English as a foreign language spelling: comparisons between good and poor spellers

This study examined English as a foreign language (EFL) spelling development amongst 233 fifth‐grade, eighth‐grade and 10th‐grade Hebrew first‐language speakers to examine effects of English orthographic exposure on spelling. Good and poor speller differences were examined regarding the acquisition of novel phonemes (/æ/, /Λ/ and //) and orthographic conventions (/ð/, /θ/, // and silent ‘e’). Hebrew measures included standardised spelling and orthographic and phonological tasks. Experimental English measures included real‐word and pseudoword spellings, orthographic tasks and standardised spellings. Results showed significant differences in spelling accuracy between good and poor spellers at all grades. Spelling accuracy for most conventions did not improve after the eighth grade. Spellings of consonantal clusters, initial h and /ð/ differed between good and poor spellers in the fifth grade only. Hebrew spelling was one of the strongest predictors of EFL real‐word and pseudoword spellings in both fifth and eighth grades. Implications for teaching practice are discussed.     

Explaining speech production deficits in poor readers

The purpose of the present study was to further examine speech production abilities of young poor readers. Fourteen poor readers and 14 age-matched nondisabled subjects were taught to produce four novel, multisyllabic nonsense words. A recognition task was part of the training procedure. Retention of the words was also probed. The poor readers took significantly longer than the nondisabled children to produce three of the four words. The recognition data indicated that encoding limitations, rather than speech production limitations, were primarily responsible for the longer acquisition times. Speech production deficiencies seemed to account for only a small portion of the difficulty the poor readers experienced learning the novel words. The data are consistent with previous research that has documented encoding limitations in poor readers.     

Learning to use inner speech for improving reading and writing of poor readers

Two experiments were conducted to see if teaching poor readers to use inner speech could improve their reading and writing. In the first experiment, there were 8 third grade children, 4 in the experimental group and 4 in the control one, matched from a pre-test of reading. In the experimental group, the children were trained to use inner speech in 27 tasks, from explicit self-speech of the adult and of the child to implicit self-speech by the child alone. The results show significant differences between the two groups in the post-test of reading. In the second experiment, there were 6 students in second grade, 3 in the experimental group and 3 in the control one. In the experimental group, the children were trained to use inner speech in 18 tasks: 6 cognitive tasks that do not require short term memory as in the first experiment, 6 reading tasks, 6 writing tasks. In the experimental group, the children were trained to use self-speech to process the tasks whereas, in the control group, the adult’s help was mostly visual. The results were that the experimental group succeeded significantly better in the post-tests of reading and writing.     

Relationships among rapid digit naming, phonological processing, motor automaticity, and speech perception in poor, average, and good readers and spellers

In this article, we explore the relationship between rapid automatized naming (RAN) and other cognitive processes among below-average, average, and above-average readers and spellers. Nonsense word reading, phonological awareness, RAN, automaticity of balance, speech perception, and verbal short-term and working memory were measured. Factor analysis revealed a 3-component structure. The first component included phonological processing tasks, RAN, and motor balance. The second component included verbal short-term and working memory tasks. Speech perception loaded strongly as a third component, associated negatively with RAN. The phonological processing tests correlated most strongly with reading ability and uniquely discriminated average from below- and above-average readers in terms of word reading, reading comprehension, and spelling. On word reading, comprehension, and spelling, RAN discriminated only the below-average group from the average performers. Verbal memory, as assessed by word list recall, additionally discriminated the below-average group from the average group on spelling performance. Motor balance and speech perception did not discriminate average from above- or below-average performers. In regression analyses, phonological processing measures predicted word reading and comprehension, and both phonological processing and RAN predicted spelling.     

The effects of blending and spelling training on the decoding skills of young poor readers

Blending and spelling training were compared in this experiment to determine which intervention would improve the decoding skills of two first-grade boys with learning disabilities who were in the phonetic cue stage of reading. Additionally, the two boys received pre- and posttest administrations of a phonemic segmentation task. Although neither intervention proved superior, the children met the learning criterion for both interventions and demonstrated both maintenance and generalization of their skills. They also improved their phonemic skills, even though independent training in this area was not provided. It appeared that the equivalence of the interventions may have been due to the intensive instructional setting and use of systematic error analysis procedures.     

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.     

