Capturing the Nature of the Spelling Errors in Developmental Language Disorder: A Scoping Review

Purpose This scoping review aims to identify and analyze the nature of the spelling errors produced by children with developmental language disorder (DLD) across different orthographies. Building on a previous meta-analysis identifying the extent of the spelling difficulties of children with DLD, the review extends our understanding of the nature of the spelling errors produced by children with DLD. Three questions are addressed: Do spelling difficulties in children with DLD stem from weak phonological, orthographic, or morphological representations? What are the patterns of spelling performance in DLD depending on orthographic depth? Do comorbid difficulties with DLD impact spelling? Method The scoping review followed the five phases outlined by Arksey and O'Malley (2005) and extended by Levac et al. (2010) : (a) specifying the research question; (b) identifying relevant studies; (c) selecting studies; (d) charting the data; and (e) collating, summarizing, and reporting the results. Results Eighteen studies that provided a qualitative description of the nature of spelling errors produced by children and adolescents with DLD were identified. Spelling performance was examined in relation to control groups that were matched on age, on language features (language, spelling, or reading age), or on co-occurring difficulties. Conclusions This review article highlights the key elements that need to be considered when practitioners examine spelling difficulties and provides benchmarks for assessment in a range of alphabetic languages for school-age children. The qualitative analyses indicated that when practitioners evaluate spelling performance in children or adolescents with DLD, three factors should be considered: phonological representations, morphological awareness, and reading skills.

Evolución de la atención, concentración y rendimiento académico tras una intervención basada en descansos activos

El objetivo principal de la investigación ha sido analizar la evolución de la atención y concentración en jóvenes estudiantes, tras la implementación de un programa basado en descansos activos o Activity Breaks en la asignatura de Lengua Castellana y Literatura. La muestra, compuesta por 31 estudiantes, 14 chicas y 17 chicos, del primer curso de la Enseñanza Secundaria Obligatoria (edad media 12.13 años), se dividió en dos grupo clase: grupo control y grupo experimental. La intervención, de 7 semanas, implementada durante las lecciones en el aula, permitió aumentar la cantidad de actividad física diaria. Mediante el instrumento de medida “Test de atención D2”, se midió la atención y la concentración, y a través de un texto dictado el rendimiento ortográfico, los datos se recogieron tanto en la fase previa, como tras la intervención. Los resultados indican un aumento estadísticamente significativo tanto en la variable atención como en la variable concentración en el grupo experimental. En cuanto a los contenidos relativos a Lengua Castellana y Literatura, ortografía, no se observaron diferencias estadísticamente significativas. The main objective of the research has been to study the evolution of attention and concentration after the implementation of a programme based on Activity Breaks in the subject Spanish Language and Literature. The sample, formed by 31 students, 14 girls and 17 boys, from the first course o Compulsory Secondary Education (average age 12.13 years), was divided into two class groups, control group and experimental group. The intervention, of 7 weeks, implemented during the lessons in the classroom, allowed the amount of daily physical activity to be increased. By the measurement instrument “Attention Test D2” attention and concentration and by the text dictated spelling performance was measured, data was collected in the previous phase and after the intervention. The results indicate a statically significant increase in attention and concentration variable in experiential group. Regarding the Spanish Language and Literature contents, orthography, no statistically significant differences were observed.

Η σχέση της μουσικής εκπαίδευσης με τις φωνολογικές και αναγνωστικές δεξιότητες μαθητών προσχολικής και πρώτης σχολικής ηλικίας

The aim of the study was to evaluate the effect of the training of morphological awareness of spelling words by 27 students following 4th and 6th grades of a primary school. They were compared with a group of 26 classmates who did not take part in the intervention. All students were assessed via standardized tests of spelling and reading comprehension and non-standardized tests of analogy and meaning of compounds. The intervention included a pre-test, an educational program and a post-test. Experimental material entailed compound words categorized into two conditions of morphophonological transparency (transparent/ non-transparent) and two conditions of compositionality (Modern Greek/Ancient Greek morphemes). Results showed that the systematic exercise of the morphological structure of words improved students' spelling performance in every compound type. Considerably, non-transparent items entailing ancient morphemes received the highest gains, where students presented the lowest performance before intervention. These findings underline the importance of morphological awareness in the acquisition of spelling of morphologically complex vocabulary, whose teaching is important in the highest grades of primary school.

Η επίδραση των μορφοφωνολογικών αλλαγών στην καλλιέργεια της ορθογραφικής δομής των σύνθετων λέξεων: μια μελέτη παρέμβασης

The aim of the study was to evaluate the effect of the training of morphological awareness of spelling words by 27 students following 4th and 6th grades of a primary school. They were compared with a group of 26 classmates who did not take part in the intervention. All students were assessed via standardized tests of spelling and reading comprehension and non-standardized tests of analogy and meaning of compounds. The intervention included a pre-test, an educational program and a post-test. Experimental material entailed compound words categorized into two conditions of morphophonological transparency (transparent/ non-transparent) and two conditions of compositionality (Modern Greek/Ancient Greek morphemes). Results showed that the systematic exercise of the morphological structure of words improved students' spelling performance in every compound type. Considerably, non-transparent items entailing ancient morphemes received the highest gains, where students presented the lowest performance before intervention. These findings underline the importance of morphological awareness in the acquisition of spelling of morphologically complex vocabulary, whose teaching is important in the highest grades of primary school.

