Spelling Skills Research Articles

Handwriting Legibility is Related to Spelling Level, but Not to Reading and Spelling Progress

ABSTRACT In three studies the relationship between handwriting difficulties and dyslexia was investigated. Study 1 examined differences in handwriting difficulties between children with (n = 331) and without dyslexia (n = 305). Children with dyslexia experienced more difficulties with legible handwriting than those without. Study 2 explored the relationship between handwriting difficulties and reading/spelling proficiency among children with dyslexia (n = 311). Reading level and legibility were not related, whereas spelling level and legibility were. Children whose handwriting was extremely poor were more likely to have spelling problems. Study 3 investigated whether handwriting difficulties affected progress in reading and spelling during remediation (n = 249). While children with limited handwriting legibility generally exhibited poorer spelling skills, it did not impede their progress in reading and spelling during the intervention. These findings suggest that handwriting proficiency does not necessarily affect remediation efforts for reading and spelling.

LanguageScreen: The Development, Validation, and Standardization of an Automated Language Assessment App.

Oral language skills provide a critical foundation for formal education and especially for the development of children's literacy (reading and spelling) skills. It is therefore important for teachers to be able to assess children's language skills, especially if they are concerned about their learning. We report the development and standardization of a mobile app-LanguageScreen-that can be used by education professionals to assess children's language ability. The standardization sample included data from approximately 350,000 children aged 3;06 (years;months) to 8;11 who were screened for receptive and expressive language skills using LanguageScreen. Rasch scaling was used to select items of appropriate difficulty on a single unidimensional scale. LanguageScreen has excellent psychometric properties, including high reliability, good fit to the Rasch model, and minimal differential item functioning across key student groups. Girls outperformed boys, and children with English as an additional language scored less well compared to monolingual English speakers. LanguageScreen provides an easy-to-use, reliable, child-friendly means of identifying children with language difficulties. Its use in schools may serve to raise teachers' awareness of variations in language skills and their importance for educational practice.

Relationship Between Resting State Functional Connectivity and Reading-Related Behavioural Measures in 69 Adults

Abstract In computational models of reading, written words can be read using print-to-sound and/or print-to-meaning pathways. Neuroimaging data associate dorsal stream regions (left posterior occipitotemporal cortex, intraparietal cortex, dorsal inferior frontal gyrus [dIFG]) with the print-to-sound pathway and ventral stream regions (left anterior fusiform gyrus, middle temporal gyrus) with the print-to-meaning pathway. In 69 typical adults, we investigated whether resting state functional connectivity (RSFC) between the visual word form area (VWFA) and dorsal and ventral regions correlated with phonological (nonword reading, nonword repetition, spoonerisms), lexical-semantic (vocabulary, sensitivity to morpheme units in reading), and general literacy (word reading, spelling) skills. VWFA activity was temporally correlated with activity in both dorsal and ventral reading regions. In pre-registered whole-brain analyses, spoonerisms performance was positively correlated with RSFC between the VWFA and left dorsal regions (dIFG, superior parietal and intraparietal cortex). In exploratory region-of-interest analyses, VWFA-dIFG connectivity was also positively correlated with nonword repetition, spelling, and vocabulary. Connectivity between the VWFA and ventral stream regions was not associated with performance on any behavioural measure, either in whole-brain or region-of-interest analyses. Our results suggest that tasks such as spoonerisms and spellings, which are both complex (i.e., involve multiple subprocesses) and have high between-subject variability, provide greater opportunity for observing resting-state brain-behaviour associations. However, the complexity of these tasks limits the conclusions we can draw about the specific mechanisms that drive these associations. Future research would benefit from constructing latent variables from multiple tasks tapping the same reading subprocess.

