Predicting poor, average, and superior spellers in grades 1 to 6 from phonological, orthographic, and morphological, spelling, or reading composites

Abstract

Superior (10 girls, 10 boys), average (10 girls, 10 boys), and poor (10 girls, 10 boys) spelling ability groups were identified in first (age 6) or third (age 8) grade and assessed annually for four years. In separate analyses, a simultaneous set of phonological, orthographic and morphological predictors, a simultaneous set of pseudoword spelling and word-specific orthographic spelling predictors, and a simultaneous set of real-word and pseudoword reading accuracy and rate predictors jointly predicted individuals’ spelling ability group (superior, average, or poor) from first to sixth grade. Results are discussed for significance of results for Triple Word Form Theory (relationships of multiple language skills to spelling development), advantages of multivariate approaches that analyze a set of joint predictors, and importance of designing studies so that findings can be generalized to specific regions of the distribution — upper, middle, and lower — rather than the entire distribution of spellers in an unreferred sample.

Predicting levels of reading and writing achievement in typically developing, english-speaking 2nd and 5th graders

“…are processed during listening or reading comprehension or are constructed for oral or written expression. Research has shown that throughout early and middle childhood, all three word forms contribute to reading and spelling (Garcia, Abbott, & Berninger, 2010). Syntactic coding becomes increasingly important beginning in fourth grade and thereafter (e.g., Berninger, Abbott et al, 2010; Berninger, Nagy, & Beers, 2011; Swanson & Berninger, 1995, 1996).…”

Bilingual spelling patterns in middle school: it is more than transfer

“…Learning to spell requires learning how to code into memory, analyze, and coordinate three word forms and their parts into unified representations (Bahr et al 2012;Berninger, Garcia, and Abbott 2009;Garcia, Abbott, and Berninger 2010). These word forms involve: (1) the phonological code that functions as an analyzer of phonemes in spoken words; (2) the orthographic code that serves to analyze letters, letter groups, and larger letter patterns in written words; and (3) the morphological code that analyzes root words, prefixes, and inflectional and derivational suffixes in both spoken and written words.…”

Frequency Analyses of Prephonological Spellings as Predictors of Success in Conventional Spelling

“…Spelling ability at the start of primary school can prognosticate spelling performance several years later (e.g., Garcia, Abbott, & Berninger, 2010). But before entering primary school, most children rarely spell any words correctly.…”