Use of Consonant Letter Names in Beginning Spelling

Middle-class American children usually learn the names of letters several years before they begin formal instruction in reading and spelling. How does this knowledge affect their subsequent acquisition of spelling? The results of 4 experiments speak against the idea that children go through a stage of spelling development during which they are equally likely to symbolize any sequence of phonemes that matches the name of a letter with the corresponding letter. Although kindergarteners and first graders sometimes spell the nonword /var/ as "vr," using the letter r to represent both of the phonemes in its name, they are less likely to spell the nonword /vε{lunate}s/ as "vs" or the nonword /tib/as "tb." These differences are interpreted as reflecting the phonological or sound properties of the letters' names. Implications for models of spelling development are discussed.