Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Spelling pronunciations help college students remember how to spell difficult words

  • Published:
Reading and Writing Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Studies have shown that children benefit from a spelling pronunciation strategy in remembering the spellings of words. The current study determined whether this strategy also helps adults learn to spell commonly misspelled words. Participants were native English speaking college students (N = 42), mean age 22.5 years (SD = 7.87). An experimental design with random assignment, pretests, training, and posttests assessed effects of the pronunciation strategy on memory for the spellings of 20 hard to spell words. Half of the participants were trained to read the words by assigning spelling pronunciations during learning (n = 21). The comparison group (n = 21) practiced reading the words normally without the strategy. Strategy trained adults recalled significantly more words, total letters, silent letters, and schwa vowel letters correctly than controls. Poor spellers benefited as much if not more from this strategy as good spellers. Results support orthographic mapping theories. Optimizing the match between spelling units and sound units, including graphemes and phonemes, syllables, and morphemes, to create spelling pronunciations when words are read enhances memory for spellings of the words. As a result, higher quality lexical representations are retained in memory. Results suggest the value of teaching college students this strategy to improve their ability to spell words correctly in their written work.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Bhattacharya, A., & Ehri, L. C. (2004). Graphosyllabic analysis helps adolescent struggling readers read and spell words. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 37, 331–348.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Block, M. K., & Duke, N. K. (2015). Letter names can cause confusion and other things to know about letter-sound relationships. Young Children, 70(1), 84–91.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bosman, A. M. T., Van Hell, J. G., & Verhoeven, L. (2006). Learning the spelling of strange words in Dutch benefits from regularized reading. Journal of Educational Psychology, 98, 879–890.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bourassa, D. C., & Treiman, R. (2014). Spelling development and disability in English. In C. Stone, E. Silliman, B. Ehren, & G. Wallach (Eds.), Handbook of language and literacy: Development and disorders (pp. 569–583). New York, NY: Guilford.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brown, A. S. (1988). Encountering misspellings and spelling performance: Why wrong isn’t right? Journal of Educational Psychology, 80, 488–494.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Burt, J. S., & Butterworth, P. (1996). Spelling in adults: Orthographic transparency, learning new letter strings and reading accuracy. European Journal of Cognitive Psychology, 8, 3–44.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Coltheart, M. (1978). Lexical access in simple reading tasks. In G. Underwood (Ed.), Strategies of information processing (pp. 151–216). New York, NY: Academic Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Coren, S. (1989). The spelling component test: Psychometric evaluation and norms. Educational and Psychological Measurement, 49, 961–971.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dixon, M., & Kaminska, Z. (1997). Is it misspelled or is it mispelled? The influence of fresh orthographic information on spelling. Reading and Writing: An Interdisciplinary Journal, 9, 483–498.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Drake, D. A., & Ehri, L. C. (1984). Spelling acquisition: Effects of pronouncing words on memory for their spellings. Cognition and Instruction, 1, 297–320.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dunn, L. M., & Dunn, D. M. (2007). Peabody picture vocabulary test-fourth edition (PPVT-4). Minneapolis, MN: Pearson Assessments.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ehri, L. C. (1980). The development of orthographic images. In U. Frith (Ed.), Cognitive processes in spelling (pp. 311–338). London: Academic Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ehri, L. (1997). Learning to read and spell are one and the same, almost. In C. Perfetti, L. Rieben, & M. Fayol (Eds.), Learning to spell: Research theory and practice across languages (pp. 237–269). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ehri, L. (2014). Orthographic mapping in the acquisition of sight word reading, spelling memory, and vocabulary learning. Scientific Studies of Reading, 18, 5–21.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Frith, U. (1980). Unexpected spelling problems. In U. Frith (Ed.), Cognitive processes in spelling (pp. 495–516). London: Academic Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Frith, U. (1985). Beneath the surface of developmental dyslexia. In K. Patterson, J. Marshall, & M. Colthart (Eds.), Surface dyslexia (pp. 301–330). London: Erlbaum.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gilbert, L. C. (1935). A study of the effects of reading on spelling. The Journal of Educational Research, 28, 570–576.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Graham, S. (2000). Should the natural learning approach replace spelling instruction? Journal of Educational Psychology, 92, 235–247.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Graham, S., & Santangelo, T. (2014). Does spelling instruction make students better spellers, readers, and writers? A meta-analytic review. Reading and Writing: An Interdisciplinary Journal, 27, 1703–1743.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hatch, E., & Brown, C. (1995). Vocabulary, semantics, and language education. Cambridge, MA: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hilte, M., Bos, M., & Reitsma, P. (2005). Effects of spelling pronunciations during spelling practice in Dutch. Written Language & Literacy, 8, 137–153.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hilte, J., & Reitsma, P. (2006). Spelling pronunciation and visual preview both facilitate learning to sell irregular words. Annals of Dyslexia, 56, 301–318.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Holmes, V. M., & Malone, N. (2004). Adult spelling strategies. Reading and Writing: An Interdisciplinary Journal, 17, 537–566.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Holmes, V. M., & Ng, E. (1993). Word-specific knowledge, word-recognition strategies, and spelling ability. Journal of Memory and Language, 32, 230–257.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kreiner, D. S., Schnakenberg, S. D., Green, A. G., Costello, M. J., & McClin, A. F. (2002). Effects of spelling errors on the perception of writers. Journal of General Psychology, 129, 5–17.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Landerl, K., Thaler, V., & Reitsma, P. (2008). Spelling pronunciations: Transforming irregularity into regularity. Learning & Instruction, 18, 295–308.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Martin, C. L., & Ranson, D. E. (1990). Spelling skills of business students: An empirical investigation. The Journal of Business Communication, 27, 377–400.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ormrod, J. E. (1986). Learning to spell: Three studies at the university level. Research in the Teaching of English, 20, 160–172.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ormrod, J. E., & Jenkins, L. (1989). Study strategies for learning spelling: Correlations with achievement and developmental changes. Perceptual and Motor Skills, 68, 643–650.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Perfetti, C., & Hart, L. (2002). The lexical quality hypothesis. In L. Verhoeven, C. Elbro, & P. Reitsma (Eds.), Precursors of functional literacy (pp. 67–86). Amsterdam: John Benjamins.

