Choosing between Alternative Spellings of Sounds: The Role of Context

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Bibliographic Details
Title: Choosing between Alternative Spellings of Sounds: The Role of Context
Language: English
Authors: Treiman, Rebecca, Kessler, Brett
Source: Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition. Jul 2016 42(7):1154-1159.
Availability: American Psychological Association. Journals Department, 750 First Street NE, Washington, DC 20002. Tel: 800-374-2721; Tel: 202-336-5510; Fax: 202-336-5502; e-mail: order@apa.org; Web site: http://www.apa.org
Peer Reviewed: Y
Page Count: 6
Publication Date: 2016
Document Type: Journal Articles
Reports - Research
Education Level: Higher Education
Postsecondary Education
Descriptors: College Students, Spelling, Phonemes, Phonology, Phoneme Grapheme Correspondence, Context Effect, Vowels, Scores, Syllables, English, Achievement Tests
Geographic Terms: Michigan (Detroit)
Assessment and Survey Identifiers: Wide Range Achievement Test
DOI: 10.1037/xlm0000225
ISSN: 0278-7393
Abstract: We investigated how university students select between alternative spellings of phonemes in written production by asking them to spell nonwords whose final consonants have extended spellings (e.g., ‹ff› for /f/) and simpler spellings (e.g., ‹f› for /f/). Participants' choices of spellings for the final consonant were influenced by whether they used one letter or more than one letter to spell the preceding vowel. Specifically, participants tended to use extended consonant spellings when they spelled the vowel with one letter and simple consonant spellings when they spelled the vowel with more than one letter. This held true whether the vowel was phonologically short or long. The findings pose problems for models of the spelling process according to which people use different spellings of a phoneme in accordance with the frequency of the phoneme-to-grapheme links in the vocabulary as a whole but in which the choices are not influenced by context. The findings also pose problems for models according to which phonological context but not graphic context can influence the choice among spelling options. Models that behave in this manner, including the best-developed computational model of the spelling process to date, need to be modified so as to take graphic context into account.
Abstractor: As Provided
Number of References: 23
Entry Date: 2016
Accession Number: EJ1105695
Database: ERIC
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