A dynamic measure of morphological awareness and first-grade literacy skill

Purpose: The purpose of this feasibility study was to investigate an early dynamic measure of morphological awareness (MA) involving graduated prompts to measure early MA skill and determine whether this task relates to and predicts performance on other language and/or literacy measures in first-grade children with language abilities typically found in the classroom. Method: In addition to a battery of language and literacy measures, a dynamic assessment of MA was designed and administered to 74 first-grade children with a range of language abilities. Results: The dynamic measure of MA was found to be valid, reliable, and measured early school–age MA performance for children with typical language and those at risk for developmental language disorder. For children with typical language, the developed dynamic MA measure was related to and predictive of performance on other language and literacy measures above and beyond static phonological and MA measures. Conclusions: The results provide preliminary support for the use of dynamic assessment to measure MA in first-grade children with a range of language abilities.