Formation of spelling competence of higher education students

This article addresses the challenge of cultivating spelling proficiency among higher education students amidst the implementation of revised Ukrainian orthographic norms. It delineates both theoretical and practical approaches to enhancing spelling competency and developing the professional speech of students. Contemporary educational objectives prioritize the development of linguistically adept, creative, and self-reliant individuals capable of effective verbal expression in the Ukrainian literary language in various styles and across diverse communicative contexts. Proficiency in the state Ukrainian language is integral to realizing the pedagogical paradigm of continuous language education, promoting communicative competence, linguistic awareness, and meaningful interpersonal communication. The linguistic shifts within modern literary Ukrainian codified in the updated orthography and introduced in 2019 underscore the timeliness and significance of addressing spelling proficiency among higher education students. It necessitates assimilating the codified spelling alterations and refining the spelling prowess of native Ukrainian speakers. The research methodology entailed analysing philological and linguistic didactic literature, scrutinizing the contemporary Ukrainian spelling standards, and reviewing pertinent educational documents, programs, textbooks, and instructional methodologies. Additionally, methods and techniques for enhancing students’ spelling competency were devised and modelled. Effective strategies for bolstering spelling knowledge and skills among higher education students involve a blend of traditional and innovative pedagogical methods and tools. Equally important within the higher education system is instilling students with motivational readiness and intrinsic motivation to adhere to contemporary Ukrainian spelling norms. This entails cultivating a clear appreciation of the significance and necessity, as per current regulatory standards, of employing the Ukrainian literary language across all public domains. Ultimately, it aims to foster a high level of spelling competency among students.

Mediation in the Relation of Orthographic Processing on the Lexical and Sublexical Level with Reading and Spelling Skills. A Large Cross-Sectional Study in Elementary School Children in Germany

ABSTRACT Purpose Two types of orthographic knowledge were examined: i) knowledge of permissible letter combinations (general orthographic knowledge) and ii) knowledge of whole words (word-specific orthographic knowledge), to gain further insights into the relationship of general and word-specific orthographic knowledge with literacy skills. Method Mediation models were estimated using a sample of 2,636 3rd and 4th grade children (50.6% female, ethnic backgrounds were not surveyed) to examine whether general orthographic knowledge predicts reading fluency and spelling performance and whether this path is mediated by word-specific orthographic knowledge. Using confirmatory factor analyses (CFA), we examined whether the responses to correctly spelled words/legal letter patterns and pseudohomophones/illegal letter patterns in word-specific and general orthographic knowledge tasks were generated by separate latent constructs. Results Our results confirm that word-specific orthographic knowledge is a facilitatory mediator in the relationship between general orthographic knowledge and literacy skills. The relationship of general and word-specific orthographic knowledge with literacy skills varies by item type, with a tendency toward higher correlations between literacy skills with pseudohomophones (vs words) and illegal (vs legal) pseudowords, which is in line with the two-factor solution of the CFA. Conclusion From a theoretical perspective, we conclude that general orthographic knowledge facilitates orthographic learning of words. From a methodological perspective, we encourage future researchers to distinguish between targets and foils in orthographic decision tasks.

Utility value of improving writing skills for adult basic education students

AbstractMotivational research identifies utility value, or the importance of a learning task to future goals, as central to motivation to learn. This study analyzed survey data (N = 86) collected from adult literacy learners to examine their utility value of writing improvement in grammar and spelling skills, word processing skills, and planning, drafting, and revising skills. Findings revealed that participants had a high utility value of improving writing in all three skill areas and possessed a variety of underlying motivations, including obtaining further education, seeking future employment, and personal reasons. Participants' age, educational attainment, and reading levels showed relationships with utility value of improving grammar and spelling skills, and age showed an additional relationship to utility value of improving word processing skills. This work extends research on motivation in this population and supports the application of expectancy‐value theory to both adult motivation and writing motivation.

Spelling Facilitates Reading: A Tutorial on the Spell-to-Read Approach.

According to the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA), prevention, identification, assessment, and intervention of children who are learning to read and write are within the scope of practice for school-based speech-language pathologists (SLPs). Furthermore, for SLPs who work in the school setting, it is not uncommon to have struggling readers and poor spellers on their caseloads. Importantly, for students who have difficulty in spelling, their spelling errors are among the early indicators of dyslexia and can provide a means for identifying readers who may benefit from early intervention. SLPs can both assess spelling skills and implement evidence-based spelling and literacy diagnosis and instruction. Spelling instruction in kindergarten through the high school grades that is heavily grounded in metalinguistic activities can provide access to mental representations of word spellings, pronunciations, and meanings; links between whole-word and phonics approaches to reading instruction; and a foundation for reading fluency and comprehension. Learning to spell is essential for learning to read. Accordingly, this tutorial aims to elucidate how to (a) assess and identify phases of spelling development and (b) teach spelling to facilitate reading through a listening-first approach.

