description) In this research subproject, the investigators will conduct a longitudinal study of the development of English spelling skills in Spanish-English bilingual children as they progress from Grade 3 to Grade 6. Through analysis of children's progression toward correct English spelling, the investigators will seek to determine how children's understanding of English spelling changes over time and to identify factors that may explain high levels of transfer from Spanish spelling to English spelling. The investigators will explore the extent to which background characteristics of individual students, such as parental education levels and home literacy exposure, are systematically related to degree of negative transfer in the domain of spelling, and determine whether exposure to specific instructional programs relates to more rapid acquisition of conventional English spelling and more rapid recognition of the differences between Spanish and English orthography among native Spanish speakers. Finally, the investigators intend to determine if there is a systematic relationship between the frequency and type of English spelling errors and English reading ability over time and to determine if early evidence of English spelling problems is associated with long-term reading delays in English.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health & Human Development (NICHD)
Type
Research Program Projects (P01)
Project #
1P01HD039530-01
Application #
6401464
Study Section
Special Emphasis Panel (ZHD1)
Project Start
2000-09-28
Project End
2005-05-31
Budget Start
Budget End
Support Year
1
Fiscal Year
2000
Total Cost
Indirect Cost
Name
Center for Applied Linguistics
Department
Type
DUNS #
049515919
City
Washington
State
DC
Country
United States
Zip Code
20016
Howard, Elizabeth R; Green, Jennifer D; Arteagoitia, Igone (2012) Can yu rid guat ay rot? A developmental investigation of cross-linguistic spelling errors among Spanish-English bilingual students. Biling Res J 35:164-178
Mancilla-Martinez, Jeannette; Lesaux, Nonie K (2011) The gap between Spanish speakers' word reading and word knowledge: a longitudinal study. Child Dev 82:1544-60
Mancilla-Martinez, Jeannette; Lesaux, Nonie K (2010) Predictors of Reading Comprehension for Struggling Readers: The Case of Spanish-speaking Language Minority Learners. J Educ Psychol 102:701-711
Paez, Mariela M; Tabors, Patton O; Lopez, Lisa M (2007) Dual language and literacy development of Spanish-speaking preschool children. J Appl Dev Psychol 28:85-102
Uccelli, Paola; Paez, Mariela M (2007) Narrative and vocabulary development of bilingual children from kindergarten to first grade: developmental changes and associations among English and Spanish skills. Lang Speech Hear Serv Sch 38:225-36