Identification of vowel speech sounds by skilled and less skilled readers and the relation with vowel spelling

Reading and spelling errors of vowels are reported in many studies (Bryson and Werker 1989; Fowler, Liberman, and Shankweiler 1977; Fowler, Shankweiler, and Liberman 1979; Goswami 1993; Landerl, Wimmer, and Frith 1997; Shankweiler and Liberman 1972). The present study tested the hypothesis that spelling errors involving vowels are linked to difficulties in vowel perception. Second to fourth graders (total n=155) were divided into five groups according to reading skill and were tested on a variety of measures involving vowel identification, vowel discrimination, and vowel spelling. Despite little difficulty on the vowel discrimination tasks, participants made many errors on the vowel identification measures. Vowel identification errors were linearly associated with reading skill with least skilled readers having significantly more difficulty with stressed “short” vowels as in dip than with stressed “long” vowels as in deep, presented in identical contexts. Vowel identification errors were also associated with vowel spelling errors. It is hypothesized that errors in vowel spelling may relate to weak access to the phoneme at the oral language level and may indicate a lack of constancy in the representation of vowels by less skilled readers. Weaknesses in vowel perception can be detected with a simple vowel identification test in which phonological similarity of test items is used as linguistic manipulation, and where phonemes must be identified based on presentation of a single test item in a forced choice format.     

Patterns of phonological and memory processing in beginning readers and spellers of Greek

This study examined the patterns of reading and spelling performance of first-grade Greek children who either were facing difficulties in literacy acquisition or were normal achievers. In addition, we studied the relationship between obtained literacy development levels and the children's phonological awareness and ability to retain phonological information in short-term memory. The participants were tested in the reading of single letters, letter clusters, words, and nonwords, as well as in word and nonword spelling. Furthermore, their phonological processing knowledge was assessed via a battery of phonological awareness tasks and short-term memory phonetic-representation tasks. The main findings of the study were as follows: (a) Accurate decoding of Greek was achieved by almost every young child (attributed mainly to the nature of the Greek writing system); (b) the time the children needed to process a written item was the crucial index of their difficulty in literacy acquisition; (c) spelling was performed by deriving the orthographic form of a word on the basis of sound-spelling correspondence knowledge; (d) although the children with difficulties in literacy development had achieved a satisfactory performance in phonological processing, their performance was nevertheless significantly lower than that of the normal achievers; and (e) phonemic awareness and speech rate tasks were among the best predictors of learning to read and spell Greek words.     

Continuities between speech and spelling in a case of developmental dyslexia

This paper explores the relationship between speech and spelling in a single-case study of developmental dyslexia. JM, a developmental dyslexic with a well-documented history of speech, reading and spelling difficulties, was examined when he was 13–14 years old. He still had subtle articulation difficulties causing some disfluency and his use of phonetic voicing was atypical. We argue that these difficulties were recapitulated in his spelling where he was more sensitive to the prosodic aspects of words than normal spellers, exhibiting a strong tendency to spell accurately words which are stressed on the first, rather than the second syllable. He also had more difficulty with phonetic voicing and spelling errors reflected this uncertainty. Thus, when word-specific (orthographic) spelling information is unavailable, JM, like all spellers, must make use of phonological spelling strategies. In his case, these are compromised because of underlying phonological speech problems. It is argued that, while young children make use of a phonological frame on which to organize orthographic information, dyslexics, like JM, who have inadequate phonological representations, are unable to do so. This has a detrimental effect on their acquisition of spelling.     

Reading strategy use and motivation among Chinese good and poor readers in Hong Kong

Eighty‐three good readers and 76 poor readers were compared on their ability to use reading strategies in Chinese reading comprehension and on various reading motivation variables. Poor readers scored lower than good readers in using all reading strategies, and especially in using sophisticated cognitive and metacognitive strategies. Poor readers also had lower intrinsic motivation in reading than had good readers. While the ability to use reading strategies had the strongest relation with reading comprehension, intrinsic motivation and strategy attribution might facilitate reading development through their positive relations with strategy use. Implications of these findings for implementing effective reading instruction in Hong Kong Chinese language teaching are discussed.     

