Spelling In Adults Research Articles

The Effect of Phonics Intervention for Adult with Dyslexia: Case Study

Objectives: The purpose of this study is to examine whether phonological processing skill-based phonics intervention is effective in improving phonological awareness, decoding, and spelling in adults with dyslexia. In addition, this study aimed to ascertain in detail the characteristics of decoding, spelling, and phonological awareness in adults with dyslexia. Methods: The participant of this study was a 46-year-old adult female with dyslexia, and a single subject experiment research method was used. An intervention program for phonological awareness, decoding, and spelling was conducted 28 times in total (3 baseline sessions, 22 intervention sessions, and 3 maintenance sessions) and her performance was assessed with assessments modified by the researcher. Results: It was confirmed that phonological processing skill-based phonics intervention is effective in improving decoding, spelling, and phonological awareness abilities. A detailed analysis of spelling errors in the adult with dyslexia revealed that errors for single vowels, basic consonants, and basic final consonant were the most common. A detailed analysis of errors by phonological awareness unit and task showed struggles with - in order of difficulty - deletion, blending, substitution, and discrimination. Among the discrimination tasks, final consonant discrimination was the most difficult. Conclusion: The results of this study are meaningful as basic data for improving the perception of adults with dyslexia and intervention program for them.

Predictors of adult spelling in an orthography of intermediate depth

Abstract What is the hallmark of a good speller? Spelling is a critical component in learning to become literate, but how it works in literate adults remains poorly explored. We examined word and pseudoword spelling in 214 adults in relation to general cognitive abilities, vocabulary, reading history, reading performance, phonological processing and rapid automatized naming. We conducted hierarchical multiple regression analyses to uncover predictors of spelling performance and compared a subsample of good and poor spellers to identify patterns of cognitive and language abilities associated with high vs. low spelling ability. In the regression model under test, which progressed from general cognitive and language abilities to specific reading-related skills, the most important predictor for word spelling was vocabulary, and for pseudoword spelling phonological processing (phoneme deletion). The model explained 20% of word spelling, and 8% of pseudoword spelling, variance. Good spellers outperformed poor spellers in reading connected text and pseudowords, and in phonological processing; poor spellers typically had a history of reading difficulties but similar levels of cognitive ability, word reading and RAN performance. Overall, our findings indicate that adult spelling relies more strongly on word knowledge than on reading proficiency and that, as in literacy acquisition, good phonology-related abilities are a hallmark of proficient adult spellers.

English Word and Pseudoword Spellings and Phonological Awareness: Detailed Comparisons From Three L1 Writing Systems.

Spelling is a fundamental literacy skill facilitating word recognition and thus higher-level reading abilities via its support for efficient text processing (Adams, 1990; Joshi et al., 2008; Perfetti and Stafura, 2014). However, relatively little work examines second language (L2) spelling in adults, and even less work examines learners from different first language (L1) writing systems. This is despite the fact that the influence of L1 writing system on L2 literacy skills is well documented (Hudson, 2007; Koda and Zehler, 2008; Grabe, 2009). To address this shortcoming, this study collected data on real word spelling, pseudoword spelling, and phonological awareness (elision) abilities from 70 participants (23 native speakers; 47 ELLs with alphabetic, abjad, and morphosyllabic L1s). Analyses compared performance on real word and pseudoword spelling between L1 English speakers and ELLs, and additionally among the non-native-speaker L1 groups (categorized into alphabet, abjad, and morphosyllabary groups). Similar comparisons were made across groups for performance on phonological awareness. Further, correlations were calculated between phonological awareness and real word spelling and between phonological awareness and pseudoword spelling, separately for L1 English speakers and the various ESL groups. Spelling accuracy on real words and pseudowords as well as phonological awareness skill differed between native speakers and ESL speakers, and also varied by the ESL speakers’ L1 writing system. Theoretically interesting patterns emerged in the spelling data. For example, the morphosyllabic L1 speakers had strong real word spelling (better than the other ESL groups) but greatly decreased pseudoword accuracy (a drop of 59% in accuracy). Although alphabetic L1 speakers had low spelling accuracy in terms of strict scoring, they had lower rates of errors per item, highlighting the importance of scoring approach for shaping the conclusions that are drawn. Error rates also revealed vowels to be more problematic than consonants, particularly in abjad L1 speakers. The results demonstrate that L2 spelling abilities, phonological awareness, and the relationships among them vary by L1 writing system, and that differing approaches to scoring and analysis may lead to varying conclusions.

The Relation Between Linguistic Awareness Skills and Spelling in Adults: A Comparison Among Scoring Procedures.

