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Abstract
This study examined the differences between more creative and less creative students in spelling performance at elementary grade levels 4, 5, and 6. It was hypothesized that more creative students would generate a greater number of spelling alternatives than less creative students in response to the oral pronunciation of words previously not seen in print. In addition, it was hypothesized that more creative students eventually would select incorrect spellings as their choice for correct spellings. It was expected this would happen as a result of either the greater chance for error in choosing due to the larger number of spelling alternatives available to more creative students or the tendency of more creative students toward divergence, resulting in the choice of an unusual (and incorrect) spelling. The first spellings generated by more and less creative students within a list of alternatives also were compared, since students' first efforts may be more comparable to what is occurring in the classroom setting. Differences between more creative and less creative students in responses to phonetic and non-phonetic words were also examined. An overall hypothesis was that there would be no differences between grade levels, regardless of the outcome of the analyses, since all participants in the study were theoretically in the last stage of spelling development (Ehri, 1987; Gentry, 1983).
The outcome of the study suggests that more creative students function differently than less creative students in number of spellings generated in response to pronounced words, ability to choose correct spellings out of alternatives generated, and in the unusual nature of the words they generate first among alternatives. Although some differences between more and less creative students in response to phonetic vs. non-phonetic words were seen, these latter results were inconclusive. Consistent differences were observed among the grade levels, with students in grade 4 functioning differently than students in grades 5 or 6, suggesting that development of spelling skill may still be in progress for students in this age range.
