Derivational Morphology in American Elementary Spanish Textbooks: An Exploratory Study

This study analyzes the treatment given to eight Spanish suffixes in nine elementary Spanish textbooks, and reveals an ineffective approach to derivational morphology produced by a lack of suffixation use. When suffixation is presented in the textbooks, it is mainly used to explain grammatical gender and not to promote the development of vocabulary learning strategies based on the identification of morphological patterns. This situation derives in a systematic confusion between suffixes and graphic endings, which prevents a thorough introduction of reliable rules about Spanish word formation. However, some suffixes like -mente, -ito and -isimo, show a complete treatment, including explanations on their meanings as well as activities to exercise different types of morphological knowledge. These observations invite us to develop teaching materials that take advantage of the regularity and productivity of some paradigms.