Abstract:

A recent longitudinal survey into the learning of grammar and spelling in Flemish and Dutch secondary schools ([1]) has shown that the spelling and grammatical knowledge of Y11-Y12 students (n=362; aged 17-18 years) falls short of the final attainment targets, especially for grammar.

Additional research now focuses on the possible correlation between spelling and grammar results on the one hand, and attitude and metacognition, on the other. Therefore, besides spelling and grammar tests, participants were inquired after their attitude (How important is spelling/grammar in the curriculum in your opinion?) and one on metacognition (How do you feel you did in your spelling/grammar test?). Participants used a Likert scale, ranging from 1 (not important/not sure) to 5 (very important/very sure).

This involved four research questions:
- What is the attitude of Y11-Y12 students towards the importance of spelling and grammar in the curriculum in general?
- What is the correlation between attitude and scores for the spelling and grammar tests?
- What is the metacognition/self-efficacy of Y11-Y12 students in the spelling and grammar tests?
- What is the correlation between metacognition/self-efficacy and scores for the spelling and grammar tests?

In general, the results of this study point to a positive correlation between both knowledge and attitude, and between knowledge and self-efficacy. Moreover, pupils seem to prefer spelling to grammar, and they are also better at assessing their levels of spelling than their levels of grammar. Again, this study does not correlate with the teachers’ beliefs that students cannot correctly assess their own strengths and weaknesses ([2]).

References:
[1] Devos, Filip and Judit De Vilder (2018), A replication study investigating L1 knowledge of spelling and grammar in secondary-school pupils in Flanders and the Netherlands. In: Edulearn 2018 Proceedings CD. ISBN: 978-84-09-02709-5, pp. 4285-4290.
[2] Devos, Filip, Valerie Van Vooren and André Mottart (2016), Secondary-school pupils’ metacognition for spelling: much ado about nothing? In: Edulearn 2016 Proceedings CD. ISBN 978-84-608-8860-4, pp. 6319-6324.

Keywords:

Spelling and grammar education, attainment targets, secondary education, attitude, metacognition/self-efficacy, curriculum design.