Liisa’s virtual presentation on Literacy Instruction using (Structured) Word Inquiry to the Association of Educational Therapists – San Francisco on March 17, 2025 was very well received!
They have already invited her back for SWI Part 2!
(Structured) Word Inquiry is a scientific approach to understanding language, based on linguistics. It emphasizes the logic of English orthography (the English spelling system) by attending to the interrelationships between morphology (the meaningful units), etymology (the origins of words) and phonology (the “sounds” in English). We need to go beyond basic phonics instruction if we want to equip students to be proficient readers and writers since English is a morphophonemic language. Spellings have evolved to represent both phonemes (units of speech “sounds”) and morphemes (units of meaning), and the pronunciations of morphemes can change while the spellings remain consistent. In an English word we may even have letters that have no role in pronunciation! Come and explore how this understanding can transform how you look at words and why this knowledge is critical for even our youngest learners.
Hi Liisa,
Thank you so much for your splendid presentation on Saturday! You presented a great deal of information about various SWI concepts in a very enthusiastic, clear, and engaging manner. Plus, you stayed on and generously answered questions, well past the time you had originally agreed to speak. As you experienced, our group was so interested that they initiated the request to have you return within the meeting (something that has not occurred before!). I am very grateful for both the presentation and your willingness to return.
I checked with the AETSF Program Committee and of course they agree with me that it is important to listen to our members! So, I’ll be contacting you to offer you the various dates for your return for SWI Part 2.
With much appreciation,
Li
Leave a Reply