Spelling Competence Research Articles

Gender Differences and Critical Thinking: A Study on the Written Compositions of Primary Education Students

The development of critical thinking is essential to the treatment of gender perspective in Primary Education. For this reason, this study focused on determining the critical ability of primary students depending on gender, analysing the possible connections between the participants’ breadth of thought and spelling competence. The methodology was based on a humanistic–interpretative ad hoc approach to categorical organisation. A total of 636 Primary Education students from the Region of Murcia (Spain) participated in a field activity in which they created a written composition based on a pretext that contained an image showing a controversial gender situation; this illustration incited a critical response in the creation of each story. The compositions were analysed individually and qualitatively using the Atlas.Ti software (v.8.4). The most relevant results appear to prove the higher critical ability of the girls who participated in this study, and additionally show connections with the spelling competence of these students. However, the critical thinking and spelling values shown were still far from what would be expected of a developed society.

Digital norm and spelling competence of adolescents in vulnerable contexts: a case study

Resumen Este artículo de investigación examina la relación entre la competencia ortográfica y la competencia digital en estudiantes de Educación Secundaria Obligatoria en contextos vulnerables. Se realizó un estudio de casos comparando dos centros de educación secundaria en zonas con necesidad de transformación social con dos centros sin problemas de integración social. La muestra consistió en 126 estudiantes de edades entre 14 y 16 años, seleccionados de manera intencional. Los resultados indican que no hay diferencias significativas en la relación entre ortografía académica y el uso de textismos en la comunicación digital en ambos tipos de centros. Se concluye que la escritura digital no perjudica la ortografía académica de los estudiantes adolescentes, independientemente de su entorno. Sin embargo, el alumnado de centros en zonas con necesidades de transformación social presentan un uso diferenciado de la norma digital: utilizan menos textismos léxicos, semánticos y multimodales, y cometen un número mayor de faltas de ortografía. Estos hallazgos destacan la necesidad de abordar de manera diferenciada la competencia ortográfica y digital en el ámbito educativo para los estudiantes según en contexto en el que vivan y estudien.

Desarrollo y validación del Test de Competencia Ortográfica (TCORT) en estudiantes universitarios de nuevo ingreso

This study aims to present a test to assess spelling competence (TCORT) in incoming Spanish university students and to obtain validity evidence to support its use. The starting point was a bank of 73 items covering the most relevant spelling areas of the Spanish language, and the 37 most representative items were selected from the information provided by six experts. Afterwards, a pilot study of the TCORT was carried out with 602 students. The final version consisted of 31 items, with sufficient internal consistency (α = .90; ω = .89) and an invariant unidimensional structure between sexes. It also correlated significantly with other variables, such as previous performance (r = .37, p <.01), verbal reasoning (r = .27, p <.01) and spelling, measured with another tool not adapted to the target population (r = .45, p <.01). Validity evidence based on the test content, internal structure and relations to other variables supported the use of the test to assess spelling competences in incoming university students. The usefulness of TCORT in providing relevant data to facilitate the creation of university policies aimed at promoting spelling competence training in university students is discussed.

Spelling Errors in French Elementary School Students: A Linguistic Analysis.

This study offers the first description of misspellings across elementary school using the Phonological, Orthographic and Morphological Assessment of Spelling (POMAS), a linguistic framework based on Triple Word Form theory, adapted for French (POMAS-FR). It aims to test the "universality" of POMAS and its suitability to track development in French spelling. One hundred ninety-four typically developing French children (Grades 1-5) produced a written narrative and words-to-dictation. These were analyzed for productivity and accuracy. Misspellings were then analyzed using POMAS-FR. Productivity and accuracy were better in the later grades. POMAS-FR provided a novel framework for tracking error types in our French sample. The data showed a linear trend for text production, whereby the proportion of phonological errors decreased rapidly in the early grades, while orthographic errors decreased and morphological errors increased throughout elementary school. Words-to-dictation showed a more stable pattern, with a steady decrease in phonological errors, and a stable proportion of orthographic and morphological errors. The specific error types found within each linguistic category are described for both tasks. The POMAS-FR allowed for the characterization of linguistic knowledge involved in learning to spell French across elementary school. Interplays between different types of linguistic knowledge were evident at all grades. In comparison with other writing systems, French text spelling competence relied heavily on morphological knowledge. These results suggest POMAS may be applied to other orthographic systems. It also highlights the importance of task and word selection for the qualitative evaluation of spelling. https://doi.org/10.23641/asha.20520774.

