CONCEPTUALISING THE MULTIDIMENSIONAL ROLES OF MORPHOLOGICAL AWARENESS, SYNTACTIC AWARENESS, AND LEXICAL KNOWLEDGE IN ACADEMIC READING COMPREHENSION AMONG ESL UNDERGRADUATES
Abstract
This paper advances a theoretically integrated framework examining the multidimensional relationships between morphological awareness, syntactic awareness, and lexical knowledge in academic reading comprehension among ESL undergraduates. Through systematic synthesis of three theoretical paradigms—the Reading Systems Framework (Perfetti & Stafura 2014), the Vocabulary Knowledge-Reading Comprehension Model (Qian 1998), and the Automaticity Reading Theory (LaBerge & Samuels 1974)—this study proposes that the automaticity of linguistic processing mechanisms significantly mediates reading comprehension. The proposed framework presents both direct and indirect pathways through which morphological and syntactic awareness influence academic reading comprehension, with particular attention to the mediating role of lexical knowledge. This conceptualisation extends existing theoretical models by explicating how the dimensional aspects of these linguistic competencies—including relational, syntactic, and distributional morphological awareness; syntactic word order, syntactic judgment, and sentence completion in syntactic awareness; and breadth and depth dimensions of lexical knowledge—interact systematically in academic reading comprehension. Drawing upon empirical evidence from literacy development and second language learning research, this study hypothesises that the automatisation of these linguistic mechanisms significantly influences reading comprehension outcomes among adult readers. The framework interrogates the metalinguistic challenges confronting ESL undergraduates within a tertiary education context characterised by systematic transitions in language policy and pedagogical approaches, which have fundamentally altered patterns of academic literacy development. This theoretical synthesis yields significant implications for pedagogical practice, curriculum design, and future empirical investigation and provides a foundation for developing targeted interventions and assessment protocols that address the specific linguistic challenges faced by ESL learners in academic contexts.
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