Morphological Awareness Instruction Research Articles

Morphological Awareness Instruction for ESL Students’ Vocabulary Development and Reading Comprehension

This article aimed to investigate the ESL Senior High School student’s perception of Morphological Awareness Instruction and the students’ vocabulary and the significant differences of students who are trained using Morphological Awareness Instruction to enhance their reading comprehension. Two research questions were formulated, namely: First, how are the ESL Senior High School students’ understanding of the application of morphological awareness instruction to enhance their vocabulary and reading comprehension. Secondly, what are the differences of students who are trained using Morphological Awareness Instruction to enhance their vocabulary and reading comprehension with those who are not? To answer these questions, an experimental research method was implemented. The research sample consisted of 60 students of a Senior High School in Pleret, Bantul, Yogyakarta, who were selected using two phases of random sampling. The data set of questionnaires and tests were used to collect the data. The independent sample t-test was used to analyze the data. The results showed that the Morphological Awareness Instruction significantly improved students’ vocabulary skills and their reading comprehension.

Exploring How Initial Response to Instruction Predicts Morphology Outcomes Among Students With Decoding Difficulties.

Children with weak decoding skills often struggle to learn multisyllabic words during reading instruction. The primary purpose of this study was to investigate the extent to which initial response to morphological awareness instruction, along with specific language and cognitive variables (i.e., phonological awareness, rapid naming, orthographic knowledge/awareness, verbal comprehension, working memory), predicts responsiveness to morphological awareness instruction for third-grade students who were at risk for reading disabilities. Thirty-nine third-grade students with decoding deficits were assessed on five independent variables identified as critical predictors of future performance on morphological tasks. A series of regression analyses showed that initial response to instruction, compared to other cognitive and language variables, predicted the most variance in students' morphological skills with prefixes. Furthermore, two cognitive variables, verbal working memory and comprehension, were predictive of performance on morphological tasks after accounting for initial response to instruction. Findings from this study suggest that students with decoding deficits may benefit from morphological instruction and those who demonstrate low response to initial morphological instruction or have weak verbal comprehension and verbal working memory abilities could be risk for failing to acquire morphological instruction as expected.

Morphological Intervention in Promoting Higher-Order Reading Abilities among College-Level Second Language Learners

Reading success in a second language (L2) is vital to sustainable language and academic development because reading serves as a tool to absorb and learn new knowledge. Particularly in the context of college English as a foreign language (EFL), students constantly face the challenge to read English material to develop content knowledge. The current study investigated the effect of explicit morphological instruction on L2 students’ higher-order inferencing and comprehension abilities. Sixty-two Chinese collegiate EFL students who were taking an intensive reading course (31 in the treatment class and 31 in the control class) participated in this study. The morphological intervention in the treatment class focused on identifying, decomposing, analyzing, associating, applying word parts in context. The control class received no explicit instruction in morphological awareness. After one semester of instruction, a series of morphology, inferencing and comprehension measures were administered to the participating students. The results showed that the didactic intervention of morphological awareness contributed to morphological knowledge and word-meaning inferencing ability, whereas there was no significant relationship between morphological intervention and text-based inference and comprehension abilities. The findings suggest that the intervention has a direct impact on word learning ability; however, higher-order processing skills may not directly benefit from it in a short period of time. Given that reading comprehension requires fine-tuned understandings of both local meanings and global contextual information, morphological awareness may not have an immediate effect on comprehension. Applied implications are also discussed in relation to effective morphological instruction and reading development in L2 contexts.

Evaluating models of how morphological awareness connects to reading comprehension: A study in Portuguese

