The Spelling Mistakes of Young Greek EFL Learners: A Descriptive Case Study

A constant challenge for Greek primary EFL teachers is the large number of spelling mistakes in their learners’ written performance. Teachers usually feel helpless in understanding and remedying this problem due to non-existent research outputs in the realm of the spelling of Greek young EFL learners. Within this context, the researcher was stimulated to study the particular problem as an English teacher and educational researcher working on SLA. A descriptive case study was conducted into the spelling mistakes of a class of 11-year-old Greek primary EFL learners at pre-intermediate proficiency level in a total of eighty free compositions. The aim was to throw light on the learners’ IL in terms of error types and spelling processes, reach a detailed description of the problem within the boundaries of the single EFL class and understand the parameters that may give rise to it. Results suggest four main error categories and seventeen sub-categories. They also prove the operation of classic SLA strategies in the acquisition of EFL spelling by children too, of idiosyncratic strategies characteristic of Greek young EFL learners and of learning processes common to Greek and Japanese EFL learners of different age.