Morphemes are the smallest linguistic unit of meaning—and the ability to consider and manipulate them, known as morphological awareness (MA)—plays a big role in language and literacy success. In fact, MA intervention can improve the language skills of children with developmental language disorder (DLD), dyslexia, and learning disabilities.

In this the latest forum from Language, Speech, and Hearing Services in Schools (LSHSS), Morphological Awareness as a Key Factor in Language-Literacy Success for Academic Achievement, the authors focus on the role of MA in the development, assessment, instruction, and intervention of language and literacy. These articles, curated by Guest Editors Ashley Bourque Meaux, Julie A. Wolter, and Ginger G. Collins, discuss developing MA assessments, extending interventions, and school-based collaboration.

Four articles discuss assessing MA skills to better understand a child’s developmental level. In these studies, the authors used a variety of tests to assess early and receptive MA skills for children in first grade (Wolter et al.) and children in fifth to eighth grade with limited reading vocabulary (Goodwin et al.). Two additional articles focus on assessing MA in special populations—children with speech sound disorders (Apel & Henbest) and decoding difficulties (Park et al.).

Four additional articles focus on developing interventions for patients once their MA has been assessed. Two of these articles explore the role of MA in spelling (Bahr et al.) and the relationship between morphology, phonology, and etymology (Murphy and Diehm). Two more articles focused on morphological interventions in intensive summer camps for children with dyslexia (Fallon & Katz; published in advance of the current forum) and reading and/or language disorders (Collins et al.).

Finally, interprofessional partnerships between speech-language pathologists (SLPs) and educators are the focus of three articles. These articles explore intervention strategies in multitiered systems of support models (Meaux et al.), what practicing SLPs need to know about morphology (Brimo & Henbest), and MA in bilingual students (Fumero & Tibi).

We would like to thank Ashley Bourque Meaux, Julie A. Wolter, and Ginger G. Collins for all their hard work putting this forum together. You can read the entire forum here, or explore the articles below. We hope that you enjoy this forum!

Explore the Forum

Apel, K., & Henbest, V. S. (2020). Morphological awareness skills of second and third grade students with and without speech sound disorders. Language, Speech, and Hearing Services in Schools, 51(3), 603–616. https://doi.org/10.1044/2019_LSHSS-19-00045

Bahr, R. H., Silliman, E. R., & Berninger, V. W. (2020). Derivational morphology bridges phonology and orthography: Insights into the development of word-specific spellings by superior, average, and poor spellers. Language, Speech, and Hearing Services in Schools, 51(3), 641–655. https://doi.org/10.1044/2020_LSHSS-19-00090

Brimo, D., & Henbest, V. S. (2020). The importance of speech-language pathologists’ explicit knowledge of morphology. Language, Speech, and Hearing Services in Schools, 51(3), 561–571. https://doi.org/10.1044/2020_LSHSS-19-00057

Collins, G., Wolter, J. A., Meaux, A., & Alonzo, C. N. (2020). Integrating morphological awareness in a multilinguistic structured literacy approach to improve literacy in adolescents with reading and/or language disorders. Language, Speech, and Hearing Services in Schools, 51(3), 531–543. https://doi.org/10.1044/2020_LSHSS-19-00053

Fallon, K. A., & Katz, L. A. (2020). Structured literacy intervention for students with dyslexia: Focus on growing morphological skills. Language, Speech, and Hearing Services in Schools, 51(2), 336–344. https://doi.org/10.1044/2019_LSHSS-19-00019

Fumero, K., & Tibi, S. (2020). The importance of morphological awareness in bilingual language and literacy skills: Clinical implications for speech-language pathologists. Language, Speech, and Hearing Services in Schools, 51(3), 572–588. https://doi.org/10.1044/2020_LSHSS-20-00027

Goodwin, A. P., Petscher, Y., & Tock, J. (2020). Morphological supports: Investigating differences in how morphological knowledge supports reading comprehension for middle school students with limited reading vocabulary. Language, Speech, and Hearing Services in Schools, 51(3), 589–602. https://doi.org/10.1044/2020_LSHSS-19-00031

Meaux, A., Diehm, E. A., & Collins, G. (2020). Morphological knowledge: Opportunities for collaboration through multitiered system of supports. Language, Speech, and Hearing Services in Schools, 51(3), 515–530. https://doi.org/10.1044/2020_LSHSS-19-00051

Meaux, A., Wolter, J., & Collins, G. (2020). Morphological awareness as a key factor in language-literacy success for academic achievement. Language, Speech, and Hearing Services in Schools, 51(3), 509–513. https://doi.org/10.1044/2020_LSHSS-20-00064

Murphy, K., & Diehm, E. A. (2020). Collecting words: A morphology-focused orthographic intervention. Language, Speech, and Hearing Services in Schools, 51(3), 544–560. https://doi.org/10.1044/2020_LSHSS-19-00050

Park, Y., Brownell, M. T., Reed, D. K., Tibi, S., & Lombardino, L. J. (2020). Exploring how initial response to instruction predicts morphology outcomes among students with decoding difficulties. Language, Speech, and Hearing Services in Schools, 51(3), 656–671. https://doi.org/10.1044/2020_LSHSS-19-00097

Wolter, J., Gibson, F., & Slocum, T. A. (2020). A dynamic measure of morphological awareness and first-grade literacy skill. Language, Speech, and Hearing Services in Schools, 51(3), 617–640. https://doi.org/10.1044/2020_LSHSS-19-00047