Abstract
Our aim was to assess the effect of a self-correction spelling tool based on orthographic revision procedures on third-grade children’s orthographic performance. This tool consisted of grids displaying explicit contextual, phonological and morphological rules. Participants were 70 third-grade students, randomly assigned to an experimental (N = 35) and control group (N = 35). A pretest and post-test were performed a week before the training programme and two weeks after the end of it, consisting of a 76-word spelling test that referred to contextual (32 words), phonological (32 words) and morphological (12 words) rules. The experimental training programme was carried out with children in class and consisted of nine sessions in which children had to spell words dictated by an adult, who then underlined their misspellings with a specific colour (a different colour was assigned to each rule) and asked them to self-correct the misspellings using the grid. None of the words present in the pre- and post-test were used in the training programme. The same words were used in the control group, but instead of self-correcting the misspellings, children were shown the correct spelling and had to copy it three times. The post-test results showed that the experimental group decreased significantly the number of misspellings when compared with the control group, with statistically significant differences for each rule. Nevertheless, the morphological misspellings, after the intervention, were superior to the other types of misspellings. These results show the importance of inducing self-correction spelling strategies in educational contexts.
Similar content being viewed by others
Change history
17 April 2021
In the reference the author name "Siliman” has been changed to “Silliman”.
References
Bahr, R., Silliman, E., Berninger, W., & Dow, M. (2012). Linguistic pattern analyses of misspelling typically developing writers in grades 1–9. Journal of Speech, Language and Hearing Research, 55, 1587–1599. https://doi.org/10.1044/1092-4388(2012/10-0335.
Bates, T., Castles, A., Luciano, M., Wright, M., Coltheart, M., & Martin, N. (2007). Genetic and environmental bases of reading and spelling: A unified genetic dual route model. Reading and Writing: An Interdisciplinary Journal, 20, 147–171. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11145-006-9022-1.
Binamé, F., & Poncelet, M. (2016). The development of the abilities to acquire novel detailed orthographic representations and maintain them in long-term memory. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 143, 14–33. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jecp.2015.10.010.
Blanche-Benveniste, C. (2002). La escritura irredutible a un código [The irredeemable writing to a code]. In E. Ferreiro (Ed.), Relaciones de (in)dependencia entre oralidad y escritura [Relations of (in)dependence between oral and writing]. (pp. 15–31). Gedisa Editorial.
Bosse, M.-L., Chaves, N., Largy, P., & Valdois, S. (2015). Orthographic learning during reading: The role of whole-word visual processing. Journal of Research in Reading, 38, 141–158. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9817.2012.01551.x.
Bousquet, S., Cogis, D., Ducard, D., Massonnet, J., & Jaffré, J. P. (1999). Acquisition de l´orthographe et mondes cognitifs [Spelling acquisiton and cognitive worlds]. Revue Française de Pédagogie, 126, 23–37.
Cassar, M., & Treiman, R. (1997). The beginnings of orthographic knowledge: Children’s knowledge of double letters in words. Journal of Educational Psychology, 89(4), 631–644. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-0663.89.4.631
Centro de Linguística da Universidade de Lisboa. (2019). Léxico multifuncional computorizado do português contemporâneo [Computerized multifunctional lexicon of contemporary Portuguese]. http://clul.ulisboa.pt/projeto/lexico-multifuncional-computorizado-do-portugues-contemporaneo
Coltheart, M., Rastle, K., Perry, C., Langdon, R., & Ziegler, J. (2001). RDC: A dual route cascaded model of visual word recognition and reading aloud. Psychological Review, 108(1), 204–256. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-295X.108.1.204.
Cordewener, K., Hasselman, F., Verhoeven, L., & . Bosman A. . (2018). The role of instruction for spelling performance and spelling consciousness. The Journal of Experimental Education, 86(2), 135–153. https://doi.org/10.1080/00220973.2017.1315711.
Critten, S., & Pine, K. J. (2009). Viewing spelling in a cognitive context: Underlying representations and processes. In C. Wood, & V. Connelly (Eds.), Contemporary perspectives on reading and spelling: New perspectives on learning and instruction (pp. 92–108). London: Routledge.
Critten, S., Pine, K., & Messer, D. (2013). Revealing children’s implicit spelling representations. British Journal of Developmental Psychology, 31(2), 198–211. https://doi.org/10.1111/bjdp.12000.
Critten, S., Pine, K., & Steffler, D. (2007). Spelling development in young children: A case of representational redescription? Journal of Educational Psychology, 99, 207–220. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-0663.99.1.207.
Critten, S., Sheriston, L., & Mann, F. (2016). Young children’s spelling representations and spelling strategies. Learning and Instruction, 46, 34–44. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.learninstruc.2016.09.001.
Cunha, C., & Sintra, L. (2013). Nova gramática do português contemporâneo [New grammar of contemporary Portuguese]. (21st ed.). Editora Figueirinhas.
de Jong, P. F., & Share, D. L. (2007). Orthographic learning during oral and silent reading. Scientific Studies of Reading, 11(1), 55–71. https://doi.org/10.1207/s1532799xssr1101_4.