Early cognitive predictors of spelling and reading in German-speaking children

Theoretical backgroundWhile reading and spelling skills often are interconnected in models of literacy development, recent research suggests that the two skills can dissociate and that reading and spelling are associated with at least partly different cognitive predictors. However, previous research on dissociations between reading and spelling skills focused on children who have already mastered the first phases of literacy development. These findings suggest that dissociations are due to distinct deficits in orthographic processing (i.e., unprecise orthographic representations vs. inefficient serial processing). It is therefore unclear whether dissociations already become apparent during the initial stages, or rather emerge later in development. This study aims to enhance the understanding of the predictors of early spelling and reading skills, investigating potential variations, by considering various cognitive factors beyond well-established ones.MethodsData were collected at two time points: cognitive predictors and early reading and spelling skills were assessed at the end of kindergarten (T1) before formal literacy instruction started, and reading and spelling skills were again assessed in Grade 1 (T2). The data analysis included 353 first-grade participants. Linear regression analyses assessed predictive patterns, while logistic regression analyses explained children's likelihood of belonging to different proficiency groups (at-risk or typical skills).ResultsResults revealed phonological processing, letter knowledge, and intelligence, as significant predictors for Spelling in grade 1 (T2), even after adding the autoregressor (Spelling in kindergarten at T1) and the respective other literacy skill (Reading T2). For Reading in grade 1 (T2), phonological processing, and rapid automatized naming (RAN) surfaced as significant predictors after adding the autoregressor (Reading T1). However, only RAN surfaced as a significant predictor for Reading T2 after adding the respective other literacy skill (Spelling T2). In line with these findings, logistic regression analyses revealed that phonological processing predicted group allocation for Spelling T2 and RAN predicted group allocation for Reading T2.ConclusionsOverall, the study underscores the importance of phonological processing and letter knowledge as early predictors of spelling and reading skills in Grade 1. Moreover, intelligence is identified as a predictor for early spelling, while rapid automatized naming (RAN) emerges as a predictor for early reading.

A (mérsékelten rizikós) koraszülöttség az IQ hátrány ellenére nem akadályozza az olvasási és helyesírási képességek fejlődését

Background and aims: It is well established that the impacts of prematurity are often long-lasting in the various domains of development, however, the published findings concerning the prevalence, severity, and background of disorders are inconsistent. As yet research into the development of abilities contributing to the academic progress in Hungarian preterm children has been scarce. Our study aimed to find out to what extent prematurity impeded the reading and spelling abilities in school age and to contribute some information on the cognitive background of the performances. Methods: Three groups of 7 – 12 year-old children participated in the study. The target group consisted of moderate-risk preterms. For comparison two groups of full-term children were tested: typically developing good readers and dyslexics. To assess the reading and spelling abilities the Hungarian version of the 3DM (Dyslexia Differential Diagnosis) was used. Cognitive abilities were assessed using the Hungarian adaptation of the WISC-IV and the Rey Complex Figure Test. Results: The reading and spelling performances of the full-term good readers and the preterms did not differ and the preterms scored higher than the dyslexics. The cognitive tests did not offer any direct explanation to this, since the preterms lagged behind the full-term good readers in the WISC-IV full-scale IQ as well as in several specific cognitive measures. The CART Decision Tree served to analyse the relationships, allowing to reveal the interactions and the moderation effects. Discussion: The CHC model as a theoretical framework and the CART Decision Tree statistical analysis proved to be fruitful to disentangle the complex interplay of the cognitive background factors. There are various cognitive paths of acquiring the reading and spelling skills, e.g., in case of relatively lower IQs the sufficient levels of memory and processing speed may ensure success.

