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Cite this article as: Zare-Behatsh, E. & Rezaee, A. (2018). The Impact of Spelling Strategies Instruction on the
Iranian EFL Intermediate Learners’ Writing Performance. International Journal of English Language &
Translation Studies. 6(3). 177-187.
Page | 178
The Impact of Spelling Strategies Instruction on the… Esmail Zare-Behatsh & Afshin Rezaee
Cite this article as: Zare-Behatsh, E. & Rezaee, A. (2018). The Impact of Spelling Strategies Instruction on the
Iranian EFL Intermediate Learners’ Writing Performance. International Journal of English Language &
Translation Studies. 6(3). 177-187.
Page | 180
The Impact of Spelling Strategies Instruction on the… Esmail Zare-Behatsh & Afshin Rezaee
considered acceptable for the purposes of groups. It should be noted that since there
the current study. However, regarding existed the probability that more than forty
validity, it was gauged through experts’ of the participants fall between -1 and + 1
judgment meaning that the QOPT test was SD, only forty of the students were chosen.
given to a number of experienced EFL Next, the pre-test, writing test, was
professors to evaluate its face and content administered to both groups in order to
validity. All of the teachers confirmed that assess their initial writing ability prior to the
the instrument have a high level of face and treatment sessions. After administrating the
content validity so that it can be used in the pre-test, the participants received
study. instructions during 12 sessions lasting 45
The second instruments designed and minutes for each session. The important
developed by a panel of well-experienced point to keep mind is that the participants in
EFL teachers who had at least 10 years of the experimental group were instructed
experience comprise a writing pre-test and based on explicit instruction about the
post-test consisting of 30 multiple-choice spelling strategies and how to utilize them
items. The tests were designed based on the when writing of words and sentences. These
participants’ course book and they included activities included as follows:
four paragraphs in which the words would 1. Rehearsing the spelling of the word by
be missed to examine the participants’ repeating the names of the letters in
writing competence. The paragraphs sequence.
contained 5 missing words in the form of 2. Using phonic knowledge to segment and
close passage followed by multiple choice of then encode the word, or an approximation
the words’ sounds. Following the same to the word, by attending to component
procedure for OQPT, the reliability and sounds such as phonetic spelling.
validity of the writing tests were measured 3. Using knowledge of the spelling of
through pilot study. Indeed, they were another word that sounds a little like (or
piloted on a sample of 20 students carrying rhymes with) the target word spelling by
the characteristics of the main study. Based analogy.
on the students’ responses a number of the 4. Applying spelling rules in conjunction
items were modified or omitted. It should be with any of the above strategies.
noted that the reliability (pre-test = 0.82 and 5. Creating easy-to-remember mnemonics to
post-test = 0.79) of the tests were help recall tricky words.
calculated. Finally, two well-experienced 6. Applying knowledge of word meanings,
professors were asked to evaluate the used derivations, prefixes, and suffixes.
tests in relation to their validity. They 7. Using a dictionary and/or computer spell-
confirmed that the test had the required checker.
validity to the study. 8. Asking a superior speller for help.
Another instrument to measure the In contrast, the control group was
kinds of spelling strategies used by the instructed based on the traditional
participants during the writing test was a instruction where some spelling strategies
questionnaire developed by the researchers. such as repetition, explanation, pen and
The questionnaire consisted of a number of paper drills, writing, etc. were worked on.
spelling strategies that the students preferred After completing the instruction, the post-
to use while doing a writing. test was administered in order to measure
3.3. Procedures the participant’ achievements in relation to
To carry out the current study, the the effectiveness of spelling strategies on
following steps were undertaken in turn. writing performance in both groups. That is,
Prior to running the main study, the pilot the participants were asked to write a
studies were conducted at other private paragraph including 100 words about the
English schools so as to determine if the given topics. Finally, the questionnaire to
QOPT, writing pre-test, and post-test were measure which kinds of strategies were
reliable and valid enough for the purposes of more used was given to the participants and
the study. Then, at the onset of the study, the they wanted to check those strategies when
QOPT was administered to all 100 learners taking the tests.
to determine their homogeneity in terms of 3.4. Data Analysis
general English proficiency. The participants In order to answer the raised research
whose scores fell between -1 to +1 SD from questions of the present study, a quantitative
the mean were filtered in and assigned into approach was employed to analyze the
two homogeneous groups, namely, collected data. To achieve these aims, using
experimental (n = 20) and control (n = 20) SPSS version 22 software packages for
Cite this article as: Zare-Behatsh, E. & Rezaee, A. (2018). The Impact of Spelling Strategies Instruction on the
Iranian EFL Intermediate Learners’ Writing Performance. International Journal of English Language &
Translation Studies. 6(3). 177-187.
