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Learning To Read and Learning To Spell
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Semantic ProcessingLanguage DevelopmentEducationPsycholinguisticsCognitionLanguage LearningSingle PronunciationsSecond Language AcquisitionReading ComprehensionLanguage AcquisitionMemoryReadingReading DifficultiesLanguage StudiesAlphabet KnowledgeCognitive ScienceReading FailureMultiple LettersR =.70PhonicsLanguage ComprehensionForeign Language AcquisitionLinguistics
Learning to read and to spell share a common developmental trajectory, relying on alphabetic knowledge and word‑specific memory, but they are not identical processes. Spellers require more sequential letter information from memory than readers, who only need pronunciations and meanings. Reading and spelling are strongly correlated, with r > .70.
Learning to read words and learning to spell words are closely related. Both follow a similar course of acquisition. Both rely on the same knowledge sources—knowledge about the alphabetic system, and memory for the spellings of specific words—that develop together and are reciprocally related. Correlations between reading and spelling are high, typically above r =.70. However, the two processes are not quite the same. The amount of information to be drawn from memory is greater for spellers who must produce multiple letters correctly sequenced than for readers who must produce single pronunciations and meanings for written words.