Abstract
The goal of this study was to investigate the contribution of morphological awareness to reading fluency of children with and without dyslexia in a transparent orthography, such as the Greek one. The sample consisted of 256 Greek-speaking children (2nd grade: 32 dyslexic and 105 typical readers, 5th grade: 28 dyslexic and 91 typical readers). Morphological awareness was assessed with three tasks, examining inflectional, derivational, and compounding morphology. Reading fluency was evaluated at word, text, and silent level. The results indicated that dyslexic children both in 2nd and 5th grade face significant difficulties in inflectional, derivational, and compounding morphology compared to their peers. Hierarchical regression analyses revealed that morphological awareness significantly contributed to reading fluency of children with and without dyslexia, after controlling for non-verbal intelligence, vocabulary, and phonological awareness. Among typical readers, results indicated that inflectional, derivational, and compounding morphology had a small but significant effect on word, text, and silent reading fluency in 2nd grade and derivational and inflectional morphology on text and silent reading fluency in 5th grade, after controlling for non-verbal intelligence, vocabulary, and phonological awareness. For dyslexic children, a moderate-to-large effect of inflectional and derivational morphology on text and word reading fluency was restricted to 2nd grade. Overall, morphological skills may play a supportive role in reading fluency of Greek children in first and last elementary grades. On the other hand, for Greek children facing reading problems morphological skills appeared to have a strong role in reading fluency only in first grades. Our study provided some preliminary data for the dyslexics’ ability of morphological processing as a scaffolding skill for reading fluency. Implications of these findings for education are discussed.
Similar content being viewed by others
Notes
According to Cohen’s (1988) classification, the effect size is considered small (.20), moderate (.50), and large (> .80).
References
Apel, K., Diehm, E., & Apel, L. (2013). Using multiple measures of morphological awareness to assess its relation to reading. Topics in Language Disorders, 33(1), 42–56. https://doi.org/10.1097/TLD.0b013e318280f57b
Arnesen, A., Braeken, J., Baker, S., Meek-Hansen, W., Ogden, T., & Melby-Lervåg, M. (2017). Growth in oral reading fluency in a semitransparent orthography: Concurrent and predictive relations with reading proficiency in Norwegian, Grades 2–5. Reading Research Quarterly, 52(2), 177–201. https://doi.org/10.1002/rrq.159
Breadmore, H. L., & Carroll, J. M. (2016). Morphological spelling in spite of phonological deficits: Evidence from children with dyslexia and otitis media. Applied Psycholinguistics, 37(6), 1439–1460. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0142716416000072
Burani, C. (2010). Word morphology enhances reading fluency in children with developmental dyslexia. Linguee Linguaggio, 9(2), 177–198.
Burani, C., Marcolini, S., & Stella, G. (2002). How early does morpholexical reading develop in readers of a shallow orthography? Brain and Language, 81, 568–586. https://doi.org/10.1006/brln.2001.2548
Burani, C., Marcolini, S., De Luca, M., & Zoccolotti, P. (2008). Morpheme-based reading aloud: Evidence from dyslexic and skilled Italian readers. Cognition, 108(1), 243–262. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cognition.2007.12.010
Carlisle, J. F., & Stone, C. A. (2005). Exploring the role of morphemes in word reading. Reading Research Quarterly, 40(4), 428–449. https://doi.org/10.1598/RRQ.40.4.3
Casalis, S., Colé, P., & Sopo, D. (2004). Morphological awareness in developmental dyslexia. Annals of Dyslexia, 54(1), 114–138. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11881-004-0006-z
Cohen, J. (1988). Statistical power analysis for the behavioral sciences. Routledge Academic.
Cunningham, A. J., & Carroll, J. M. (2015). Early predictors of phonological and morphological awareness and the link with reading: Evidence from children with different patterns of early deficit. Applied Psycholinguistics, 36(3), 509–531. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0142716413000295
Deacon, S. H. (2008). The metric matters: Determining the extent of children’s knowledge of morphological spelling regularities. Developmental Science, 11(3), 396–406. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-7687.2008.00684.x
Deacon, S. H., Parrila, R., & Kirby, J. R. (2008). A review of the evidence on morphological processing in dyslexics and poor readers: A strength or weakness? In G. Reid, A. Fawcett, F. Manis, & L. Siegel (Eds.), The Sage Handbook of Dyslexia (pp. 212–237). Sage Publications.
