A relação da consciência morfológica com o processamento morfológico e a leitura

Abstract

Research conducted in several countries has shown the importance of morphology in literacy. However, the results of the studies conducted in Brazilian−Portuguese are still inconsistent. The aim of this study was to evaluate the relationship between morphological awareness and morphological processing and reading in Brazilian−Portuguese. The study included 141 children from Grades 2−5 from private schools. Morphological awareness, phonological awareness, phonological memory and nonverbal intelligence were evaluated. Also an experimental task of lexical decision with priming technique was developed, to assess the morphological processing. The results indicated that the relationship between morphological awareness and reading appears only when the children analyzed were in the Grade 1 and Grade 5. The morphological awareness explains 10% of the reading ability, when controlled other variables in the regression analysis assessed. The morphological processing is perceived in children from Grade 2 and gradually developed until the Grade 1, when it is possible to notice a pattern similar to adults. There was no correlation between morphological awareness and morphological processing. Therefore, morphological awareness has a very important function in children from Grade 4, which reinforces the importance of teaching strategies in literacy that take into account the function of the ability to manipulate the words in the morpheme level.