Abstract
In this study, we examined the accuracy and consistency of Greek-speaking children with spelling difficulties using a spelling level-matched design at two time points. Eighty-seven children were selected for inclusion in three groups: a group with spelling difficulties (SpD, n = 22 fifth graders) and two control groups, a chronological age-matched group (CAM, n = 33 fifth graders) and a spelling age-matched group (SpAM, n = 32 third graders). They completed a spelling dictation task at Time 1 (grades 3 and 5) and nine months later at Time 2 (grades 4 and 6). The spelling task included 69 words and was designed to test the spelling of lexical, derivational, and inflectional morphemes. Participants’ spelling performance was evaluated according to three measures: spelling accuracy (SA), spelling consistency (SC) and spelling consistency in accurate spelling (SCAS). In all measures, the spelling performance of the SpD group was lower than that of the CAM group but similar to that of the SpAM group. Importantly, the SpD and SpAM groups also exhibited similar levels on the consistency measures used in this study. Derivational morphemes were spelled less accurately and less consistently than the other morpheme types, suggesting that the linguistic characteristics of the morphemes to be spelled are crucial for spelling for all children, with or without spelling difficulties.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Angelelli, P., Marinelli, C. V., & Burani, C. (2014). The effect of morphology on spelling and reading accuracy: A study on Italian children. Frontiers in Psychology, 5, 1373.
Angelelli, P., Marinelli, C. V., De Salvatore, M., & Burani, C. (2017). Morpheme-based reading and spelling in Italian children with developmental dyslexia and dysorthography. Dyslexia, 23(4), 387–405.
Baseki, J., Andreou, G., & Tzivinikou, S. (2016). Dyslexia and spelling in two different orthographies (Greek vs. English): A linguistic analysis. Journal of Advances in Linguistics, 7(1), 1172–1192.
Bourassa, D. C., Bargen, M., Delmonte, M., & Deacon, S. H. (2018). Staying rooted: Spelling performance in children with dyslexia. Applied Psycholinguistics, 40(2), 1–18.
Bourassa, D. C., & Treiman, R. (2001). Spelling development and disability: The importance of linguistic factors. Language, Speech, and Hearing Services in Schools, 32(3), 172–181.
Bourassa, D. C., & Treiman, R. (2008). Morphological constancy in spelling: A comparison of children with dyslexia and typically developing children. Dyslexia: an International Journal of Research and Practice, 14(3), 155–169.
Bourassa, D. C., Treiman, R., & Kessler, B. (2006). Use of morphology in spelling by children with dyslexia and typically developing children. Memory and Cognition, 34(3), 703–714.
Breadmore, H. L., & Carroll, J. M. (2016). Morphological spelling in spite of phonological deficits: Evidence from children with dyslexia and otitis media. Applied Psycholinguistics, 37, 1439–1460.
Bryant, P. E., Nunes, T., & Aidinis, A. (1999). Different morphemes, same spelling problems: Cross-linguistic developmental studies. In M. Harris & G. Hatano (Eds.). Learning to read and write: A cross-linguistic perspective (pp. 112–133). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Bryant, P., Nunes, T., & Bindman, M. (1997). Backward readers’ awareness of language: Strengths and weaknesses. European Journal of Psychology of Education, 4, 357–372.
Cassar, M., Treiman, R., Moats, L., Pollo, T. C., & Kessler, B. (2005). How do the spellings of children with dyslexia compare to those of nondyslexic children? Reading and Writing, 18, 27–49.
Casalis, S., Deacon, S. H., & Pacton, S. (2011). How specific is the connection between morphological awareness and spelling? A study of French children. Applied Psycholinguistics, 32, 499–511.
Carlisle, J. F. (1987). The use of morphological knowledge in spelling derived forms by learning-disabled and normal students. Annals of Dyslexia, 27, 90–108.
Carlisle, J. F. (1988). Knowledge of derivational morphology and spelling ability in fourth, sixth, and eight graders. Applied Psycholinguistics, 9, 247–266.
Chliounaki, K., & Bryant, P. (2002). Construction and learning to spell. Cognitive Development, 17, 1489–1499.
Chliounaki, K., & Bryant, P. (2003). Choosing the right spelling in Greek: Morphology helps. Revue Française De Linguistique Appliquée, 8, 35–45.
Chliounaki, K., & Bryant, P. (2007). How children learn about morphological spelling rules. Child Development, 78(4), 1360–1373.
