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The Impact of Different Writing Systems on Children's Spelling Error Profiles: Alphabetic, Akshara, and Hanzi Cases.

ABSTRACT: The importance of literacy in academics and the predominantly digital world cannot be understated. The literacy component of writing is less researched than that of reading, even though it holds equal significance for modern success. Spelling is an important aspect of the construct of literacy, and is more difficult to acquire than reading. Previous work on spelling error analysis for English provides insight into the sets of knowledge and cognitive processes required for children to perform the task, and their different strategies across development. However, different sets of skills and strategies may contribute to spelling across types of orthographies. In this study, we extend spelling error analysis to groups of biliterate children learning two scripts, which include English plus either: (a) another Latin-script alphabet with a shallow orthography (Malay); (b) a transparent alphasyllabary using akshara (Tamil); or (c) a non-alphabetic, morphosyllabic script using simplified hanzi characters (Mandarin Chinese). These sets of scripts vary in how speech is mapped to print. We utilized an error coding scheme based on triple-code theory to enumerate the occurrence of phonological, orthographic (graphemic), and morphological (semantic) types of spelling errors across the three language groups. Five hundred and sixty-eight Grade 1, 6-year-old children participated, with 128 English + Malay, 119 English + Tamil, and 321 English + Chinese children in each bilingual group. They completed a spelling to dictation task in their Asian language, with ten words taken from the grade level curriculum per language. Results indicate group differences in the proportions of error types, with more overall errors for Tamil, more phonological errors for Malay, and more irrelevant or non-sense words for Chinese. The implications are that different scripts present different challenges for young learners.

SUBMITTER: O'Brien BA

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7264392 | biostudies-literature | 2020

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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The Impact of Different Writing Systems on Children's Spelling Error Profiles: Alphabetic, Akshara, and Hanzi Cases.

O'Brien Beth A BA Habib Mohamed Malikka Begum MB Arshad Nur Artika NA Lim Nicole Cybil NC

Frontiers in psychology 20200526

The importance of literacy in academics and the predominantly digital world cannot be understated. The literacy component of writing is less researched than that of reading, even though it holds equal significance for modern success. Spelling is an important aspect of the construct of literacy, and is more difficult to acquire than reading. Previous work on spelling error analysis for English provides insight into the sets of knowledge and cognitive processes required for children to perform the ...[more]

PMID: 32528349

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Project description:Students exhibit heterogeneity in writing motivation and ability. Profiles based on measures of motivation and ability might help to describe this heterogeneity and better understand the effects of interventions aimed at improving students' writing outcomes. We aimed to identify writing motivation and ability profiles in U.S. middle-school students participating in an automated writing evaluation (AWE) intervention using MI Write, and to identify transition paths between profiles as a result of the intervention. We identified profiles and transition paths of 2,487 students using latent profile and latent transition analysis. Four motivation and ability profiles emerged from a latent transition analysis with self-reported writing self-efficacy, attitudes toward writing, and a measure of writing writing: Low, Low/Mid, Mid/High, and High. Most students started the school year in the Low/Mid (38%) and Mid/High (30%) profiles. Only 11% of students started the school year in the High profile. Between 50 and 70% of students maintained the same profile in the Spring. Approximately 30% of students were likely to move one profile higher in the Spring. Fewer than 1% of students exhibited steeper transitions (e.g., from High to Low profile). Random assignment to treatment did not significantly influence transition paths. Likewise, gender, being a member of a priority population, or receiving special education services did not significantly influence transition paths. Results provide a promising profiling strategy focused on students' attitudes, motivations, and ability and show students' likeliness to belong to each profile based on their demographic characteristics. Finally, despite previous research indicating positive effects of AWE on writing motivation, results indicate that simply providing access to AWE in schools serving priority populations is insufficient to produce meaningful changes in students' writing motivation profiles or writing outcomes. Therefore, interventions targeting writing motivation, in conjunction with AWE, could improve results.

Project description:IntroductionSpelling difficulty is a common symptom of aphasia and can entail editing difficulties. Previous research has shown that extensive editing is related to a lower production rate in text writing for persons with aphasia, yet editing difficulty is not commonly examined. It is not known if editing difficulty is related to reading and writing skills or to aspects of the word.AimsTo analyse spelling and editing processes as well as errors in a dictation task performed by Swedish-speaking adults with post-stroke aphasia. Furthermore, the study aimed to identify any relationships between spelling and editing difficulties and characteristics of individual words. Finally, relationships between successful edits and reading and phonological ability were investigated and specific editing strategies or behaviours identified. Correlation analyses were performed between measures of spelling and editing and word frequency and length as well as participants' scores on tests of reading, phonological spelling and phonological decoding.Methods & proceduresA total of 16 Swedish speaking participants with post-stroke aphasia wrote a word-dictation task in a keystroke logging program and were tested for phonological spelling, phonological decoding and reading ability. Spelling errors were categorized and analysed.Outcomes & resultsThe most common error type was omission of letter(s) and there was evidence of aphasia-specific writing errors. Both spelling and editing difficulty were related to word frequency and word length. Successful editing was related to participants' scores on the phonological spelling task, but not to phonological decoding or reading ability. Specific editing strategies could be identified, and some strategies were individual, while others were more commonly used.Conclusions & implicationsWord length and word frequency should be taken into consideration in spelling tests for persons with aphasia, and the presence of editing difficulty should be taken into account when assessing spelling difficulties. Treatment for writing difficulties in aphasia should include training in successful editing strategies and individual fitting of digital writing aids. What this paper adds What is already known on the subject Post-stroke aphasia often causes writing and spelling difficulties. Spelling difficulties may entail editing difficulties, in turn causing extensive and/or unsuccessful editing. Extensive editing is known to impede productivity in text writing. Still, editing behaviour, abilities relating to editing or what features of a word that causes editing difficulty has not been investigated for persons with aphasia. What this paper adds to existing knowledge This study adds an in-depth analysis of spelling ability, spelling errors and editing behaviour for persons with aphasia, using keystroke logging and a single-word dictation task. Results showed that both features of the target word (frequency and word length) and the individual abilities of the person with aphasia (score on a phonological spelling task) related to spelling and editing difficulty, editing behaviour and successful editing. Specific editing strategies were analysed and described. What are the potential or actual clinical implications of this work? Word length and word frequency should be taken into consideration when testing single-word spelling for persons with aphasia. When assessing spelling difficulties, both correctness of spelling as well as the presence and nature of any editing difficulties should be taken into account and treatment for writing difficulties in should include training in successful editing strategies. The fitting of digital writing aids for persons with aphasia should be individual, since many of the editing strategies used were individual.

Dataset Information

The Impact of Different Writing Systems on Children's Spelling Error Profiles: Alphabetic, Akshara, and Hanzi Cases.

Publications

The Impact of Different Writing Systems on Children's Spelling Error Profiles: Alphabetic, Akshara, and Hanzi Cases.

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