Deacon, H., Conrad, N., & Pacton, S. (2008). A statistical learning perspective on children´s learning about graphotactic and morphological regularities in spelling. Canadian Psychology, 49(2), 118–124. https://doi.org/10.1037/0708-5591.49.2.118.
Deacon, H., Pasquarella, A., Marinus, E., Tims, T., & Castles, A. (2019). Orthographic processing and children’s word reading. Applied Psycholinguistics, 40(2), 509–534. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0142716418000681.
Devonshire, V., Morris, P., & Fluck, M. (2013). Spelling and reading development: The effect of teaching children multiple levels of representation in their orthography. Learning and Instruction, 25, 85–94. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.learninstruc.2012.11.007.
Ehri, L. (1997). Apprendre à lire et à orthographier, c´est la même chose, ou pratiquement la même chose [Learning to read and spell is the same or almost the same]. In L. Rieben, M. Fayol, & C. Perfetti (Eds.), Des orthographes et leur acquisition [Spellings and their acquisition]. (pp. 231–265). Delachaux et Niestlé.
Ehri, L. (2000). Learning to read and learning to spell: Two sides of a coin. Topics in Language Disorder, 20, 19–36. https://doi.org/10.1097/00011363-200020030-00005.
Ehri, L. (2005). Learning to read words: Theory, findings, and issues. Scientific Studies of Reading, 9(2), 167–188. https://doi.org/10.1207/s1532799xssr0902_4.
Freitas, M., Rodrigues, C., Costa, T., & Castelo, A. (2012). Os sons que estão dentro das palavras: Descrição e implicações para o ensino do português como língua materna [Sounds within words: Description and implications for teaching Portuguese as mother tongue]. . Edições Colibri e Associação de Professores de Português.
Gaintza, Z., & Goikoetxea, E. (2016). Spelling instruction in Spanish: A comparison of self-correction, visual imagery and copying. Journal of Research in Reading, 39(4), 428–447. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-9817.12055.
Gingras, M., & Sénéchal, M. (2019). Evidence of statistical learning of orthographic representation in grade 1–5: The case of silent letters and double consonants in French. Scientific Studies in Reading, 23(1), 27–48. https://doi.org/10.1080/10888438.2018.1482303.
Gomes, I. (2001). Ler e escrever em português europeu. [Reading and writing in European Portuguese]. Doctoral Thesis, University of Porto.
Hatcher, P., Hulme, C., & Snowling, M. (2004). Explicit phoneme training combined with phonics reading instruction helps young children at risk of reading failure. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 45(2), 338–358. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-7610.2004.00225.x.
IAVE. (2018). Provas de aferição −Ensino básico: Relatório nacional: 2016 e 2017 [Benchmarking tests - Basic education: National report: 2016 and 2017]. http://iave.pt/images/FicheirosPDF/Docs_Avalia%C3%A7%C3%A3o_Alunos/Relat%C3%B3rios/RESULTS_Relatorio_PA_2016-2017_form.pdf
Karmiloff-Smith, A. (1992). Beyond modularity: A developmental perspective on cognitive science. . MIT Press.
Katz, L., & Frost, R. (1992). The reading process is different for different orthographies: The orthographic depth hypothesis. In L. Katz & R. Frost (Eds.), Orthography, phonology, morphology, and meaning. (pp. 67–84). Elsevier Science Publishers.
Lundberg, I., Frost, J., & Peterson, O.-P. (1988). Effects of an extensive program for stimulating phonological awareness in preschool children. Reading Research Quarterly, 23(3), 8–17.
Lyster, S. (2002). The effects of morphological versus phonological awareness training in kindergarten on reading development. Reading and Writing: An Interdisciplinary Journal, 15(3), 261–294. https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1015272516220.
Montanero, M., Lucero, M., & Fernandez, M. J. (2014). Iterative co-evaluation with a rubric of narrative texts in primary education/Coevaluacion iterativa con rubrica de textos narrativos en la Educacion Primaria. Infancia y Aprendizaje, 37, 184–220. https://doi.org/10.1080/02103702.2014.881653.
Morais, A., & Teberosky, A. (1994). Erros e transgressões infantis na ortografia do Português [Children´s mistakes and transgressions in Portuguese spelling]. Discursos, 8, 15–51.
Nunes, T., & Bryant, P. (2006). Improving literacy by teaching morphemes. . Routledge.
Nunes, T., & Bryant, P. (2014). Leitura e ortografia: além dos primeiros passos [Reading and spelling: beyond the first steps]. . Penso Editora.
Nunes, T., Bryant, P., & Olsson, J. (2003). Learning morphological rules and phonological spelling rules. Scientific Studies of Reading, 7(3), 289–307. https://doi.org/10.1207/S1532799XSSR0703_6.
Ouellette, G., Martin-Chang, S., & Rossi, M. (2017). Learning from our mistakes: Improvements in spelling lead to gains in reading speed. Scientific Studies in Reading, 21(4), 350–357. https://doi.org/10.1080/10888438.2017.1306064.
Pinheiro, A. (1995). Reading and spelling development in Brazilian Portuguese. Reading and Writing: An Interdisciplinary Journal, 7(1), 111–138. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01026950.
