The role of morphological awareness in the reading development of English language learners

This study examined differences in morphological awareness between students who were English language learners (ELLS) and those who spoke English only (EOs) and compared the relationship of morphological awareness to reading skills across these two groups. An experimental task was created that assessed second and third grade students' ability to decompose infrequent derived words. EOs at both grade levels were more able to decompose derived words than ELLs. However, all students showed sensitivity to the morphological properties of the derived words, including the phonological transparency between the stem and derived word and the frequency of the stem. Structural equation modeling was used to examine the extent to which morphological awareness, word reading, and vocabulary predicted reading comprehension. The model fit the data well and functioned equivalently across the EO and ELL groups. The total effect of morphological awareness on reading comprehension was sizable; however, no direct relationship was found that did not overlap with word reading and vocabulary. The lower level of morphological awareness found among ELLs in early elementary might contribute to continued comprehension differences across these two groups as they move to upper elementary, since research suggests that morphological awareness may have a more direct role in later grades.