Literacy-related differences in morphological knowledge: A nonce-word study

Dabrowska E, Pascual E, Macías-Gómez-Estern B, Llompart M (2023)

Publication Type: Journal article

Publication year: 2023

Journal

Frontiers in Psychology Frontiers Media

Book Volume: 14

Article Number: 1136337

DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1136337

Abstract

Using a nonce-word inflection task, we examine the morphosyntactic productivity of adult native speakers of Spanish who are either beginning to learn to read and write (semi-literates) or have acquired literacy in late adulthood (late-literates), as well as age-matched controls (high-literates). High-literates consistently provided the appropriate form more often than late-literates, who in turn were better than semi-literate participants. Crucially, group interacted with person, number, and conjugation, such that the between-group differences were larger for the less frequent cells in the paradigm, indicating that literacy-related differences are not merely a consequence of the high-literacy group being more engaged or test-wise. This suggests that the availability of written representations may facilitate the acquisition of certain aspects of grammar. We also observed vast individual differences in productivity with inflectional endings. These results add to the growing body of research which challenges the assumption that all native speakers converge on the same grammar early in development.

Authors with CRIS profile

Ewa Dabrowska Lehrstuhl für Language und Cognition (Alexander von Humboldt-Professur) Miguel Llompart Garcia Lehrstuhl für Language und Cognition (Alexander von Humboldt-Professur)

Additional Organisation(s)

Graduiertenkolleg 2839, Die Konstruktionsgrammatische Galaxis

Involved external institutions

Universidad Pablo de Olavide of Seville ES Spain (ES) Shanghai International Studies University (SISU) / 上海外国语大学 CN China (CN)

How to cite

APA:

Dabrowska, E., Pascual, E., Macías-Gómez-Estern, B., & Llompart, M. (2023). Literacy-related differences in morphological knowledge: A nonce-word study. Frontiers in Psychology, 14. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1136337

MLA:

Dabrowska, Ewa, et al. "Literacy-related differences in morphological knowledge: A nonce-word study." Frontiers in Psychology 14 (2023).

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