Morphological awareness is a building block of literacy instruction.
Morphological knowledge provides a unique contribution to reading skills. Morphological awareness serves as a scaffold that enhances reading ability in the areas of word identification, semantics, fluency, and spelling. According to Moats (2009), vocabulary and spelling programs in elementary school are frequently erratic rather than systematic, and teachers frequently lack the expertise in morphology to impart this adequately. Reading and conversely spelling benefits from a logical progression and intelligent grouping not only of phonemic (individual sounds in language) but also morphological language instruction, especially in Grades 4-6 where new words are more complex. Active teaching of morphological awareness should be a key component of literacy instruction.
Initial reading skills develop primarily out of developing phonological awareness. The phonics relationship between the graphemes (symbols) and phonemes (sounds) must also be comprehended. In the later elementary grades, intensive inflectional and morphological teaching provides enormous benefits to students, especially those with decoding and phonological awareness difficulties. Knowledge of roots, suffixes, and prefixes enhances clearer comprehension. Vocabulary is best understood, recalled, and spelled when the meaning, structure, origin, and morphemes are well explained. But perhaps equally significantly, knowledge of meaningful word parts provides students with a methodology by which to dissect lengthy and intimidating words into manageable pronounceable units and results in increased fluency as well.
Morphological awareness can support a variety of additional literacy skills that phonology alone cannot. Students with a strong morphological understanding can better identify words, comprehend their meaning, and read them fluently. This is because they can analyze the internal structure of the word to decode and analyze it more quickly and accurately. Specific knowledge of suffixes can help with decoding, such as knowing how to pronounce the derivational endings such as –tion or -tious. Understanding morphology can help students understand unfamiliar words, by recognizing the base word and the process by which the derivations apply. Green (2009) also states that knowing inflections such as –ed for past tense will facilitate better spelling of past tense words despite the phonological differences in pronunciation of past tense endings.
McCutchen et al. (2008) suggest that specific morphological instruction might be valuable to older students who are struggling with reading, especially those with phonemic awareness difficulties. Increased reliance on morphology might help these students compensate for their phonological weaknesses. This is true of students with weakness in working memory, as they can chunk a word into more manageable parts.
A child’s reading proficiency is entangled in the relationships between phonology, morphology, and vocabulary. Given the staggering American adult illiteracy rates outlined by Moats (2000) of 25%, any teaching tool that assists struggling readers in acquiring fluency is significant.
References
Berninger, V. et al. “Tier 3 specialized writing instruction for students with dyslexia.” Reading and Writing, 21, (2008): 95-129.
Carlisle, J. (2000) “Awareness of the structure and meaning of morphologically complex words: Impact on reading.” Reading and Writing: An Interdisciplinary Journal 12, (2000): 169–190.
Casalis, S., P. Cole, & D. Sopo. “Morphological awareness in developmental dyslexia.” Annals of Dyslexia, 54, (2004): 114-138.
Green, L. “Morphology and literacy: Getting our heads in the game.” Language, Speech, and Hearing Services in Schools, 40, (2009): 283-285.
McCutchen, D., L. Green, and R. Abbott. “Children’s morphological knowledge: Links to literacy.” Reading Psychology, 29, (2008): 289-314.
Moats, L. Speech to Print: Language essentials for teachers. Baltimore: Paul H. Brookes Publishing Co., 2000.