Development of Spelling Skills When Studying the Topic of "Complex Words" in Russian Language Lessons in Middle School

This article discusses the concept of "spelling skills", defines the goals in teaching pupils spelling skills. The author of the article presents exercises for the development of spelling skills when studying the "Complex Words" topic. It is concluded that the development of spelling skills is a time-consuming process that requires a systematic approach from the teacher. In particular, it is necessary to use exercises, the forms and techniques of which should vary so that classes spark interest in children and lead to successful comprehension of spelling skills.

Prompting-fading with Visual, Auditory, Kinesthetic, Tactile (VAKT) Media for Reading Skills of Dyslexia Children

Dyslexia children have problems with recognition, data accuracy, poor decoding, and poor spelling skills. Of course they need appropriate learning or implement the advantages they have. There are several intervention methods that can overcome the learning difficulties of children with dyslexia, one of which is using multisensory (VAKT). This VAKT method maximizes the implement of the senses in its intervention. The implementation of VAKT can be collaborated with prompting-fading in dyslexic children. The purpose of this study was to determine whether the prompting-fading technique with VAKT media could improve early reading skills in dyslexic children in elementary school. This study uses a quantitative approach with a single-case experimental design. The instrument used in this study refers to the Early Grade Reading Assessment (EGRA). The results showed an increase in the initial reading ability score in dyslexic children. It can be concluded that the prompting-fading technique with VAKT media is able to improve the early reading ability of dyslexia children. Keywords: early reading ability, dyslexia, prompting-fading, VAKT media

‘That’s Not Something That’s Necessarily on the Radar’: Educators’ Perspectives on Dysgraphia

Abstract This qualitative study focused on educators’ perspectives of teaching students with dysgraphia. Dysgraphia can be referred to as a specific learning disorder (SLD) in writing and includes difficulties with handwriting, spelling, and/or composition skills. To explore the educators’ experiences, an interpretative phenomenological analysis method was implemented. This involved generating semistructured interviews and locating key concepts from these interviews, in tandem with researcher reflections. The results indicated that educators developed their self-efficacy in supporting students with dysgraphia on the job, augmented by self-guided and external searches for information about dysgraphia. The participants described their colleagues as generally unable to provide them with dysgraphia-specific knowledge due to a lack of awareness of dysgraphia within schools. Two of the three educators pursued Multisensory Structured Language training, departing the classroom to work in private tuition. Three teachers offered strategies for supporting students with dysgraphia, such as explicit, systematic, scaffolded, and repetitive instruction coupled with assistive technologies or lined paper and slant boards. The study concluded that dysgraphia-specific professional learning, coupled with collective efficacy, could proactively build teachers’ capacity and self-efficacy in supporting dysgraphia within an inclusive education context. These measures would more aptly support students with dysgraphia to reach their potential.

Literacy instruction from afar: evidence for the effectiveness of a remotely delivered language-rich reading programme

There is good evidence that high-quality instruction targeting reading-related skills in the classroom leads to gains in reading. However, considerably less is known about the possible efficacy of remote instruction. This study evaluated the efficacy of an interactive evidence-based language-rich literacy programme. 184 children were randomly allocated either to an 8-week remotely delivered language-rich literacy programme or to a wait-list control group. Children in the programme arm (n = 77 at analysis) completed 16-lessons remotely targeting vocabulary, phonemic awareness, reading, spelling, and narrative skills. Children in the wait-list arm (n = 58 at analysis) received business-as-usal from their schools. Children’s word reading accuracy and phonemic awareness was measured prior to and after the programme delivery period. Children receiving the literacy programme made significantly larger gains than the wait-list control group on reading accuracy (d = 0.32) and phonemic awareness (d = 0.63). This study demonstrates that a remotely-delivered literacy programme is effective. These findings have important implications for delivering specialist literacy instruction at scale.

