The English Spelling Strategies of Spanish-Speaking Bilingual Children

Abstract

0 Although there is a large and growing number of native Spanishspeaking children in U.S. school systems, there has been little basic research examining how these children learn to read and write in Spanish, the similarities and differences in reading and writing in Spanish and English, and the cognitive processes and unique problems of bilingual children as they learn to read and write in both languages. This study addresses the need for basic research by investigating one aspect of literacy learning-learning to spell-through the examination of the English spelling strategies of second-, third-, and fourth-grade Spanishspeaking children in a transitional bilingual program. The aim of the study was to discover what effect Spanish pronunciation and spelling have on children's English spelling strategies.