Reading and writing errors in lexical development of children from 8 to 12 years old

Theoretical Framework: this research is focused on writing and reading errors in lexical development of children from 8 to 12 years old, such as tautology, grapho-phoneme constraints, consecutive effects, image value and dominant meaning/frequency of use. Objective: the objective of this research is to show empirical data about these preceding processes. Method: participants In the first phase of the research the participants consisted of 100 males and females in each grade level, ranging from third to fifth grade. In the second phase, the participants were 472 in third, 495 in fourth, and 521 in fifth grade. Materials and Procedures: in the first phase, the participants were asked to define a list of words (belonging to all grammatical categories and with high image value and dominant meaning/frequency of use) taken from short readings of primary textbooks. The passages used were those reflecting a popularity rating above 80%. The Flesch index of readability (with a value between 64 and 73, higher than mean value of 50) was applied to the readings. The participants were asked to answer the questions which they thought fit best in the time it took to give a written answer. In the second phase, we proceeded to elaborate the test with four multiple choice questions which were subject to item analysis. Results: the results seem to show that these preceding processes are not isolated, casual phenomena, but systematic errors in lexical development.