The use of speech feedback by normal and disabled readers in computer-based reading practice

Disabled readers and normal beginning readers were compared on requesting help in the form of speech feedback during computer-based word reading. It was also examined whether it is best to give feedback on all words or to allow the disabled readers to choose. Normal beginning readers and reading-age matched pupils with reading problems engaged in reading practice with speech feedback on call for both difficult and easy words. A set of both difficult and easy sums was completed as a control task. Another group of reading-disabled pupils who were also matched on reading level practiced the reading of words with unsolicited speech feedback. In the first two groups the selectivity in requesting help in both the reading and arithmetic task was assessed. All subjects were tested on the reading of both practiced and nonpracticed words. The results indicate that both disabled readers and beginners were very sensitive to sum difficulty but not to word difficulty, though in the present study the students were more selective than in a previous study. The inclusion of more easy words might account for this finding. The beginners requested help only during the first sessions of reading practice, whereas the disabled readers remained dependent on the speech feedback. The reading-disabled pupils did not learn less when the computer unsolicitedly delivered the spoken form of all words than when they were allowed to choose. It is discussed how profits from the different speech feedback procedures by disabled readers might be related to word decoding skill and metacognitive monitoring.     

Reading strategy use between Chinese good and poor readers: a think‐aloud study

This study aimed to explore the differences between Chinese good and poor readers in their strategy use by using a think‐aloud method. Eight grade 7 students in Hong Kong, four good readers and four poor readers, received a think‐aloud task and an interview in the study. Consistent with the Western studies, findings of this study indicated that Chinese good readers used more strategies and had better ability and knowledge of strategy use than did poor readers. In addition to the cognitive deficiencies, poor readers were also found to have poorer intrinsic motivation than did good readers. The combined problems of poor reading ability and motivation made them reluctant to process the text at a deeper level and they gave up easily when they encountered reading difficulties. Implications of these findings for studying the reading problems of Chinese students and implementing effective reading instruction in Hong Kong Chinese language teaching are discussed.     

The effects of computer technology in assisting the development of literacy in young struggling readers and spellers

The aim of the present study is to evaluate the effect of MultiFunk, a computer program designed to assist reading, on the reading and spelling proficiency of struggling readers. Fifty‐two below‐average readers and spellers, in grades 5, 6 and 7, were randomly assigned as experimental and control groups (N?=?26?+?26). In addition, 114 classmates, who read normally, were included to compare changes in basic literacy development during the intervention. A pre‐test, intervention, post‐test, control‐group design was used to evaluate the effects of the software, using texts to suit the pupils’ own choices and interests. The findings indicate that computerized assistive reading has the potential to aid and support the development of basic literacy skills in a broad group of struggling readers and spellers. Issues concerning the MultiFunk text‐to‐speech technology are discussed.     

The use of phonological and orthographic information by normal and poor readers of Dutch

In two reading level design experiments, matched groups of normal and poor readers were compared with regard to their use of phonological and orthographic information. Experiment 1 used a semantic decision task similar to the task described in the study of Jarvella & Snodgrass (1974). Experiment 1 was aimed to assess the way normal and poor readers, matched on reading level, automatically process phonological and orthographic incongruencies when comparing the singular and plural of nouns. Experiment 2 investigated the automatized processing of uppercase-lowercase letter incongruencies in a same-different task using words and pseudowords. It assessed the role of letter feature cues involved in the initial identification process. Experiment 1 demonstrated that poor readers needed more time for evaluating phonologically incongruent word pairs. No independent effect of orthographic incongruency was found. Experiment 2 showed that, if compared with reading age matched normals, poor readers had more problems with evaluating uppercase-lowercase incongruencies. This orthographic processing problem was particularly prominent when pseudowords were presented. It is concluded that poor readers not only have phonological processing problems, but also have difficulties at the orthographic processing level.     

Phonological skill,lexical decision and letter report performance in good and poor adult spellers

Two groups of undergraduate students, matched for reading skill but differing in spelling ability, participated in three experiments with the aim of exploring the causes of differences in spelling skill in this population. In the first experiment participants were presented with a range of tasks to investigate the possibility that the poor spellers had poorer phonological abilities than the good spellers. No significant differences were observed. In Experiment 2, a lexical decision task was used. The words in the task differed in orthographic neighbourhood size (N) and frequency. Analysis of the latencies revealed effects of frequency and N, but the effect of spelling group was not significant and neither was the interaction with N. Analysis of the errors revealed that the poor spellers made significantly more errors than the good spellers. In Experiment 3 participants were asked to identify the letters in briefly presented words and non‐words. There was a significant effect of stimulus type in favour of words. Poor spellers made more errors in the task than the good spellers, although the difference was restricted to non‐words. Finally, an analysis of the errors made in spelling to dictation by the two groups was carried out. This revealed that the poor spellers were more likely than the good spellers to make errors that were not phonologically plausible and that differed markedly from the target. Overall, the results are interpreted in terms of a partial orthographic representations explanation of poor spelling in good readers.