Purpose Spelling is a skill that relies on an individual's linguistic awareness, the ability to overtly manipulate language. The ability to accurately spell is important for academic and career success into adulthood. The spelling skills of adults have received some attention in the literature, but there is limited information regarding which approach for analyzing adults' spelling is optimal for guiding instruction or intervention for those who struggle. Thus, we aimed to examine the concurrent validity of four different scoring methods for measuring adults' spellings (a dichotomous scoring method and three continuous methods) and to determine whether adults' linguistic awareness skills differentially predict spelling outcomes based on the scoring method employed. Method Sixty undergraduate college students who were determined to be average readers as measured by a word reading and contextual word reading task were administered a spelling task as well as morphological, orthographic, phonemic, and syntactic awareness tasks. Results All four scoring methods were highly correlated suggesting high concurrent validity among the measures. Two linguistic awareness skills, morphological awareness and syntactic awareness, predicted spelling performance on both the dichotomous and continuous scoring methods. Contrastively, phonemic awareness and orthographic awareness predicted spelling performance only when spelling was scored using a continuous measure error analysis. Conclusions The results of this study confirm that multiple linguistic awareness skills are important for spelling in adults who are average readers. The results also highlight the need for using continuous measures of spelling when planning intervention or instruction, particularly in the areas of orthographic and phonemic awareness.

Does testing with feedback improve adult spelling skills relative to copying and reading?

We examined testing's ability to enhance adult spelling acquisition, relative to copying and reading. Across 3 experiments in which testing with feedback was compared with copying, the spelling improvement after testing matched that following the same amount of time spent copying. A potent testing advantage, however, was observed for spelling words free-recalled. In the fourth experiment, a large testing advantage for both word free recall and spelling was observed, versus reading. Subjects also generally preferred testing and rated it as more effective than copying or reading. The equivalent performance of testing and copying for spelling contrasts with prior work involving children and suggests that retrieval practice may not be the only effective mechanism for spelling skill acquisition. Rather, we suggest that the critical learning event for spelling is focused study on phoneme-to-grapheme mappings for previously unlearned letter sequences. For adults with extensive spelling expertise, focused study is more automatic during both copying and testing with feedback than for individuals with beginning spelling skills. Reading, however, would not be expected to produce efficient focused study of phoneme-to-grapheme mappings, regardless of expertise level. Overall, adult spelling skill acquisition benefits both from testing and copying, and substantially less from reading.

A comparison of errorless and errorful therapies for dysgraphia after stroke

Despite the increasing significance of written communication, there is limited research into spelling therapy for adults with acquired dysgraphia. Existing studies have typically measured spelling accuracy as an outcome, although speed may also be important for functional writing. As spelling is relatively slow, effortful and prone to errors in people with dysgraphia, minimising errors within therapy could be a factor in therapy success. This within-participant case-series study investigated whether errorless and errorful therapies would differ in their effects on spelling speed and accuracy for four participants with acquired dysgraphia. Matched sets of words were treated with errorless or errorful therapy or left untreated. Results were collated one week and five weeks after therapy. Both therapy approaches were successful in improving spelling accuracy. For three participants, equivalent gains were demonstrated following errorless and errorful therapy. One participant made significantly greater improvements in spelling accuracy following errorless therapy. The effects were maintained five weeks later. There was no significant difference in post-therapy spelling speed between the two therapy conditions. The results of this study suggest that both errorful and errorless therapies can be effective methods with which to treat spelling in adults with acquired dysgraphia.

Lexical neighborhood effects in pseudoword spelling

The general aim of this study is to contribute to a better understanding of the cognitive processes that underpin skilled adult spelling. More specifically, it investigates the influence of lexical neighbors on pseudo-word spelling with the goal of providing a more detailed account of the interaction between lexical and sublexical sources of knowledge in spelling. In prior research examining this topic, adult participants typically heard lists composed of both words and pseudo-words and had to make a lexical decision to each stimulus before writing the pseudo-words. However, these priming paradigms are susceptible to strategic influence and may therefore not give a clear picture of the processes normally engaged in spelling unfamiliar words. In our two Experiments involving 71 French-speaking literate adults, only pseudo-words were presented which participants were simply requested to write to dictation using the first spelling that came to mind. Unbeknownst to participants, pseudo-words varied according to whether they did or did not have a phonological word neighbor. Results revealed that low-probability phoneme/grapheme mappings (e.g., /o/ -> aud in French) were used significantly more often in spelling pseudo-words with a close phonological lexical neighbor with that spelling (e.g., /krepo/ derived from “crapaud,” /krapo/) than in spelling pseudo-words with no close neighbors (e.g., /frøpo/). In addition, the strength of this lexical influence increased with the lexical frequency of the word neighbors as well as with their degree of phonetic overlap with the pseudo-word targets. These results indicate that information from lexical and sublexical processes is integrated in the course of spelling, and a specific theoretical account as to how such integration may occur is introduced.

