. 11/2017. “
.” Harvard University Extension School.
Understanding young children’s spelling abilities may provide unique insight into
their overall linguistic development as well as assist in identifying children at risk for
reading difficulties in ways that typical reading assessments cannot (Chua, Rickard Liow,
& Yeong, 2016; Clemens, Oslund, Simmons, & Simmons, 2014; Hofslundsengen,
Hagtvet, & Gustafsson, 2016; McBride-Chang, 1998; Ouellette & Sénéchal, 2017). Yet,
spelling assessments are not commonly conducted before Kindergarten (age 5) and no
normed instrument exists for 3- to 4-year-olds.
When spelling assessments designed for 5-year-olds are administered to younger
children, young children get lower scores (Clemens et al., 2014; Puranik & Apel, 2010).
These lower scores may reflect their less developed spelling ability (typical development)
but they may also be influenced by aspects of development unrelated to spelling: lack of
motor ability to write letters, working memory limitations, poor word choice of items to
be spelled, and/or insensitive scoring systems (Apel, Wolter, & Masterson, 2006;
Clemens et al., 2014; Diamond, 2013; Puranik & Apel, 2010). These latter possibilities
raise the question of what would happen if we controlled these factors. Would a
preschool spelling assessment that did not require handwriting and that minimized
working memory demands result in higher spelling scores than a handwritten
assessment? Specifically, is a movable alphabet spelling assessment a more reliable,
valid, and sensitive way of measuring spelling abilities in children younger than 5 than is
a handwritten assessment?
The present study employed a within-subjects quasi-experimental design in which
the spelling of 3- to 4-year-old children was assessed using a movable alphabet and
handwriting. Results indicated that (1) preschoolers scored higher on a movable alphabet
spelling assessment than on a handwritten assessment, (2) word choice did influence
results, (3) movable alphabet spelling scores were a significantly stronger predictor of
phonemic awareness and letter knowledge scores than handwritten spelling scores, (4)
children were more willing to attempt to spell words with the movable alphabet than with
handwriting, and (5) assessment scores were not closely tied to age or measures of
behavior.
To date, few if any other studies have specifically evaluated the influence of
different tools on capturing the spelling abilities of preschoolers. This study expands
current knowledge about the influence of motor and working memory scaffolds on the
word-building capacities of 3- to 4-year-olds.