Page | 182
The Impact of Spelling Strategies Instruction on the… Esmail Zare-Behatsh & Afshin Rezaee
sample t-test was run. As shown in the table strategy “using knowledge of the spelling of
6, there was a statistically significant another word that sounds a little like (or
difference (Sig = 0.02, P ˂ 0.05) among the rhymes with) the target word spelling by
experimental and control groups on the pre- analogy” was selected 17 times by the
test scores. Therefore, it may be suggested experimental group and 3 times by the
this difference may be attributed to the control group. With regard to another
impact of the different instructions offered strategy, namely, “applying spelling rules in
to the groups. conjunction with any of the above
Table 6: An Independent Sample T-test for the strategies” it was found that this strategy
Writing Post-test by the Experimental and was used 13 and 5 times by the students in
Control Groups the experimental and control groups,
respectively. For the strategy “creating
easy-to-remember mnemonics to help recall
tricky words” the results indicated that the
students in the experimental and control
groups selected it 19 and 4 times, in turn.
The frequency for “applying knowledge of
word meanings, derivations, prefixes, and
As pointed out above, the second
suffixes” was 20 and 8 occasions in the both
research question tried to uncover those
group. Concerning the other strategy titled
spelling strategies that have more
“using a dictionary and/or computer spell-
effectiveness on intermediate EFL learners’
checker”, the findings showed that it was
writing. To get this aim, the strategies
chosen 12 and 8 times by the experimental
instructed during the treatment phase was
and control group. Finally, asking a superior
given to the participants in both group
speller for help strategy was used 10 and 6
through a simple questionnaire. The students
times by the participants. In general, the
went through the questionnaire and checked
findings revealed that the experimental
those strategies that they used in writing
group used the spelling strategies more than
tasks. The obtained results are reported in
the control group. In addition, the findings
frequency in Table 7.
indicated “applying knowledge of word
Table 7: The Frequency of the Strategies Used
by the Experimental and Control Groups meanings, derivations, prefixes, and
suffixes” was the most used strategy by the
participants and “ sking a superior speller
for help” was the least used strategy in this
study.
5. Discussion and Conclusion
Prior to discussing the research
findings comprehensively, it is appealing to
note that the researchers experimentally
measured the effect of teaching spelling
strategies on writing ability of Iranian EFL
learners. The first research question
addressed “Do teaching spelling strategies
improve Iranian intermediate EFL learners’
writing ability?” To provide a reasonable
answer to the above-stated question, our
As shown, the first strategies titled findings demonstrated that there existed a
“rehearsing the spelling of the word by statistically meaningful significant
repeating the names of the letters in difference between the experimental and
sequence” has been checked 15 times by the control groups performance concerning the
experimental group and 6 times by the teaching of spelling strategies which were
control group. Regarding the second strategy exposed to Iranian intermediate EFL
called “sing phonic knowledge to segment learners to improve their writing ability. As
and then encode the word, or an was mentioned in the previous chapter, there
approximation to the word, by attending to was not a statistically significant difference
component sounds such as phonetic among the experimental and control groups
spelling”, the data revealed that 13 students on the pre-test scores. Hence, it might be
in the experimental group and 7 students in said that the given difference in the
the control group checked it. The third performance of the experimental group after
treatment may be ascribed to the influence
Cite this article as: Zare-Behatsh, E. & Rezaee, A. (2018). The Impact of Spelling Strategies Instruction on the
Iranian EFL Intermediate Learners’ Writing Performance. International Journal of English Language &
Translation Studies. 6(3). 177-187.
