| Abstract | Some children spontaneously invent spellings for words before they can read. Although these spellings are "preconventional" & deviate from standard spellings, in many ways they exhibit regularities that have been taken by researchers to reflect an ability to analyze the phonological structure of spoken words. The possibility explored here is that the preconventional spelling skills of kindergarten children can serve as a measure of phonological awareness & thereby predict first-grade reading ability. In experiment 1 (N = 29), a test of invented spelling ability was developed which, when given to kindergartners & scored for phonological accuracy, effectively presaged children's first-grade reading ability. Experiment 2 (N = 22) clarified the basis of differences in children's ability to give phonologically accurate spellings. It is demonstrated that kindergartners' ability to give this type of spelling is associated with a speech-processing skill. It is also shown that an ability to reflect on the internal structure of stimuli, in general, is not a significant factor in invented spelling skill. |
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