The influences of language of literacy instruction and vocabulary
on the spelling of Spanish–English bilinguals
ANDREA ROLLA SAN FRANCISCO
1
, ELAINE MO
1
, MARI
´
A
CARLO
2
, DIANE AUGUST
3
, and CATHERINE SNOW
1
1
Harvard University Graduate School of Education, Larsen Hall, Appian Way,
Cambridge, MA 02138, USA;
2
University of Miami, Miami, FL USA;
3
Center for
Applied Linguistics, Washington, DC USA
Abstract. The relation of language of instruction and vocabulary to the English spelling
of bilingual first graders receiving either English or Spanish literacy instruction and of
monolinguals in English literacy instruction was explored. Only bilingual students in
Spanish literacy instruction (SLI) exhibited Spanish-influenced spelling, indicating a
powerful effect of language of literacy instruction. SLI without English literacy instruc-
tion (ELI) may be a prerequisite for the appearance of Spanish influences in English
spelling. Spanish-influenced spelling appears to be a normal developmental phenomenon
only for those bilingual first graders who have received no ELI. The students in ELI, on
average, wrote more orthographically plausible English pseudowords than students in
SLI, indicating that the students in SLI simply had not yet learned conventional spelling
patterns in English. In addition, children with good Spanish vocabulary showed more
Spanish-influenced spelling, while English vocabulary predicted more orthographically
plausible English spellings. The relationship between English vocabulary and English
spelling was similar for children instructed in Spanish and English. English vocabulary
and literacy instruction both made unique, positive contributions to English pseudo-
word spelling, while Spanish literacy instruction played a more important role than
Spanish vocabulary in the production of Spanish-influenced spelling in English.
Key words: Bilingual literacy development, Language of instruction, Orthography,
Vocabulary
Cross-linguistic spelling development
Learning to spell is highly correlated with reading, yet it requires unique
additional processes of retrieving and representing knowledge about
words (Ehri, 2000). Spelling in alphabetic languages undoubtedly reflects
the development of phonological awareness, morphological analysis, and
knowledge about graphemic conventions, as well as of language-specific
orthographic commitments (Templeton & Morris, 2000). Children use
their knowledge of sound-spelling correspondences in addition to rote
visual memorization in learning how to spell, even in English where the
Reading and Writing (2006) 19:627–642 Ó Springer 2006
DOI 10.1007/s11145-006-9012-3
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