Reading and spelling in adults: are there lexical and sub‐lexical subtypes?

The dual‐route model of reading proposes distinct lexical and sub‐lexical procedures for word reading and spelling. Lexically reliant and sub‐lexically reliant reader subgroups were selected from 78 university students on the basis of their performance on lexical (orthographic) and sub‐lexical (phonological) choice tests, and on irregular and nonword naming. In spelling of irregular words and nonwords to dictation, the group comparisons failed to support the dissociative predictions for lexical and sub‐lexical reliance that were derived from the dual‐route model: lexical readers were not superior to sub‐lexical readers on spelling irregular words as well as inferior to sub‐lexical readers on spelling regular letter strings (nonwords). In line with a single‐route view, print exposure and phonological coding (nonword naming accuracy) appear to be key factors in the effective learning of both regular and irregular words.

Persistence of literacy problems: spelling in adolescence and at mid‐life

Developmental reading problems show strong persistence across the school years; less is known about poor readers' later progress in literacy skills. Poor (n = 42) and normally developing readers (n = 86) tested in adolescence (ages 14/15 years) in the Isle of Wight epidemiological studies were re-contacted at mid-life (ages 44/45 years). Participants completed a spelling test, and reported on educational qualifications, perceived adult spelling competence, and problems in day-to-day literacy tasks. Individual differences in spelling were highly persistent across this 30-year follow-up, with correlations between spelling at ages 14 and 44 years of r = .91 (p < .001) for poor readers and r = .89 (p < .001) for normally developing readers. Poor readers' spelling remained markedly impaired at mid-life, with some evidence that they had fallen further behind over the follow-up period. Taking account of adolescent spelling levels, continued exposure to reading and literacy demands in adolescence and early adulthood was independently predictive of adult spelling in both samples; family social background added further to prediction among normally developing readers only. By adolescence, individual differences in spelling and its related sub-skills are highly stable. Encouraging young people with reading disabilities to maintain their exposure to reading and writing may be advantageous in the longer term.

Orthographic processing and visual sequential memory in unexpectedly poor spellers

Does unexpectedly poor spelling in adults result from inferior visual sequential memory? In one experiment, unexpectedly poor spellers performed significantly worse than better spellers in the immediate reproduction of sequences of visual symbols, but in a second experiment, the effect was not replicated. Poor spellers were also no worse at the immediate recognition of symbol sequences. Overall, the results indicate that inferior visual memory is not characteristic of unexpectedly poor spellers. However, they do have less efficient orthographic processing skill: they were significantly slower and more error prone than better spellers at classifying both regularly and strangely spelt words, as well as at detecting letter transpositions in long words. They can thus be considered as subtly worse word readers than better spellers. While the findings question the notion of unexpectedly poor spelling in relation to normal adults, they provide confirmation of the intimate relationship between reading and spelling processes.

Spelling in Adults: The Combined Influences of Language Skills and Reading Experience

One hundred and twelve university students completed 7 tests assessing word-reading accuracy, print exposure, phonological sensitivity, phonological coding and knowledge of English morphology as predictors of spelling accuracy. Together the tests accounted for 71% of the variance in spelling, with phonological skills and morphological knowledge emerging as strong predictors of spelling accuracy for words with both regular and irregular sound-spelling correspondences. The pattern of relationships was consistent with a model in which, as a function of the learning opportunities that are provided by reading experience, phonological skills promote the learning of individual word orthographies and structural relationships among words.

How predictable is spelling? Developing and testing metrics of phoneme-grapheme contingency.

Prior research has purported to show that words with infrequent phoneme-grapheme correspondences are more difficult to spell than words with frequent phoneme-grapheme correspondences. Defining exactly what a phoneme-grapheme relationship is, however, is not necessarily straightforward. There are a number of different assumptions that can be made. In this study, we developed four metrics of sound-spelling contingency based on all monosyllabic English words, including those with complex morphology. These metrics differed in the extent to which they included assumptions about spelling. The psychological reality of these different metrics was evaluated against data from a large-scale study of skilled adult spelling and a nonword spelling experiment. The results suggest that when spelling, people are sensitive to positional information, morphological status, vowel type, and a number of more idiosyncratic constraints.