Raven, J., Raven, J. C., & Court, J. H. (1998). Manual for Raven’s progressive matrices and vocabulary scale. . Oxford Psychologists Press.
Serrano, F., Genard, N., Sucena, A., Defior, S., Alegria, J., Mousty, P., & Seymour, P. (2011). Variations in reading and spelling acquisition in Portuguese, French and Spanish: A cross-linguistic comparison. Journal of Portuguese Linguistics, 10(1), 183–204. https://doi.org/10.5334/jpl.106.
Seymour, P., Aro, M., Erskine, J. M., & the COST Action A8 Network. (2003). Foundation literacy acquisition in European orthographies. British Journal of Psychology, 94(2), 143–174. https://doi.org/10.1348/000712603321661859.
Share, D. (1995). Phonological recoding and self-teaching: Sine qua non of reading acquisition. Cognition, 55(2), 151–218. https://doi.org/10.1016/0010-0277(94)00645-2.
Share, D. (2004). Orthographic learning at a glance: On the time course and developmental onset of self-teaching. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 87(4), 267–298. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jecp.2004.01.001.
Silva, C. (2009). Aprender ortografia: O caso das regras contextuais [Learning how to spell: The case of contextual rules]. Análise Psicológica, 27(4), 553–561. https://doi.org/10.14417/ap.247.
Silva, C. (2013). O impacto da revisão na qualidade de composições de crianças do 4° ano de escolaridade, [The impact of revision on the quality of composition of 4th grade children]. Psicologia: Reflexão e Crítica, 26(1), 177–183. https://doi.org/10.1590/S0102-79722013000100019.
Silva, A., & Almeida, T. (2018). Escritas inventadas em crianças de idade pré-escolar: A necessidade de um modelo que integre os contributos das abordagens fonológica, construtivista e da aprendizagem estatística. [Invented spelling in preschool children: The need for a model that integrates the contributions of phonological, constructivist and statistical approaches in learning]. Psicologia Escolar e Educacional, 22(1), 63–71. https://doi.org/10.1590/2175-35392018019534.
Simões, M. R. (2000). Investigações no âmbito da aferição nacional do teste das matrizes progressivas coloridas de Raven (M.P.C.R) Researches within the framework of the national validation of Raven’s Progressive Colored Matrices test. . Berlin: Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian.
Sprenger-Charolles, L., Siegel, L., & Béchennec, D. (1997). Beginning reading and spelling acquisition in French: A longitudinal study. In C. Perfetti, L. Rieben, & M. Fayol (Eds.), Learning to spell: Research, theory, and practice across languages. (pp. 339–359). Lawrence Erlbaum.
Tainturier, M. J., & Rapp, . (2004). Complex graphemes as functional spelling units: Evidence from acquired dysgraphia. Neurocase, 10(2), 122–131. https://doi.org/10.1080/13554790409609943.
Treiman, R. (2018). Statistical learning and spelling. Language, Speech, and Hearing Services in Schools, 49, 644–652. https://doi.org/10.1044/2018_LSHSS-STLT1-17-0122.
Treiman, R., & Kessler, B. (2014). How children learn to write words. . Oxford University Press.
Treiman, R., & Zubowsky, A. (1991). Levels of phonological awareness. In S. Brady & D. Shankweiler (Eds.), Phonological processes in literacy. (pp. 67–83). Lawrence Erlbaum.
Turner, J., Rafferty, L., Sullivan, R., & Blake, A. (2017). Action research of an error self-correction intervention: Examining the effects on the spelling accuracy behaviors of fifth-grade students identified as at-risk. Preventing School Failure: Alternative Education for Children and Youth, 6(2), 146–154. https://doi.org/10.1080/1045988X.2016.1225661.
Vigário, M., Martins, F., & Frota, S. (2006). A ferramenta FreP e a frequência de tipos silábicos e classes de segmentos no Português. [The FreP tool ant the frequency of syllabic typs and classes of segments in Portuguese] In Textos Seleccionados do XXI Encontro Nacional da Associação Portuguesa de Linguística [Selected Texts of the XXI Congress of Portuguese Linguistic Association] (pp. 675–687). APL/Colibri.
Wirtz, C. L., Gardner, R., Weber, K., & Bullara, D. (1996). Using self-correction to improve the spelling performance of low-achieving third graders. Remedial and Special Education, 17(1), 48–58. https://doi.org/10.1177/074193259601700106.
Wyse, D., & Goswami, U. (2008). Synthetic phonics and the teaching of reading. British Educational Research Journal, 34(6), 691–710. https://doi.org/10.1080/01411920802268912.
Acknowledgements
The authors gratefully acknowledge the financial support from the Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (Portuguese National Funding Agency for Science and Technology; Grants UIDB/04853/2020 and UIDP/04853/2020).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
Publisher's Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Supplementary Information
Below is the link to the electronic supplementary material.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Silva, C., Peixoto, F. & Salvador, L. “To give someone a fish or teach them how to fish?”: effects of a self-reflection tool on orthographic performance in Portuguese children. Read Writ 34, 2481–2503 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11145-021-10154-5
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11145-021-10154-5