This study was designed to examine the effects of an intervention program aimed at improving reading, spelling, and vocabulary skills through linguistically explicit instruction in morphological awareness. Sixteen children, diagnosed with language impairment, participated in this study. Instruction for the experimental group focused on increasing their knowledge of the morphological structure of words and teaching them to apply this information to reading, spelling, and vocabulary tasks. The control group was exposed to the same treatment stimuli, but no attention was given to the semantic or orthographic changes associated with the use of the affixes. Participants in the experimental group made significantly greater gains in both spelling and vocabulary skills than did the control group with large effect sizes noted on the experimental measures. The participants also demonstrated the ability to generalize this information to untaught words as well. The results suggest that linguistically explicit instruction in morphological awareness is beneficial for improving the literacy and language skills of children with language impairment.

Purpose This study was conducted to gain a better understanding of the role that morphological awareness instruction plays in school-based speech-language pathologists' (SLPs) clinical practice. Issues related to their knowledge and use of morphological awareness instruction and their overall level of satisfaction with this type of treatment were examined in the survey. Method Members of the School-Based Issues Special Interest Group 16 responded to an invitation to complete an electronic survey related to morphological awareness instruction. Results The majority of the survey participants did report using morphological awareness instruction within their clinical practice. SLPs were most likely to provide morphological awareness instruction to clients in the elementary grades diagnosed with either a language learning disability or specific language impairment. Specific activities used varied across survey participants, but the majority expressed a high level of satisfaction with this type of intervention. Conclusion Data from the current survey reveal that many SLPs recognize the benefits of morphological awareness instruction. Educational and clinical implications are discussed.

Children with language impairment frequently struggle with written language skills such as spelling. With their expertise in language, speech-language pathologists are in the position to promote the development of such skills. One way to do this is through the use of direct spelling instruction which has been shown to facilitate growth in a number of literacy skills such as phonemic awareness, reading, and spelling. This article outlines a 10-week direct spelling intervention program that is aimed at improving the literacy skills of children with language impairment. This treatment protocol may be adapted as necessary to meet the needs of individual students.