Abstract
The goal of this study was to explore the relationship between morphological awareness and the spelling of morphemes and morphologically complex words among 75 third- and fourth-grade Francophone students of low socio-economic status. To reach this objective, we administered a dictation comprised of morphologically complex words with prefixes, bases, morphogrammes and suffixes. The target items had inconsistent or infrequent spellings, so their spelling required children to apply morphological knowledge. The children also completed three tests that measured morphological awareness. Correlational analyses indicated that a higher level of morphological awareness was significantly associated with the spelling of each type of morpheme. Regression analyses showed that it made a unique contribution only to the spelling of morphogrammes (4 %), suffixes (9 %), and morphologically complex words (5 %) after grade level, word identification, non-verbal intelligence and phonological awareness were partialled out. However, morphological awareness no longer predicted the spelling of morphologically complex words when the spelling of morphemes was entered in the regression model. These findings extending those of previous studies with respect to the role of morphological awareness in the production of morphologically complex written words and contribute to the discussion on the nature of the link between morphological awareness and word spelling.
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Notes
In order to facilitate reading of this paper, morphogrammes are listed among the targeted morphemes in the rest of the text, even though they are not morphemes.
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The author declares that this study complies with ethical statements: there is no conflicts of interest (financial or non-financial), and since the research involved human participants, they were informed before participating in this study. As they were minor, parental consent was requested and obtained for all of them.
Appendix
Appendix
Words | Graphemes in prefixes | Graphemes in bases | Morphogrammes | Graphemes in suffixes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
immobile | immobile | |||
irréparable | irréparable | |||
arrondir | arrondir | |||
atterrir | atterrir | atterrir | ||
alléger | alléger | |||
innombrable | innombrable | |||
déshabiller | déshabiller | déshabiller | ||
illimité | illimité | |||
embellir | embellir | embellir | ||
décollage | décollage | |||
gagnant | gagnant | |||
gentillesse | gentillesse | gentillesse | ||
banquier | banquier | banquier | ||
chanceux | chanceux | chanceux | ||
soirée | soirée | |||
violence | violence | |||
pâtisserie | pâtisserie | pâtisserie | ||
affaiblissement | affaiblissement | affaiblissement | affaiblissement | |
regard | regard | |||
gout | gout | |||
bavard | bavard | |||
imprécis | imprécis | |||
début | début | |||
gratuit | gratuit | |||
retard | retard | |||
bord | bord | |||
talent | talent | |||
sourd | sourd | |||
livret | livret | |||
abandonner | abandonner | |||
encercler | encercler |
Dictation text
Un voyage de rêve
Au début*, le décollage de l’avion causa un léger vertige à Nicolas. Cependant, il était excité d’être à bord de cet énorme appareil. Il ferma les yeux et resta immobile pendant quelques minutes pour se calmer. Le souvenir de l’instant où un mouvement imprécis de son adversaire violent lui permit de conquérir la dernière planète, la Terre, et de devenir le plus jeune gagnant de La conquête de la galaxie Morpho l’excita davantage. On lui avait offert un billet gratuit pour le prochain championnat mondial. De plus, son grand-père pâtissier lui avait même fait cette soirée-là un gâteau embelli d’innombrables planètes au goût chocolaté. Il sourit et ouvrit les yeux. L’hôtesse de l’air expliquait quelque chose dans un langage pour les sourds. Ne comprenant rien, il jeta un regard à la personne qui était assise à sa droite. Un homme, bavard comme un banquier, le salua imperceptiblement. Nicolas lui sourit et détourna les yeux. À sa gauche, une fillette déshabillait sa poupée pour la revêtir quelques minutes plus tard. Plus loin, un garçonnet n’arrêtait pas d’encercler des lettres sur un livret. Nicolas referma les yeux pour pouvoir penser aux stratégies que ses amis du Cercle de l’Espace lui avaient suggérées. Ces stratégies et son talent devraient alléger sa tâche de gagner. Il n’utiliserait jamais la violence, car il n’était pas un faible. Il s’endormit en rêvant à ses figurines qui gagnaient continuellement du terrain. Soudain, une panne irréparable de l’un de ses vaisseaux permit à l’adversaire de faire le gain de plusieurs satellites. Il n’avait plus de stratégies dans sa banque. Un terrible affaiblissement l’envahit.
La main que l’hôtesse de l’air posa avec gentillesse sur son épaule le réveilla. Fiou! Ce n’était qu’un rêve. Un plat couvert de pâtisseries arrondies était déposé sur la tablette en face de lui. Il se sentit chanceux d’être là et avait hâte à la compétition qui serait féroce. Ses chances de gagner ne seraient pas illimitées, mais il poursuivrait sans abandonner. Après quelques manœuvres du pilote, l’avion atterrit à New York. Nicolas, habillé de son chandail du championnat descendit fièrement l’escalier de l’avion.
*Words in bold were dictated.
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Fejzo, A. The contribution of morphological awareness to the spelling of morphemes and morphologically complex words in French. Read Writ 29, 207–228 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11145-015-9586-8
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11145-015-9586-8