Spelling performance of public and private school students: A comparative study

Natália Fusco,Amanda Corrêa Do Amaral,Maria Nobre Sampaio,Ana Carla Leite Romero,Simone Aparecida Capellini

doi:10.1590/1982-02752017000300008

Natália Fusco, Amanda Corrêa Do Amaral + Show 3 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1590/1982-02752017000300008

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Abstract

Abstract To characterize and compare the spelling performance of private and public students. Three hundred 1st-5th graders from public and private schools in the city of Marília, São Paulo, Brazil, were evaluated, totalizing 30 students from each grade, respectively. Collective and individual versions of the Pró-Ortografia test (a renowned Brazilian spelling test) were administered. There were significant inter-group differences indicating that private school students achieved higher performance. The mean values of correct answers of higher grade level students were statistically greater than those of the lower grade level students. The results indicated that the mean values of correct answers of all versions of the spelling test administered increased across grades for both private and public school students. However, the data evaluated showed that private school students attained higher spelling performance than public school students from the 2nd grade onwards.

Highlights

To characterize and compare the spelling performance of private and public students
It can be observed that in the majority of the tests administered, the mean value of correct answers was higher for the 1st graders from private school, except for the tests pseudoword dictation (DPP) and deliberate misspelling (EP)
In the majority of tests, the mean values were higher for the group GI than for the group GVI, except for the two above-mentioned tests

Summary

Introduction

To characterize and compare the spelling performance of private and public students. Three hundred 1st-5th graders from public and private schools in the city of Marília, São Paulo, Brazil, were evaluated, totalizing 30 students from each grade, respectively. The results indicated that the mean values of correct answers of all versions of the spelling test administered increased across grades for both private and public school students. The metalinguistic skills, which correspond to explicit manifestations of a functional awareness of the rules of the organization or use of language, as well as the ability to think and consciously manipulate the linguistic knowledge, are essential to the formal learning-to-write process in schools (Lima & Pessoa, 2007) Both the phonological and the spelling processes are important to the process of writing acquisition (Mousinho & Correa, 2009; Paschoal, Pezarini, Vaz, & Chacon, 2014; Smythe et al, 2008). The basis for understanding an alphabetic writing system, such as the Brazilian Portuguese, is grasping the concept that written words are made up of units smaller than a syllable, which are responsible for the meaning of the word, and that these smaller units can be represented by graphic signs (Guimarães, Paula, Mota, & Barbosa, 2014; Moraes, 2008)

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