Unlocking the Potency of Copy-Cover-Compare Strategy on Senior Secondary Students’ Spelling Skills in Biology: A Quantitative Analysis of Learning Outcomes

This study investigated the efficacy of the Copy-Cover-Compare (CCC) strategy in enhancing senior secondary students’ spelling skills in biology. It specifically looked into how students spelling deficiency in biology technical terms can be addressed using appropriate strategy to reduce cases of spelling errors and under-achievement in biology. Three research questions and three null hypotheses guided the study. The study adopted a pre-test, post-test, non-equivalent control group quasi-experimental design with a sample of 94 senior secondary year two biology students in two intact classes drawn from two purposively sampled senior secondary schools in Educational District V, Lagos State. The experimental group had 43 students (24 males and 19 females) and the control group 51 students (29 males and 22 females). Treatment consisted of teaching biological concept (ecology) which included functioning ecosystem, population study, growth measurement and soil properties to the experimental group using copy-cover-compare strategy while the control group was taught using the traditional lecture method. The treatment lasted for five weeks. Biology Students’ Spelling Skills Test (BSSST) was used for data collection after subjected to both content and face validity, and with the reliability established using K-20 to yield a coefficient of 0.87. The research questions were answered with mean and standard deviation while the null hypotheses were tested using analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) at 0.05 level of significance. Results revealed that students taught using copy-cover-compare strategy performed significantly better in terms of spelling skills learning outcome than those taught by the traditional lecture method [F(2,92)=28.9; P<0.05] and no significant gender difference existed between spelling skills of students taught using copy-cover-compare strategy [F(2,41)=.56; p>0.05]. Consequently, no significant interaction effect of methods and gender on spelling skills of students was found [F(2,138)=.19; p>0.05]. The study concluded that the copy-cover-compare strategy enhanced senior secondary students spelling skills in biology and based on this finding, some recommendations were made to improve teaching and learning of biology and students proficiency at spelling ecological one-word technical terms to reduce errors in spelling.

Meu Amigo Diggo: A tool to stimulate reading and spelling skills in students with learning disabilities

Meu Amigo Diggo: A tool to stimulate reading and spelling skills in students with learning disabilities

Associations between students’ reading performance and literacy instruction in first grade: a cross-lagged study

This cross-lagged study examined the classroom-level associations between the reading performance of first-grade students (N = 537) and observed literacy instruction activities in classrooms (N = 30) in the autumn and spring terms. The multilevel analyses indicated that lower average word reading skills in the classrooms (i.e., there were more students who were learning to read) in the autumn were associated with higher amount of activities supporting consolidation of reading and spelling skills in the spring. In contrast, higher average word reading skills in the classrooms in the autumn were associated with higher amount of independent meaning-focused activities in the spring. Higher extent of whole-group meaning-focused activities in the autumn was positively associated with reading comprehension at classroom level in the spring, whereas independent phonological recoding practice in the autumn was negatively associated with reading comprehension in the spring. The study provides novel understanding of the associations between students’ reading performance and literacy instruction especially showing how students’ reading skills at classroom level may inform instruction in the classroom. This information may guide teachers to adapt their instruction at classroom level but also to identify the students needing differentiation. The results also acknowledge the affordances and limitations students’ skills may set for the instruction.

Student visual learning style activities in javanese script writing learning

The learning activities undertaken by students are essential to be known as the basis for teachers to determine suitable teaching methods and media according to the characteristics of the students. The implication of this research is that teachers can create effective learning experiences by aligning teaching methods and media with the visual learning preferences of students. The research subjects were eighth-grade students at SMP Darussalam Bergas who have a visual learning style. The data for the research included all activities of students with a visual learning style. Data analysis was conducted using Miles and Huberman's data analysis model, which includes data reduction, data presentation, and drawing conclusions. The data analysis results revealed that the characteristics of visual learning style predominantly dominated the students' learning preferences. The activities of visual learners include the following: they find it easier to comprehend what they see rather than what they hear, pay attention to PowerPoint presentations, are more organized and neat, prefer reading to being read to, are meticulous and detail-oriented, have good spelling skills, tend to doodle without specific meaning, are not easily distracted by noise but may be disrupted if the visual display is unclear, visual learners tend to copy everything written by the teacher on the chalkboard, and they prefer to sit near the front of the classroom to have a clear view. Keywords: learning activities, Javanese script, visual learning style

