Early writing skills of English Language Learners (ELLs) and Native English Speakers (NESs): examining predictors of contextualized spelling, writing fluency, and writing quality

This study examined the writing skills of first-grade students who are English Language Learners (ELLs) or Native English Speakers (NESs). We examined the roles of transcription and oral language skills on contextualized spelling, writing fluency, and writing quality outcomes for ELL and NES students. Thirty-four ELLs (Mean age (A) = 78.03 months, SD = 6.28), and 35 NESs (A = 78.79, SD = 5.40) matched on receptive vocabulary completed measures of real word and pseudo word reading, reading comprehension, expressive and receptive vocabulary, handwriting, single-word spelling, writing fluency, and written composition (narrative and expository). The compositions were scored for length, contextualized spelling, and quality. Differences between groups were mostly non-significant, except for handwriting; ELL students performed better than their NES peers. Linear regressions were used to predict contextualized spelling, writing fluency, and writing quality separately for both groups. Results showed that single-word spelling was a predictor of contextualized spelling for both groups. For writing fluency, both handwriting and single-word spelling were predictors for ELLs, and single-word spelling was the only predictor for NESs. For writing quality, expressive vocabulary was the only predictor for ELLs, and single-word spelling was the only predictor for NESs. The results highlight the important role of expressive vocabulary, beyond the role of receptive vocabulary, in writing quality for young ELLs. Implications regarding writing acquisition and instruction for ELLs are considered.