Writing composition ability and spelling competence in deaf subjects: a psycholinguistic analysis of source of difficulties

We studied the compositional written skills and spelling competence of individuals with a severe hearing impairment, examining qualitative and quantitative characteristics of their texts, the psycholinguistic variables modulating their productions, and writing errors following a fine-grained analysis. Sixteen deaf young adults, educated in bilingual settings, were examined and compared to a group of control hearing subjects matched for gender, age, and education. Writing skills were examined through both written composition and written picture-naming tasks. Concerning compositional skills, deaf participants produced shorter and less informative texts, with fewer adjectives and subordinates, and were qualitatively worse with respect to texts produced by hearing controls. Words produced by deaf participants were those acquired earlier and facilitated by a higher lexical neighbourhood. Errors were mainly semantic, morphological, and syntactic errors, reflecting general linguistic weakness. Spelling errors were few, with phonologically nonplausible misspellings relative to controls, and with phonologically plausible ones being quite rare. In the picture-naming task, deaf people had a greater number of all types of errors with respect to their text, including semantic and morphological errors. Their spelling performance featured mainly phonologically nonplausible misspellings, while phonologically plausible ones were relatively few and comparable to controls. Overall, the writing of deaf adults reveal limitations in grammar and lexical-sematic linguistic competence. This was associated with spelling deficits characterized mainly by the poorer use of phonological sublexical spelling procedures. However, in an ecologic context, their spelling deficits appear not so important as has been claimed in the literature.

The Effect of Spell-Checker Features on Spelling Competence among EFL Learners: An Empirical Study

The Effect of Spell-Checker Features on Spelling Competence among EFL Learners: An Empirical Study

Exploring Spelling Errors in Extemporaneous Essays: A Case Study of Pakistani University EFL Learners

Spelling competence is an integral part of a good written communication in English. EFL learners,nonetheless, face difficulties in spelling correctly. This study explored the spelling errors of EFL university students in Baluchistan - Pakistan. With a qualitative case study research design, the data were obtained through extemporaneously written essays by a sample of 117 participants analyzing spelling errors through Cook’s (1997) taxonomy focusing the most common types of English spelling errors. The findings ranked four types of spelling errors as: first, omission (37.24percent); second,substitution (31.01percent); third, insertion (25percent); and fourth, transposition (07percent) errors in order of occurrence. The study suggests to pedagogical and curriculum considerations to support learners to cope with spelling errors with a further need to study spelling errors in changing and technology enhanced learning environments.

Zur sprachlichen Auswirkung des Chats im Deutschen und Arabischen

Because of the explosion of communication and the speed of the transfer of files and information, as well as the ease of communication, there is an exchange and a transfer of thoughts and this is one of the main characteristics of social media. In this case language was deeply influenced by social media. Chat has become a popular tool of communication for many young people who - through constant use - have negatively affected their own spelling competence, and those young people hold chat is a certain form of communication that enables having a direct two-way and synchronous conversation with several participants. The effects of the chat language are divided into orthographic, syntactic, morphological, semantic, and pragmatic aspects. One of the first characteristics of the orthography is that everything is usually written as briefly and concisely as possible so that they can write as many characters in less time. That is why time is a principal factor, because Writing must be fast in chat rooms, which is why we can find many abbreviations and spelling mistakes there. This study finds out the impact of chat language in German and Arabic language.

ПРАВОПИСНА КОМПЕТЕНТНІСТЬ ЯК ЕЛЕМЕНТ ПРОФЕСІОГРАМИ ВИКЛАДАЧА ЛІНГВІСТИЧНИХ ДИСЦИПЛІН

The article focuses on spelling competence as a component of a lecturer’s professiogram in the field of linguistics disciplines. In particular, the authors analyze how psycholinguistic factors form the current pedagogical competence. The professiogram of a lecturer in the educational paradigm covers such characteristics as competence, professionalism, and mastery, as well as the conditions of its acquisition, development, and criteria for evaluation. Spelling competence in the structure of the professional language-communicative competence of a philologist is a part of several “subsystems”: spelling competence → linguistic competence → professional lingo-communicative competence. It is also a complex formation, which contains cognitive, operational, active, valuesemantic, and behavioral components. The current article reveals the phenomenon of speech in connection with the deployment of spelling skills. Its development involves the transformation of external speech into the internal, when the reproduction of a word’s image occurs automatically, and the actual linguistic process remains outside the consciousness.