Effects of lexical skills and orthographic neighborhood size in word memory

Two experiments were designed to investigate the relationship between individual lexical skills in young adults and memory performance on words varying by their orthographic neighborhood size. In Experiment 1, a sample of 100 university students were administrated a set of spelling, reading, and vocabulary tests to assess their lexical skills. Then, they had to learn mixed lists of words from high and low neighborhood size and perform free recall and memory recognition tasks. Importantly, high lexical skills were found to enhance free recall and, to a lesser extent, recognition. In addition, a typical mirror effect of neighborhood size was found in recognition as words were better recognized and also produced less false alarms when they had a low neighborhood size. In Experiment 2, pure lists of words were designed and a new sample of 90 university students was assessed. We replicated the effect of lexical skills in free recall and the effect of neighborhood size for hits in recognition. Spelling skills were found to interact with neighborhood size in free recall in that low spelling skills were associated with a facilitatory effect of neighborhood size. In recognition, a relation between reading skills and neighborhood size was found such that the higher the reading skills, the higher was the inhibitory effect of neighborhood size. These results provide new evidence of an influence of lexical skills in word memory performance and underline the role of orthographic neighborhood size in episodic memory tasks.

Skolēnu rakstu valoda latviešu valodas un vēstures valsts pārbaudes darbos 2021. gadā Kurzemē

The research aims to examine pupils’ text creation skills in the Latvian language and history state examinations (SE). The source of the research is the examination papers of pupils in Kurzeme in the 2021 Latvian language SE (an opinion; 250 words) and history SE (task 3 of part 3 – an essay; 200 words). Examination of the evaluation criteria of both examinations shows that the evaluation criteria of the Latvian language examination pay more attention to the quality of spelling (10 points out of 34 (approx. 30%) can be obtained for orthography and punctuation). The article summarizes the main types of errors in morphology and syntax in both examinations. Several types of errors are distinguished in morphology: unjustified use of macrons or their absence, spelling of consonants, words written incorrectly together and separately, spelling of onyms, and errors in the spelling of verbs and foreign words. A number of syntactic constructions were studied in the pupils’ examination papers – coordinated parts of sentence, coordinated parts of sentence with a generalising word, participial clauses, insertions and explanatory word groups –, as wethe frequency of their use in the pupils’ examination papers and the most frequently detected cases of errors. The use of punctuation marks in the sentence, separating the subordinate clause, has also been studied. A comparison of the two examination papers leads to the conclusion that there are no statistically significant differences in the text creation task in Latvian or history SE in Kurzeme. Spelling and punctuation skills are solid, and the number of errors is equal. As pupils take the examinations, caution is observed in using more complex syntactic constructions. In the analysis, examples from pupils’ examination papers are presented in italics, preserving their style, spelling and punctuation errors.

The Effectiveness of a Communicative Imla’ Textbook in Improving Short Course Student’ Arabic Spelling Skills

Arabic Camp is a short Arabic language course program held by the Center for Education and Training (pusdiklat), University of Darussalam Gontor. This program was carried out to enhance students' speaking skills. However, the program seemed to face obstacles when dealing with students’ spelling skills (imla'). Most students can speak good Arabic but struggle to write basic Arabic words according to its rules. Early studies suggested that the Center has yet to have well-established teaching material for Imla’. Hence, this article aimed to design and find its effectiveness in improving students' spelling skills. Research & Development (R&D) methodology and used five instruments were used to collect data such as observation, interviews, questionnaires, tests, and documents. In analyzing data, Paired Sample t-Test is used. The procedures started with the literature review, planning, designing, validating, and experiment. The results of this research were the teaching materials in the form of a textbook. This study also suggested that the textbook validity is in good grade with a percentage score of 84.65%, meaning that the designed materials can be used with some modification and correction. As for its effectiveness, the Sig. (2-tailed) result is (0,000) < (less than) (0,005). It means that the textbook effectively improves students' spelling skills. In conclusion, the current study underscores a collective push towards innovative teaching materials in enhancing language education.