Language-based spelling instruction: Teaching children to make multiple connections between spoken and written words

Two studies addressed issues related to multiple instructional components i n early intervention for at-risk spellers learning to spell polysyllabic wo rds. The first study was a follow-up to a prior second-grade intervention, The fast responders in that study, who were monitored at the beginning and end of third grade (n=61), maintained their earlier gains during third grad e when treatment was withdrawn. Thirty-two of the slower responders receive d continuing tutoring (12 individual tutorials over 6 to 8 weeks in late fa ll of third grade), which showed that children who received only alphabet p rinciple training did as well as those who received combined alphabet princ iple and syllable awareness training (syllable types in English), but that these children required 24 practice trials for short-term mastery of spelli ng specific words. The second study with a new sample of 48 third graders a lso evaluated the effectiveness of alphabet principle training only versus combined alphabet principle and syllable awareness training. In these 24 in dividual tutorials over a 4-month period beginning in the fifth month of th ird grade, the combined treatment was more effective for (a) spelling untra ined transfer words, (b) spelling taught polysyllabic words with a final, s ilent e syllable, and (c) transfer to phonological awareness. A two-tier mo del for early intervention to prevent spelling disabilities is proposed. In the first tier alphabet principle is taught (along with other sound-spelli ng connections for words including syllable awareness) and applied to pract ice in spelling words singly and in text (teacher-directed dictation and ch ild-generated composition). In the second tier children are monitored in th e year following early intervention and continuing tutoring is provided if necessary.