TEST MONITORING OF THE SPEECH COMPETENCE OF STUDENTS OF MODERN HIGHER EDUCATION INSTITUTIONS

The object of research is the process of forming the spelling competence of future teachers of the New Ukrainian School. Investigated problem. The spelling competence of students of higher education institutions as a component of linguistic and communication competence is presented in the article. The problem of the formation of linguistic and communicative competence, in particular spelling, is of particular relevance in connection with the introduction of the new edition of Ukrainian spelling. In the context of current requirements for the professional training of future specialists of the New Ukrainian School, the role of test monitoring as a form of diagnostics and control of spelling and punctuation literacy of higher education students is increasing, which allows to objectively evaluate the spelling of students’ skills, improve the organization of educational activities and in modern universities. The main scientific results. A brief overview of the history of testing use in the educational process is provided in scientific intelligence. The positive and negative factors of the introduction of testing in the process of studying the spelling material of modern Ukrainian literary language are determined. Guidelines for the development of spelling test tasks in modern Ukrainian have been made. The article proposes test tasks of closed and open forms for monitoring the spelling knowledge, abilities and skills of students of institutions of higher education after studying the topic «Letter doubling». The field of practical use of research results. The results of the study can be used by teachers of higher education who are working on the problem of formation and improvement of spelling literacy of applicants for higher education institutions, as test monitoring allows promptly checking students’ educational achievements, determining how thoroughly and correctly each student has mastered one or another spelling knowledge, skills. Innovative technological product. Test tasks of closed and open forms on the theme «Letter doubling» are developed. Scope of innovative technological product. The methodical recommendations for the development of spelling tests of modern Ukrainian language, the proposed test tasks on the subject of «Letter doubling» can be applied in the study of such subjects as «Modern Ukrainian language with a practicum», «Practice in Ukrainian spelling» for students of specialty 013 «Primary education», 014 «Secondary education», specialization «Ukrainian language and literature» of higher education institutions.

Organizing an Individual Educational Trajectory in the Process of Formation of Spelling Competence of Students-Philologists

Organizing an Individual Educational Trajectory in the Process of Formation of Spelling Competence of Students-Philologists

MEANS OF PROFESSIONALLY ORIENTED UKRAINIAN SPELLING LEARNING IN HIGHER EDUCATION INSTITUTIONS

The article is focused on the relevance of spelling the training of future primary school teachers at the present stage of the modernization of higher education in Ukraine. It is noted that one of the promising areas of increasing the spelling of students’ literacy is the use of effective teaching aids that contribute to the development of cognitive activity, independent thinking, and the ability to critically evaluate information from the different sources. The purpose of the article is to analyze theoretical sources and practical experience for the implementation of the inventory of teaching tools that are used or can be used in the process of forming the spelling of the competence of future primary school teachers of the New Ukrainian School. To achieve the goal, the following research methods were used: theoretical – analysis and synthesis in the processing of linguistic, pedagogical and methodological literature on the problem under study; theoretical understanding and generalization of the experience of philologists and their own work experience to determine the state of work on the formation of the spelling of the competence of future primary school teachers; empirical – observation and analysis of classes in the discipline “Workshop on Ukrainian spelling” for students majoring in “Primary education”. As a result of the problem analysis, we came to the conclusion that in the conditions of modernization of education, updating its content and structure, innovative teaching tools, including electronic educational resources, graphic organizers, etc., becomes especially relevant. Effective implementation of modern teaching aids in the educational process will ensure the implementation of personality-oriented and communicatively competent approaches in the process of forming the spelling competence in future primary school teachers of the New Ukrainian School.

