Our spelling training software recodes words into multisensory representations comprising visual and auditory codes. These codes represent information about letters and syllables of a word. An enhanced version, developed for this study, contains an additional phonological code and an improved word selection controller relying on a phoneme-based student model. We investigated the spelling behavior of children by means of learning curves based on log-file data of the previous and the enhanced software version. First, we compared the learning progress of children with dyslexia working either with the previous software (n=28) or the adapted version (n=37). Second, we investigated the spelling behavior of children with dyslexia (n=37) and matched children without dyslexia (n=25). To gain deeper insight into which factors are relevant for acquiring spelling skills, we analyzed the influence of cognitive abilities, such as attention functions and verbal memory skills, on the learning behavior. All investigations of the learning process are based on learning curve analyses of the collected log-file data. The results evidenced that those children with dyslexia benefit significantly from the additional phonological cue and the corresponding phoneme-based student model. Actually, children with dyslexia improve their spelling skills to the same extent as children without dyslexia and were able to memorize phoneme to grapheme correspondence when given the correct support and adequate training. In addition, children with low attention functions benefit from the structured learning environment. Generally, our data showed that memory sources are Ann. of Dyslexia (2011) 61:177-200 DOI 10.1007 supportive cognitive functions for acquiring spelling skills and for using the information cues of a multi-modal learning environment.
In Volume 61 Number 2 December 2011 "Computer-based learning of spelling skills in children with and without dyslexia" the text should read as follows: On page 180, & in the second paragraph, M. Boden and M. Boden should read Bodén and Bodén; & the heading should read, The spelling software Dybuster; & the first sentence under the heading should read, The computer-based German spelling program examined in this study, namely, Dybuster, (see Figure 1), is based on the concepts of information theory and multi-modal learning (Gross & Voegeli, 2007). & and the last sentence of the fourth paragraph should read, The entire recoding can be applied to other alphabetic languages (Gross & Voegeli, 2007
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