Can we improve children's spelling ability by teaching morphemes through text reading :an intervention study exploring the relationship between morphological awareness and literacy

摘要

Background: The need to improve children's spelling ability remains audkey government agenda and is an issue encountered frequently byudEducational Psychologists (EPs) in their practice. Recent research hasudsuggested that there is a strong connection between awareness ofudmorphemes and understanding and accurate use of the English spellingudsystem, but relatively little is taught on this subject in school. The aim ofudthe present study was to investigate whether a 5-week intervention canudpromote the development of 6- to 8-year-olds' morphological awarenessudand spelling ability.udMethod: Through the medium of guided group reading, an Interventionudgroup were taught about the morphological rules that govern the spellingudof plural `-s' and past tense `-ecf, whilst a Control group were taught aboutudtwo phonologically-based spelling patterns. The intervention wasudcompatible with current curriculum demands and was delivered to wholeudclasses by their teachers. Pseudoword spelling tasks were administeredudat pre-, immediate post-, and delayed post-intervention points to assessudthe children's learning of the morphological rules in question.udResults: Quantitative analyses suggested that the intervention did notudhave a significant impact on morphological awareness in spelling.udHowever, a third of participating children showed clear gains, and reasonsudfor variation in response to intervention were explored. The overall pictureudindicated that those with better literacy skills have better baselineudmorphological awareness and that they also responded best to theudintervention.udConclusions: The implications of the results are discussed with referenceudto theories of literacy development and individual differences therein; andudin the context of teaching and the profession of Educational Psychology. Itudis hoped that the study will increase the evidence-base of EP work, andudraise awareness that the system of morphemes could be a powerfuludresource for children learning literacy.