Practice Guide "Foundational Skills to Support Reading for Understanding in Kindergarten Through 3rd Grade": Teach students academic language skills, including the use of inferential and narrative language, and vocabulary knowledge , (Resource) (see Example 1.4, page 10)
Teach Sentence Structure, Sentence Types, and How to Build Sentences
Developing syntax can involve examining how sentences are built, learning to expand sentences, and learning to combine short, choppy sentences into longer, grammatically correct sentences. Studies have shown positive effects of sentence combining on reading comprehension (Scott, 2009).
- Syntactic Awareness, Teaching Sentence Structure, from Keys to Literacy
- Sentence structures that are challenging for children to comprehend. See Juicy Sentence Guidance , from Achieve the Core
- Formal Frames/Academic Phrases, from Literacy How (Resource)
- Recommendation 3 from the IES Practice Guide "Teaching Elementary Students to Be Effective Writers:" Teach students to become fluent with handwriting, spelling, sentence construction, typing, and word processing (Resource) (p. 30–32)
- Sentence Expanding, from Iowa Reading Research Center (Resource)
- Sentence Combining, from Reading Rockets ** (Resource)
Learn More About Syntax Development
- IES Practice Guide "Foundational Skills to Support Reading for Understanding in Kindergarten Through 3rd Grade"
- Scott, Cheryl M. (2009). A Case for the Sentence in Reading Comprehension . Language, Speech, And Hearing Services In Schools. (40) 184-191.
- Syntax, from Literacy How (Resource)
Considerations for Students Learning English
English learners should have equal opportunity to meaningfully participate in all literacy instruction. The WIDA Can Do Descriptors highlight what language learners can do at various stages of language development.
Taking Bilingualism into Account
"It's important that young ESL students recognize word order and sentence structure. As students get older and progress with English, it becomes more difficult to correct syntax problems. In many cases, older students translate their native language directly into English without considering the word order that changes between languages" (Lubin, 2020).
Supports for English Learners
- Create a rich language environment so English Learners "can be exposed to lots of rich, natural, complex language from which the learner would begin to unconsciously internalize patterns" (Krahshen, 1981).
- Support English learners when they encounter complex syntax in academic texts. Such syntax would include passive voice, comparatives and logical connectors, modal auxiliaries, verb phrases containing prepositional phrases, and relative clauses (Freeman, 2004).
- "Use cloze activities in which students receive a passage with some of the words missing. Teachers could delete different types of words to help students focus on different aspects of syntax" (Freeman, 2004).
- "Use interactive supports to promote comprehension and expose students to a variety of communication styles" (WIDA, Instructional Supports, 2015).
- "Spend time and effort engaging students in discussions of the meaning of sentence-level chunks and within the sentence, phrasal chunks, each day. The focus here is to have structured conversations in which children learn how academic discourse works" (English Learner Success Forum ).
- Scaffolds to Support English Language Learners in Sentence Writing, from Achieve the Core (Resource)
- Interactive reading grade 2, from Colorin Colorado ** (Video)
- Text Complexity and Language for English Language and Language Minority Students, from Stanford University (Research)
- Sentence Level Fluency for Newcomers, from English Learners Success Forum (Activities)
- Do's and Don'ts of EL Instruction, from English Learners Success Forum (Instruction)
- The WIDA Instructional Supports provide a reference list of appropriate graphic, sensory, and interactive supports to use with the WIDA Can Do Descriptors when instructing language learners.
References
Foorman, B., Beyler, N., Borradaile, K., Coyne, M., Denton, C. A., Dimino, J., Furgeson, J., Hayes, L., Henke, J., Justice, L., Keating, B., Lewis, W., Sattar, S., Streke, A., Wagner, R., & Wissel, S. (2016). Foundational skills to support reading for understanding in kindergarten through 3rd grade (NCEE 2016-4008). Washington, DC: National Center for Education Evaluation and Regional Assistance (NCEE), Institute of Education Sciences, U.S. Department of Education. Retrieved from the NCEE website: What Works Clearinghouse.
Freeman, D. & Freeman, Y. (2004). Essential linguistics: What you need to know to teach reading, esl, spelling, phonics, grammar. Heinemann: Portsmouth, NH.
Gough, P. B., & Tunmer, W. E. (1986). Decoding, Reading, and Reading Disability. Remedial and Special Education, 7, 6–10.
Krashen, S.D. (1981). Bilingual education and second language acquisition theory. In Schooling and language minority students: A theoretical framework. (p.51–79). California State Department of Education.
