Language & Cognition seminar - Dr Siri Steffensen Bratlie

The effectiveness of a Norwegian app-based morphology program: Can Captain Morph help students with language minority backgrounds learn new words?

In this talk, I will present results from a Norwegian research project, the Vocabulary Learning Challenge, where we developed and tested a digital morphology-based intervention, Captain Morph, for Norwegian second-graders. A sub study examined the effectiveness for students with language minority backgrounds.

Captain Morph targets derivational affixes and compounding. The app built on the principle that frequency of target elements together with variation of nontarget elements can support implicit learning. We tested the app in a randomized controlled trial with 717 second-graders including 188 students with language minority backgrounds. Students were randomly allocated to the intervention condition (Captain Morph) or the active control condition (a math app) within classrooms, and worked with their allocated app for 8 weeks in daily sessions of approximately 15 minutes.

Overall, results showed lasting and generalized effects on students’ word knowledge (d = .27 - .37), but somewhat weaker effects on the literacy outcomes, which tended to fade at the 6 months follow-up (d = .05 - .22). The effects on the word knowledge measures did not differ between language minority and language majority students, or between language minority students with different language-literacy profiles or family characteristics. Implications are discussed.