For adults, written spelling is generally superior to oral spelling. To determine whether the
same holds true for children in kindergarten through second grade, we compared children's
ability to spell real words (Experiment 1) and nonsense words (Experiment 2) orally and in
writing. Building on the work of Tangel and Blachman (1992, 1995) and others, we developed a
reliable system to assess the overall quality of the children's spellings. We also examined
the phonological and orthographic legality of the spellings. By first and second grade, written
spellings were superior to oral spellings in both overall quality and representation of
phonological form. This held true for both words and nonwords. The results suggest that
children, like adults, more accurately analyze the linguistic structure of a spoken item when they
can represent the results in a lasting, visible form than when they cannot.