Morphology matters, or Do you need to teach affixes? - presented by Dr Elizaveta Tarasova and Dr Natalia Beliaeva

Morphology matters, or Do you need to teach affixes?

Elizaveta Tarasova and Natalia Beliaeva

Dr Elizaveta TarasovaDr Natalia Beliaeva
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Morphology matters, or Do you need to teach affixes? Elizaveta Tarasova and Natalia Beliaeva KiwiClass NEW ZEALAND MULTICULTURAL SUPPORT SERVICES HE AMO TAUNAKI TERTIARY INSTITUTE
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Pre-study action research project 2019 academic school year in IPU Japan, Okayama Action research aimed to identify if knowledge of English affixation mechanisms (derivational awareness) aids reading comprehension The increase in IELTS (General) reading practice test scores was more prominent in the study groups compared to the control groups Limitations: the study was conducted in General English classes only looked at one level of English proficiency (B1) no consideration of productive skills
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Writing in EAP Ability to coherently and cohesively express complex ideas by employing: complex grammatical structures advanced/sophisticated vocabulary rules of structuring discourse a variety of genres and styles (Bruce 2021)
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EAP programmes Mostly skills-based Key focus is on development of the four language skills essential for processing and creation of academic texts Concern with literacy and academic use of language Systemic competence development is mainly focused on building academic vocabulary
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Lexical complexity Lexical complexity/diversity refers to 'the range of vocabulary deployed in a text by either a speaker or writer' (McCarty & Jarvis 2007, p. 459) Lexical complexity is often measured through lexical specificity, i.e. the correlation between the word length and Type/Token ratio Derivatives are characterized by lexical complexity due to length and more specific meaning (compared to bases)
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Morphological derivational awareness in L1 Derivational knowledge is not explicit but intuitive (Friedline 2011) Intuitive understanding of relations between derivatives develops by the age of 10-11 (Tyler and Nagy 1989) Approximate vocabulary size at this age is 6400 word families (Coxhead et al. 2015) Vocabulary size and derivational awareness are connected (Tyler & Nagy 1989)
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Morphological derivational awareness in L2 Limited research in this area Sasao and Webb (2017) report on a positive effect of affix knowledge on vocabulary learning and language proficiency development The notion of 'word family' (Bauer & Nation 1994, Nation 2001) is helpful in developing learners' understanding of relational connections between derivatives and derivational bases thus aiding vocabulary skills (size) development (increase)
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L2 language proficiency and derivational awareness Bauer and Nation (1994): derivational awareness expands with the development of language proficiency ability to acquire and effectively use an affix is determined by its characteristics factors to consider include frequency, productivity, predictability of meaning, regularity of form and function of the affix
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Bauer and Nation' (1994) classification Level Affixes Level 1 A different form is a different word Level 2 Inflectional categories: plural -s, past tense -ed, comparative -er, etc. Level 3 The most frequent, productive and regular derivational affixes: -able, -er, -ish, -less, - ly, -ness, -th (fourth), -y, non-, un- (only in most common uses) Level 4 Frequent and regular affixes, e.g. -al, -ation, -ess, -ful, -ism, -ist, -ity, -ize, -ment, -ous, in- (only in most common uses) Level 5 Infrequent but regular affixes, e.g. -age-ance, -ship, mis-, etc. Level 6 Frequent but irregular affixes, e.g. -ee, -ic, -ion, re-, etc. Level 7 Classical (Latin and Greek) roots and affixes, e.g. -ate, -ure, etc.
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Current research Focus: EAP writing Research questions: Is there a connection between writing proficiency development and morphological knowledge? Does the use of morphologically complex words contributes to the overall evaluation of students' writing by markers?
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The current study: Data Analysis of the corpus comprised of 104 assessments written by 10 students of the ELS programme (IPU New Zealand) NZCEL (Levels) 2-4 Pass/Fail grade We look at the learners' progression/development in the course of their studies over two academic years
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Methodology Stage 1: Manual analysis of scripts to identify the kind and number of morphologically complex words used within a text Stage 2: Statistical analysis to identify the connection between morphological complexity and the grade Stage 3: Qualitative analysis to clarify the trends noted in Stage 2
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Methodology: Data coding Each script was coded manually to identify: The number of morphologically complex words (the word count was considered) Only the words that were used appropriately in terms of grammar, spelling and context The level of difficulty of the affix (L2-L7) was coded following Bauer and Nation's (1994) system
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The current study: data NZCEL Number of Total Total Total word level texts number of number of count passes fails Overall number of 5585 passes higher in NZCEL Levels 2 and 3 Gen 5017 3 Ac 7036 4 Ac 18270 Total 35908
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Quantitative analysis More Average number of morphologically complex words per text morphologically complex word types NZCEL in submissions that level grade Level 2 Level 3 Level 4 Level 5 Level 6 Level 7 passed NZCEL Levels pass Differences fail especially evident in pass NZCEL Levels 3b and 4. 3 Gen fail Distribution indicates pass an interaction between NZCEL 3 Ac fail Level and the pass 13.3 14.5 number of complex words 4 Ac fail
