Linguistic Analysis of Spelling Errors*

Adapted from Brimo (2013).

Target word Child's spelling of target word Linguistic awareness component

bucket

CVCVC

bockt

CVCC

  • /ᴧ/ unacceptable letter pattern (OPA)
  • /ᴧ/ omission (PA)

touch

CVC

toch

CVC

  • /ᴧ/ unacceptable letter pattern (OPA)

traffic

CCVCVC

trafit

CCVCVC

  • within word doubling (OPA)
  • /k/ unacceptable letter pattern (OPA)

scrabble

CCCVCC

scable

CCVCC

  • /r/ omission (PA)
  • within word doubling (OPA)

white

CVC

with

CVC

  • /w/ acceptable but not correct for word (MGR)
  • /ai/ unacceptable letter pattern (OPA)
  • /t/ unacceptable letter pattern (OPA)
  • silent “e” omission (MGR)

dream

CCVC

dreem

CCVC

  • /i/ acceptable but not correct for word (MGR)

bruise

CCVC

brues

CCVC

  • /u/ acceptable but not correct for word (MGR)
  • silent ‘e' omission; acceptable but not correct for word (MGR)

fruit

CCVC

frute

CCVC

  • /u/ acceptable but not correct for word (MGR)
Multimorphemic Words
joked joket
  • past tense –ed (MA)
wheels wheelz
  • plural –s (MA)
magician magition
  • derived word (MA)

Key

OPA – orthographic pattern awareness

PA – phonemic awareness

MGR – mental graphemic representation

MA – morphological awareness

*For speakers of Standard American English

Brimo, D. (2013). The “how to” guide to spelling assessment. Perspectives on Language Learning and Education, 20, 120–152.

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