Where and When Did I Find the Word?: ‘Cognate' came from Michael J. Kieffer and Nonie K. Lesaux's (2007) article Breaking Down Words to Build Meaning: Morphology, Vocabulary, and Reading Comprehension in the Urban Classroom. Kieffer and Lesaux (2007) stated in the article, "Teaching Spanish-speaking students to recognize and use cognate (words with similar spelling and meaning in tow languages, such as information and informacion) has potential to be a very powerful way for students to use their language as an asset to improve their English reading comprehension" (p. 142).
What It Means: According to Kieffer and Lesaux's (2007) article, 'cognate' means having similar spelling and meaning of the same word but in a different language.
Level of Familiarity: I was not familiar with the term 'cognate' at all before Kieffer and Lesaux's (2007) article. I was familiar with the idea of words being spelled similarly in different languages and having the same meaning because I took Spanish in high school. I knew a lot of vocabulary words in my Spanish class because of how closely they were spelled and meant the same to words I already knew in English.
Do I Want to Know This Word Well and Why?: I do want to know 'cognate' well because more students whose first language in not English are more common in the classroom now. I would like to be able to be more familiar with different forms and structures of words that are similar to those that mean the same in different languages. Becoming familiar with the term 'cognate' will allow me to hopefully be able to communicate more effectively with these students.
Do I Think Others Should Know This Word... If so Who and Why?: I do feel that other teachers should be aware of the concept of 'cognate' in the classroom. Teachers will have to communicate and teach students whose first language is not necessarily English in their classroom. Being able to help students make connections to new vocabulary words that may relate to a word they already know will be very beneficial in the student gaining meaning.
Kieffer, M.J. & Lesaux, N.K. (2007). Breaking down words to build meaning: morphology,
vocabulary, and reading comprehension in the urban classroom. International
Reading Associaation: 134-144.
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