Deacon, S., Tong, X., & Mimeau, C. (2019). Morphological and semantic processing in developmental dyslexia. In L. Verhoeven, C. Perfetti, & K. Pugh (Eds.), Developmental dyslexia across languages and writing systems (pp. 327–349). Cambridge University Press.
Desrochers, A., Manolitsis, G., Gaudreau, P., & Georgiou, G. (2018). Early contribution of morphological awareness to literacy skills across languages varying in orthographic consistency. Reading and Writing, 31(8), 1695–1719. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11145-017-9772-y
Diamanti, V., Goulandris, N., Stuart, M., Campbell, R., & Protopapas, A. (2018). Tracking the effects of dyslexia in reading and spelling development: A longitudinal study of Greek readers. Dyslexia, 24(2), 170–189. https://doi.org/10.1002/dys.1578
Diamanti, V., Mouzaki, A., Ralli, A., Antoniou, F., Papaioannou, S., & Protopapas, A. (2017). Preschool phonological and morphological awareness as longitudinal predictors of early reading and spelling development in Greek. Frontiers in Psychology, 8, 2039. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2017.02039
Dunn, L. M., & Dunn, L. M. (1981). Peabody picture vocabulary test-revised. American Guidance Service, Inc.
Duranovic, M., Tinjak, S., & Turbic-Hadzagic, A. (2014). Morphological knowledge in children with dyslexia. Journal of Psycholinguistic Research, 43(6), 699–713. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10936-013-9274-2
Egan, J., & Pring, L. (2004). The processing of inflectional morphology: A comparison of children with and without dyslexia. Reading and Writing, 17(6), 567–591. https://doi.org/10.1023/B:READ.0000044433.30864.23
Elbro, C., & Arnbak, E. (1996). The role of morpheme recognition and morphological awareness in dyslexia. Annals of Dyslexia, 46(1), 209–240. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02648177
Freitas, P. V., da Mota, M., & Deacon, S. H. (2018). Morphological awareness, word reading, and reading comprehension in Portuguese. Applied Psycholinguistics, 39(3), 507–525. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0142716417000479
Giazitzidou, S. (2021). Reading fluency of students with learning disabilities: Predictive indicators in a transparent orthography [Unpublished dissertation thesis]. Aristotle University of Thessaloniki.
Görgen, R., De Simone, E., Schulte-Körne, G., & Moll, K. (2021). Predictors of reading and spelling skills in German: The role of MA. Journal of Research in Reading, 44(1), 210–227. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-9817.12343
Grigorakis, I. (2014). The development of children’s metamorphological abilities from kindergarten to Grade 2 and its relationship with reading and spelling acquisition [Unpublished dissertation thesis]. University of Crete.
Grigorakis, I., & Manolitsis, G. (2019). Early morphological awareness and learning to read morphologically complicated words in Greek: A longitudinal study. In the Research Group of the University Complutense of Madrid "ECOLE” (Ed.), 20th European Conference on Literacy. Working together to encourage equity through literacy communities: A challenge of the 21st century. 3–6 July 2017 (pp. 892–908). University Complutense of Madrid.
Jacobson, C., & Lundberg, I. (2000). Early prediction of individual growth in reading. Reading and Writing, 13(3), 273–296. https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1026476712452
Kirby, J. R., & Bowers, P. N. (2017). Morphological instruction and literacy: Binding phonological, orthographic, and semantic features of words. In K. Cain, D. L. Compton, & R. K. Parrila (Eds.), Theories of reading development (pp. 437–462). John Benjamins Publishing Company.
