Morphological Awareness Intervention With Kindergartners and First- and Second-Grade Students From Low Socioeconomic Status Homes: A Feasibility Study

Abstract

The effect of a morphological awareness intervention on the morphological awareness and literacy skills of students from low socioeconomic status homes was investigated. A 9-week intervention designed to increase awareness of affixes and the relations between base words and their inflected and derived forms was conducted with students in kindergarten (n = 19), 1st grade (n = 21), and 2nd grade (n = 21). Groups of 4-5 students were provided with instruction 4 times a week for 25 min a day. Results showed medium to very large clinically significant gains in morphological awareness and literacy abilities (ds = 0.29-2.96) across all participants. The results of this feasibility study suggest that morphological awareness instruction that requires students to analyze, recognize, orally produce, and determine the spelling patterns of multimorphemic words leads to therapeutic effects within a population of young students who are at risk for future reading difficulties. Initial clinical implications, limitations of the study, and research suggestions are discussed.