The Cognitive Linkage and Divergence of Spelling and Reading Development

This study aimed to investigate to what extent reading and spelling share cognitive processes at different phases of literacy acquisition. The contributions of phonological awareness, letter-sound matching skills, and rapid naming (RAN) to spelling and reading were measured in a large sample with Dutch children (N=1,284) covering all primary school grades. The results indicated a different developmental pattern for spelling than for reading. At initial phases of literacy acquisition, phonological awareness and letter-sound matching skills contributed to both reading and spelling performance. However, in contrast to the declining influence of phonological awareness and letter-sound matching skills on fluent word reading (see also Vaessen & Blomert, 2010), the contributions of these skills to spelling performance were stable over the years, suggesting an ongoing reliance on orthography/phonology mappings during spelling. RAN did not contribute to spelling performance in any of the grades, in contrast to its strong contribution to reading performance, suggesting that RAN captures a cognitive skill that is unique for reading acquisition.