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    To Parents / Teachers / Tutors:
     If you are concerned about dyslexic or other problem readers who have trouble coping with longer words, the information on this page may give you a better understanding of their problem, and of how to provide help. The Word Workout approach provides an efficient, systematic way for such students to figure out the pronunciation -- and from it the identity -- of most words of three syllables or more. It is based on two principles of English structure that are not widely known, and which might be unfamiliar to you. But they are not difficult to understand, and they provide a key to help students unlock thousands of words.

    Principle #1:  The way a long word sounds depends a lot on the suffix -- the ending -- of the word.

    Longer words are structured differently from words of one or two syllables, and they are best approached in a somewhat different way. Most longer words end with one of about 20 common suffixes, like -ic or -tion or -y or -ate. It is this suffix that controls how the word sounds, and provides the most important clues to how to say it. What the suffix does is this: it determines the location of the accented, or "stressed" syllable. And once this syllable is found and pronounced correctly, the rest of the word will fall into place.
     
    You can observe this function of the suffix if you consider a pair of words like celebrate and celebrity. The first six letters of these two words are exactly the same. Yet the words sound very different from each other -- "SELL-uh-brate" vs. "suh-LEB-ruh-tee" -- because they have different suffixes. These pronunciations are completely predictable and part of a larger pattern. More detail will be provided in following paragraphs, but here is the essential point:  which syllable gets the emphasis depends on which suffix comes at the end of the word. For example, in the word celebrate, the fact that the suffix is -ate ensures that the stressed syllable will be cel- ("sell") and the second syllable will be just "uh." And in celebrity it's the suffix -y that requires a stress on the syllable leb- and reduces the first syllable to just "suh." Familiarity with patterns like these, combined with knowledge of the "short" vowel sounds (as in add, edge, is, odd, and us) that occur in most stressed syllables, can make all the difference for the reader trying to figure out the pronunciation of a word.
     
    Of course, skilled readers don't have to think about these matters, or even be aware of them. For example, if you see an unfamiliar word like levigate, you automatically know, on seeing the suffix -ate, that the stressed syllable is "lev" and not "lee" or "vig." That's because back in the past, as you were learning to read, you unconsciously made generalizations about the structure of the long words you encountered in print. Those patterns, stored in your brain, are now automatically activated when you see an unfamiliar word with a familiar ending. But the students you are concerned about have not been able to generalize like this on their own. They have to be taught to do it. How to teach students to use these kinds of clues in decoding words is further described in the paragraphs below.

    How this principle of "suffix control" works. Perhaps the most striking thing about the role of suffixes in pronunciation is that their effect works backward through the word, from end to beginning. Words of three or more syllables generally have a stressed syllable (with a short vowel) either one or two syllables back from the suffix. And whether this accented syllable is one syllable back, or two, depends on the particular suffix. That is, each of the common suffixes is associated with a typical position for the accent. You can see this if you list a large number of words ending with a given suffix: virtually all of them will have an accent the same number of syllables back from the suffix.

    For example, if the suffix is -ic, or -tion, you can almost always find a stressed syllable by counting back one syllable (one vowel) from the suffix:

        allergic         production

    But if the word ends with -y, or with -ate, you need to count back two syllables (two vowels):

        allergy          eliminate

    In very long words you can then count back two more syllables (two more vowels) to find another stressed syllable:

        hospitality      intervention

     
    In the Word Workout method, as students gradually learn these patterns, they also learn to highlight the key syllables of the word --the ones that provide stepping stones to pronouncing it. In the workbooks, students mark these syllables with boxes:

    In the computer program, Word Workout for Windows, the student types the syllables and they are then highlighted in color:

    Important: Note that students do not need to be able to hear which syllables in a spoken word are stressed. They mark the words correctly simply by following the 'count back' rules above.

    Principle #2:  Achieving a smooth, correct, and recognizable pronunciation of a word requires saying it with the proper accentuation, or rhythm.

    This involves both putting the emphasis on the right syllables and de-emphasizing the others -- the syllables that should be said with the "uh" (schwa) sound. As we all know, getting the emphasis wrong, e.g., pronouncing celebrity as "SELL-uh-britty", can render a word unrecognizable. Thus, while students don't need to hear where the emphasis is, they do need a procedure that will cause them to place it on the right syllables, and not on the wrong ones, when pronouncing the word as a whole.
     
    The Word Workout method includes a classroom-tested procedure that does exactly that. The fundamental idea is that if students "rehearse" the pronunciation -- by pronouncing the stressed syllable by itself, and then saying that syllable again along with the ones after it -- the end result will be a correctly accentuated and easily recognizable word. Here is how this insight is put into practice:
     
    After the key syllables of the word have been marked as explained above, an accurate pronunciation is built up step by step. The student says the end of the word first, then the stressed syllables, and then gradually adds the other syllables, as shown for these three words:
     
     allergic
    (Read down each column:)
    		 
     allergy
    		 
     hospitality
    		 
          -ic

     -gic

  -ler-

  -lergic

 allergic
    		 
          -y

     -gy

 al-

 allergy
    		 
              -y

         -ty

     -tal-

     -tality

 hos-

 hospitality
    This routine seems to somehow activate the rhythm patterns that students already have in their heads. It automatically produces a surprisingly smooth and easily recognizable pronunciation. Students can even confidently and correctly pronounce new vocabulary that they have never heard before – which makes unfamiliar words seem more user friendly. (Learning the meaning of a new word seems a lot more worthwhile when you know that you'll recognize the word the next time you see it.)
     
    By learning the techniques summarized here, even students who start with very weak word recognition skills can gain access to the advanced vocabulary needed for academic success. As they gain experience with the method, they begin to apply it rapidly "by eye," without needing to mark the words. Interestingly, many students report that their spelling has improved as well. This probably results from their increased awareness of the syllables within words.

    For further reading about these techniques and why they work, CLICK HERE.

    In Word Workout and Short Cuts to Long Words, and in the computer program, the above techniques are introduced step by step, simply and clearly but with an adult feel that students appreciate. Review of earlier material is built into each workbook lesson; new topics are first practiced intensively and then mixed with review items for further practice. To use these materials, no special training is required for teachers, tutors, or parents, since all necessary explanation is included in the workbook or manual and in the "Lessons" section of the computer program. In addition, two pages of "Tips for Teachers," detailing a few strategies and devices that the author has found useful, are included with both workbooks, along with some suggestions for spelling practice.

    A free brochure, describing the Word Workout method in more detail and showing sample exercises from both workbooks, is available upon request from The Word Workshop, 1317 Shawnee Drive, Yellow Springs, OH 45387, or by phone (937-767-1142) or e-mail to info@thewordworkshop.com. Questions or comments about the method are also invited.

    [NOTE to practitioners who use the Wilson Reading System or other Orton-Gillingham-based teaching materials: Word Workout or Short Cuts should be considered a supplement to those materials, designed to build on them rather than to compete with or to replace them. Students who learn the Word Workout method can continue to use previously learned methods as well. There is no confusion; students simply need to learn that when a long word ends (as most of them do) with one of the suffixes covered in Word Workout or Short Cuts, that's the time to use the Word Workout method.]


    ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Dr. Nancy K. Lewkowicz, who holds a Ph.D. in Linguistics, is an experienced teacher of reading at both the elementary and the beginning college level. She has also individually tutored students of a wide variety of ages and backgrounds. Her articles on phonemic awareness, phonics, and word recognition have appeared in a number of professional journals.