Relationship of Morphological Knowledge to Spelling Silent Letter Endings in French

This cross-sectional study of archival data from Francophone elementary students assessed morphological knowledge as a construct encompassing both implicit and explicit morphological skills, and the use of this construct in predicting children's morphogramme spelling. 123 children in grades 1 to 3 were assessed on four measures of morphological knowledge, which varied in terms of implicit and explicit morphological manipulations; morphogramme spelling; and their use of silent letter endings (SLEs) in novel situations. First graders struggled to complete explicit morphological tasks, while third graders reached ceiling level on implicit tasks, thus highlighting the importance of choosing appropriate measures for a target population. Factor analysis of the morphological measures confirmed a one factor solution for morphological knowledge. However, analyses failed to replicate prior research stating that morphological knowledge predicts morphogramme spelling. Finally, children rarely used SLEs; however, when they did, they displayed sensitivity to the appropriate phonological context for the letter used.