effect on spelling ability of exposure to the printed word, The

Research in Education, May 1998 by Dougherty, Sharon, Clayton, Mark

Introduction

Individual differences in spelling ability attest to the fact that spelling is extraordinarily complex and windows a multitude of influences that shape spelling behaviours. The growth of word-specific information has been logically linked with the consequences of having an alphabetic script. The basis of this relationship, that is, matching orthographic patterns to sounds, originates from an understanding of phonemic awareness. However, phonological ability alone may not be a sufficient predictor of spelling ability. Print exposure has been suggested as playing an important role in the development of orthographic representations, as the speller is able to use reading experiences to check and confirm specific word information.

The premise of phonological information being the basis of word knowledge is extremely well supported (Adams, 1990; Liberman and Liberman, 1990; Perfetti and Bell, 1991; Rayner and Pollatsek, 1989; Stanovich, 1986, 1988, 1994) as reflecting reading and spelling development (Gill, 1992; Schlagal and Schlagal, 1992; Templeton, 1991, 1992) and spelling errors reveal a child's understanding of existing phonology and orthography (Frith, 1980; Stage and Wagner, 1992). Emerging empirical evidence on how an individual uses phonological information and orthographic form can currently be found in studies across ages (e.g. Bruck, 1993; Conners and Lunsford, 1992; Invernizzi and Worthy, 1989; Stage and Wagner, 1992), learner characteristics (Cornwall, 1992; Moats, 1993; Snowling et al., 1992; Swanson and Ramalgia, 1992), genetic influence (Defries et al., 1991; Seymour and Evans, 1988), cultures (e.g. Cuetos, 1993; Kihl, 1993), and written responses to various phonological stimuli (Davis et al., 1992; Stage and Wagner, 1992; Treiman, 1991; Treiman and Zukowski, 1990; Treiman et al., 1993).

Analysis of error characteristics and linguistic interpretation has offered qualitative information regarding what information children, adolescents and adults use when spelling. Studies of word identification in dyslexic children have shed light on the developmental course of phonological and orthographic skills. Research has established that dyslexic children and adults with childhood diagnoses of dyslexia exhibit deficits in phonological processing (Bruck,1990,1992, 1993; Manis et al., 1993; Stanovich,1988; Wagner and Torgesen,1987), and within the dyslexic population print exposure accounts for variances in spelling ability (Manis et al., 1993). Studies support the current view (Stanovich, 1988) that dyslexics lack a phonological frame to organise orthographic information and consequently exercise lexical processing, morphological information and visual features to great advantage (Bruck, 1993; Snowling et al., 1992).

Empirically supported strategies used by dyslexic children and adults to bypass phonological processes for word recognition appear not to be specific to that cohort. Young children's spelling errors have been found to be common and systematic, reflecting current word-decoding skills and working memory (Read, 1971). It has also been found (Stage and Wagner, 1992; Swanson and Ramalgia, 1992) that there are individual differences between both these factors for older children and adults (Kreiner and Gough, 1990). Variances in individual development among older children have been attributed to print exposure (Cunningham and Stanovich, 1991). In addition, older children with reading disabilities use compensatory skills and are less reliant on phonological information (Cornwall, 1992). Adult spellers exercise lexical processing (memory store of word forms) for familiar words and as a result there is a tendency to activate an orthographic route rather than phonological information (Cuetos, 1993; Ellis, 1982).

Phonological awareness investigations have produced empirical evidence to confirm causal links with reading acquisition and spelling ability (Ball and Blachman, 1991; Bradley and Bryant, 1983; Catts, 1993; Cunningham and Stanovich, 1990; Davidson and Jenkins, 1994; Griffith, 1991; Swank, 1994; Wagner and Torgeson, 1987). Children may begin to read and spell using simple sound-to-letter correspondences but, as spelling patterns and word recognition become more complex, interaction with print acts as a correcting mechanism for the orthographic representation (Ellis, 1994; Stuart and Masterson, 1992). Failure to acquire any of the related sub-skills may occur at any time during reading and spelling development, which affects sub-lexical word knowledge, implicating the use of compensatory strategies as coping mechanisms in word identification. However, children having efficient phonological abilities attain a greater percentage of correct representations.

Gough et al. (1992) propose that some children may have sufficient phonological sensitivity but still lag behind in word recognition. On the other hand, some children may compensate for the underdevelopment of this strategy and develop reading skills without word identification skills (Cornwall, 1992). Recent research has identified print exposure as an important factor in both reading and spelling (Cunningham and Stanovich, 1990, 1991; Stanovich and Cunningham, 1992; Stanovich and West, 1989) and shown that phonological and orthographical knowledge have a reciprocal causal relationship (Stanovich, 1986; Ehri, 1987). Although interaction with print develops as a consequence of developed reading ability based on efficient phonological processes (Stanovich, 1986) it is suggested that children with `limited reading skills build vocabulary and knowledge structures through reading' (p. 271).