The 12321 model of Dutch spelling acquisition

We propose that Dutch children acquire and use knowledge of Dutch spelling through a series of stages we call the 12321 model. At first, a single phase for the mapping of speech onto writing suffices, but in later stages of instruction, two or three mapping phases are needed. This is one aspect of our hypothesis about spelling development. The other aspect relates to experience, which allows for storage of the mapping relation between larger parts of speech and concomitant larger strings of letters. As a consequence, the necessary number of mapping phases for words or parts of words that are frequently used decreases from three to two, and ultimately to one once more — hence the name 12321 model.