Mission Accomplished…It's Learnable Now: Voices of Mature Challenged Spellers Using a Word Study Approach

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the impact of an instructional spelling approach, Word Study, on adult learners' spelling. The author sought to learn more about participants' stage of spelling development, to gain information from the adults on their interpretations of this approach, and to determine if a short‐term intervention would change their spelling or self‐perception. Nine adult participants were administered one reading and two spelling pre‐ and postassessments. Eight participants were in the syllables‐and‐affixes stage, and one possessed adequate orthographic knowledge to be placed in the derivational relations stage. The nine participants received individualized Word Study intervention (word sorts) for 12 sessions between pre‐ and posttests. The adults made significant spelling gains on their knowledge of word features as measured by the Upper Level Spelling Inventory; however, their improvement in raw scores was not significant. Further, the participants demonstrated an increase in confidence, self‐esteem, and willingness to attempt the spelling of unknown words. All nine participants favorably viewed Word Study as a respectable spelling approach for adults. A section is devoted to implications for practice.