Aphasia and spelling to dictation: Analysis of spelling errors and editing.
Charlotte Johansson-Malmeling, Åsa Wengelin, Ingrid Henriksson
PMID 33368870WHAT IT FOUND
Spelling errors in aphasia often involve missing letters or incorrect compound splitting, not just phonetic mistakes.
Editing success correlates with non-word spelling ability, not reading or decoding. Word length and frequency predict spelling difficulty, but not editing success. Individual editing strategies vary widely, suggesting tailored digital aids may be more effective than generic tools.
Key findings
01The most common spelling errors were omissions (160 words), substitutions (127 words), and consonant doubling errors (99 words).
02Scores on the non-word dictation test were significantly correlated with the proportion of successfully edited words, while reading and phonological decoding scores were not.
03Word length and word frequency were significantly correlated with spelling correctness, but not with the proportion of successfully edited words.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for SLPs
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What it does not show
Small sample size (16 participants) limits generalizability. Participants had mild-to-moderate aphasia, mostly non-fluent, so results may not apply to severe or fluent aphasia. Tests used were adapted from developmental screenings, not validated for acquired aphasia in Swedish. Time limits on reading and decoding tests may have influenced results, as dictation tasks had no time limit.
Declared interests
The study was funded by Vetenskapsrådet (Swedish Research Council). No other conflicts of interest are reported.
The easy way to misread this
Do not assume that reading ability or phonological decoding predicts editing success in aphasia. The study found no significant correlation between these abilities and successful editing, whereas non-word spelling ability did correlate with editing success.