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Abstract

Morphological awareness refers to the ability to reflect on and manipulate morphemes and word formation rules in language ( Kuo & Anderson,2006 ). This paper presents both a theoretical framework and current research on the relevance of morphological awareness to reading achievement as well as to reading instruction. Additionally, it provides a synthesis of empirical studies on the topic of morphological awareness and reading from a crosslinguistic perspective. Educational practices and implications to the classroom, based on the aforementioned theory and research findings, are also explored suggesting a need for explicit instruction of derivational morphology in the second language classroom to assist students in breaking down single word meaning as well as to promote reading comprehension.