Logan, J. (2017). Pressure points in reading comprehension: A quantile multiple regression analysis. Journal of Educational Psychology, 109(4), 451.
Lubin, M. (2020, March 23). A Simple Guide to Teaching Young ESL Students About Syntax. Retrieved August 24, 2020
Oakhill, J., Cain, K., & Elbro, C. (2015). Understanding and teaching reading comprehension: A handbook. New York: Routledge.
Scott, C.M. (2009). A case for the sentence in reading comprehension. Language, speech, and hearing services in schools, 40 2, 184–91.Westby, C. (2012). Assessing and remediating text comprehension problems. In A.G. Kamhi & H.W. Catts (Eds.), Language and reading disabilities (3rd ed., pp1–23). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson.
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Last Updated: December 18, 2020
FAQs
What Is syntax in early child development? ›
Syntax refers to the rules used to combine words to make sentences; syntactic development is the way children learn these rules. Syntactic development is measured using MLU, or mean length of utterance, which is basically the average length of a child's sentence; this increases as a child gets older.
What are syntactical skills? ›Syntax refers to the rules of word order and word combinations in order to form phrases and sentences. Solid syntactic skills require an understanding and use of correct word order and organization in phrases and sentences and also the ability to use increasingly complex sentences as language develops.
What is syntactic knowledge in reading? ›Syntactic Awareness means having the ability to monitor the relationships among the words in a sentence in order to understand while reading or composing orally or in writing.
How do you teach children syntax? ›- Model correct syntax. ...
- Use sentence completion exercises to improve syntax. ...
- Write words on cards and have the students arrange them to form complete simple sentences. ...
- Develop basic skills. ...
- Teach how sentences often use a noun-verb-direct object pattern. ...
- Perform verb exercises.
Syntax is the order or arrangement of words and phrases to form proper sentences. The most basic syntax follows a subject + verb + direct object formula. That is, "Jillian hit the ball." Syntax allows us to understand that we wouldn't write, "Hit Jillian the ball."
What are the key elements of syntax? ›Central concerns of syntax include word order, grammatical relations, hierarchical sentence structure (constituency), agreement, the nature of crosslinguistic variation, and the relationship between form and meaning (semantics).
How do students learn syntax? ›Students build syntactic awareness through exposure to oral language when they are young and particularly through exposure to written language that they hear through read aloud or independent reading (around grade 3).
How is syntax learned? ›You can learn syntax by writing sentences in a foreign language. Each language has its own syntax and rules for constructing sentences.
How does syntax affect the reader? ›A writer's syntax can make a phrase or sentence pleasant to read, or it can make the phrases or sentence jarring and unpleasant. Syntax can also make a writer's words more memorable.
What is an example of syntactic knowledge? ›Syntactic Knowledge. If child knows 100 words at 18-months, this means they learn 5900 words over the next 3 ½ years.
What is syntax in a lesson plan? ›
Syntaxare the rules for organizing words or symbols together into phrases, clauses, sentences or visual representations.
How do you teach English syntax? ›Native English speakers learn syntax through repetition before they learn the parts of speech and rules of grammar. Young ESL students generally have no or little understanding of nouns, verbs, adjectives, etc. in their native languages, so there isn't a reason to teach them that the adjective must precede the noun.
At what age do children learn syntax? ›Children start to use syntax (at least in a rudimentary form) when they progress beyond the one-word stage, usually at around two years of age.
Why is syntax important for ELL students? ›Syntax helps us to make clear sentences that “sound right,” where words, phrases, and clauses each serve their function and are correctly ordered to form and communicate a complete sentence with meaning.
Why is syntactic awareness important for reading and writing? ›The current findings support the hypothesis that syntactic awareness may facilitate the development of word reading in context; they also suggest that the relations between syntactic awareness and reading comprehension may reflect the importance of memory and language to both measures, rather than a special ...
What are the 4 types of syntax? ›...
At the same time, all sentences in English fall into four distinct types:
- Simple sentences. ...
- Compound sentences. ...
- Complex sentences. ...
- Compound-complex sentences.
Basic syntax represents the fundamental rules of a programming language. Without these rules, it is impossible to write functioning code. Every language has its own set of rules that make up its basic syntax. Naming conventions are a primary component of basic syntax conventions and vary by language.
What is a syntax simple definition? ›syntax, the arrangement of words in sentences, clauses, and phrases, and the study of the formation of sentences and the relationship of their component parts.
What are the types of syntax? ›- 1 Subject → verb. ...
- 2 Subject → verb → direct object. ...
