Beyond Phonics: The Case for Teaching Children the Logic of the English Spelling System

Bowers, Jeffrey S.; Bowers, Peter N.

doi:10.1080/00461520.2017.1288571

Cited by 87 publications

(79 citation statements)

References 82 publications

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“…Although the subsequent ANOVA analyses, carried out separately on each group, indicated a main effect for testing time in both groups, the post hoc comparisons were significant only in the group receiving the morpheme-based training (between T1 and T2 and between T1 and T3). Together, these results confirm the role of morphology in spelling development in the German language, as was recently put forward by Bowers and Bowers (2017) for the case of English (also see Bangs and Binder, 2016; Fracasso et al, 2016). The question arises, however, how participants receiving the morpheme-based training improved in spelling of items they were not exposed to in training.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 87%

The Training of Morphological Decomposition in Word Processing and Its Effects on Literacy Skills

Bar-Kochva

Hasselhorn

2017

Front. Psychol.

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This study set out to examine the effects of a morpheme-based training on reading and spelling in fifth and sixth graders (N = 47), who present poor literacy skills and speak German as a second language. A computerized training, consisting of a visual lexical decision task (comprising 2,880 items, presented in 12 sessions), was designed to encourage fast morphological analysis in word processing. The children were divided between two groups: the one underwent a morpheme-based training, in which word-stems of inflections and derivations were presented for a limited duration, while their pre- and suffixes remained on screen until response. Another group received a control training consisting of the same task, except that the duration of presentation of a non-morphological unit was restricted. In a Word Disruption Task, participants read words under three conditions: morphological separation (with symbols separating between the words’ morphemes), non-morphological separation (with symbols separating between non-morphological units of words), and no-separation (with symbols presented at the beginning and end of each word). The group receiving the morpheme-based program improved more than the control group in terms of word reading fluency in the morphological condition. The former group also presented similar word reading fluency after training in the morphological condition and in the no-separation condition, thereby suggesting that the morpheme-based training contributed to the integration of morphological decomposition into the process of word recognition. At the same time, both groups similarly improved in other measures of word reading fluency. With regard to spelling, the morpheme-based training group showed a larger improvement than the control group in spelling of trained items, and a unique improvement in spelling of untrained items (untrained word-stems integrated into trained pre- and suffixes). The results further suggest some contribution of the morpheme-based training to performance in a standardized spelling task. The morpheme-based training did not, however, show any unique effect on comprehension. These results suggest that the morpheme-based training is effective in enhancing some basic literacy skill in the population examined, i.e., morphological analysis in word processing and the access to orthographic representations in spelling, with no specific effects on reading fluency and comprehension.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 87%

The Training of Morphological Decomposition in Word Processing and Its Effects on Literacy Skills

Bar-Kochva

Hasselhorn

2017

Front. Psychol.

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“…Recently, researchers and others have discussed teaching methods like these, and programs that use these methods are beginning to be evaluated . For these approaches to succeed, teachers must understand how the writing system works.…”

Section: Teachers’ Knowledgementioning

confidence: 99%

Teaching and Learning Spelling

Treiman

2018

Child Dev Perspectives

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Learning to spell is important for writing and reading, but how spelling should be taught is a controversial topic. Although children learn about spelling to some extent as they encounter words while reading, this is not usually enough to make them good spellers. Children need systematic spelling instruction to learn how the writing system works and not just memorize how words are spelled. Phonics instruction is more effective than some other instructional approaches, but teaching phonics presents a simplified and in some ways inaccurate picture of English and some other writing systems. Studying words and the patterns they follow is more effective. To use such methods well, teachers need more opportunities to learn about writing systems and the development of spelling.

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“…However, there is fierce debate surrounding the question of whether early reading instruction should involve instruction in morphology (e.g. see Bowers & Bowers, 2017;Rastle, 2018). To date, the debate is largely theoretical as very few empirical studies have directly explored this question.…”

Section: Morphological Awarenessmentioning

confidence: 99%

Early Identification of Dyslexia: Understanding the Issues

Colenbrander

Ricketts

Breadmore

2018

LSHSS

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Purpose The purpose of this tutorial is to provide an overview of the benefits and challenges associated with the early identification of dyslexia. Method The literature on the early identification of dyslexia is reviewed. Theoretical arguments and research evidence are summarized. An overview of response to intervention as a method of early identification is provided, and the benefits and challenges associated with it are discussed. Finally, the role of speech-language pathologists in the early identification process is addressed. Conclusions Early identification of dyslexia is crucial to ensure that children are able to maximize their educational potential, and speech-language pathologists are well placed to play a role in this process. However, early identification alone is not sufficient—difficulties with reading may persist or become apparent later in schooling. Therefore, continuing progress monitoring and access to suitable intervention programs are essential.

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Beyond Phonics: The Case for Teaching Children the Logic of the English Spelling System

Cited by 87 publications

References 82 publications

The Training of Morphological Decomposition in Word Processing and Its Effects on Literacy Skills

The Training of Morphological Decomposition in Word Processing and Its Effects on Literacy Skills

Teaching and Learning Spelling

Early Identification of Dyslexia: Understanding the Issues

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