Röthlisberger, Martina; Juska-Bacher, Britta (2026). The Importance of Morphological Awareness for Primary School Students Reading in German as Their First and Second Language. Lernen und Lernstörungen, 15 (4), pp. 171-181 Hogrefe. 10.1024/2235-0977/a000535

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Background: Although the role of morphological awareness (MA) in literacy skills has been increasingly studied in recent years, there is a lack of reliable data on children with German as a second language (GL2), even though, according to PISA, they later exhibit a lag in reading skills.

Method: In the present study, the predictors of the criterion variable reading comprehension were examined among 241 children with German as a second language (GL2) and 215 children with German as a first language (GL1) from third grades, with a focus on morphological and phonological awareness, reading fluency, vocabulary breadth and depth, and nonverbal intelligence.

Results: The GL2 group scored significantly lower than the GL1 group in the morphological awareness screening. However, correlations between MA, reading comprehension, and vocabulary measures were much higher among the children of the GL2 group. Regression analyses showed that MA predicted reading comprehension in the GL2 group more strongly than in the GL1 group, while reading fluency and phonological awareness had a greater impact among the children of the GL1 group.

Discussion: These findings suggest that MA has a stronger influence on reading acquisition for GL2 children than for GL1 children. This should be taken into account in supplementary German lessons for bilingual children to promote reading comprehension and vocabulary acquisition more effectively.

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