Lexical comprehension and lexical literacy at the reading-spelling interface

Abstract

Developmental models of reading and spelling skills are generally based on assessments of early literacy skills in young children. The literacy development of children is contingent on the concurrent development of linguistic knowledge, strategies, and functional skills. In contrast, developing literacy in adults is characterized by heterogeneous spoken proficiencies during the acquisition of L2 reading and writing skills. In the present study, we investigate reading fluency and spelling skills in adults with emergent L2 literacy skills within an L2 German language course that included literacy instruction. We confirm that the reading and spelling skills of learners are inter-related as mediated through a shared common knowledge base. The study participants could be divided into two recognisable clusters (low- and high-performing learners), despite being tested at approximately the same point during the course. Both lexical comprehension and lexical literacy reliably determined spelling performance, even though lexical literacy was less informative in terms of predicting reading skills and overall literacy profiles. We discuss these results within the framework of