Daigle, D., Costerg, A., Plisson, A., Ruberto, N., & Varin, J. (2016). Spelling errors in French-speaking children with dyslexia: Phonology may not provide the best evidence. Dyslexia, 22, 137–157.
Deacon, S. H. (2008). The metric matters: Determining the extent of children’s knowledge of morphological spelling regularities. Developmental Science, 11, 396–406.
Deacon, S. H., & Bryant, P. E. (2005). What young children do and do not know about the spelling of inflections and derivations. Developmental Science, 8, 583–594.
Deacon, S. H., Conrad, N., & Pacton, S. (2008). A statistical learning perspective on children’s learning about graphotactic and morphological regularities in spelling. Canadian Psychology/Psychologie Canadienne, 49(2), 118–124.
Deacon, S. H., & Dhooge, S. (2010). Developmental stability and changes in the impact of root consistency on children’s spelling. Reading and Writing: An Interdisciplinary Journal, 23(9), 1055–1069.
Defior, S., Alegría, J., Titos, R., & Martos, F. (2008). Using morphology when spelling in a shallow orthographic system: The case of Spanish. Cognitive Development, 23(1), 204–215.
Diakogiorgi, K., Baris, T., & Valmas, T. (2005). Iκανότητα χρήσης μορφολογικών στρατηγικών στην ορθογραφημένη γραφή από μαθητές της Α΄ τάξης του δημοτικού [The ability of using morphological strategies in spelling by first graders]. Psychology: the Journal of the Hellenic Psychological Society, 12(4), 568–586.
Diamanti, V., Goulandris, N., Stuart, M., & Campbell, R. (2013). Spelling of derivational and inflectional suffixes by Greek-speaking children with and without dyslexia. Reading and Writing, 27(2), 337–358.
Diamanti, V., Stuart, M., Campbell, R., & Protopapas, A. (2018). Tracking the effects of dyslexia in reading and spelling development: A longitudinal study of Greek readers. Dyslexia, 24(2), 170–189.
Donovan, J. L., & Marshall, C. R. (2015). Comparing the verbal self-reports of spelling strategies used by children with and without dyslexia. International Journal of Disability, Development and Education, 63(1), 27–44.
Gentry, J. R. (1982). An analysis of developmental spelling in GNYS at WRK. The Reading Teacher, 36, 192–200.
Egan, J., & Pring, L. (2004). The processing of inflectional morphology: A comparison of children with and without dyslexia. Reading and Writing: An Interdisciplinary Journal, 17, 567–591.
Egan, J., & Tainturier, M. J. (2011). Inflectional spelling deficits in developmental dyslexia. Cortex, 47, 1179–1196.
Grigorakis, I., & Manolitsis, G. (2016).Η συμβολή της μορφολογικής επίγνωσης στα πρώτα στάδια ανάπτυξης της ικανότητας ορθογραφημένης γραφής [The contribution of morphological awareness on the early stages of spelling development]. Preschool and Primary Education, 4(1), 128–148.
Hauerwas, L. B., & Walker, J. (2003). Spelling of inflected verb morphology in children with spelling deficits. Learning Disabilities Research & Practice, 18(1), 25–35.
Kemp, N. (2006). Children’s spelling of base, inflected, and derived words: Links with morphological awareness. Reading and Writing, 19, 737–765.
Mouzaki, A., Protopapas, A., Sideridis, G., & Simos, P. (2007). Test of Spelling Abilities (Standardized test of spelling abilities in Greek).
Nikolopoulos, D., Goulandris, N., & Snowling, M. J. (2003). Developmental dyslexia in Greek. In N. Goulandris & M. J. Snowling (Eds.), Dyslexia in different countries. Cross-linguistic comparison (pp. 53–57). London: Whurr Publishers Ltd.
Nunes, T., Bryant, P., & Bindman, M. (1997a). Morphological spelling strategies: Developmental stages and processes. Developmental Psychology, 33(4), 637–649.
Nunes, T., Bryant, P., & Bindman, M. (1997b). Learning to spell regular and irregular verbs. Reading and Writing: An Interdisciplinary Journal, 9, 427–449.
Pacton, S., & Deacon, S. H. (2008). The timing and mechanisms of children’s use of morphological information in spelling: A review of evidence from English and French. Cognitive Development, 23, 339–359.
Pacton, S., Foulin, J. N., Casalis, S., & Treiman, R. (2013). Children benefit from morphological relatedness when they learn to spell new words. Frontiers in Psychology, 4, 696.