Processing of phonological representations and adult spelling proficiency

In Experiment 1, good and poor spellers in a sample of university students differed most markedly in pronunciation accuracy on highly irregular words, and spelling ability was strongly associated with pronunciation accuracy for recently studied unfamiliar words. In Experiment 2, students named recently studied, unfamiliar words and matched familiar controls, named nonwords, and recalled six-item-sequences of visually and aurally presented consonants. Accuracy at nonword pronunciation was the primary predictor of spelling after nonverbal intelligence was controlled. Ability to reproduce unfamiliar-word pronunciations did not improve the contribution made by the other predictors of Experiment 2. The results are consistent with the importance in spelling of well-established representations of words for fluent retrieval of pronunciation and meaning. In addition, they support a major role in spelling of facility with producing phonological codes for visually presented, word-like letter strings.

Spelling in adults: The role of reading skills and experience

One hundred university students completed tests of spellingproduction, vocabulary, reading comprehension, readingexperience, and reading accuracy (ability to distinguish apreviously read word from a similar distractor). Readingexperience, as measured by an adaptation of the AuthorRecognition Test, and reading accuracy contributed to theprediction of spelling beyond the joint contribution of readingcomprehension and vocabulary. The results are more consistentwith a uni-process model of spelling based on the quality ofword-specific orthographic learning, rather than with a dual-process account relying on both word-specific knowledge andrules.

Pinch my wig or winch my pig: Spelling, spoonerisms and other language skills

Phonological processing skills have often been assumed to play a minimal role in skilled adult spelling despite evidence showing their importance in the development of spelling skills. The present study investigated the relationship between phonological awareness and spelling in adults. It was hypothesised that subjects demonstrating higher levels of spelling proficiency would also show superior phonological processing skills. This relationship was expected to be mediated by sound-spelling mapping knowledge. Given the irregularities of sound-spelling correspondences in English, it was also predicted that knowledge of orthographic conventions would be related to spelling competency. Two measures of each component skill were used on seventy three university students. As predicted, the importance of spelling-sound mapping skills in spelling were demonstrated, as was a relationship between phonological awareness and spelling-sound correspondences. In addition a moderate correlation was found between orthographic tasks and spelling performance. It was concluded that, among university students at least, phonological ability makes an important contribution to skilled adult spelling.

A Study of the Spelling Development of Adult Literacy Learners Compared with That of Classroom Children

This study compared the spelling development of 195 child and 124 adult literacy learners through a comparison of spelling errors. These errors occurred across 24 word features, which included examples of phonetic patterns, visual patterns, and word relationships ranging from beginning consonant sound (dig) to root constancy matches such as the vowel in accented and unaccented syllables (compete/competition). The order of mastery of the 24 spelling features examined was assessed through the Guttman scale analysis. This analysis indicated a similar developmental pattern occurring in both child and adult spellers especially at the early spelling levels. The differences that occurred in the two groups showed the adults better at identifying visual patterns and understanding some word concepts. They fell behind the children in their correct representation of certain phonetic features because of a tendency to depart from the phonics of the word in their spellings. However, because the adults showed no tendency to skip or shortcut the developmental pattern, it lends support to the theory that adult spelling acquisition, like that of children, needs careful assessment as an essential part of the instructional process.

Spelling in Adults: Orthographic Transparency, Learning New Letter Strings and Reading Accuracy

Five experiments examined differences in spelling production, spelling acquisition and reading accuracy in adults. Experiment 1A confirmed the effects of spelling ability and orthographic transparency on spelling production reported by Fischer, Shankweiler and Liberman (1985), and provided qualified support for the differential superiority of good spellers on morphophonemic knowledge versus orthographic conventions. Experiment 1B extended the effects of orthographic transparency and spelling ability to familiar words. Good spellers were superior in recognition and recall of nonword spellings in Experiment 2, most markedly on long, pronounceable items. Good spellers also had higher recognition accuracy for confusable but not discriminable words that they had read in sentences, and displayed greater knowledge of confusable word meanings (Experiments 3A and 3B). They were no more accurate than poor spellers on memory for names they had read, indicating that their reading accuracy varies with the demands of comprehension (Experiment 3B). The results are consistent with a view that good spellers achieve more accurate learning of words' orthographies and better vocabulary knowledge in their reading than do poor spellers.

Casting a spell with witches and broomsticks: Direct and associative influences on nonword orthography

Abstract This study investigated direct and associative lexical priming of nonword spelling in adults and children. Two possible alternative orthographies of each nonword were targeted under both direct and associative priming conditions. It was found that both direct and associative priming manipulations were effective in influencing the choice of spelling pattern of nonwords, with both children and adults showing the effect. Levels of priming in children were lower, though not significantly lower, than those in adults. Direct priming was significantly stronger than associative priming for both subject groups, with the size of this differential being reduced in children. The differences between the types of priming are seen as speaking to a multiple-activation model of the orthographic lexicon, whereas those between age groups as pointing to a differential functional organisation of the lexicon.

Affects on adult spelling choices

Affects on adult spelling choices