Morphology in English Reading Comprehension in Monolingual and Bilingual/L2 Readers: A Synthesis and Meta-analytic Structural Equation Modeling Study

Abstract

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.