Purpose A mixed methods approach, evaluating triple word form theory, was used to describe linguistic patterns of misspellings. Method Spelling errors were taken from narrative and expository writing samples provided by 888 typically developing students in grades 1–9. Errors were coded by category (phonological, orthographic, and morphological) and specific linguistic feature affected. Grade level effects were analyzed with trend analysis. Qualitative analyses determined frequent error types and how use of specific linguistic features varied across grades. Results Phonological, orthographic, and morphological errors were noted across all grades, but orthographic errors predominated. Linear trends revealed developmental shifts in error proportions for the orthographic and morphological categories between grades 4–5. Similar error types were noted across age groups but the nature of linguistic feature error changed with age. Conclusions Triple word-form theory was supported. By grade 1, orthographic errors predominated and phonological and morphological error patterns were evident. Morphological errors increased in relative frequency in older students, probably due to a combination of word-formation issues and vocabulary growth. These patterns suggest that normal spelling development reflects non-linear growth and that it takes a long time to develop a robust orthographic lexicon that coordinates phonology, orthography, and morphology and supports word-specific, conventional spelling.

Several investigations have considered the spelling abilities of children with reading disability; however, the spelling patterns of children with a language learning disability (LLD) have been largely ignored. This study examined the spelling error patterns of three groups of children who met strict inclusion criteria-those with a known LLD (n = 8), chronological-age-matched peers (CA; n = 8), and a younger spelling-age-matched group (SA; n = 8). An experimental spelling measure was specially designed and administered to elucidate the underlying linguistic features (clusters, digraphs, etc.) and linguistic classifications (phonological, orthographical, morphological) of misspellings. Based on inferential statistical analyses, a general pattern was that the LLD group and the SA group always differed from the CA group, whereas the LLD group performed similarly to the SA group. This finding lends credence to the hypothesis that children with an LLD, like children with reading disability, are delayed in spelling development rather than following a deviant developmental process. However, a qualitative analysis indicated two specific patterns. First, the LLD group had more trouble than did the SA group in representing the basic phonological structure of words, when complexity was increased by word length or linguistic structure. Second, in contrast to the SA group, the LLD group had greater omissions of inflected and derived morphological markers. These findings point to the critical role of morphology as the mediator between and form and meaning.

This study examined the Spanish and English spelling patterns of bilingual adolescents, including the cross-linguistic effects of each language, by applying a fine-grained measure to the differences in spelling in naturalistic writing. Spelling errors were taken from narrative and expository writing samples provided by 20 Spanish-English bilingual adolescents (n = 160). Errors were coded by categories (phonological, orthographic, and morphological) and specific linguistic features affected and then analyzed by language and genre. Descriptive analyses noted similarities and differences among error patterns in both languages as well as language transfer (i.e., borrowings and code-switching). Statistical analyses revealed language differences in proportions of misspellings across linguistic categories. More fine-grained analyses indicated linguistic feature patterns that were shared across languages and unique to each language. Finally, borrowing, while infrequent, was noted more frequently in English compositions. This investigation appears to demonstrate that spelling, when approached as both a cognitive and linguistic activity, is complex since multiple knowledge systems must be coordinated. The use of triple word form theory to analyze misspellings in emerging bilingual writers suggests that discerning patterns of misspellings in each language provides more insight than does transfer alone into the extent that phonology, orthography, and morphology are becoming unified.

Background Angelman syndrome is a rare disorder in which most individuals do not develop speech. Testing of communication ability using traditional neuropsychological measures reveals a performance level at or near the floor of the instrument resulting in an inability to detect change when experimental therapeutics are applied. Methods Nine individuals, with molecularly confirmed AS, ranging in age from 34 to 126 months, and a single healthy control child (age 16 months) were audio and video-recorded while interacting with a licensed speechlanguage pathologist in an attempt to elicit vocalization and non-verbal communication. Thirty-minute audio recordings were transcribed and categorized per the Stark Assessment of Early Vocal Development-Revised and a phonetic inventory was created. Using video recordings, gestures were classified by function, either behavioral regulation or social interaction and further categorized as deictic or representational (i.e., behavioral regulation) and joint attention or shared engagement (i.e., social interaction). ResultsThe range of vocalizations produced by the children with AS was characteristic of children between 0-6 months and none of the children with AS used advanced forms of vocalizations. The mean frequency of reflexive vocalizations, control of phonation and expansion far exceeded the number of uses of canonical syllables, consistant with the characteristics of children around 12 months of age. Most vocalizations were either laughter or isolated vowels, only three children with AS produced consonant-vowel combinations. Children with AS tended to use central and low vowels with few producing high vowels, suggesting the presence of childhood apraxia of speech. Conclusion Our results show the utilization of videorecorded behavioral observations provides a feasible and reliable alternative for quantification of communication ability in this patient population and may be employed during future clinical studies of potential therapeutics.

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After Grade 2, nonword spelling may be more sensitive to the effects of dialect variation than are phonemic awareness tasks. It is suggested that spelling may be a more sensitive clinical indicator of difficulties in integrating the phonological and orthographic information needed for fluent decoding skill.

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As a preface to future studies on language impairment in bilingual children, an exploratory analysis of lexical diversity and depth in the production of mental state verbs was conducted on the oral narratives of 9‐ and 11‐year‐old children who differed by language status. English‐only (EO), bilingual (Spanish‐English), and Spanish‐only (SO) preadolescents produced oral narratives based on a wordless video. Prior to narrative elicitation, participants completed a priming task on mental state verbs and were instructed to focus on what the characters were thinking, saying, and feeling as they engaged in their narrative formulation. Colored still frames from the video were also available to reduce the memory load on recall. The resulting narratives were analyzed for mental state verb use by category (motivational, experiential, and belief) and the influence of the language of production. Lexical diversity was determined by number of different words (normalized to type‐token ratio, TTR), and lexical depth was analyzed through a descriptive analysis of variations in the meaning of the belief verb think with respect to the expression of certainty/uncertainty. Results indicated that the EO children used the greatest proportion of experiential and belief mental states, while motivational verb use did not differentiate the language groups. In contrast, the SO group had the greatest TTR. The descriptive analysis of the belief verb think revealed greater lexical depth in the EO participants. Findings are discussed in terms of cross‐language similarities and differences and their applications to the mental state framework for differentiating among bilingual children who may be at enhanced academic risk because of undetected language impairment.