Abstract
The purpose of this study was to explore the spelling knowledge and skills of elementary school children with and without dyslexia who speak Dutch, a language with a relatively transparent orthography. Children in Grades 2–6 completed real and pseudoword spelling dictation tasks. Spelling performance was compared in 218 children with (n = 55) and without (n = 163) dyslexia. There was a medium effect size for morphological, phonological, combined, and etymological spelling skills for differences between students with and without dyslexia. In addition, spelling real words resulted in medium effect sizes, whereas spelling pseudowords resulted in small effect sizes. Children without dyslexia performed above the mean for the entire sample in Grade 4, whereas same-age peers with dyslexia did so 2 years later. Even so, Dutch-speaking children with dyslexia continued to have difficulty spelling words requiring phonological skills and spelling pseudowords even up to Grade 6. Clinicians are encouraged to be aware of the importance of the choice of spelling items in the assessment of dyslexia. The use of pseudowords appears to be helpful in older children to identify spelling problems.
Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
