The effect of phonological awareness intervention on non-word spelling ability in school-aged children: An analysis of qualitative change

The purpose of this pre-experimental, retrospective study was to examine the effect of a phonological awareness intervention program on qualitative changes in the non-word spelling skills of children with spelling difficulties. Additionally, this pilot study set out to determine the reliability and effectiveness of a newly developed spelling analysis tool. This tool, the Feature Analysis of Non-word Spelling (FANS) was devised to qualitatively describe children's non-word spelling performance. Participants were 16 school-aged children, ranging in age from 8 years 6 months to 10 years 1 month, who were selected for this study on the basis of their below average non-word spelling ability prior to intervention. All children in the study had received phonological awareness training based on the University of Queensland Phonological Awareness for Literacy (UQPAL) program. Pre- and post-intervention non-word spelling responses of participants were analysed using the FANS. Results revealed a significant overall improvement in non-word spelling skills following phonological awareness training. Specifically, participants displayed significant improvements in their ability to represent vowels post intervention. The FANS was found to be a highly reliable qualitative measure of non-word spelling. Results highlight the merit of using a qualitative analysis of spelling to best elucidate the effectiveness of intervention or developmental change.