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Regression analysis Model formula: achieved ~ n_level2*NZCEL_level+n_level3*NZCEL_level+n_level4* Multiple logistic NZCEL_level + n_level5* NZCEL_level+n_level6*NZCEL_level+n_level7* regression NZCEL_level+ total_tokens +total_types + text_type+n_lexdiversity + text_size+(1/participant) N of complex words with L3-5 affixes is a Estimate Std. Error Z value p value significant predictor of the grade Intercept -64.110 1362 0.000 0.999 Significant interaction between NZCEL NZCEL_level3b -12.280 5.915 -2.076 0.038* level and N of NZCEL_level4 -44.860 2.225 -2.016 0.044* complex words n_level5 3.789 1.487 2.548 0.011* Model with interaction better text_size 0.025 0.014 1.702 0.089 explains the NZCEL_level4:n_level3 1.159 0.655 1.768 0.077 distribution of the NZCEL_level4:n_level5 -3.162 1.414 -2.236 0.0254* grades (x2=48.652, Intercept levels: n_level1, IZCEL_level2, text_typecompare Df=16, p<0.001)
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Conditional inference tree analysis NZCEL_level NZCEL level is a significant predictor 2, 3a, 3b of the grade total tokens n_level4 higher number of passes observed <4.5 >4.5 among texts level5 containing more 1.5 complex words higher number of level5 L3, L4 and L5 < 0.5 affixes in texts that achieved the n level3 passing grade Node 3 (n = 22) Node 4 (n = 9) Node 8 (n = 10) Node 10 (n = 12), Node 11 (n = 17), Node 12 (n = 13) Node 13 (n = 21),
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Qualitative analysis: NZCEL Level 2 No evidence of derivational complexity influencing the grade Limited range of morphologically complex words with repetition of the same word across scripts as well as within one script: Taranaki is the famous mountain in New Zealand. There are many famous animals in New Zealand. Tuatara is the most famous reptile.. Whales, dolphins, penguins and sea lions are also famous sea animals in New Zealand. (Level 2, Text 9)
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NZCEL Level 2: Other trends Frequent use of -ing forms (deverbal nouns, adjectives, participles, gerunds) Limited variety of words formed with L3 affixes (e.g. suddenly, unhappy, player) The use of more complex affixes indicates rote learning and is restricted to higher frequency vocabulary (famous, government, international) or words that are relevant for the learners (e.g. Japanese, West Papuan, Christianity)
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Qualitative analysis: NZCEL Level 3 Lexical diversity of morphologically complex words, i.e. the number of different lexemes, increases X3 times per script on average Evidence of growing derivational awareness and development of relational knowledge: I am always enthusiastic to meet new people I always work hard and enthusiastically. (Level 3, Text 4) I think that Mariana Grande is so famous because she is very sincere... Finally, her sincerity also makes her popular. (Level 3, Text 6)
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NZCEL Level 3: Other trends Mastery of lower level affixes is more prominent compared to higher level affixes Considerable increase in the number of words that employ L3 and L4 affixes (X3 and X2 times respectively) and the variety of derivational bases these affixes attach to Limited correct use of higher level affixes, yet there are definite attempts (excluded from analysis)
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Qualitative analysis: NZCEL Level 4 Increase in morphologically complex words typical of academic discourse: -ed adjectives and past participles (discussed, analysed, trusted) -ing forms (according to, notwithstanding) evaluative/commenting adverbs of degree (slightly, totally), certainty (obviously, apparently), and attitude (surprisingly, interestingly)
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NZCEL Level 4: Other trends Disproportionate increase in the number of affixes in ratio to the number of morphologically complex units due to the use of multi-affixed derivatives, e.g. dysfunctional, unnoticeable Disproportionate increase in higher order suffixes, i.e. the number of L6 words increased more prominently compared to L5 words *L5 affixes are more regular but less frequent, and L6 ones are more frequent but irregular Frequency of the affix may have a stronger effect on its acquisition
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Conclusions Derivational complexity is an important predictor of writing quality Derivational complexity is more important at higher levels of EAP language proficiency Increase in general language proficiency correlates with the growth of derivational awareness, hence derivational awareness predicts the mark Increase in derivational awareness is not haphazard but follows a developmental paradigm that seems to follow the principles proposed by Bauer and Nation (1994)
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Implications for future research Further investigation into the influence of individual factors that determine morphological complexity Productivity Frequency Regularity Further development of the methodological procedures to identify evidence of the relational knowledge development, i.e. what helps a learner to move from repetitive use of the same complex lexeme to using a variety of related derivatives?
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Do affixes need to be explicitly taught? 'A large number of words in English 'are partly motivated, ... and systematic exploitation of this motivation can ease the load of learning new vocabulary' (Bauer & Nation 2020: 1) Our study provides corroborative evidence of the positive effect of derivational awareness on production of written language Focused teaching/learning of word parts should be appropriate for the level of language proficiency and should be given ample attention as the learners are progressing towards their academic study
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Linguistics and Applied Language Studies (Victoria University of Wellington)
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E. Tarasova and N. Beliaeva (2022, November 4), Morphology matters, or Do you need to teach affixes?
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doi.org/10.52843/cassyni.ldb6j9
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