Page | 184
The Impact of Spelling Strategies Instruction on the… Esmail Zare-Behatsh & Afshin Rezaee
The researchers cited some evidence when strategies help students recognize
taking up the issue from a functional angle. connections between words, identify the
They maintain that the employment of conveyed meaning of an utterance, infer the
explicit techniques to spelling instruction conceptual meaning of words, etc.
plays two simultaneous functions. First, Therefore, such findings guide us to get
explicit teaching raises students’ conscious better insights into phonology and
awareness and helps them register samples morphology.
of input highlighted by the teacher. Second, Although teaching spelling strategies
direct teaching of phonics skills fosters remain an important consideration in
students’ literacy development. s we also language learning, it would be much more
noted earlier and the results showed, we beneficial to attach added importance to
favor an explicitly-based approach to contextualization of strategies. In this
spelling instruction which facilitates regard, the findings of Davis (2013) lend
students’ performance in accomplishing support to the present study. Davis
writing tasks and writing exercises. highlighted that explicit teaching of spelling
To conclude the discussion on the strategies makes students aware of the
first research question, we now tend to refer benefits of using these strategies in
to Schmidt’s (1993) noticing hypothesis controlling and regulating their discourse,
which provides a powerful support to our hence writing.
findings. Supporting an explicit-based view Thus, it would be now clear that
towards spelling instruction, we outline the correct spelling requires the application of
essence of noticing hypothesis supportive of several appropriate cognitive and
the present study findings. Noticing metacognitive strategies. Extending these
hypothesis proposes that learners learn a strategies to spelling instruction, they help
language (or a particular aspect of language) students to provide solutions to a particular
when their attention is consciously focused task or problem in an organized manner.
on specific language features (Schmidt, When applied in a given situation, the
1993). strategies help students convey their
An important conclusion that might meaning more efficiently. It should also be
be reached is that explicit instructional kept in mind practical uses of spelling
approach to spelling should be based on strategies in different situations takes a long
providing description and explanation of time to develop. As (Davis, 2013) notes
spelling features being taught (Gorsuch, & normal spelling development is a cyclical
Taguchi, 2009). Here, noticing hypothesis process and it develops through time. He
appears to show the facilitative effects of continues to argue that a central task for
attention, noticing and awareness on language teachers is to teach effective
students’ writing ability promoted through spelling strategies supportive of students’
spelling instruction. discourse. So, the effective application of
The second research question various spelling strategies scaffold students’
examined “which types of spelling strategies learning and the cognitive chain of
do have more effectiveness on intermediate interaction.
EFL learners’ writing ability?” intermediate Some reasons behind the obtained
learners in expository writing. Our findings findings might be attributed to the influence
uncovered that “applying knowledge of of explicit instruction of spelling strategies
word meanings, derivations, prefixes, and in the experimental group. Next, another
suffixes strategy” was the most frequently likely reasons might lie in the fact that the
used by the experimental group while participants might have found some
“asking a superior speller for help strategy” strategies more useful and usable compared
was the least used by the participants in the to other spelling strategies. Finally, it might
experimental group. Furthermore, it should be hypothesized that the nature of explicit
be noted that the students in the intervention, teacher’s feedback, and other
experimental group showed more tendency factors have affected the results.
to apply spelling strategies rather than the The present study offers several
control group. implications. First, classroom discourse and
In accordance with our findings, curriculum development should include
Baleghizadeh and Dargahi (2011) took up learning activities that help students build
spelling strategies instruction in the primary essential visual-motor skills to process
levels of learning English. They argued words successfully. Such learning activities
spelling strategies play a range of functions. involve learners in recognizing spelling and
They, for example, maintained that these identifying letter sequences more efficiently.
Cite this article as: Zare-Behatsh, E. & Rezaee, A. (2018). The Impact of Spelling Strategies Instruction on the
Iranian EFL Intermediate Learners’ Writing Performance. International Journal of English Language &
Translation Studies. 6(3). 177-187.
Page | 186
The Impact of Spelling Strategies Instruction on the… Esmail Zare-Behatsh & Afshin Rezaee