BackgroundReading comprehension is a complex skill, drawing on a range of resources. One is morphological awareness, or the awareness of the smallest meaningful units in language. Testing the predictions of the Simple View of Reading, we evaluate how morphological awareness relates to reading comprehension in a relatively transparent orthography.MethodThere were 70 Portuguese‐speaking children in Grade 2 in our study. The children completed measures of morphological awareness and reading comprehension, along with two potential mediators: word reading and listening comprehension. Children also completed control measures of phonological awareness and nonverbal ability.ResultsPath analysis showed that there were indirect effects of morphological awareness on reading comprehension through each of word reading and listening comprehension. There was no significant direct effect of morphological awareness on reading comprehension beyond these mediators and controls.ConclusionsOur results provide a novel empirical confirmation of the predictions of current models of reading comprehension. We do so for readers of a relatively transparent orthography.HighlightsWhat is already known about this topic Many studies with English‐speaking children have demonstrated that morphological awareness contributes to reading comprehension. Much less is known about how this relation works and if it holds for readers of relatively transparent orthographies. What this paper adds This study shows that the relation between morphological awareness and reading comprehension holds for children learning to read in the relatively transparent orthography of Portuguese. This study also shows just how these relations work. For Portuguese‐speaking children in Grade 2, the relation between morphological awareness and reading comprehension is fully mediated by word reading and listening comprehension. Implications for theory, policy or practice Our findings provide support for the Simple View of Reading, highlighting the dual roles of word reading and listening comprehension in reading comprehension. Our findings point to targets for intervention; morphological awareness instruction might be most effective if paired with instruction on how morphology impacts both word reading and oral language.

Speech-Language Pathologist–Guided Morphological Awareness Instruction in the General Education Classroom

PurposeResearch has shown that instruction in morphological awareness improves students' understanding and use of affixes. However, morphological awareness instruction, typically, is not provided in the general education classroom, and there are few documented collaborations between teachers and speech-language pathologists (SLPs), the latter of whom have a unique expertise in language. Thus, the purpose of this article was to determine the feasibility of an SLP-guided morphological awareness instructional program in a general education classroom.MethodAfter completing a webinar training in morphological awareness, 2 general education teachers implemented morphological awareness lessons in their classrooms over an 8-week period. The teachers and collaborating SLP met weekly to discuss the lessons. Following implementation of the lessons, the teachers completed a questionnaire surveying their opinions on the collaboration. They, along with their students, also completed pre- and postmeasures of their morphological awareness.ResultsResults indicated that the teachers' morphological awareness, as assessed by the morphological awareness measure, did not improve as a result of implementing the lessons; however, the teachers reported that they valued the collaboration and the importance of morphological awareness instruction. Most importantly, the students' morphological awareness skills increased significantly following receipt of the morphological awareness lessons. The effects of these gains were moderate to large.ConclusionsFindings suggest that teachers with limited morphological awareness can successfully implement scripted morphological awareness lessons that result in meaningful gains in their students' morphological awareness. Limitations and suggestions for future research on the collaboration between SLPs and teachers are discussed.

Improving Vocabulary Outcomes in Inclusive Secondary Science Classrooms through Professional Development

ABSTRACTSecondary students with learning disabilities are likely to learn science in an inclusive classroom. Their success often depends on teachers’ ability to support their literacy needs. In this quasi-experimental study, we examine the effect of teacher’ involvement in intensive professional development designed to deepen secondary science teachers’ knowledge of evidence-based morphological awareness practices and implementation of evidence-based morphological awareness instruction, and to improve students’ science vocabulary knowledge. Teachers (n = 6) increased their knowledge of evidence-based morphological awareness practices and use of evidence-based morphological awareness instruction. Furthermore, their students’ (n = 55) knowledge of science vocabulary improved. We provide recommendations for future research, and discuss implications for the way districts and teacher educators design professional development and for improving the accessibility of science content.

School-Based Speech-Language Pathologists' Knowledge/Use of Morphological Awareness Instruction: Results of a Survey

Purpose This study was conducted to gain a better understanding of the role that morphological awareness instruction plays in school-based speech-language pathologists' (SLPs) clinical practice. Issues related to their knowledge and use of morphological awareness instruction and their overall level of satisfaction with this type of treatment were examined in the survey. Method Members of the School-Based Issues Special Interest Group 16 responded to an invitation to complete an electronic survey related to morphological awareness instruction. Results The majority of the survey participants did report using morphological awareness instruction within their clinical practice. SLPs were most likely to provide morphological awareness instruction to clients in the elementary grades diagnosed with either a language learning disability or specific language impairment. Specific activities used varied across survey participants, but the majority expressed a high level of satisfaction with this type of intervention. Conclusion Data from the current survey reveal that many SLPs recognize the benefits of morphological awareness instruction. Educational and clinical implications are discussed.

