Spelling as indicator of English literacy development

Center For Applied Linguistics, Washington DC

Investigators

Linked publications & trials

Abstract

DESCRIPTION: (Adapted from applicant's description) In this research subproject, the investigators will conduct a longitudinal study of the development of English spelling skills in Spanish-English bilingual children as they progress from Grade 3 to Grade 6. Through analysis of children's progression toward correct English spelling, the investigators will seek to determine how children's understanding of English spelling changes over time and to identify factors that may explain high levels of transfer from Spanish spelling to English spelling. The investigators will explore the extent to which background characteristics of individual students, such as parental education levels and home literacy exposure, are systematically related to degree of negative transfer in the domain of spelling, and determine whether exposure to specific instructional programs relates to more rapid acquisition of conventional English spelling and more rapid recognition of the differences between Spanish and English orthography among native Spanish speakers. Finally, the investigators intend to determine if there is a systematic relationship between the frequency and type of English spelling errors and English reading ability over time and to determine if early evidence of English spelling problems is associated with long-term reading delays in English.