Investigating a Relation between Different Subtypes of L1 and L2 Morphological Awareness and Its Impact on L2 Reading Comprehension of Korean Elementary EFL Learners

Abstract

The present study aims at looking at the relations of morphological awareness in Korean (L1) and morphological awareness in English (L2) among Korean elementary EFL learners and tries to see the impacts of morphological awareness in L1 and L2 on L2 reading comprehension. Based on the Cummins’ Language Interdependence Hypothesis and previous studies which found out L1 morphological awareness transferred to L2 morphological awareness, the current study divided morphological awareness into subtypes (compounding as one type and inflectional & derivational as one type in Korean, compounding, inflectional, and derivational in English respectively) and investigated the relations with each other and their explaining power on L2 reading comprehension through conducting correlation analysis, and multiple regression analysis. L1 morphological and L2 morphological in their subtypes were all positively correlated one another and they were also in relations with L2 reading comprehension. Especially, L2 morphological, inflectional awareness in specific, was found to be the strongest predicator of L2 reading comprehension followed by L1 Inflectional & Derivational awareness. The finding of the current study that L1 MA is related to L2 MA and L2 MA is a powerful indicator in L2 reading will have implications on elementary EFL learners’ English education when L2 reading classes begin.