Letter-name knowledge strongly predicts correct letter writing, especially for 4- and 5-year-olds¶

Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study (2 entries) · associational r3 · q3
Currency · newest study 2014 · not yet checked against its sources · not reviewed by a person

Subclaims¶

q3 i? For 5-year-olds, knowing a letter's name raised the probability of writing it correctly from 50% to 82%; for 4-year-olds from 7% to 33%. → Puranik Cynthia S. 2014 q3 i? Letter-name knowledge had little to no effect on 3-year-olds' letter writing, likely due to low letter-name knowledge and floor effects. → Puranik Cynthia S. 2014 (2)

Evidence¶

Puranik Cynthia S. 2014¶

Puranik Cynthia S., Petscher Yaacov, Lonigan Christopher J. (2014). Learning to Write Letters: Examination of Student and Letter Factors. Journal of experimental child psychology. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jecp.2014.07.009

q3 · i? · associational · r3

Model 5 fixed effects for 5-year-olds in the LR-LLTM analysis. The quote reports the log-odds increase and probability change from .50 to .82 for letter-name knowledge; the article reports no standardized effect size for this contrast.

"Knowledge of the letter name resulted in a 1.48 increase in the log odds and increased the probability of writing correctly from .50 to .82, t(2645) = 7.64, p < .001."

Puranik Cynthia S. 2014 (2)¶

Puranik Cynthia S., Petscher Yaacov, Lonigan Christopher J. (2014). Learning to Write Letters: Examination of Student and Letter Factors. Journal of experimental child psychology. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jecp.2014.07.009

q3 · i? · associational · r3

Model 5 results for 3-year-olds, whose referent predicted probability of correct writing was 1%. The statistically significant log-odds effect translated only "from 1% to 7%" in predicted probability, which the authors call marginal.

"When children knew the name of the letter they were asked to write, the log odds of correctly writing the letter increased by 1.84 units, t(3594) = 7.29, p < .001; however, the practical implication of this result was that a child’s predicted probability of correct letter writing conditional on letter-name knowledge increased marginally from 1% to 7%."

Discussion¶

Learner Variables¶

• Alphabet Knowledge and Print Awareness — predictor: learners who differ on it differ in outcomes

Related Claims¶

• The first letter of the child's name was the only letter-level factor consistently associated with correct letter writing — related
• Letter-writing difficulty varies widely across letters, with O easiest and K hardest, and knowing the letter name raises per-letter probabilities substantially — related
• Letter-sound knowledge and phonological awareness are associated with letter writing, but much less strongly than letter-name knowledge — related
• Letter type, letter order, textual frequency, number of strokes, and symmetry did not substantially or consistently contribute to letter writing — related
• Most variance in preschoolers' letter-writing skills is due to differences between students rather than between letters — related
• Vowels were easier for 3- and 4-year-olds to write than CV letters — related