Table Of ContentCOMPOSITIONALFLUENCYANDSPELLINGACCURACY
OFSECOND-GRADESTUDENTSUNDERSIXPRIMINGCONDITIONS
By '^'-\
ROXANNEFRANCESHUDSON
' I.*.'A
ADISSERTATIONPRESENTEDTOTHEGRADUATESCHOOLOFTHE
UNIVERSITYOFFLORIDAINPARTIALFULFILLMENTOFTHE
REQUIREMENTSFORTHEDEGREEOFDOCTOROFPHILOSOPHY
UNIVERSITYOFFLORIDA
2002
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Manypeopleprovidedsupportandhelptothisproject. Withoutthem,thisstudy
wouldnothavebeensuccessful,andIamgratefulfortheirassistance.
Specialthanksgotothesecond-gradestudentswhoparticipatedinthis
investigation. Theirwillingnesstotrysomethingnewandperseverethroughsixwriting
conditionsmadethisprojectpossible.
Ialsowishtoextendmyappreciationtotheadministratorswhoallowedmeto
conductresearchintheirschools. MysincerethanksgotoMs.SharonBailey,Ms.Kathy
Dixon,Dr.ChristineHirsch,andMs.SandyMedeiros. Aswell,Iexpressmyextreme
gratitudetotheteacherswhoincorporatedmyprojectintotheirinstructionata
particularlyhectictimeoftheschoolyear. Withouttheirpatienceandcooperation,a
projectofthissizewouldhavebeenimpossible. Specialthanksgotothesecond-grade
teammembersateachschool:Ms.Young,Ms.Bounds,Ms.Cowart,Ms.Dudek,Ms.
Lehman,Ms.Nilon,Ms.Clark,Ms.Homer,Ms.Lee,Ms.Long,Ms.Priscott,Ms.
Silcox,Ms.Worley,Ms.Zant,Ms.Abate,Ms.Cromwell,Ms.McKenzie,andMr.
Moore.
Numerouspeoplehelpedwiththegargantuantaskofcountingthewordsand
assessingspellingofmultiplestorieswrittenby350children. Iowethemagreatdealof
gratitudeandappreciation. ThanksareextendedtoAlysonAdams,ClayDuncan,Alice
KayeEmery,LisaGeckle,DavidHoppey,KarenKuhel,MarthaLeague,AmyLoomis,
andDuncanS.
ii
Ateverystepoftheway,Iwasupliftedandencouragedbymyfellowdoctoral
students. EverytimeIfeltdiscouragedduringthisproject,theywerealwaystherewith
anencouragingwordandlaughtertohelpmeseethelightersideofthings. WithoutMs.
AlysonAdams,Ms.AliceKayeEmery,Mr.DavidHoppey,Ms.KarenKuhel,Dr.Mary
ArmNelson,Dr.PaigePullen,Ms.TracyTorode,andDr.BradWitzel,myexperience
duringmyprogramwouldhavebeengreatlydiminished. Iwillenjoyworkingwiththem
ascolleaguesthroughoutmycareer.
Ialsowishtothankthemembersofmycommittee. Dr.CecilMercer,Dr.Holly
Lane,Dr.VivianCorrea,Dr.MaureenConroy,andDr.DaveMillerwerehelpfulinso
manyways,providingguidancewhenIneededitandlettingmetrythingsonmyownto
betterlearnfromtheexperience. IfeelfortunateIwasabletoworkwithsuchatalented
groupofindividuals.
Asmycommitteechair.Dr.CecilMercerwasagreatsupportandguide. He
providedemotionalsupportduringmyprogramandremindedmeoftenofmymission
anddesiretohelpstudentswithdisabilitiesatcriticalmomentswhenmyspiritswere
flagging.
