Haskins Publications

Number	1216
Year	1995
Drawer	23
Entry Date	08/28/2001
Authors	Fowler, A.E. & Liberman, I. Y.
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Publication	In Feldman, LL.B. (ed.) Morphological aspects of language processing. pp. 157-188. Hillsdale, New Jersey, Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
url	http://www.haskins.yale.edu/Reprints/HL1216.pdf
Abstract	[Introduction] This chapter explores the interdependence of morphological, phonological, and orthographic knowledge in 48 children 7.5 to 9.5 years of age. To examine the role of phonological complexity, we employed a morphology production task, modeled after Carlisle (1987, 1988) involving six common derivational suffixes presented with base forms that were either phonologically deformed by the suffix (PhonComplex, e.g., five/fifth) or phonologically unchanged (PhonNeutral, e.g., four/fourth). Reading and spelling skills were significantly correlated for shared variance due to age and vocabulary knowledge. However, reader group differences were most pronounced in the PhonComplex condition, suggesting that problems that are apparently morphological are exacerbated by phonological deficits known to exist in poor readers. Reading-level comparisons of older poor readers and younger average readers matched on reading skill yielded not differences in morphology production; this leaves open the question of whether morphological weaknesses hamper reading acquisition or whether experience with the orthography promotes morphological sensitivity.
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