Morphology - an important ingredient in early years literacy instruction
As a long time and passionate proponent of early years morphology instruction, I was delighted recently to read this update from Timothy Shanahan on a blog post he first wrote in 2017.
Shanahan on Literacy blog: Update - April 2025
Blast from the Past: Is Morphology Training Better Than Phonics Instruction?
Note posted April 12, 2025: Although this blog opposed much early attention to morphology, my views have changed as new evidence has accumulated. Most of this research has focused somewhat later in the primary grade sequence, so I still contend that it makes sense to start by teaching students to translate print to pronunciation (some form of phonics). However, I am increasingly being convinced that the early introduction of morphology make sense. Morphology teaching should be introduced even when explicit phonics instruction is still being taught. Gradually the proportion of word reading instruction should shift from phonology to morphology. The judicious approach would be to include some simple morphology lessons as early as kindergarten, increasing them as the new vocabulary (and spelling demands) justifies. What we need now are evaluations of experimental morphology curricula to help us understand how best to accomplish this.
As more research is conducted and evidence becomes available on different aspects of instruction, we all regularly update and refine our understandings and our thinking. Timothy Shanahan has revised his original conclusion about whether there are benefits to teaching morphology in the early years.
From my own experience of teaching explicit morphology from Foundation to Year 6, I have witnessed the power of morphology instruction. Through systematic building of morphological knowledge, students develop a deeper understanding of the structure of language and how it works. They learn conventions of our English spelling system and build orthographical knowledge that unlocks some of the mysteries of English spelling and the spelling to meaning connections that exist in the language.
Take, for example, the conventions for recording past tense. For regular past tense verbs, we add -ed to the end of a word to show that something has already happened. The spelling of the -ed to signify past tense remains consistent, regardless of the sounds those letters might represent. So, in different past tense verbs, we get a variety of sounds - /ed/ as in ‘rested’, /d/ as in ‘sailed’ and /t/ as in ‘fished’. Knowledge of this morphological concept enables students to understand that when -ed is added to the end of a verb, regardless of variations in sound, the -ed will always signal the past tense form of the verb.
This is just one example when morphology trumps phonology. Regardless of sounds letters might make, certain spellings remain consistent to carry consistent meaning. This is an extra layer of understanding of language, beyond phonics, that students need to learn early in their literacy development. Knowledge of this concept alone, can prevent students making spelling errors and embedding spelling misconceptions that are based solely on sounds heard in words, for example writing ‘fisht’ instead of ‘fished’. It makes sense to teach students these two areas of language, phonology and morphology, at the same time because they are so closely related.
In my experience, learning both areas at once has a positive effect on students’ language and literacy development and engages students to be curious about words and language. Students are naturally interested in words and why they are pronounced or spelled in a certain way. They enjoy looking for patterns in words and love finding the exceptions! They are interested in finding out about the origins of words and the links to different periods and events in history that the study of morphology presents. Morphology instruction, in my opinion, is a crucial addition to a students’ literacy development from the earliest years onwards.
I would love to see more emphasis on this important aspect of literacy instruction amongst schools and teachers and welcome Shanahan’s call for more research studies and evaluations of morphology curricular to help educators to know how to incorporate it more effectively into their instruction.
Suggested reading:
Timothy Shanahan: Shanahan on Literacy blog
The Literacy Hub: Morphology instruction and SSP
Literacy Impact: Morphology-Resource-kit-updated-20.02.23-MS.pdf
Lyn Stone: Language for Life : Morphology Introduction chapter - Publisher: Routledge, 2024
Jocelyn Seamer: Jocelyn Seamer Education – Morphology - podcast and blog