Better reading fluency with morphological training? An intervention study for children with decoding disorders and typical readers

This project will investigate how morphological awareness intervention affects reading development in 8-9-year-old children.

Effects on reading fluency is the focus of this research but effects on reading comprehension and word reading will also be studied.

Children with reading disorders (RD) and typical readers (TRD) will be investigated.100 children with RD and 100 children with TRD will participate. 50% percent of the children in each group (RD and TRD) will practice morphological awareness on tablets for 15 minutes per day, 5 days per week during 8 weeks.

The other children will read fiction on tablets for the same amount of time. All participants will be tested before the start of the intervention, directly after and again after 6 months.

This is a 4-year project, with development of intervention in year 1, data collection in years 2-3, and final analyses and reporting of results in years in 3-4.Current teaching methods aim to improve children’s reading by practicing phonological skills. They are effective in the earliest phases of reading development but not for improving reading fluency.

For individuals with RD, problems with fluent reading typically last into adulthood. Knowledge on how to improve reading fluency is missing to date.

This project will generate unique knowledge about the effects of morphological awareness on the development of fluent reading, reading comprehension and word reading for all children but in particular for children with RD.