Abstract

GUIMARAES, Silvia Brilhante; MOTA, Márcia Maria Peruzzi Elia da  and  DEACON, S. Hélène. Morphological awareness training in reading and spelling of Portuguese. Rev. psicopedag. [online]. 2025, vol.42, n.127, pp.56-64.  Epub June 09, 2025. ISSN 0103-8486.  https://doi.org/10.51207/2179-4057.20250004.

This study investigates the effects of instruction in morphology in both oral and written modality on morphological skills and both spelling and reading of a group of Portuguese speaking children in Grade 3. We conducted morphological training across 19 sessions with 17 students and compared its effects to a ‘business as usual’ control group of 16 students. The groups were matched based on performance on measures of verbal and non-verbal abilities as well as phonological awareness. Pre- and post-tests included morphological awareness, spelling of morphologically complex words and other word types, as well as word-level reading. Analyses revealed significant effects of the intervention on morphological awareness and spelling of morphologically complex words, but not on word-level reading or spelling. These findings point to relatively specific effects of morphological training, albeit ones that are likely to be quite helpful to children given the prevalence of morphologically complex words in written texts.

Keywords : Spelling; Morphological Awareness; Morphological Intervention; Reading.

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