Over the past three decades, literacy development research has shown a special interest in morphological knowledge. This refers to the ability to think about and analyze word structures at the morphemic level, including roots, prefixes, and suffixes (Carlisle, 1995; Kuo & Anderson, 2006). A growing body of research suggests that this knowledge significantly contributes to literacy development in multiple ways (Levesque et al., 2021). Since 2010, researchers (Carlisle, 2010) have recommended incorporating morphological knowledge into written language instruction. However, this type of instruction is not yet widely implemented. Integrating it in classrooms requires adapting knowledge from linguistics, psycholinguistics, and didactics to develop a teaching program that supports students' metalinguistic development (Fejzo & Laplante, 2021). Additionally, implementing such a program necessitates training teachers in morphological knowledge. Our presentation focuses on two major aspects of integrating morphological knowledge in classrooms: designing such a program and training and supporting teachers to teach it. Based on our experience from a three-year study that aimed to collaborate with teachers to conceive a morphological program to enhance vocabulary among French third- and fourth-graders in multiethnic neighborhoods, we outline what is needed to design and implement a successful morphological program. Our participants included 16 teachers and their 256 students. The significantly positive results of our study allow us to propose how to co-develop a morphological program with teachers, how to train them during collaborative research phases and how to support them through the quasi experimental design.

Authors:
Anila Fejzo, University of Quebec in Montreal, Canada
Rihab Saidane, University of Quebec in Abitibi-Temiscamingue, Canada
Kathleen Whissell-Turner, University of Quebec in Montreal, Canada
Meredith Lachance, University of Quebec in Montreal, Canada

About the Presenter(s)
Dr Anila Fejzo is a full professor at University of Quebec in Montreal. She is interested on the contribution of morphological knowledge to the development of literacy.

Connect on Linkedin
https://www.linkedin.com/in/anila-fejzo-724b65b/

See this presentation on the full schedule – Friday Schedule

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