Long-Term Intervention Effects of Spelling Development for Children With Compromised Preliteracy Skills

Abstract

The aim of this longitudinal study was to build a model of the predictive values (poor phonological awareness, low letter knowledge, and slow naming speed) of spelling in 3 contrasting reading groups: a regular and a computer-assisted remedial intervention and mainstream instruction. The participants were 7-year-old Finnish school beginners (N = 166). The interventions took place in 4 weekly sessions of 45 min each over a period of 28 weeks in groups of 5 during Grade 1. We compared postintervention spelling development across the groups. The children who received systematic phonics-based training via the computer-assisted intervention reached the postinstruction level of the mainstream group by Grade 3. Computer-assisted treatment produced the best results, and mainstream instruction achieved better results than the regular remedial reading intervention. Low phonological awareness seemed to play a central role in spelling development in spite of a combination of deficits.