Kirby, J. R., Deacon, S. H., Bowers, P. N., Izenberg, L., Wade-Woolley, L., & Parrila, R. (2012). Children’s morphological awareness and reading ability. Reading and Writing, 25(2), 389–410. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11145-010-9276-5
Kuo, L. J., & Anderson, R. C. (2006). Morphological awareness and learning to read: A cross-language perspective. Educational Psychologist, 41(3), 161–180. https://doi.org/10.1207/s15326985ep4103_3
Leikin, M., & Zur Hagit, E. (2006). Morphological processing in adult dyslexia. Journal of Psycholinguistic Research, 35(6), 471–490. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10936-006-9025-8
Levesque, K. C., Breadmore, H. L., & Deacon, S. H. (2021). How morphology impacts reading and spelling: Advancing the role of morphology in models of literacy development. Journal of Research in Reading, 44(1), 10–26. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-9817.12313
Liu, Y., Georgiou, G. K., Zhang, Y., Li, H., Liu, H., Song, S., ... & Shu, H. (2017). Contribution of cognitive and linguistic skills to word-reading accuracy and fluency in Chinese. International Journal of Educational Research, 82, 75-90. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijer.2016.12.005
Lyster, S. A. H. (2002). The effects of a morphological versus a phonological awareness training in kindergarten on reading development. Reading and Writing. An Interdisciplinary Journal, 15, 261–294. https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1015272516220
Mahony, D., Singson, M., & Mann, V. (2000). Reading ability and sensitivity to morphological relations. Reading and Writing, 12(3), 191–218. https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1008136012492
Manolitsis, G., Grigorakis, I., & Georgiou, G. K. (2017). The longitudinal contribution of early morphological awareness skills to reading fluency and comprehension in Greek. Frontiers in Psychology, 8, 1793. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2017.01793
Marslen-Wilson, W., Tyler, L. K., Waksler, R., & Older, L. (1994). Morphology and meaning in the English mental lexicon. Psychological Review, 101(1), 3. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-295X.101.1.3
Mouzaki, A., Sideridis, G., & Simos, P. (2017). Reading disorders and dyslexia: Investigation of the “discrepancy” model between intellectual abilities and reading performance in Greek elementary students. Epitheorisi Eidikis Agogis, 5, 121–148.
Mouzaki, A., Simos, P., & Sideridis, G. (under publication). Development and standardization of a reading fluency test in Greek population.
Mouzaki, A., Ralli, A., Antoniou, F., Diamanti, V., & Papaioannou, S., (under publication). ΛΟΓΟΜΕΤΡΟ. Evaluation of linguistic skills of children aged 4–7 years old. Interlearn
Nation, K. (2009). Form–meaning links in the development of visual word recognition. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 364, 3665–3674. https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2009.0119
Nunes, T., Bryant, P., & Bindman, M. (1997). Morphological spelling strategies: Developmental stages and processes. Developmental Psychology, 33, 637–649. https://doi.org/10.1037/0012-1649.33.4.637
Padeliadu, S., Antoniou, F., & Sideridis, G. (2019). Assessment task of reading skills–ΔΑΔΑ. Rocket-lexia.
Papadopoulos, T. C., Spanoudis, G. C., & Georgiou, G. K. (2016). How is RAN related to reading fluency? A comprehensive examination of the prominent theoretical accounts. Frontiers in Psychology, 7, 1217. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2016.01217
Perfetti, C. (2007). Reading ability: Lexical quality to comprehension. Scientific Studies of Reading, 11(4), 357–383. https://doi.org/10.1080/10888430701530730
Pittas, E., & Nunes, T. (2014). The relation between morphological awareness and reading and spelling in Greek: A longitudinal study. Reading and Writing, 27(8), 1507–1527. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11145-014-9503-6
Protopapas, A., & Skaloumpakas, C. (2008). Assessment of reading fluency for the identification of reading difficulties. Phycology, 15(3), 267–289.
Protopapas, A., & Vlachou, E. (2009). A comparative quantitative analysis of Greek orthographic transparency. Behavior Research Methods, 41, 991–1008. https://doi.org/10.3758/BRM.41.4.991
Ralli, A. (2003). Morphology in Greek linguistics: The state of the art. Journal of Greek Linguistics, 4, 77–129.
Ralli, A. (2005). Morphology. Patakis.
Raven, J. C. (2004). Coloured progressive matrices, Sets A, AB, B. H. K. Lewis & Co. Ltd.
