Are morphological awareness and literacy skills reciprocally related? Evidence from a cross-linguistic study.

Abstract

We examined the direction of the relation between morphological awareness and reading/spelling skills in 2 languages varying in orthographic consistency (English and Greek) and whether word reading fluency and vocabulary mediate the relation between morphological awareness and reading comprehension. One-hundred and 59 English-speaking Canadian and 224 Greek children were assessed 4 times between Grades 1 and 3 on measures of morphological awareness, phonological awareness, word reading fluency, and spelling to dictation. Vocabulary was assessed at the end of Grade 2 and reading comprehension at the end of Grade 2 and at the beginning of Grade 3. Cross-lagged analyses showed that earlier morphological awareness predicted later reading comprehension and spelling in both languages and reading fluency in English. The effect of morphological awareness on reading comprehension was not mediated by word reading fluency in either language, but an indirect effect through vocabulary emerged in English. Earlier reading fluency and spelling predicted later morphological awareness before Grade 3 only in English, but morphological awareness began to predict spelling as early as Grade 1 in Greek. Multigroup analyses further showed that the effects of morphological awareness on reading fluency and the effects of spelling on morphological awareness were stronger in English than in Greek. Theoretical implications of these findings are discussed. Educational Impact and Implications StatementWe found that morphological awareness after the end of Grade 2 was a significant predictor of later literacy skills in English-and Greek-speaking children. In addition, literacy skills predicted morphological awareness before the end of Grade 2 in English. The reciprocal relations between morphological awareness and literacy skills found during specific time points in our study suggest that children's morphological awareness should be enhanced as early as possible and be included in assessment batteries for the identification of future literacy difficulties.

Examining the effects of Structured Word Inquiry on the reading and spelling skills of persistently poor Grade 3 readers

“…Likewise, we explored the Morphological awareness × SWI interaction as children with stronger morphological awareness skills may benefit more than children with weaker morphological awareness skills. Individual differences among young children in morphological awareness have already been reported in several studies (e.g., Manolitsis et al, 2019). We expected that children with higher morphological awareness learn how to use morphemes with other sources of information in SWI to read better than children with lower morphological awareness.…”

App-based morphological training produces lasting effects on word knowledge in primary school children: A randomized controlled trial.

“…In line with these two proposed mechanisms, morphological knowledge is an important predictor of individual differences in vocabulary and literacy skills, even after controlling for phonological awareness and other language-and literacy-related skills in many languages, including Chinese, English, and Greek (Deacon et al, 2014;James et al, 2021;Kieffer & Lesaux, 2012;Kim et al, 2020;McBride-Chang et al, 2005;Manolitsis et al, 2019). The strength of the relation between morphological knowledge and reading skills appears to increase with age (Kirby et al, 2012;Singson et al, 2000).…”

Cognitive Precursors of Reading: A Cross-Linguistic Perspective

“…In a detailed longitudinal investigation of the interactive associations between morphological awareness in English and Greek from Grades 1 to 3, Manolitsis, Georgiou, Inoue, and Parrila (2019) ran cross-lagged analyses across four assessment points. Whereas morphological awareness predicted reading comprehension (and spelling) at the next assessment point in both languages, reading fluency was only predicted in English.…”