EFFECT OF TWO INSTRUCTIONAL STRATEGIES ON SPELLING PERFORMANCE OF PUPILS WITH LEARNING DISABILITIES IN IBADAN, NIGERIA

Abstract

Spelling is a crucial skill for academic success however many pupils with learning disabilities lag behind in academic tasks because of poor spelling skills and its accompanying negative effects. Past studies on pupils with learning disabilities focused more on reading than on spelling skills. Thus, the objective of the study was to examine the core effects of visual imagery and cloze spelling instructional strategies on pupils with learning disabilities’ performance in spelling. The pretest-posttest control group quasi-experimental design of 3 x 2 factorial matrix was adopted. Sixty pupils with learning disabilities (Male = 38, Female = 22, Mean age = 9.35) from three government-run primary schools were chosen using purposive sampling. Three instruments used were Pupil Rating Scale (Revised) (r = .76), Right Word Recognition (r = .91) and Pupils’ Note Books on Dictated Words. Data were analysed using both descriptive and inferential statistics. The results showed that the core effect of treatment on the performance in spelling of pupils who experience disabilities in learning was significant F_­(3,56) = 2.085. p<.05, η² = .418), but gender had no significant core effect. Therefore, teachers should employ the visual imagery and cloze spelling instructional strategies while teaching spelling to pupils with learning disabilities.

Keywords: Pupils with learning disabilities, visual imagery, cloze spelling strategy, gender, spelling skill.

REFERENCES

Adams, A. M., & Simmons, F. R. (2019). Exploring individual and gender differences in early writing performance. Read Writ, 32, 235–263. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11145-018-9859-0

Adoniou, M. (2014). What should teachers know about spelling?. Literacy, 48(3), 144-154. https://doi.org/10.1111/lit.12017

Adoniou, M. (2016). Spelling it out. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Barker, O., & Puente, M. (2013). Does spelling still matter? USA Today, 6.

Bowers, J. S., & Bowers, P. N. (2017). Beyond phonics: The case for teaching children the logic of the English spelling system. Educational Psychologist, 52(2), 124-141. https://doi.org/10.1080/00461520.2017.1288571 

Dymock, S., & Nicholson, T. (2017). To what extent does children’s spelling improve as a result of learning words with the look, say, cover, write, check, fix strategy compared with phonological spelling strategies? Australian Journal of Learning Difficulties, 22(2), 171-187. https://doi.org/10.1080/19404158.2017.1398766

Ehri, L. C. (2000). Learning to read and learning to spell: Two sides of a coin. Topics in Language Disorders, 20, 19-36. https://doi.org/10.1097/00011363-200020030-00005

Frith, U. (1985). Beneath the surface of developmental dyslexia. In K. Patterson, J. C. Marshall, & M. Coltheart (Eds.), Surface dyslexia: Neuropsychological and cognitive studies of phonological reading (pp. 301–330). London, England: Erlbaum.

Galuschka, K., Grogen, R., Kalmar, J., Haberstroh, S., Schmalz, X., & Schulte-Korne, G. (2020). Effectiveness of spelling interventions for learners with dyslexia: A meta-analysis and systematic review, Educational Psychologist, 55(1), 1-20.  https://doi.org/10.1080/00461520.2019.1659794

Gentry, J. R. (1982). An analysis of developmental spelling in “GNYS AT WRK”. The Reading Teacher, 36, 192–200.

Gentry, J. R. (2010). No spelling book in your child’s book bag spells trouble ahead!. Psychology Today.

Haddad D (2017). Gender differences in learning disabilities. Learning disabilities Basics. USA: HONcode standard for trustworthy health.

Hamdi, S. (2016). An analysis of lexical errors in the English compositions of EFL Tunisian learners. International Journal of Humanities and Cultural Studies (IJHCS), 2(4), 643-652.

Jensen, A. R. (1962). Spelling errors and the serial-position effect. Journal of Educational Psychology, 53, 105-109. https://doi.org/10.1037/h0042141 

Lazarus, K. U. (2016). Academic achievement deficits of adolescents with learning disabilities: Implications for regular and special needs education teachers in Nigerian Secondary Schools. African Journal of Educational Management, 17(2), 135-148.

Lazarus, K. U., & Ogunsola, G. O. (2016). Effects of metacognition and direct instruction on spelling abilities of pupils with learning disabilities in primary schools in Ibadan, Oyo State, Nigeria. European Scientific Journal (ESJ), 12, 227‑227.

Lerner, J. W. & Kline, F. (2006). Learning disabilities and related disorders: Characteristics and teaching strategies, 10^th edition. Boston, New York: Houghton Mifflin Company.

Martin-Lacroux, C. (2017). “Without the spelling errors I would have shortlisted her…”: The impact of spelling errors on recruiters’ choice during the personnel selection process. International Journal of Selection and Assessment, 25(3), 276–283. https://doi.org/10.1111/ijsa.12179

Mohamad, Q. A. (2018). Gender difference in learning disabled children Neuropsychological review. Research and Reviews on Healthcare: Open Access Journal, 1(3), 44-48. https://doi.org/10.32474/RRHOAJ.2018.01.000111

Moll, K., Kunze, S., Neuhoff, N., Bruder, J., & Schulte-Körne, G. (2014). Specific learning disorder: Prevalence and gender differences. PLoS one, 9(7), e103537.

Morin, A. (2020). Creative ways to help your youngster practice spelling words. ThoughtCo.

Myklebust, H. R. (1981). Pupil rating scale revised: Screening for learning disabilities. New York: Grune and Stratton, Inc.

Pan, S. C., Rickard, T. C., & Bjork, R. A. (2021). Doesspelling still matter-and if so, how should it be taught? Perspectives from contemporary and historical research. Educational Psychology Review, 33, 1523-1552. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10648-021-09611-y

Parlindungan, F. (2018). What research has to say about spelling instruction for English language learners. Proceedings | International Seminar on English Language Teaching and Research (ELTAR), (2018, p. 310-325). 

Treiman, R., & Kessler, B. (2014). How children learn to write words. Oxford University Press.

Treiman, R. (2017). Learning to spell words: Findings, theories, and issues. Scientific Studies of Reading, 21(4), 265-276.

Treiman, R. (2018). Teaching and learning spelling. Child Development Perspectives, 12(4), 235-239. https://doi.org/10.1111/cdep.12292

Vangelova, L. (2015). How spelling keeps kids from learning. The Atlantic.

Van Staden, A. (2010). Improving the spelling ability of grade 3 learners through visual imaging teaching strategies. Per Linguam: A Journal of Language Learning= Per Linguam: Tydskrif Vir Taalaanleer, 26(1), 13-28.