The derivational morphological awareness among Malaysian english language teacher trainees : a linguistic analysis

Abstract

Learning a second language requires a lot of effort as the new language might possess distinct features which require the users to cautiously consider the most suitable linguistic rules and features. The ability to consider the rules is affected by the acquisition of language skills, especially the awareness on linguistic areas. Sufficient amount of awareness especially, will be helpful in assisting the language users make informed decisions when using linguistic features. This study focuses on a type of linguistic awareness; the morphological awareness and specific attention is given to derivational forms; the suffixes. Kieffer and Lesaux’s (2007) definition of derivational morphological awareness as well as Tyler and Nagy’s (1987) derivational knowledge categories have been the theories which guided this present study. The respondents of this study were 44 Malaysian English language teacher trainees. It aims to find out their levels of derivational morphological awareness by examining their uses of derivational suffix forms in academic essays as well as their performance in Derivational Suffix Test (DST). In addition, the study employed the Think Aloud Protocol (TAP) in the attempt to gather information on the implicit strategies used to answer the DST. The study contributes to the theoretical understanding of the varied usage of the derivational suffix forms. The findings indicate that the teacher trainees could significantly perform when they encountered known words but deteriorated performance is observed when they faced unknown, nonsensical words. It can be deduced that derivational knowledge and awareness could be improved by using explicit instructions and giving exposures to language learners. The findings of this study have also unfolded the teacher trainees’ level of morphological knowledge and awareness so the results would assist them in making informed decisions of the derivational processes involved as well as in providing pedagogical support when it comes to their turns in instructing future students.