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Extending the bounds of morphology instruction: teaching Latin roots facilitates academic word learning for English Learner adolescents

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Abstract

This study investigated the hypothesis that academic vocabulary instruction infused with morphological analysis of bound Latin roots-such as analysis of the relation between innovative and its bound root, nov (meaning “new”)-will enhance word learning outcomes for English Learner (EL) adolescents. Latinate words with bound roots comprise a majority of general academic vocabulary words in English and are ubiquitous in texts across content areas. However, the effect of instruction in this area of morphology is unclear. Theory suggests that morphological knowledge is a critical component of lexical representations, binding a word’s phonological, orthographic and semantic features. We hypothesized that instruction in bound Latin roots would (a) produce stronger outcomes for learning academic words by strengthening semantic and orthographic representations, and (b) equip students with morphological analysis skills to problem-solve new words. Employing a within-subjects design, 84 EL students participated in both of two counterbalanced conditions: vocabulary intervention without roots (comparison) and vocabulary intervention with roots (treatment). Effects on learning meanings of academic words were similar across conditions. However, the “with roots” condition showed large treatment effects for morphological problem-solving of unfamiliar words, and also suggested positive treatment effects on lexical access, lending partial support to our hypothesis that instruction about bound Latin roots contributes to EL adolescents’ academic vocabulary learning.

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Notes

  1. We adopt English Learner (EL) as a commonly used term in the literature. All participants, many of whom were multilingual, were designated English Learners by the school district per performance on the WIDA ACCESS-ELL English language proficiency assessment and all were enrolled in the district’s English as a Second Language program.

  2. Becker’s corpus identifies all morphographs in the 26,000 highest frequency words in English. Becker and colleagues identified 6531 total “morphographs”—that is, bound roots and all stem-words and their derivations. Of these, approximately half appeared only once in the corpus; 2000 appeared in three to five words; 1500 appeared in six or more words, and 800 appeared in 10 or more words. Thus target roots selected for the task are high-frequency.

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Acknowledgements

Funding was provided by Spencer Foundation (Grant No. Award #201400167) and Institute of Education Sciences (Grant No. R305A160401). We are grateful to William Nagy and Isabel Beck for guidance regarding research design. Many thanks to Jonathan Covel, Debra Friss, and the administrators, teachers, and students whose collaboration made this research possible.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Curriculum and Instruction, College of Education, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, 16802, USA

    Amy C. Crosson

  2. Learning Research and Development Center, University of Pittsburgh, 3939 O’Hara Street, Pittsburgh, PA, 15260, USA

    Margaret G. McKeown

  3. School of Education, University of Pittsburgh, 230 S. Bouquet St., Pittsburgh, PA, 15213, USA

    Debra W. Moore

  4. RAND Corporation, 4570 Fifth Ave #600, Pittsburgh, PA, 15213, USA

    Feifei Ye

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  1. Amy C. Crosson
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Crosson, A.C., McKeown, M.G., Moore, D.W. et al. Extending the bounds of morphology instruction: teaching Latin roots facilitates academic word learning for English Learner adolescents. Read Writ 32, 689–727 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11145-018-9885-y

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