WORD MORPHOLOGY ENHANCES READING FLUENCY IN CHILDREN WITH DEVELOPMENTAL DYSLEXIA

The present contribution provides an overview of recent studies showing that morphemes (roots and derivational suffixes) play the role of accessible reading units in Italian children with developmental dyslexia. Morpheme- based reading is proved to be instrumental in helping less proficient subjects to overcome difficulties with reading fluency. Similarities and differences in the reading performance of children with dyslexia and normal, both young and adult readers are also discussed in detail. The likelihood of a morpheme-based reading strategy is shown to vary as a function of both word features, such as morphological transparency, frequency and length, and reading ability.