Asmycochairandmentor,Dr.HollyLanewasindispensabletoallaspectsofmy
program: teaching,learning,service,presenting,writing,andresearch. Shewasmy
mentor,colleague,andmostofall,myfriend. Withouthersupportandguidance,Iwould
nothavecompletedthisprogram,muchlessthisdissertation. Heradvicewashelpful
fromtheconceptionofthisprojectthroughdataanalysistothewritingofthis
dissertation. Iamhonoredtohavehadtheopportunitytoworkwithher.
iii
Finally,mygreatestthanksgotomyfamily. Myparents,thelateLloydand
AndreaHudson,providedmuchloveandsupportinmylife. Withouttheir
encouragementthroughtheyearstostrivefortheverybest,Iwouldnothavedaredto
dreamIcouldcompleteadoctoralprogram. Asalways,nothingwouldbepossible
withoutmybiggestsupporterandpartner,myhusband,JohnBellow. Frombeginningto
end,hewasalwayswillingtodropwhathewasdoinganddiscussmyresearchwithme.
Hisinputfromthedesigntotheanalysisandinterpretationwasindispensable,andI
thankhimfromthebottomofmyheart.
iv
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TABLEOFCONTENTS
Page
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
ii
ABSTRACT ix
CHAPTER
1 INTRODUCTIONTOTHEPROBLEM 1
RationalefortheStudy 5
ScopeoftheStudy 6
DeUmitations 7
Limitations 7
DefinitionofKeyTerms 8
StudyOverview 10
2 REVIEWOFRELATEDLITERATURE 12
TheoreticalFramework 1
ConnectionistTheory 13
Whatisconnectionism? 14
Paralleldistributedprocessing 14
ComputationalModeling 16
ConnectionistModelsofReading 17
SeidenbergandMcClelland 17
Adams 19
Orthographicprocessor 19
Contextprocessor 20
Meaningprocessor 20
Phonologicalprocessor 21
ConnectionistModelsofSpelling 23
BrownandLoosemore 23
BosmanandVanOrden 23
TheoreticalFrameworkSummary 25
SupportfortheTheoreticalConnectionbetweenReadingandSpelling 26
V
ReadingandSpellingDevelopmentSequence 27
StageI:PrealphabeticReadingandPreliterateSpelling 29
Reading 29
Spelling 30
StageII:PartialAlphabeticReadingandLetter-NameSpelling 30
Reading 31
Spelling 31
TransitionfromPartial AlphabetictoFullAlphabetic 32
StageIII:FullAlphabeticReadingandPhonicSpelling 33
Reading 34
Spelling 34
StageIV:ConsolidatedAlphabeticReadingandWithin-WordPatterns
Spelling 36
Reading 36
Spelling 37
AsymmetryBetweenReadingandSpelling 38
PrimingResearch 40
WhatIsPriming? 40
Measurementmethodology 41
Semanticpriming 42
Morphologicalpriming 43
Formpriming 45
Repetitionpriming 45
Phonologicalandorthographicpriming 46
PriminginSpelling 49
Summary 52
ResearchMethodology 53
ContributorstoCompositionalFluency 54
HandwritingFluencyandSpellingAchievement 54
ReadingAchievement 57
LiteratureReviewSummary 57
METHODSANDMATERIALS 59
ResearchQuestionsandHypotheses 59
SettingsandParticipants 60
SchoolDemographics 60
ParticipantDescription 61
PrimingConditions 63
Condition1:OrthographicPriming 63
Condition2:PhonologicalPriming 63
Condition3:ContextualandOrthographicPriming 64
Condition4:ContextualandPhonologicalPriming 64
Condition5:ContextualPriming 64
Condition6:NoPriming 65
vi
1
ResearchInstrumentation 65
DependentVariableMeasures 65
Writingfluency 65
Spellingaccuracy 68
CovariateMeasures 68
Orthographicknowledgeandspellingdevelopmentalstage 68
Handwritingfluency 69
Readingachievement 70
ExperimentalDesign 71
TreatmentoftheData 72
RESULTS 75
DataAnalysis 76
ObtainedReliabilityCoefficients 76
EffectofWritingConditionsonCompositionalFluencyandSpelling....77
EffectonCompositionalFluency 77
Effectsduetowritingcondition 77
Effectsduetowritingoccasion 80
EffectsonCompositionalFluencyofSubsamplesofStudents 82
