Studies show that learners can transfer morphological awareness skills from their first language to facilitate language and literacy development in a second and third language.

Studies show that learners can transfer morphological awareness skills from their first language to facilitate language and literacy development in a second and third language.

• A. True
• B. False
• C. Not sure
• D. Sometimes

Answer: (A)

Cross-language transfer happens when the knowledge you have about how morphemes work in your first language helps you read, spell, and understand words in a second or third language. When learners recognize roots, prefixes, and suffixes in L1, they can often apply that same morphological thinking to new languages. This makes it easier to decode unfamiliar words, infer meanings, and build vocabulary, which in turn supports reading comprehension and accurate spelling in the additional languages. For example, knowing that a suffix like -tion often forms a noun in many languages can help learners notice and understand related words in a new language. The effect isn’t identical for every learner or language pair, but research consistently shows that morphological awareness from one language facilitates literacy development in others. That’s why true is the best answer.

Cross-language transfer happens when the knowledge you have about how morphemes work in your first language helps you read, spell, and understand words in a second or third language. When learners recognize roots, prefixes, and suffixes in L1, they can often apply that same morphological thinking to new languages. This makes it easier to decode unfamiliar words, infer meanings, and build vocabulary, which in turn supports reading comprehension and accurate spelling in the additional languages. For example, knowing that a suffix like -tion often forms a noun in many languages can help learners notice and understand related words in a new language. The effect isn’t identical for every learner or language pair, but research consistently shows that morphological awareness from one language facilitates literacy development in others. That’s why true is the best answer.