Learning to spell: Phonology and beyond

An understanding of the nature of writing systems and of the typical course of spelling development is an essential foundation for understanding the problems of children who have serious difficulties in learning to spell. The present article seeks to provide that foundation. It argues that the dual-route models of spelling that underlie much existing research and practice are based on overly simple assumptions about how writing systems work and about how spelling skills develop. Many writing systems include not only context-free links from phonemes to letters but also context-sensitive phonological patterns, morphological influences, and graphotactic patterns. According to an alternative framework, IMP (integration of multiple patterns), spellers acquire multiple sources of information through use of their statistical-learning skills and through direct instruction. Children learn the spelling of a word most easily when different patterns converge on the spelling, and they have difficulty when patterns conflict. Implications of these ideas for assessment and instruction are considered.