ESOL
Students Decipher and Discuss Prefixes
By Susan Lester
In
ESOL classes, occasionally focusing on prefixes is helpful
for students trying to recognize word patterns and spellings.
It also generates some wonderful discussions, as did a
recent list of words to which my class added the prefixes
"en-" and "em-." (If the word following
the prefix begins with "p" or "b,"
the prefix must be "em-.")
The class began by deciphering what "en-" and
"em-" mean when attached to the following list
of words:
|
enrich
|
enslave
|
|
enclose
|
enable
|
|
endear
|
enrage
|
|
ensure
|
entrust
|
|
enlighten
|
envoke
|
|
embrace
|
embed
|
|
empower
|
empress
|
After
the class agreed on a definition -- "to make or cause
to be" -- we discussed what life events have caused
us enrichment, enlightenment, empowerment, enslavement,
etc. The answers were tender, clever, and surprising.
