Dynamic assessment in spelling and morphological awareness in Greek: The case of a transparent orthography

Abstract

BackgroundRecent research is in favor of the use of dynamic assessment as an important method of combining assessment and intervention in a unified framework for typically and non-typically developing children. However, research is still sparse, in the evaluation of morphological awareness, especially for phonologically regular languages. AimsThis study aimed to investigate the role of dynamic assessment in the evaluation of morphological awareness in Greek children. MethodsForty Greek participants (7–8 years old) allocated to an experimental (N = 21) and a control group (N = 19) were preliminary assessed on reading syllables/words, spelling words, vocabulary and morphological awareness. They were also evaluated on static assessments of spelling and word-formation of morphologically complex words, while only the experimental group was evaluated on dynamic assessments of the same tasks. ResultsChildren achieved significantly higher performance on the dynamic assessment tasks in comparison to their static ones. Correlations indicated that the degree of children's progress depended greatly on their initial literacy and language skills, while regression analyses revealed that static tasks made a unique contribution to their dynamic performance. ConclusionsThe results underline the role of dynamic assessment in the evaluation of morphological awareness in a phonologically regular language with rich morphology, such as Greek.