Knowledge of conditional spelling patterns supports word spelling among Danish fifth graders
Abstract
enGraphotactic knowledge and word‐specific orthographic knowledge have been shown to account for unique variance in concurrent spelling skills beyond phonological skills in the early school years.The present study examined whether knowledge of spelling patterns conditioned by phonological context would add to the concurrent prediction of spelling among 133 Danish fifth graders.Findings from other orthographies (e.g., English and German) were replicated, in that measures of graphotactic knowledge and word‐specific orthographic knowledge accounted for unique variance in spelling beyond phonological decoding. However, the results went further by demonstrating that a measure of knowledge of conditional spelling patterns was an independent predictor of spelling.The findings indicate that children learning to spell in the opaque Danish orthography use multiple sources of knowledge to guide their choice of spellings and call for increased attention to conditional spelling patterns in literacy instruction.
Highlights
aaWhat is already known about this topic
- Earlier studies have demonstrated that measures of lexical and sublexical orthographic knowledge account for unique variance in concurrent spelling skills, beyond phonological skills, in the early school years.
- Earlier studies have demonstrated that children and adults take advantage of phonological context in order to spell ambiguous consonants and vowels and that several spelling patterns are not acquired until fairly late in grade school (ages 6–18 years).
What this paper adds
- Great variance in an experimental measure of knowledge of spelling patterns conditioned by phonological context was found among Danish children in Grade 5 (ages 10–12 years).
- Differences in performance on the measure of knowledge of conditional spelling patterns explained unique variance in concurrent spelling skills over and above phonological decoding, graphotactic knowledge and word‐specific orthographic knowledge.
Implications for practice
- The findings support suggestions from other researchers that increased attention to conditional spelling patterns in literacy instruction is relevant.
- Training studies are needed to explore the potential of enhancing knowledge of conditional spelling patterns among children struggling to become competent spellers.
Number of times cited: 1
- Peter Westwood, Learning to spell: enduring theories, recent research and current issues, Australian Journal of Learning Difficulties, 10.1080/19404158.2018.1524391, 23, 2, (137-152), (2018).
