The Effects of Morphological Instruction on Literacy Skills: A Systematic Review of the Literature

The authors reviewed all peer-reviewed studies with participants from preschool to Grade 8 for this meta-analysis of morphological interventions. They identified 22 applicable studies. Instructional effects (Cohen's d) were averaged by linguistic outcome categories (morphological sublexical, no...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Review of educational research 2010-06, Vol.80 (2), p.144-179
Main Authors: Bowers, Peter N., Kirby, John R., Deacon, S. Hélène
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Age Differences
Educational Practices
Elementary School Students
Experimental Groups
Grade 8
Linguistic morphology
Linguistics
Literacy
Literature reviews
Meta Analysis
Morphemes
Morphological analysis
Morphology
Morphology (Languages)
Orthographies
Outcomes of Education
Peer Evaluation
Preschool children
Preschool education
Pretests Posttests
Quality of education
Reading Achievement
Reading Comprehension
Reading Instruction
Spelling
Systematic review
Teaching
Vocabulary
Word Recognition
Words
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Summary:The authors reviewed all peer-reviewed studies with participants from preschool to Grade 8 for this meta-analysis of morphological interventions. They identified 22 applicable studies. Instructional effects (Cohen's d) were averaged by linguistic outcome categories (morphological sublexical, nonmorphological sublexical, lexical, and supralexical) and comparison group (experimental group vs. control or experimental group vs. alternative training). The authors investigated the effects of morphological instruction (a) on reading, spelling, vocabulary, and morphological skills, (b) for less able readers versus undifferentiated samples, (c) for younger versus older students, and (d) in combination with instruction of other literacy skills or in isolation. Results indicate that (a) morphological instruction benefits learners, (b) it brings particular benefits for less able readers, (c) it is no less effective for younger students, and (d) it is more effective when combined with other aspects of literacy instruction. Implications of these findings are discussed in light of current educational practice and theory.
ISSN:0034-6543
1935-1046
DOI:10.3102/0034654309359353