2.1.1.

Factors affecting Spelling Difficulties

Smythe (2002) investigated the underlying factors related to reading and writing difficulties, and how
these factors may vary depending upon language and script. Much of this research refers specifically to
dyslexia. Dyslexia may be regarded as a reading and writing deficit, but there is little agreement as to the
underlying cause. The causes may be seen as falling into one of two categories: a) those which have
implications on the teaching process, and b) those that do not.

The said study used the Morton-Frith framework, which provides a robust model into which various
cognitive functioning and disabilities, eg autism and dyslexia, may be modelled. This framework is
considered to be better than others since it provides a basis on which to map the interdependence
between biological functioning, cognitive processing and behavioural outcomes as well as
environmental influences (Morton and Frith, 1995).

a) Biological bases
Galaburda and Uvingstone (1993) noted in a study designed to look at brain differences
between dyslexic individuals and controls that the right hemisphere of the dyslexic brain was
larger than normal, creating a symmetry in the area of the planurn temporale not apparent in
the non-dyslexic. Hynd noted cortical anomalies (Hynd et al, 1991) in the dyslexic individual
which suggested that the neural wiring of the dyslexicbrain was different from the non-dyslexic.
These differences give the dyslexic brain the appearance of being less ordered (Hynd and
Hiemenz, 1997). Furthermore, some neurological studies (eg Hagman et al, 1992; Galaburda et
al, 1994; Heim et al, 2000; Heiervang et al, 2000) and brain scans (Simos et al 2000; Brown et at,
2001) have demonstrated structural differences linked to cognitive functioning, such as specific
auditory processing deficits.
b) Cognitive differences
The cognitive skills of an individual may be represented by modules that can only be assessed
indirectly. It is at this level that most models of dyslexia differ, with different cognitive modules
being invoked in different hypotheses. In the Morton-Frith model, affective factors are included
at this level. According to Frith (1997), environmental factors influence whether and how the
cognitive or affective difficulties will result in deficits at the behaviour (i. e. reading and spelling)
level. One such environmental influence is the nature of the script.
c) Phonological deficit hypotheses
The term phonological processing may be seen as the ability to process the sounds of
spoken language, and there is considerable evidence in many languages that a phonological
deficit may play an important role in dyslexia (Snowling, 2000; Frith, 1997). Frith (1999) notes
that many studies have implicated phonological system deficits that are noticeable in spoken
language. Some of the skills, such as an understanding of phoneme-grapheme correspondence,
will be influenced by exposure to reading, whereas other skills related to the phonological
deficit hypothesis, such as short term memory and rapid naming, may be less influenced by
reading ability (BPS, 1999).
d) Visual processing hypotheses
 It has been noted that skilled readers fixate less on function words (eg of, the, to) than content
words as their ability allows them to utilise information at the edge of their visual field, while
fixating on other words (Carpenter and Just, 1983; Rayner and Duffy, 1988; Radach and Kempe,
1993). These skilled readers need fewer refixations and fewer short regressions as they tend to
process more in the first fixation (Frazier and Rayner, 1982; Kennedy, 1983; Kennedy and
Murray, 1987a, 1987b; Murray and Kennedy, 1988), and they develop a broader perceptual
span allowing greater information uptake in a single fixation (Ikeda and Saida, 1978; McConkie
and Rayner, 1975; McConkie and Zola, 1987; Rayner, 1986) all of which suggests that visual
attention and eye movement may be a factor in some children with literacy difficulties.
The various visual deficits found in dyslexic individuals may explain, in part, why some dyslexic
children fail to respond to a phonologically based remediation programme, and why visual
elements should not be ignored in an investigation into cognitive deficits in children with
specific learning difficulties. This may be particularly vital when considering non-English
orthographies.
e) Auditory processing hypotheses
Various studies (eg Gathercole and Baddeley, 1993; Wimmer et al, 1998) have suggested that
children who experience difficulties with retaining sounds in short term memory are likely to
have problems with the acquisition of verbal vocabulary and development of stable graphic-
sound associations. Catts (1989) showed that dyslexics have greater difficulty than non-dyslexics
in the areas of short term recall of letters, words, digits and sentences. Tapping a rhythm by
hand was found to be a persistent problem for dyslexic children (Wolff, Michel and Ovrut, 1990),
and has been used in a battery of tests as an "at risk" indicator in a Russian dyslexia screening
test (Kornev, 1996).
f) Rapid naming hypotheses
There appears to be an increasing interest in rapid naming as a possible factor in both the
identification and remediation of the dyslexic individual (see for example Journal of Leaming
Disabilities, 2000 Vol 33). Although there is plenty of research to suggest their importance in a
number of languages, there is little consensus on the causes of these rapid naming difficulties.
Possible causes of the rapid naming deficit include inefficient processes involved in accessing
orthographic patterns (eg Wolf, 1991; Wolf,Bally and Morris, 1986; Yap and van der Leij, 1993),
articulatory speed (Ackerman et al, 1990) and issues of concentration (eg Fawcett and Nicolson,
1994a).
g) Lexical hypotheses
Seidenberg and McClelland (1989) proposed lexicons for orthography, phonology and meaning.
Each of these is a store of implicitly and explicitly acquired knowledge which may be accessed
during the reading and writing process. Responses to literacy measures will depend upon the
entries contained in those lexicons, and the ability to retrieve them.
It has been shown (Gathercole et al, 1997) that lexical knowledge is important for learning the
sounds of new words and that children who become poor readers are better, at least to start
with, in using unbound morphemes than younger children of the same reading level. Similarly,
evidence indicates that semantic coding deficits accrue in older children (Vellutino et al, 1995).
However, while Treiman and Cassar (1996) suggested that children do not make full use of
 morphological relations among words in English, Joanisse et al (2000) suggested it was
important, at least for the dyslexic individual.

REFERENCE:

Smythe, I. (2002, January 1). Cognitive factors underlying reading and spelling difficulties: A Cross
Linguistic Study. Semantic Scholar. Retrieved February 21, 2023, from
https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/Cognitive-Factors-Underlying-Reading-and-Spelling-a-Smythe/
f95752f5b705d4a4a94185da989ea10a76d7d92a