    Google Scholar 

  • Reitsma, P. (1983). Printed word learning in beginning readers. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 36, 321–339.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ricketts, J., Bishop, D., & Nation, K. (2009). Orthographic facilitation in oral vocabulary acquisition. The Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 62, 1948–1966.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rosenthal, J., & Ehri, L. (2008). The mnemonic value of orthography for vocabulary learning. Journal of Educational Psychology, 100, 175–191.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sawyer, D. J., & Joyce, M. (2006). Research in spelling: Implications for adult basic education. In J. Comings, B. Garner, & C. Smith (Eds.), Review of adult learning and literacy: Connecting research, policy, and practice (Vol. 6, pp. 71–112). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.

    Google Scholar 

  • Scarborough, H. S., Cutting, L. E., Speece, D. L., Sabatini, J. P., Olson, R. K., & Denckla, M. B. (2008). Can taking a cheap and easy route get the job done? Using quick group tasks to screen for reading disability. Paper presented at the IES/ETS conference on Assessing Reading in the 21st Century, Philadelphia, PA.

  • Schlagal, B. (2007). Best practices in spelling and handwriting. In S. Graham, C. Macarthur, & J. Fitzgerald (Eds.), Best practices in writing instruction (pp. 179–201). New York, NY: Guilford.

    Google Scholar 

  • Share, D. L. (1995). Phonological recoding and self-teaching: Sine qua non of reading acquisition. Cognition, 55, 151–218.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Share, D. (2008). Orthographic learning, phonological recoding, and self-teaching. In R. Kail (Ed.), Advances in child development and behavior (pp. 31–81). New York, NY: Elsevier.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sparks, R., Ganschow, L., Patton, J., Artzer, M., Siebenhar, D., & Plageman, M. (1997). Prediction of foreign language proficiency. Journal of Educational Psychology, 89, 549–561.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stanovich, K. E., & West, R. F. (1989). Exposure to print and orthographic processing. Reading Research Quarterly, 24, 402–433.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Thaler, V., Landerl, K., & Reitsma, P. (2008). An evaluation of spelling pronunciations as a means of improving spelling of orthographic markers. European Journal of Psychology of Education, 23, 3–23.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

Gratitude is expressed to Professors David Rindskopf and Alpana Bhattacharya for their guidance in the conduct of this study.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Program in Educational Psychology, Graduate Center of the City University of New York, 365 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY, 10016, USA

    Turkan Ocal & Linnea C. Ehri

  2. Department of Psychology, University of Minnesota Duluth, 1207 Ordean Court, Duluth, MN, 55812, USA

    Turkan Ocal

Authors
  1. Turkan Ocal
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Linnea C. Ehri
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Turkan Ocal.

Additional information

This study was drawn from a doctoral dissertation completed in partial fulfillment of a Ph.D. degree at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York.

Appendix: Questionnaires

Appendix: Questionnaires

Pretest questionnaire for both groups

figure a

Posttest questionnaire for the experimental group

figure b

Posttest questionnaire for the control group

figure c

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Ocal, T., Ehri, L.C. Spelling pronunciations help college students remember how to spell difficult words. Read Writ 30, 947–967 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11145-016-9707-z

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11145-016-9707-z

Keywords

Search

Navigation