Readingcomprehensionquartiles 84
Writingfluencyquartiles 87
Spellingachievementquartiles 89
EffectonSpellingAccuracy 92
EffectsDuetoWritingCondition 93
EffectsonCompositionalSpellingAccuracyofSubsamplesof
Students 95
Readingcomprehensionquartiles 95
Writingfluencyquartiles 95
Spellingachievementquartiles 97
DifferencesinResponsestoWritingConditionsAmongGroups 99
CompositionalFluency 99
Interactionbetweenconditionandletter-generationfluency 103
Interactionbetweenconditionandspellingachievement 104
Interactionbetweenconditionandgifted 105
Interactionbetweenconditionandsocioeconomicstatus 105
CompositionalSpellingAccuracy 105
MainEffects 107
Interactionbetweenconditionandspellingachievement 11
Interactionbetweencondition,disability,andTitle1 Ill
Interactionbetweencondition,disability,andgender 113
Interactionbetweencondition,gender,andTitle1 113
ContributionstoCompositionalFluencyandSpellingAccuracy 115
CompositionalFluency 115
SpellingAcciiracy 116
vii
5 DISCUSSION 117
TheoreticalImplications 117
CompositionalFluency 117
Primingconditions 117
Writingoccasion 124
CompositionalSpellingAccuracy 125
ComparisonofGroupDifferenceinResponsetoWritingConditions 127
CompositionalFluency 127
CompositionalSpellingAccuracy 129
Summary 131
ContributionstoCompositionalFluencyandSpellingAccuracy 131
LimitationstothePresentStudy 132
ImplicationsforFutureResearch 134
Conclusion 135
APPENDIX
A EXAMPLESTORYPROMPTFROMNATIONALASSESSMENTOF
EDUCATIONALPROGRESS 138
B EXAMPLESTORYPROMPTSFROMFLORIDACOMPREHENSIVE
ACHIEVEMENTTEST 141
C INSTITUTIONALREVIEWBOARDAPPROVAL 143
D TEACHERSCRIPTSFORADMINISTERINGWRITINGCONDITIONS.145
E TEACHERSCRIPTSFORHANDWRITINGFLUENCYAND
SPELLINGACHIEVEMENTMEASURES 218
REFERENCES 222
BIOGRAPHICALSKETCH 229
viii
AbstractofDissertationPresentedtotheGraduateSchool
OftheUniversityofFloridainPartialFulfillmentofthe
RequirementsfortheDegreeof
DoctorofPhilosophy
COMPOSITIONALFLUENCYANDSPELLINGACCURACY
OFSECOND-GRADESTUDENTSUNDERSIXPRIMINGCONDITIONS
By
. .
RoxaimeFrancesHudson
August2002
Chair: CecilD.Mercer
MajorDepartment: SpecialEducation
Thisstudyaddressedthreequestionsrelatedtotheeffectsofsixpriming
conditionsonthewritingof195secondgradersinfourschoolsofanortheasternFlorida
schooldistrict.Thefirstconcernedtheroleoftheprimingconditionsonthe
compositionalfluencyandspellingaccuracyofsecondgraders. Wouldtherebe
differentialeffectsduetoconditionsamongthewholegroupandsmallersubgroups?The
secondquestionaskedwhethertheeffectsseenamongthestudentswouldbedifferentin
groupingsbasedonability,gender,andsocio-economicstatus. Thethirdaskedwhat
variablesexplainthevarianceintheobservedcompositionalfluencyandspelling
accuracy. Thestudentswereaskedtowritesixnarrativesinresponsetostorystarters
presentedinsixdifferentwaysdesignedtoprovidedifferentialpriming. Theconditions
were(a)copying,(b)dictation,(c)discussion,(d)discussionandcopying,(e)discussion
anddictation,and(f)topic. Inaddition,datawerecollectedonthe(a)sentence-copying
ix
fluency,(b)letter-generatingfluency,(c)readingcomprehension,and(d)spelling
—
achievement. Thefindingsfortheentiresample subgroupsdefinedbyreading
—
achievement,handwritingfluency,andspellingachievement arepresented. Inaddition,
resultsbasedongroupcomparisonsbasedonpresenceofadisability,gender,Title1
enrollment,socioeconomicstatus,andgiftednessarepresented. Theoreticalimplications
arediscussed,asareimplicationsforthefieldandfutureresearchdirections.
X
