This article synthesizes the roles of morphology in English reading acquisition and reports a Meta-Analytic Structural Equation Modeling study (k = 134, N = 24,733) that tested the effects of morphological awareness (MA) on English reading comprehension. Moderator analysis was conducted through subgroup analysis that compared monolingual and bilingual/second language [L2] readers of English from disparate native language backgrounds. MA had significant indirect effects on reading comprehension through both word reading and vocabulary knowledge regardless of language background. Its direct effect on reading comprehension was also significant in all subgroups except Chinese-speaking bilingual/L2 readers. The meaning-oriented routes, that is, MA to vocabulary knowledge and MA to reading comprehension through vocabulary knowledge, were significantly weaker in Chinese-speaking bilinguals than in non-Chinese-speaking bilinguals and monolinguals. We conclude by pointing out a robust contribution of morphology to English reading comprehension and emphasizing a strong meaning focus in morphological instruction for bilingual/L2 readers.
This article synthesizes the roles of morphology in English reading acquisition and reports a meta-analytic structural equation modeling study (k = 107, N = 21,818) that tested the effects of morphological awareness (MA) on reading comprehension in school-aged readers. Moderator analysis was conducted through a set of subgroup comparisons based on readers' language status (monolingual vs. bilingual), age/grade (lower elementary, upper elementary, vs. middle/high school), and MA task modality (spoken vs. written). MA had significant indirect effects on reading comprehension via both word reading and vocabulary knowledge in the full sample as well as all subgroups. Its direct effect on reading comprehension, controlling for nonverbal reasoning, word reading, and vocabulary knowledge, was also significant in all subgroups except the lower elementary subgroup.
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