Fact · Dictation
132first graders
In a 2016 study of 132 Italian first graders, spelling words and pseudo-words to dictation was more difficult than spontaneous spelling of words, and this held for low achievers and children with spelling impairments too.
Checked against its source on October 17, 2026
In the source's own words
“spelling words and pseudo-words to dictation was found to be more difficult than spontaneous spelling of words”
Spelling across Tasks and Levels of Language in a Transparent Orthography, Lucia Bigozzi et al., PLoS ONE, 2016, Abstract.
Open the original (DOI 10.1371/journal.pone.0163033)- What it measures
- Study 1 of the paper. Children spelled words and pseudo-words to dictation and also spelled words spontaneously, in the first grade of an Italian school.
- What it does not show
- Italian is a transparent orthography, where spelling follows sound closely. The result may differ in English, where spelling is less regular. The sample is single words and pseudo-words, not whole passages.