Computer-assisted morphology training of reading with grade 2 and grade 3 poor readers

Explicit morphology instruction has been recommended for poor readers. Still, hardly any studies have compared the effectiveness of both explicit and implicit morphology training in relation to business-as-usual support in improving reading proficiency. In this study, 277 poor readers in Grades 2 and 3 participated in a computer-assisted eight-week intervention focusing on suffixes in a randomised control trial, with pre-, post- and follow-up assessment in schools for Swedish-speaking children in Finland. Students were randomly allocated into two experimental groups and one control group. The first experimental group played a digital game with explicit instruction in lexical morphology (explicit). The other experimental group played the game without said instruction (implicit). Intervention and Grade effects were analysed using mixed-design analysis of variance (ANOVA). A significant time x group intervention effect was found only in the implicit vs. control group comparison between pre- and post-assessments; a moderate gain in identification of trained words assessed in a game-like manner was found in the implicit group unlike in controls. The difference in gain remained significant at follow-up for both grades. Additionally, third graders in the implicit group demonstrated a more significant improvement than controls in reading aloud pseudowords with trained suffixes, both in the pre‒post comparison and at follow-up. Results suggest that poor readers benefitted from implicit morphology training, but explicit instruction in lexical morphology (animations with verbal explanations) did not have a significant effect on reading proficiency.