INVENTED SPELLING ABILITY AND PRINTED WORD LEARNING IN KINDERGARTEN

IN THIS study, 119 kindergartners were screened for alphabet knowledge, word reading ability, and invented spelling ability. Eleven failed the alphabet task and 44 could read one or more words on the reading task. Of the remaining subjects, 16 good inventive spellers and 16 poor inventive spellers participated in a printed word learning task. Good inventive spellers learned to read two sets of phonetically simplified words more effectively than poor inventive spellers. One six-word set contained three-letter words and required attention to more than the first sound in the words (e.g., this set included both TUB for tub and TEM for team). The other six-word set contained seven- or eight-letter words and required attention to more than the first and last sound in the words (e.g., this set included both TELEFON for telephone and TAMBREN for tambourine). Findings confirm a strong relation between spelling and reading even when spellers are found, not made-that is, found in classrooms in which spelling is not taught.