Elementary school students’ experiences of writing difficulties

Abstract

The aim of this research was to assess and to analyze the main writing difficulties presented by second to fifth graders of the elementary school, using Rasch model. Some 413 students from public schools participated, from which 227 (55%) were female. Participants were assessed with Writing Assessment Test, in the syllable, word and pseudoword subtests. Data were analyzed by the Rasch Model. It was verified that more complex structured syllables as consonant-consonant-vogal-consonant were the most difficult. The most difficult words had phonemes that could possibly be represented by more than one grapheme and had accent. In the more difficult pseudowords it was necessary to use well defined orthographic rules, like 'm' before 'p' and 'b'. Obtained results can help teachers to anticipate probable student difficulties and to plan differentiated educational strategies. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2018 APA, all rights reserved)