Universal and unique correlates of spelling in Chinese and English poor spellers

Abstract

Very few cross-linguistic investigations have examined the unique correlates of spelling skills of poor spellers from different language background. In this study, the unique correlates of spelling skills of Chinese and English poor spellers were examined among 277 poor primary school spellers (mean age= 89.37 months, SD = 11.65) and also compared to age-matched skilled spellers. Results reveal that for poor spellers only in Chinese, vocabulary knowledge, morphological awareness and pure copying skill were significantly associated with Chinese word dictation; for poor spellers only in English, only delayed copying (a measure of visual-orthographic awareness) skill was significantly associated with English word spelling, but invented spelling was not. While for poor spellers in both Chinese and English, both vocabulary knowledge and delayed copying skill were significantly associated with word dictation. The current study suggests that impaired visual-orthographic awareness and vocabulary knowledge might be the universal characteristics of poor spellers. These findings also indicated unique contribution of pure copying skill and morphological awareness to Chinese word writing. These findings have practical implications in applied linguistics and cognitive and educational psychology.