EFL Intermediate Students’ Attitudes towards the Impacts of Teaching Morphological Knowledge on the Degree of Lexical Complexity and the Quality of Academic Essays



Abstract Views
156

Downloads
81

Citations

Share

##plugins.themes.bootstrap3.article.sidebar##

Submitted Aug 4, 2023
Published Sep 7, 2023
10.24018/ejlang.2023.2.5.109

Abstract viewed = 156 times

Table of Contents

##plugins.themes.bootstrap3.article.main##

Writing is usually considered the most challenging skill for the majority of students in the Vietnamese context. Several previous studies revealed that the instruction of morphological knowledge has positive impacts on expanding students’ vocabulary and indirectly improves the quality of academic writing. This current study was implemented in order to investigate EFL intermediate students’ attitudes towards the impacts of teaching morphological knowledge on the degree of lexical complexity and the quality of academic essays in the context of an English language center in the Mekong Delta. This 14-week experimental research employed the use of pre-questionnaire and post-questionnaire, with the participation of two groups of EFL intermediate students who were studying at a similar level and progress. The results indicated that EFL intermediate students in the experimental group had positive attitudes towards the impacts of teaching morphological knowledge on the degree of lexical complexity and the quality of their academic essays throughout the research period, whereas no positive changes regarding attitudes could be found within the ones in the control group. From that, several recommendations and pedagogical implications were drawn with the attempt to contribute to the innovation of teaching vocabulary and teaching writing in the context of secondary schools and high schools in the Mekong Delta.

Keywords: Academic essays lexical complexity morphological knowledge students' attitudes

References

  1. Albarracin, D., Johnson, B., & Zanna, M. (2005). The handbook of attitudes. Routledge.
     Google Scholar
  2. Arnbak, E., & Elbro, C. (2000). The effects of morphological awareness training on the reading and spelling skills of young dyslexics. Scandinavian Journal of Educational Research, 44(3), 229–251.
     Google Scholar
  3. Aronoff, M., & Fudeman, K. (2011). What is morphology? (2nd ed.). Wiley.
     Google Scholar
  4. Berninger, V. W., Abbott, R. D., Nagy, W., & Carlisle, J. (2010). Growth in phonological, orthographic, and morphological awareness in grades 1 to 6. Journal of Psycholinguistic Research, 39(2), 141–163.
     Google Scholar
  5. Carlisle, J. F. (2000). awareness of the structure and meaning of morphologically complex words: Impact on reading. Reading and Writing, 12(3), 169–190.
     Google Scholar
  6. Coutu-Fleury, C. (2015). The effects of morphological awareness training on the reading and spelling performance of young dyslexics. Langues et Linguistique, 35, 72-79.
     Google Scholar
  7. Ediger, M. (1999). Reading and vocabulary development. Instructional Psychology, 26(7).
     Google Scholar
  8. Goodwin, A. P., & Ahn, S. (2013). A meta-analysis of morphological interventions in English: Effects on literacy outcomes for school-age children. Scientific Studies of Reading, 17(4), 257–285.
     Google Scholar
  9. Haddock, G., & Maio, G. R. (2004). Contemporary perspectives on the psychology of attitudes. Psychology Press.
     Google Scholar
  10. Higginbotham, G., & Reid, J. (2019). The lexical sophistication of second language learners’ academic essays. Journal of English for Academic Purposes, 37, 127–140.
     Google Scholar
  11. Johansson, V. (2008). Lexical diversity and lexical density in speech and writing: A developmental perspective. Working Papers in Linguistics, 53, 61–79.
     Google Scholar
  12. Kim, M., Crossley, S. A., & Kyle, K. (2018). Lexical sophistication as a multidimensional phenomenon: Relations to second language lexical proficiency, development, and writing quality. The Modern Language Journal, 102(1), 120–141.
     Google Scholar
  13. Laufer, B., & Nation, P. (1995). Vocabulary size and use: Lexical richness in L2 written production. Applied Linguistics, 16(3), 307–322.
     Google Scholar
  14. Lu, X., & Ai, H. (2015). Syntactic complexity in college-level English writing: Differences among writers with diverse L1 backgrounds. Journal of Second Language Writing, 29, 16–27.
     Google Scholar
  15. Masrai, A. M. (2016). The influence of morphological knowledge on lexical processing and acquisition: The case of Arab EFL learners. Ampersand, 3, 52–60.
     Google Scholar
  16. Moats, L.C., Carreker, S., Davis, R., Meisel, P. Spear-Swerling, L. & Wilson, B. (2010). Knowledge and practice standards for teachers of reading. The International Dyslexia Association: Professional Standards and Practices Committee. https://dyslexiaida.org/knowledge-and-practices/.
     Google Scholar
  17. Muse, A. E. (2005). The nature of morphological knowledge [Unpublished doctoral dissertation]. Florida State University.
     Google Scholar
  18. Nagy, W. E., & Scott, J. A. (1990). Word schemas: Expectations about the form and meaning of new words. Cognition and Instruction, 7(2), 105–127.
     Google Scholar
  19. Nagy, W., & Scott, J. A. (2000). Vocabulary processes. In M. L. Kamil, P. Mosenthal, P. D. Pearson, & R. Barr (Eds.), Handbook of reading research (pp. 269–284). Lawrence Erlbaum.
     Google Scholar
  20. Nagy, W., Berninger, V., Abbott, R., Vaughan, K., & Vermeulen, K. (2003). Relationship of morphology and other language skills to literacy skills in at-risk second-grade readers and at-risk fourth-grade writers. Educational Psychology, 95(4), 730–742.
     Google Scholar
  21. Nagy, W., Berninger, V. W., & Abbott, R. D. (2006). Contributions of morphology beyond phonology to literacy outcomes of upper elementary and middle-school students. Educational Psychology, 98(1), 134–147.
     Google Scholar
  22. Nagy, W. E., Carlisle, J. F., & Goodwin, A. P. (2014). Morphological knowledge and literacy acquisition. Learning Disabilities, 47(1), 3–12.
     Google Scholar
  23. Pham, V. P. H., & Truong, M. H. (2021). Teaching writing in Vietnam’s secondary and high schools. Education Sciences, 11(10), 1-23.
     Google Scholar
  24. Quy, V. P., An, L. D. X., Vy, N. T. T., Chau, N. T. M., & Tien, N. T. (2022). Morphological awareness of students majoring in English studies towards vocabulary learning. European Journal of Education Studies, 9(11), 210-228.
     Google Scholar
  25. Schnur, E., & Rubio, F. (2021). Lexical complexity, writing proficiency, and task effects in Spanish dual language immersion. Language Learning & Technology, 25(1), 53–72.
     Google Scholar
  26. Scott, J. & Nagy, W. (2004). Developing word consciousness. In J. Baumann & E. Kame'enui (Eds.), Vocabulary instruction: Research to practice (pp. 201–215), Guilford Press.
     Google Scholar
  27. Templeton, S. (2012). Teaching and learning morphology: A reflection on generative vocabulary instruction. Journal of Education, 192(2–3), 101–107.
     Google Scholar
  28. Tyler, A., & Nagy, W. (1989). The acquisition of English derivational morphology. Journal of Memory and Language, 28(6), 649–667.
     Google Scholar
  29. Wysocki, K., & Jenkins, J. R. (1987). Deriving word meanings through morphological generalization. Reading Research Quarterly, 22(1), 66-81.
     Google Scholar