ІНТЕЛЕКТУАЛЬНІ КАРТИ ЯК ЗАСІБ ФОРМУВАННЯ ПРАВОПИСНОЇ КОМПЕТЕНТНОСТІ МАЙБУТНІХ УЧИТЕЛІВ ПОЧАТКОВОЇ ШКОЛИ

У статті представлено правописну компетентність майбутніх учителів початкової школи як складник комунікативної компетентності. Визначено стан окресленої проблеми на сучасному етапі модернізації закладів вищої освіти. Зазначено, що одним з перспективних напрямів підвищення правописної грамотності майбутніх учителів початкової школи є застосування інноваційних технологій навчання, зокрема інтелект-карт. Описано основні принципи та етапи створення інтелекткарт. Презентовано інтелекткарту правописної компетентності майбутніх учителів початкової школи, яка містить графічну, орфографічну та пунктуаційну компетентності. Висвітлено основні причини низького рівня правописної грамотності студентів педагогічних вишів, зокрема причини загального характеру, соціокультурні та лінгводидактичні. Автори статті вважають, що для ефективного формування правописної компетентності в майбутніх учителів початкової школи потрібно враховувати такі лінгводидактичні умови, як принципи графіки, орфографії та пунктуації, рівень мовного та мовленнєвого розвитку студентів і рівень розвитку уваги, пам’яті, мислення в майбутніх учителів початкової школи. Запропоновано шляхи ефективного формування правописної компетентності майбутніх учителів початкової школи. Доцільність та результативність застосування інтелекткарт у процесі формування й удосконалення правописної грамотності майбутніх учителів початкової школи перевірено за допомогою педагогічного експерименту шляхом зіставлення рівнів навченості студентів експериментальних і контрольних груп за критерієм Стьюдента. Підкреслено актуальність і необхідність застосування інтелекткарт у процесі лінгвістичної та лінгводидактичної підготовки майбутніх учителів початкової школи в період реформування мовної освіти та в умовах становлення Нової української школи.

Empirical approach from lexical availability to the influence of sociolinguistic factors on mastery of spelling / Aproximación empírica desde la disponibilidad léxica a la influencia de los factores sociolingüísticos en el dominio ortográfico

Correct spelling is associated with social prestige. However, the research carried out in the Spanish-speaking world, from preschool to university, shows little impact of social class on spelling competence. In this study, we use lexical availability materials to investigate the influence of sociolinguistic factors — gender, type of school, area and sociocultural level — on pre-university students’ misspellings. The factorial correspondence analysis showed that the variables studied are directly related to the type of error recorded. Sociocultural level may be especially significant: the lower the level, the greater and more stigmatized the reported errors. These results encourage us to reflect on the levelling power that school should have in the twenty-first century when preparing students to face life in society with the strongest guarantees of success.

Speaking and Spelling Exercises: Their Role in Teaching Using Communicative-activity Approach

The present article covers the use of speaking activities in teaching spelling from the perspective of the communicative-activity approach. This approach allows a complex of spelling and speaking skills necessary for speaking practice to be built in the course of spelling activities. Speech and spelling activities help students to develop a verbal and cogitative mechanism for choosing the correct spelling of a letter (or sign) when writing. As a result, students can rely freely on spelling rules when producing their own coherent utterances, varying in style and type of speech. The article pays a particular attention to activities aimed at developing students' speech production skills, i.e. ability to create their own coherent utterances in accordance with a specific communication task. In addition, the article demonstrates that, by enriching the vocabulary of students, it is possible to improve their spelling competence. The study results are based on personal teaching experience, literature review, observation of the learning process, conversations with students and teachers.

Testing spelling: How does a dictation method measure up to a proofreading and editing format?

In response to increasing data-based decision making in schools comes increased responsibility for educators to consider measures of academic achievement in terms of their reliability, validity and practical utility. The focus of this paper is on the assessment of spelling. Among the methods used to assess spelling competence, tasks that require the production of words from dictation, or the proofreading and editing of spelling errors are common. In this study, spelling achievement data from the National Assessment Program - Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) Language Conventions Test (a proofreading and editing based measure) and the Components of Spelling Test (CoST) (a dictation based measure) were examined. Results of a series of multiple regression analyses (MRAs) were based on a sample of low-achieving and high-achieving spellers from the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) in Year 3 (n=145), Year 4 (n=117), Year 5 (n=133) and Year 6 (n=117). Findings indicated significant relationships between scores in the spelling domain of the NAPLAN Language Conventions Test and the phonological, orthographic and morphological subscales scores of the CoST. Further, the orthographic subscale of the CoST was generally the main predictor of NAPLAN spelling across year level. Analysis also demonstrated that gender was not an influential factor. Implications for assessment and instruction in spelling are discussed in this paper, and the CoST is offered as a valid, reliable and informative measure of spelling performance for use in school contexts or future research projects.