- 3 Subject → verb → subject complement. ...
- 4 Subject → verb → adverbial complement. ...
- 5 Subject → verb → indirect object → direct object.
Syntactic theory aims to provide an account of how people combine words to form sentences. A common feature of all human languages, both spoken and signed languages, is that speakers draw upon a finite set of memorized words and morphemes to create a potentially infinite set of sentences.
What are syntax rules? ›
Syntax rules are those rules that define or clarify the order in which words or elements are arranged to form larger elements, such as phrases, clauses, or statements. Syntax rules also impose restrictions on individual words or elements.
Why is it important to develop syntactic knowledge? ›Increases in syntactic knowledge allow children to communicate more complex ideas. Acquisition of more complex noun phrase structures may involve clearer use of pronouns.
What is education subject syntax? ›Syntax is a branch of linguistics that studies the structure of sentences and the relationships between words. In a classroom setting, syntax is most useful when studying English grammar rules and the main types of sentences.
What are morphological skills? ›Morphological awareness, which is an understanding of how words can be broken down into smaller units of meaning such as roots, prefixes, and suffixes, has emerged as an important contributor to word reading and comprehension skills.
What are the effects of syntax? ›Oxford Dictionary defines syntax as "the arrangement of words and phrases to create well-formed sentences in a language." Your syntax, or sentence structure, greatly affects the tone, atmosphere, and meaning of your sentence. It can make something sound more formal.
How can syntax be used to enhance meaning? ›Syntax adds meaning and vibrancy to your sentences, where grammar simply ensures that the rules of language are followed within that sentence. This is also, essentially, the difference between professional editors and proofreaders.
What Is syntax in language development? ›Syntax refers to the formation of sentences and the associated grammatical rules (Foorman, et al., 2016 ). "Syntax skills help us understand how sentences work—the meanings behind word order, structure, and punctuation.
How do children develop and acquire syntax? ›Acquiring Syntax
All typically developing children pass through similar stages and in a short time become adult speakers of their local language (or languages). Children babble, pass through a single and multiword stage, and then start to produce entire sentences that increase in complexity.
Children start to use syntax (at least in a rudimentary form) when they progress beyond the one-word stage, usually at around two years of age.
How is syntax primarily learned VPK? ›since syntax is primarily learned by exposure, your speech as teacher, no matter how incidental, will form syntactical patterns for your children.)
What are the 4 types of syntax? ›
...
At the same time, all sentences in English fall into four distinct types:
- Simple sentences. ...
- Compound sentences. ...
- Complex sentences. ...
- Compound-complex sentences.
You can learn syntax by writing sentences in a foreign language. Each language has its own syntax and rules for constructing sentences.
How does syntax affect the reader? ›A writer's syntax can make a phrase or sentence pleasant to read, or it can make the phrases or sentence jarring and unpleasant. Syntax can also make a writer's words more memorable.
What are the stages of syntactic development? ›Additionally, four different stages in the process will be presented in count for approximately the first four years; pre-language, holophrastic, two-word and telegraphic speech (Lightbown and Spada 2006).
What is syntactic processing? ›2 Syntactic Processing. Syntax refers to the structure of phrases and the relation of words to each other within the phrase. A syntactic parser analyzes linguistic units larger than a word.
What is syntactic acquisition? ›The acquisition process is defined in three stages: (1) words are recognized as concrete referents; (2) syntactic development begins, separating action classes from thing classes and introducing modifiers; (3) hierarchical order appears and sentence subjects begin to be recognized.
How does a teacher support the syntax development of the children in the class? ›Teachers can support language development by using and providing Syntax that is appropriately leveled (e.g., short, simple structure for young students). Physically acting out a text enhances reading comprehension. Audiobooks allow students to hear fluent reading and to experience books above their reading skills.
What results from a child with poor understanding of complex syntax? ›Difficulties with syntax can impact a child's expressive language skills and can cause: Poor narrative skills. Incorrect word order causing misinterpretation. Omission of words in sentences.
What is semantics child development? ›Semantics is the understanding of word meanings and the relationships between words. Children's semantic development is a gradual process beginning just before the child says their first word and incudes a wide range of word types.
What Is syntax in a lesson plan? ›Syntaxare the rules for organizing words or symbols together into phrases, clauses, sentences or visual representations.
What syntax rules do? ›
Syntax rules are those rules that define or clarify the order in which words or elements are arranged to form larger elements, such as phrases, clauses, or statements. Syntax rules also impose restrictions on individual words or elements.