Learning writing demands, beyond the domain of the alphabetic system, learning spelling. Despite the conventional and reproductive character of orthographic rules, it is recognized that their appropriation isn't a passive process. Research suggests that the spelling performance depends on the level of elaboration of learner´s orthographic representations. We investigated the relationship between spelling performance and level of explicit knowledge of the orthographic rules of 22 students of the 4th grade of elementary school. Students performed three activities: sentence writing, words writing with deliberate violation of spelling and interview. The results show the relationship between spelling performance and natures of the violation of spelling. Children with better spelling performance violated the orthography without altering the phonology of words, demonstrating greater explicit knowledge of orthographic rules. These data suggest the importance of teaching writing activities that encourage the explicit reflection on spelling.
Ortography; handwriting; metacognition
