ON THE NATURE OF (ORTO)GRAPHIC ERRORS PRODUCED BY BRAZILIAN CHILDREN IN THE FIRST ELEMENTARY SCHOOL YEARS

ABSTRACT: Considering both main sources which are available for the production of initial alphabetical writing, namely, phonological knowledge and knowledge acquired through experience in reading and writing practices, (orto)graphic errors produced by children in their first Elementary School years are analyzed by this paper, based on three main categories: phonological, orthographic and phonographic ones. The sample under study is composed of errors extracted from 2024 spontaneous texts produced by students from a public school and a private one. Results show that: i) phonological errors predominate in all grades and refer to segmental and prosodic complexities; ii) errors motivated by orthographic aspects involve mainly the spelling of /s/; and iii) there is low incidence of phonographic errors, but they are found in the four grades under study. In general, there is decrease in the number of errors as the schooling process advances. Besides, when both schools are compared, differences can be found in the number of errors, rather than in their quality.