The spelling errors made by French elementary school students: what do they tell us about language?

What is it about?

We asked children in the elementary grades in French schools to write words and texts and assessed the kind of spelling errors they made. We used an analysis grid already developed for English, called POMAS, to do this. Our analysis shows that French children quickly move on from making sound-based errors and produce a large number of tense, gender or number marking errors at all grades. This is different from what has been observed in the past in English.

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Photo by Annie Spratt on Unsplash

Photo by Annie Spratt on Unsplash

Why is it important?

The results can help practitioners know what kind of spelling errors to expect in French at different ages in elementary school. It provides a tool to assess French children's spelling in any sample of writing, and that can be adapted for other languages and populations.