To tell a story, to write it: developmental patterns of narrative skills from preschool to first grade

In this 1-year longitudinal study, the authors explored the development of narrative skills between the oral and written form. The authors aimed to assess the predictive power of textual narrative competence on early narrative text writing skills taking into account the impact of spelling ability. Eighty children (M age = 5.3 years, age range = 4.9–5.7 years; SD = 0.29) were followed longitudinally until entering the first grade of primary school. During kindergarten, they were tested with an oral story production task and in first grade with a written story production task. Narratives were evaluated in terms of structure, cohesion and consistency. In the first grade, children were also submitted to a dictation task to evaluate their spelling competence. Repeated measures ANOVAs were performed in order to examine narrative competence development, also considering gender differences, and regression analyses were implemented to evaluate the predictive capability of textual abilities expressed by oral narratives on textual abilities expressed by writing. The results showed some significant differences when scores in kindergarten were compared to scores in primary school. Moreover, the ability to tell well-structured, cohesive and consistent stories predicts the ability to write stories with the same qualities in the sample of participants without spelling difficulty. Instead, the predictive link is not apparent considering those children with difficulties in orthographic ability. This research allows us to reflect about how the medium of writing might interfere, on the basis of the level of mastery, with the opportunity to express narrative skills in the transition from the oral to written code. The central role of writing instrument functionality opens the way to practical implications.

Body-coda vs. Onset-rhyme: Based on English L2 Spelling Performance

This study examined English L2 spelling competence among Korean EFL undergraduates (n=63), focusing on phonology and subsyllabic structure differences between English and Korean. Two main research questions were posed: 1) whether or not the participants, seemingly phonologically fully developed, would have difficulty spelling phonemes absent in L1, and 2) whether or not they would retain their L1 linguistic properties in L2 spelling. The participants were given a spelling task with non-words of English, in which they were requested to listen to and write down the recorded non-words in English. The results showed that 1) Korean EFL learners had more difficulty in spelling English only phonemes than the phonemes common for English and Korean and 2) they had more difficulty spelling phonemes absent in the initial syllable rather than the final syllable. The results imply that even adult L2 learners have difficulty in recognizing phonemes absent in their L1, and they still hold their L1 linguistic properties in the performance of L2 spelling. Pedagogical implications and further suggestions regarding English L2 spelling are discussed.

Gender-typicality of activity offerings and child–teacher relationship closeness in German “Kindergarten”. Influences on the development of spelling competence as an indicator of early basic literacy in boys and girls

We argue that kindergarten teachers may differentially impact early basic literacy in girls and boys depending on the gender-typicality of the activities they offer, the closeness of their relationship with the child, and the child's gender. In 135 independent child–teacher dyads from different German “Kindergarten” groups (all teachers being female) we found that a) teachers reported offering significantly more feminine than masculine gender-typed activities, b) teachers described their relationship with girls as closer than their relationship with boys, and c) a close child–teacher relationship promoted early literacy – measured via spelling competence one year later – to the extent that the teacher provided more activities that – according to gender stereotypes – are associated with the child's gender than activities associated with the other gender. Results are discussed in the context of the debate of overrepresentation of female teachers in kindergarten, and whether this may be to the disadvantage of boys.

Development of sensitivity to phonological context in learning to spell in English

The study attempts to investigate factors underlying the development of spellers’ sensitivity to phonological context in English. Native English speakers and Russian speakers of English as a second language (ESL) were tested on their ability to use information about the coda to predict the spelling of vowels in English monosyllabic nonwords. In addition, the study assessed the participants’ spelling proficiency as their ability to correctly spell commonly misspelled words (Russian participants were assessed in both Russian and English). Both native and non-native English speakers were found to rely on the information about the coda when spelling vowels in nonwords. In both native and non-native speakers, context sensitivity was predicted by English word spelling; in Russian ESL speakers this relationship was mediated by English proficiency. L1 spelling proficiency did not facilitate L2 context sensitivity in Russian speakers. The results speak against a common factor underlying different aspects of spelling proficiency in L1 and L2 and in favor of the idea that spelling competence comprises different skills in different languages.