A Tool for Automatic Scoring of Spelling Performance

Purpose The evaluation of spelling performance in aphasia reveals deficits in written language and can facilitate the design of targeted writing treatments. Nevertheless, manual scoring of spelling performance is time-consuming, laborious, and error prone. We propose a novel method based on the use of distance metrics to automatically score spelling. This study compares six automatic distance metrics to identify the metric that best corresponds to the gold standard—manual scoring—using data from manually obtained spelling scores from individuals with primary progressive aphasia. Method Three thousand five hundred forty word and nonword spelling productions from 42 individuals with primary progressive aphasia were scored manually. The gold standard—the manual scores—were compared to scores from six automated distance metrics: sequence matcher ratio, Damerau–Levenshtein distance, normalized Damerau–Levenshtein distance, Jaccard distance, Masi distance, and Jaro–Winkler similarity distance. We evaluated each distance metric based on its correlation with the manual spelling score. Results All automatic distance scores had high correlation with the manual method for both words and nonwords. The normalized Damerau–Levenshtein distance provided the highest correlation with the manual scoring for both words ( r s = .99) and nonwords ( r s = .95). Conclusions The high correlation between the automated and manual methods suggests that automatic spelling scoring constitutes a quick and objective approach that can reliably substitute the existing manual and time-consuming spelling scoring process, an important asset for both researchers and clinicians.

SSVEP BCI and Eye Tracking Use by Individuals With Late-Stage ALS and Visual Impairments

Access to communication is critical for individuals with late-stage amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and minimal volitional movement, but they sometimes present with concomitant visual or ocular motility impairments that affect their performance with eye tracking or visual brain-computer interface (BCI) systems. In this study, we explored the use of modified eye tracking and steady state visual evoked potential (SSVEP) BCI, in combination with the Shuffle Speller typing interface, for this population. Two participants with late-stage ALS, visual impairments, and minimal volitional movement completed a single-case experimental research design comparing copy-spelling performance with three different typing systems: (1) commercially available eye tracking communication software, (2) Shuffle Speller with modified eye tracking, and (3) Shuffle Speller with SSVEP BCI. Participant 1 was unable to type any correct characters with the commercial system, but achieved accuracies of up to 50% with Shuffle Speller eye tracking and 89% with Shuffle Speller BCI. Participant 2 also had higher maximum accuracies with Shuffle Speller, typing with up to 63% accuracy with eye tracking and 100% accuracy with BCI. However, participants’ typing accuracy for both Shuffle Speller conditions was highly variable, particularly in the BCI condition. Both the Shuffle Speller interface and SSVEP BCI input show promise for improving typing performance for people with late-stage ALS. Further development of innovative BCI systems for this population is needed.

Linguistic Predictors of Single-Word Spelling in First-Grade Students With Speech and/or Language Impairments

The purpose of this study was (a) to compare the single-word spelling performance of first graders across four groups that varied by speech and language status; and (b) to determine the linguistic predictors of first-grade spelling for children with speech and/or language impairment compared to children with typical development. First-grade children ( N = 529) completed measures of spelling, early word reading, expressive vocabulary, phonological awareness, and morphosyntactic knowledge. Children with language impairment, with or without speech impairments, demonstrated lower spelling performance than children with typical development; children with speech impairment only did not differ from children with typical development. In addition, early word reading and phonological awareness predicted spelling performance, regardless of group. Study findings indicate that language status, but not speech status, is a risk factor for low spelling performance in first grade, and that first-grade spelling instruction should focus on developing early word reading and phonological awareness.

The Relation Between Linguistic Awareness Skills and Spelling in Adults: A Comparison Among Scoring Procedures

Purpose Spelling is a skill that relies on an individual's linguistic awareness, the ability to overtly manipulate language. The ability to accurately spell is important for academic and career success into adulthood. The spelling skills of adults have received some attention in the literature, but there is limited information regarding which approach for analyzing adults' spelling is optimal for guiding instruction or intervention for those who struggle. Thus, we aimed to examine the concurrent validity of four different scoring methods for measuring adults' spellings (a dichotomous scoring method and three continuous methods) and to determine whether adults' linguistic awareness skills differentially predict spelling outcomes based on the scoring method employed. Method Sixty undergraduate college students who were determined to be average readers as measured by a word reading and contextual word reading task were administered a spelling task as well as morphological, orthographic, phonemic, and syntactic awareness tasks. Results All four scoring methods were highly correlated suggesting high concurrent validity among the measures. Two linguistic awareness skills, morphological awareness and syntactic awareness, predicted spelling performance on both the dichotomous and continuous scoring methods. Contrastively, phonemic awareness and orthographic awareness predicted spelling performance only when spelling was scored using a continuous measure error analysis. Conclusions The results of this study confirm that multiple linguistic awareness skills are important for spelling in adults who are average readers. The results also highlight the need for using continuous measures of spelling when planning intervention or instruction, particularly in the areas of orthographic and phonemic awareness.