Another conception of the role of phonology in spelling acquisition in children with dyslexia-dysgraphia

Abstract

The purpose of this poster is to investigate, on one hand, metaphonological abilities, and on the other hand, alphabetical and orthographic competencies in spelling, in patients presenting a developmental dyslexia-dysgraphia. Thus the role of phonological abilities (metaphonological and alphabetical) in spelling development will be newly questioned. Twenty-four participants were tested on these three abilities and two correlation analyses showed that the metaphonological abilities are significantly related to alphabetical abilities while these competencies are not related to orthographic abilities. Another analysis showed that very contrasted levels of metaphonological abilities tended to lead to very contrasted levels of alphabetical spelling but not to contrasted levels of orthographic spelling. These results are discussed according to classical stage-based or item-based spelling and reading models and to an alternative model, which postulates a co-development of the two main spelling procedures (alphabetical and orthographic).