The Relationship Between Derivational Morphology and Reading Comprehension for Spanish-Speaking Language Minority Students in Fifth-Grade

This correlational study investigated the direct and indirect relationships derivational morphology had to reading comprehension for Spanish-speaking language minority students in the fifth-grade. It also investigated the direct and indirect effects Spanish phonological awareness had on reading comprehension. Multivariate path analysis was used to investigate the unique relationship the independent variables (derivational morphology, vocabulary, language comprehension, decoding, and Spanish phonological awareness) had on reading comprehension for fifth-grade students (N = 71). The results indicated derivational morphology significantly contributed to reading comprehension after controlling for vocabulary, language comprehension, and decoding. The results further indicated that Spanish phonological awareness was not statistically significate to derivational morphology, vocabulary, language comprehension, and reading comprehension, but the effects Spanish phonological awareness had on decoding were significate. The findings from this study suggest that derivational morphology plays an important role in the acquisition of vocabulary, decoding, and reading comprehension for Spanish-speaking language minority students