SPELLING SKILLS OF LEXICAL READERS

An experiment was conducted to examine spelling skills of adult reader s who use a lexical reading strategy. Lexical readers were classified according to a tendency towards identifying single words via orthograp hic lexical access instead of via a sublexical routine. Word recogniti on was assessed using tasks requiring either direct orthographic lexic al access or conversion of print to phonology. Results showed lexical readers were more accurate at spelling targets which required lexical access (irregularly spelt words and homophones) when compared with oth er subjects matched for reading ability but no different at spelling t argets that do not require lexical access (non-words and regularly spe lt words). Differences in spelling skill were not due to variation in spelling task difficulty and could thus be attributed to a genuine pre ference for lexical readers to use a lexical spelling strategy. Correl ations between errors on lexical spelling tasks were accompanied by nu ll associations between errors on lexical and sublexical spelling task s lending support to a dual-route model of normal spelling. It is conc luded that lexical readers use a lexical strategy when spelling words.