What is it about?
Morphological awareness (MA) is the conscious identification, manipulation, and use of prefixes, suffixes, and root words to construct and convey word meaning orally and in print. In this scoping review, we describe how authors report the features of classroom-based MA instruction in peer-reviewed journal articles. We applied a framework called the Rehabilitation Treatment Specification System (RTSS) to classify MA instruction according to the targets (the aspect of MA intended to change), ingredients (what the speech-language pathologist (SLP) and educator do and provide), and how these actions achieve change in students’ MA skills. Using the RTSS, we reviewed 47 articles and documented the reported aims and elements of classroom-based MA instruction. Our findings can guide SLP and educator delivery of classroom-based MA instruction and highlight the importance for detailed reporting of classroom-based MA instruction in the literature.
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Why is it important?
Strong oral language skills are essential to literacy achievement, school success, and life beyond secondary school. MA is a vitally important component of language that directly contributes to learning to read. Students identified with oral language and literacy difficulties may not have the skills needed for success in school. Research shows that working on MA helps students develop the vocabulary, word recognition, and reading comprehension skills needed for developing literacy skills. School-based SLPs and educators can refer to our example of how to use the RTSS, and our summary of the features of MA instruction, to intentionally select MA targets for classroom-based instruction, and the corresponding ingredients. In this way, SLPs and educators can design and apply tailored MA instruction for their specific students, putting every student on the path to academic success.
Perspectives
Our article helps school-based SLPs and educators to review published articles and confidently plan morphological awareness instruction to achieve their shared goal of every student reading.
Basiliki Passaretti
McMaster University
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Reporting of Classroom-Based Morphological Awareness Instruction and Intervention for Kindergarten to Grade 3 Students in the Literature: A Scoping Review, Language Speech and Hearing Services in Schools, April 2023, American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA),
DOI: 10.1044/2022_lshss-22-00090.
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