Abstract

This study investigated the effect of context on learning to read and spell large or small sets of decodable words presented in a shallow orthography. Thirty adult participants were screened for their knowledge of phonemic symbols, word reading and spelling skills. Then, the participants were randomly assigned to read a large or small set of English words written with phonemic symbols, half in context and half in isolation. After training, the participants read the phonemic symbols again immediately. Three to five days later, the participants were tested again with their ability to read, recognize, and spell the trained words. The results showed that during training, the participants read more words accurately in context from the first to the last trial regardless of set size groups. Reading accuracy did not differ between groups learning the large and small set of words when reading took place in context. However, the reading accuracy was higher for the participants trained in the large word set when words were read in isolation. In addition, participants trained in the large set size learned more phonemic symbols than those in the small set size. In the delayed post-test, participants trained in both set size groups read more words trained in context accurately compared to the words trained in isolation. The participants in both groups recognized and spelled words with similar accuracy but they recognized words trained in isolation faster. The current study mimicked children’s reading with incomplete alphabetic knowledge, thus the findings contributed to informing practice to support children’s literacy development.