Morphological Awareness and Cross-Language Transfer

Abstract

This research investigated how knowledge of word structure (morphology) transfers across languages in an EFL context. The study involved 100 randomly selected students from basic education in Tunisia, with half from Grade 8 and the other half from Grade 9. The students' vocabulary sizes were assessed using an adapted version of Nation's Vocabulary Levels. Additionally, tests for inflectional and derivational morphemes in Arabic, French, and English were used to measure the students' awareness of word structure. The students also completed two tasks involving words that are similar in meaning and form across languages (cognates) in French-English and Arabic-English. The results showed that knowledge of word structure in Arabic did not relate to knowledge of word structure in English, but there were significant connections between knowledge of word structure in French and English. Furthermore, the study revealed that the similarity of English words with Arabic affected the transfer of knowledge of word structure, while knowledge of word structure in French had an impact on both similar and dissimilar English words.