Electrician not electrishion? Implicit and explicit knowledge of word stem and affix morphemes for children’s spelling

Thesis

This study investigated the extent to which implicit and explicit knowledge of morphology contribute to children’s spelling in English. Children acquire some understanding of morphemes for spelling through their everyday encounters with words, but this could be enhanced to a more explicit level through direct instruction. Intervention studies have reported the advantage of teaching children about morphemes for spelling, but the vast majority of this research has been restricted to affixes, with limited attention to teaching word stems or combining instruction of stems and affixes together. In response, the current study compares a child’s knowledge of morphemes with implicit or explicit instruction of two related morphological spelling rules: the conservation of word stems in derived words and the distinction between the affixes of -ion and -ian.

A sample of 270 children in Years 3 and 4 from three state-supported schools participated. Three experiments were conducted: one examined implicit versus explicit teaching of the morphological rule for stems; a second investigated if explicit teaching of one morphological principle (e.g. word stems) leads to explicit knowledge of another (e.g. affixes); and a third combined instruction of stems and affixes together. A pre-test, immediate post-test, and delayed post-test design was employed for each experiment in which children were randomly assigned to one of two intervention groups or a control condition that did not receive any form of instruction. In the pre- and post-tests, the children’s spelling of stems and affixes in derivatives was assessed. The interventions involved training games in which the children spelled derived words after seeing the stem forms; the explicit groups discussed the connection between the spellings whereas the implicit and control conditions did not.

Analyses of variance revealed that explicit teaching of word stems and affixes led to more significant spelling improvements than implicit or no teaching, and that this effect held at both immediate and delayed post-test. Combining instruction of stems and affixes within the same teaching session was also reported to noticeably aid a child’s spelling accuracy. It was concluded that explicit teaching combined with appropriate spelling games shows a sustained effect on children's spelling. The evidence supports the integration of morphemes into current educational policy and teaching practice.

Authors: Burton, L

• Type of award: DPhil
• Level of award: Doctoral
• Awarding institution: University of Oxford
• Keywords: morphemes; explicit teaching; Children; implicit teaching; spelling