Differential Use of Orthographic and Phonological Coding Strategies by Students with Symmetrical and Asymmetrical Reading and Spelling Skills

Abstract

This study investigated the orthographic and phonological coding strategies of students with symmetrical and asymmetrical reading and spelling achievement. Based on performance on a standardized achievement test, fourth-and fifth-grade students (N = 50) were classified as having no difficulties with reading and spelling, difficulties with both reading and spelling, or difficulties with spelling but not with reading. Students were administered the following tasks to assess their use of orthographic and phonological strategies: 1) rhyme judgment, 2) orthographic and phonological similarity in memory, 3) reading pronounceable pseudowords, and 4) deciding which pseudoword looked most like a real word. Compared to the poor readers and spellers, the results indicated a greater use of phonological coding strategies by the good readers regardless of spelling skill. Additionally, students who were poor readers and spellers demonstrated greater use of orthographic than phonological coding strategies. However, students with asymmetrical good reading but poor spelling skills recalled fewer orthographically distinct words than the good or poor readers and spellers, thereby, showing some differential use of an orthographic coding strategy. The results highlight the importance of considering students' orthographic in addition to phonological processing strategies when assessing and identifying specific learning disabilities. The results also provide evidence for the differential use of these strategies by students with either symmetrically poor or asymmetrically good reading but poor spelling skills.