Improving Vocabulary Mastery and Reading Comprehension of Eighth Grade Students of SMPN 18 Bengkulu through Morphological Awareness Instruction

The purpose of this study was to find out whether or not Morphological Awareness Instruction could improve students’ vocabulary mastery and reading comprehension. This study also aimed to find out the students’ perception concerning the use of Morphological Awareness Instruction. A true experimental research method was applied to achieve the goal. The sample of this study was sixty students of SMPN 18 Kota Bengkulu which were chosen by using two stages of random sampling. To collect the data,a set of questionnaire and tests were used. Independent sample t-test was applied in analyzing the data. The results showed that (1) Morphological Awareness Instruction significantly improved students’ vocabulary mastery; (2) Morphological Awareness Instruction significantly improved students’ reading comprehension, and (3) there were positive perceptions of the students toward the use of Morphological Awareness Instruction in learning vocabulary and reading. Key words: Morphological Awareness Instruction, vocabulary mastery, reading comprehension.

Morphology: Is it a means by which teachers can foster literacy development in older primary students with literacy learning difficulties?

This article details findings from research that involved a targeted literacy intervention developed for use with students with literacy learning difficulties (LLD). We discuss changes in the literacy skills of two groups of students with LLD over the course of the intervention that included explicit instruction in morphological awareness. Thirty-six students with LLD, from Years 4 to 6 participated in the two studies, which were held over one school year. Analyses indicated that in both studies students made significant gains in measures of literacy that included reading accuracy and reading comprehension. These findings suggest that teachers should consider how a focus on morphology and its associated derivational complexities, could benefit the literacy development of students with LLD.

Effective Word Reading Instruction: What Does the Evidence Tell Us?

This article is a report of recent evidence on methods for teaching young and struggling readers to read words. Specifically, evidence comparing synthetic and analytic phonics instruction was reviewed as well as the benefit of instruction in encoding and morphological awareness. The evidence reviewed suggests that instruction in synthetic and analytic phonics are both effective methods for teaching word reading to young and struggling readers and the inclusion of encoding in early reading instruction may provide added benefit. Furthermore, several investigations have found instruction in morphological awareness to be beneficial for improving young students’ word reading. More research is needed to investigate the effectiveness of incorporating encoding and morphological awareness instruction into early reading programs.

Efectos de la intervención en conciencia morfológica sobre la lectura, escritura y comprensión: Meta-análisis

The aim is to check, through a meta-analysis, the impact of morphological awareness training on writing, reading, comprehension and vocabulary of grade schooler. 31 studies were included in the meta-analysis; they were obtained from 19 articles that meet the selection criteria. Morphological awareness instruction has a high-medium and significant effect size in studied variables of literacy. On writing, <em>g</em>=0.491, <em>SE</em>=0.078, <em>IQ</em>=0339-0643, <em>p</em>=.000, reading, <em>g</em>=0.473, <em>SE</em>=0.096, <em>IQ</em>=0284-0662, <em>p</em>=.000, comprehension, <em>g</em>=0.468, <em>SE</em>=0.123, <em>IQ</em>=0227-0708, <em>p</em>= .000 and finally vocabulary, <em>g</em>=0.501, <em>SE</em>=0.152, <em>IQ</em>=0203-0798, <em>p</em>= .001. The test of Heterogeneity <em>Q</em> is only significant on writing so other moderating variables were explored but no differences between groups were found. It shows morphological awareness training improves reading, vocabulary and comprehension of grade schooler with and without reading difficulties. Nevertheless, the results on writing are more heterogeneous.

Using morphological awareness instruction to improve written language skills.

Written English is a morphophonemic language. Researchers have documented that a conscious awareness of the morphological structure of English morphology is predictive of students' written language skills and that morphological awareness instruction leads to improvements in morphological awareness and in other written language skills. The purpose of this tutorial is to provide specific information to clinical scientists and other educators for integrating morphological awareness instruction into their written language instruction. The authors first define morphological awareness and provide an overview of the research on the effects of morphological awareness intervention on improving morphological awareness and written language skills. Measures used to assess morphological awareness ability are then discussed, followed by suggestions for how clinical scientists and other educators can provide morphological awareness instruction to improve the written language skills of the students they serve. By integrating morphological awareness instruction into the services they provide, clinical scientists and other educators will be providing their students with a strong tool to aid written language skills.

