Error Analyses and the Cognitive or Linguistic Influences on Children’s Spelling - Comparisons between First-and Second-Language Learners

Oct 15, 2026

A multidimensional set of cognitive, linguistic, and spelling measures was administered to third-grade English L1 and L2 learners. Formative assessment targeted children’s developing mental graphemic representations by analyzing isolated spelling errors across three metrics: phonological constraints, visual-orthographic features, and correct letter sequences. No group differences emerged for cognitive or spelling accuracy, while L1 learners outperformed L2 on vocabulary and syntactic knowledge. Across metrics, both groups relied on graphophonemic rules and positional pronunciation constraints, but the impact of underlying resources varied by scoring system and language group.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages19

Reading Time48 min

AccessFree to download

Abstract

Oral Language and Spelling

Error Analyses and Spelling Development

Error Analyses and the Cognitive or Linguistic Influences on Children’s Spelling: Comparisons Between First-and Second-Language Learners Gina L. Harrison University of Victoria Abstract A collection of cognitive, linguistic, and spelling measures were administered to thirdgrade English L1 and L2 learners. To capture formative assessments of children’s developing mental graphemic representations (MGRs), spelling errors in isolation were subjected to analysis across three metrics: (1) Phonological constrained; (2) VisualOrthographic; and (3) Correct Letter Sequences. There were no group differences on the cognitive or spelling accuracy measures, but L1 learners achieved higher scores than L2 on linguistic measures of vocabulary and syntactic knowledge. Analyses across the spelling metrics indicated that both L1 and L2 learners drew more heavily on their knowledge of graphophonemic rules and positional constraints in pronunciation for spelling. However, the contribution of underlying cognitive and linguistic resources to spelling differed as a function of scoring system and language group. Across spelling metrics, linguistic predictors (vocabulary and syntactic knowledge) accounted for more variance in L1 than L2 learners. The results are discussed in relation to conceptualization of spelling as an integral link between oral and written language in literacy development. Résumé Une série de mesures cognitives, linguistiques et orthographiques ont été administrées à des élèves de troisième année qui étaient des monolingues anglais (L1) ou des apprenants de langue anglaise (L2) . Afin de procéder à des évaluations formatives du développement des représentations graphémiques mentales (RGM) des enfants, les erreurs orthographiquesisolées ont été analysées selon trois métriques : (1) contraintes phonologiques ; (2) visuelle-orthographique ; et (3) séquences de lettres correctes. Il n'y avait pas de différences entre les groupes concernant les mesures cognitives ainsi que les mesures de précision orthographique, mais les apprenants L1 ont obtenu des scores plus élevés que les L2 dans les mesures linguistiques du vocabulaire et des connaissances syntaxiques. Des analyses des métriques d'orthographe ont indiqué que les apprenants L1 et L2 s'appuyaient davantage sur leur connaissance des règles graphophonémiques et des contraintes positionnelles de la prononciation pour l'orthographe. Cependant, la contribution deressources sous-jacentes cognitives et linguistiques à l’orthographe différait en fonction du système de notation et du groupe linguistique. Parmi toutes les métriques d’orthographe, les prédicteurs linguistiques (vocabulaire et connaissances syntaxiques) représentaient plus de variance chez les apprenants de L1 que chez les L2 . Les résultats sont discutés en relation avec la conceptualisation de l'orthographe en tant que lien intégral entre le langage oral et écrit chez le développement de l'alphabétisation. Canadian Journal of Applied Linguistics: 24, 3 (2021): 79-97 CJAL * RCLA Harrison 80 Error Analyses and the Cognitive or Linguistic Influences on Children’s Spelling: Comparisons between First-and Second-Language Learners Spelling has been aptly described as a skill that binds language and literacy together in cognitive development with mental graphemic representations (MGRs) considered the stored lexical or sublexical representations of spoken words (Apel & Masterson, 2001) . The complex interplay between language and literacy in learning to spell is captured in influential accounts of spelling development. These accounts stress the integration of a word’s unique pronunciation, orthography, and meaning (i.e., vocabulary and morphology) at the lexical and sublexical levels as instrumental in constructing the mental lexicon necessary for literacy (e.g., Bahr et al., 2009; Ehri, 1987 ; Treiman, 2017) . In alphabetic orthographies, children’s spellings move through several developmental stages marked by a gr

FAQs

What measures were used to assess children’s spelling development?

The study administered cognitive, linguistic, and spelling measures and analyzed isolated spelling errors using three spelling metrics: phonological constraints, visual-orthographic, and correct letter sequences.

Did L1 and L2 groups differ in cognitive or spelling accuracy?

No group differences were found for cognitive measures or spelling accuracy. However, L1 learners scored higher than L2 learners on linguistic measures of vocabulary and syntactic knowledge.

How did the study interpret factors influencing spelling across metrics?

Both L1 and L2 learners drew on knowledge of graphophonemic rules and positional constraints, but the contribution of underlying cognitive and linguistic resources differed depending on the scoring system and language group; linguistic predictors explained more variance for L1 than for L2.

Oct 15, 2026

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