Rispens, J. E., McBride-Chang, C., & Reitsma, P. (2008). Morphological awareness and early and advanced word recognition and spelling in Dutch. Reading and Writing, 21(6), 587–607. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11145-007-9077-7
Roman, A., Kirby, J., Parrila, R., Wade-Woolley, L., & Deacon, S. (2009). Toward a comprehensive view of the skills involved in word reading in Grades 4, 6, and 8. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 102(1), 96–13. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jecp.2008.01.004
Rothou, K. (2012). Morphological and syntactic awareness as indicator of reading difficulties of early readers [Unpublished dissertation thesis]. Aristotle University of Thessaloniki.
Rothou, K. M., & Padeliadu, S. (2014). Inflectional morphological awareness and word reading and reading comprehension in Greek. Applied Psycholinguistics, 36(4), 1007–1027. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0142716414000022
Rothou, K. M., & Padeliadu, S. (2019). Morphological processing influences on dyslexia in Greek-speaking children. Annals of Dyslexia, 69(3), 261–278. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11881-019-00184-8
Seymour, P. H. K., Aro, M., & Erskine, J. M. (2003). Foundation literacy acquisition in European orthographies. British Journal of Psychology., 94, 143–174. https://doi.org/10.1348/000712603321661859
Shechter, A., Lipka, O., & Katzir, T. (2018). Predictive models of word reading fluency in Hebrew. Frontiers in Psychology, 9, 1882. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2018.01882
Sideridis, G., Antoniou, F., Simos, P., & Mouzaki, A. (2013). Raven Coloured Progressive Matrices (RAVEN). Topos.
Siegel, L. S. (2008). Morphological awareness skills of English language learners and children with dyslexia. Topics in Language Disorders, 28(1), 15–27. https://doi.org/10.1097/01.adt.0000311413.75804.60
Simos, P. G., Sideridis, G. D., Protopapas, A., & Mouzaki, A. (2011). Psychometric evaluation of a receptive vocabulary test for Greek elementary students. Assessment for Effective Intervention, 37(1), 34–49. https://doi.org/10.1177/1534508411413254
Snowling, M. J. (2000). Dyslexia. Blackwell publishing.
Tsesmeli, S. N. (2017). Spelling and meaning of compounds in the early school years through classroom games: An intervention study. Frontiers in Psychology, 8,. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2017.02071
Suárez-Coalla, P., & Cuetos, F. (2013). The role of morphology in reading in Spanish-speaking children with dyslexia. The Spanish Journal of Psychology, 16. https://doi.org/10.1017/sjp.2013.58
Suárez-Coalla, P., Martínez-García, C., & Cuetos, F. (2017). Morpheme-based reading and writing in Spanish children with dyslexia. Frontiers in Psychology, 8, 1952. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2017.01952
Tsesmeli, S. N., & Seymour, P. H. (2006). Derivational morphology and spelling in dyslexia. Reading and Writing, 19(6), 587. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11145-006-9011-4
Vender, M., Mantione, F., Savazzi, S., Delfitto, D., & Melloni, C. (2017). Inflectional morphology and dyslexia: Italian children’s performance in a nonword pluralization task. Annals of Dyslexia, 67(3), 401–426. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11881-017-0152-8
Wolf, M., & Katzir-Cohen, T. (2001). Reading fluency and its intervention. Scientific Studies of Reading, 5, 211–239. https://doi.org/10.1207/S1532799XSSR0503_2
Funding
For this research the first author got a grant which was co-financed by Greece and the European Union (European Social Fund-ESF) through the Operational Programme “Human Resources Development, Education and Lifelong Learning” in the context of the project “Scholarships programme for post-graduate studies” (MIS-5000432), implemented by the State Scholarships Foundation.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
Publisher's note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Rights and permissions
Springer Nature or its licensor holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.
About this article
Cite this article
Giazitzidou, S., Padeliadu, S. Contribution of morphological awareness to reading fluency of children with and without dyslexia: evidence from a transparent orthography. Ann. of Dyslexia 72, 509–531 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11881-022-00267-z
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11881-022-00267-z