The study’s aims were to (a) evaluate preschoolers’ use of private speech (overt talk to themselves) during spelling; and (b) study how it is affected by the nature of orthography. Participants were 197 Hebrew speaking Israeli preschoolers (109 girls and 88 boys) (M = 5.6 years). Children spelled 12 words (N =44 letters) that represented one of three phonological word structures in terms of their consonants (C) and vowels (V): CV.CVC, CV.CV.CVC, and CVC.CVC. Children’s private speech during spelling was documented and analysed. In this paper, we report the private speech units most frequently produced when spelling the letters correctly—CV, CVC, and letter name. When using private speech, children succeeded in correctly spelling a greater number of letters (30.69%) than when not using private speech (17.64%). The private speech across word structures primarily contained CV units and letter names. Children used private speech mostly for words’ first letters and for CV.CVC words. The structure and position of the letters (first, second, last) had a combined effect on the production of private speech. CV units were used mostly in the first letter of CV.CVC words, CVC units in the second letter of a CVC.CVC word, and letter names in the first letter of CV.CVC words. These findings suggest that preschoolers are aware of the features of the orthography, as exemplified by their internal thought process when spelling words. Adults can support children’s understanding of the written language by encouraging them to use private speech during word writing.

这项研究的目的是：（a）评估学龄前儿童在拼写过程中对私人言论（对自己的公开谈话）的使用；（b）研究拼字法的性质如何影响拼字法。参加者为197名讲希伯来语的以色列学龄前儿童（109名女孩和88名男孩）（M  = 5.6岁）。孩子们拼了12个字（N = 44个字母）代表了三个语音单词结构中的辅音（C）和元音（V）之一：CV.CVC，CV.CV.CVC和CVC.CVC。记录并分析了儿童在拼写期间的私人演讲。在本文中，我们报告了正确拼写字母（CV，CVC和字母名称）时最常产生的私人语音单元。与不使用私人演讲时（17.64％）相比，使用私人演讲时，儿童成功地正确拼写了更多的字母（30.69％）。跨单词结构的私人演讲主要包含简历单位和字母名称。孩子们主要使用私密语音作为单词的首字母和CV.CVC单词。字母的结构和位置（第一，第二，最后）对私人演讲的产生产生了综合影响。CV单位主要用于CV的首字母。CVC单词，CVC.CVC单词的第二个字母中的CVC单位，以及CV.CVC单词的第一个字母中的字母名称。这些发现表明，学龄前儿童已经意识到了拼字法的特征，例如在拼写单词时他们的内部思维过程就是例证。成人可以鼓励儿童在单词写作过程中使用私密语言，从而支持他们对书面语言的理解。