Morphological awareness, phonological awareness, and literacy development in Korean and English: A 2-year longitudinal study

Eighty-one Korean children were tested once a year across Grades 4, 5, and 6 on Korean phonological and morphological awareness, speeded-naming, Hangul word recognition, Hangul spelling, and English word reading.With age, gender, and Korean vocabulary knowledge statistically controlled, both phonological awareness and speeded-naming were uniquely associated with Korean spelling and English reading; this phonological awareness link was stronger for older children than younger ones. In contrast, the only unique predictor of Hangul reading was morphological awareness; morphological awareness also significantly predicted Hangul spelling but not English reading. Of interest, morphological awareness was more strongly associated with Korean literacy skills for younger as compared to older children. Girls outperformed boys on both Hangul measures, but the groups did not differ on English reading. Results support the idea of phonological transfer to reading in a second language and underscore the importance of morphological compounding awareness for early literacy development in Korean. Copyright © 2011 Society for the Scientific Study of Reading.