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

• 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
• ISSN: 0034-6543; 1935-1046
• DOI: 10.3102/0034654309359353

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.