Pacton, S., Jaco, A. Α, Nys, M., Foulin, J. N., Treiman, R., & Peereman, R. (2018). Children benefit from morphological relatedness independently of orthographic relatedness when they learn to spell new words. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 171, 71–83.
Pantazopoulou, E. J., & Diakogiorgi, K. (2017). Ορθογραφικές δυσκολίες παιδιών με και χωρίς ορθογραφικές δυσκολίες [Spelling difficulties of children with and without difficulties]. Greek Inspection of Special Education, 5, 181–220.
Parrila, R., Georgiou, G. K., & Papadopoulos, T. C. (2020). Dyslexia in a consistent orthography: Evidence from a reading-level match design. Dyslexia, 26(4), 343–358.
Porpodas, C. (2001). Cognitive processes in first grade reading and spelling of Greek. Psychology: the Journal of the Hellenic Psychological Society, 8(3), 384–400.
Protopapas, A. (2017). Learning to read Greek. In L. T. W. Verhoeven & C. A. Perfetti (Eds.), Learning to read across languages and writing systems (pp. 155–180). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Protopapas, A., & Vlahou, E. L. (2009). A comparative quantitative analysis of Greek orthographic transparency. Behavior Research Methods, 41(4), 991–1008.
Protopapas, A., Fakou, A., Drakopoulou, S., Skaloumbakas, C., & Mouzaki, A. (2012). What do spelling errors tell us? Classification and analysis of errors made by Greek schoolchildren with and without dyslexia. Reading and Writing, 26(5), 615–646.
Sangster, L., & Deacon, H. (2011). Development in children’s sensitivity to the role of derivations in spelling. Canadian Journal of Experimental Psychology, 65(2), 133–139.
Sarris, M., & Porpodas, C. (2012). Μάθηση της ορθογραφημένης γραφής της ελληνικής γλώσσας: στρατηγικές που χρησιμοποιούν οι μαθητές της Α΄ τάξης στη γραφή [Learning to spell in Greek: Strategies used by first graders in spelling]. Psychology: the Journal of the Hellenic Psychological Society, 19(4), 373–397.
Sénéchal, M. (2000). Morphological effects in children’s spelling of French words. Canadian Journal of Experimental Psychology, 54(2), 76–85.
Sénéchal, M., Basque, M. T., & Leclaire, T. (2006). Morphological knowledge as revealed in children’s spelling accuracy and reports of spelling strategies. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 95, 231–254.
Seymour, P. H. K., Aro, M., & Erskine, J. M. (2003). Foundation literacy acquisition in European orthographies. British Journal of Psychology, 94, 143–174.
Schiff, R., & Levie, R. (2017). Spelling and morphology in dyslexia: A developmental study across the school years. Dyslexia, 23(4), 324–344.
Sideridis, G., Antoniou, F., Mouzaki, Α., & Simos, P. (2015). Raven, J. Colored Progressive Matrices (CPM) of Raven’s Educational, GR: Pearson.
Treiman, R. (2017). Learning to spell: Phonology and beyond. Cognitive Neuropsychology, 34(3–4), 83–93.
Treiman, R., & Bourassa, D. (2000). The development of spelling skill. Topics in Language Disorders, 20(3), 1–18.
Treiman, R., & Cassar, M. (1996). Effects of morphology on children’s spelling of final consonant clusters. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 63(1), 141–170.
Treiman, R., Cassar, M., & Zukowski, A. (1994). What types of linguistic information do children use in spelling? The case of flaps. Child Development, 65, 1318–1337.
Tsesmeli, S. N., & Seymour, P. H. K. (2006). Derivational morphology and spelling in dyslexia. Reading and Writing: An Interdisciplinary Journal, 19(6), 587–625.
Xanthi, S. (2017). Ποιοτική ανάλυση λαθών μαθητών Δ΄ - ΣΤ΄ δημοτικού σε ορθογραφικά έργα υπαγόρευσης και ελεύθερης γραφής [Qualitative error analysis of fourth to sixth graders’ spelling performance in dictation and writing]. Research in Education, 6(1), 1–17.
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
Pantazopoulou, EJ., Polychroni, F., Diakogiorgi, K. et al. Accuracy and consistency in morphological spelling: evidence from Greek-speaking children with and without spelling difficulties. Read Writ 35, 275–302 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11145-021-10174-1
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11145-021-10174-1