The Effects of Morphological Awareness Training on Reading, Spelling, and Vocabulary Skills

This study was designed to examine the effects of an intervention program aimed at improving reading, spelling, and vocabulary skills through linguistically explicit instruction in morphological awareness. Sixteen children, diagnosed with language impairment, participated in this study. Instruction for the experimental group focused on increasing their knowledge of the morphological structure of words and teaching them to apply this information to reading, spelling, and vocabulary tasks. The control group was exposed to the same treatment stimuli, but no attention was given to the semantic or orthographic changes associated with the use of the affixes. Participants in the experimental group made significantly greater gains in both spelling and vocabulary skills than did the control group with large effect sizes noted on the experimental measures. The participants also demonstrated the ability to generalize this information to untaught words as well. The results suggest that linguistically explicit instruction in morphological awareness is beneficial for improving the literacy and language skills of children with language impairment.

Morphological Awareness and Vocabulary Development Among Kindergarteners With Different Ability Levels

Our goal was to investigate the growth of vocabulary and morphological awareness over time in the context of an intervention for kindergartners with different ability levels in these skills. Participants in this exploratory study were 108 children from schools serving socioeconomically disadvantaged neighborhoods. Results indicated that children significantly improved their morphological awareness skills and vocabulary over a period of 4 months ( = .61 for morphological awareness and = .53 for vocabulary), with the greatest gains made by children who were initially low on these measures. Morphological awareness and vocabulary skills were reciprocally related; each made a unique contribution to growth in the other. The results suggest that it may be beneficial to combine instruction in vocabulary and morphological awareness and that kindergarten teachers can successfully do so with guidance.

Morphological Awareness Intervention With Kindergarteners and First and Second Grade Students From Low SES Homes

We investigated the efficacy of a morphological awareness intervention on the morphological awareness and reading skills of students from low-socioeconomic-status homes; we also examined whether the intervention was similarly effective for intervention students who differed in their initial morphological awareness abilities. The 8-week intervention was designed to increase awareness of affixes and the relations between base words and their inflected and derived forms for kindergarteners (n = 27) and first- (n = 22) and second-grade (n = 26) students. Students randomly assigned to the small group intervention were provided instruction four times a week, 25 min a day, whereas students assigned to the control group received “business as usual.” Kindergarten and first- and second-grade students receiving the intervention showed statistically significant gains in morphological awareness with large effect sizes on most measures. Students in all three grades who received the intervention demonstrated nonsignificant gains in literacy abilities with null to small effect sizes. Further, students with low morphological awareness abilities at the onset of the study demonstrated similar gains from the intervention as their peers with typical morphological awareness abilities. Our results suggest that explicit morphological awareness instruction may produce gains of practical importance to young elementary students at risk for future literacy difficulties.

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

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.

Effects of Instruction in Morphological Awareness on Literacy Achievement: An Integrative Review

Effects of Instruction in Morphological Awareness on Literacy Achievement: An Integrative Review

Integrated Morphological Awareness Intervention as a Tool for Improving Literacy

This study evaluated the effects of an intervention program aimed to improve reading and spelling ability through instruction in morphological awareness together with other forms of linguistic awareness, including knowledge of phonology, orthography, syntax, and semantics. Sixteen children aged between 8;07 (years;months) and 11;01 who demonstrated specific spelling difficulties were randomly assigned to either an experimental or a control group. Participants received an average of 19.4 sessions of intervention that focused on increasing awareness of the morphological structure of words, with particular attention to the orthographic rules that apply when suffixes are added to the base word. Participants in the experimental group made significantly greater gains in reading and spelling accuracy than those in the control group on both experimental and standardized measures of reading and spelling. The results also show that participants were able to generalize to new words what they had learned in the intervention sessions. Practitioners should consider the likely benefits of literacy intervention that focuses on developing morphological awareness in conjunction with other types of linguistic awareness.