Determination and comparison of spelling error types of Turkish and Syrian primary school students with writing difficulties

The aim of this study is to determine the types of errors observed in the written products of primary school students with writing difficulties and to compare the spelling errors of Turkish and Syrian students. The data of the study were collected from five primary schools in Gaziantep province in the 2024-2025 academic year. The spelling errors in the writings of third- and fourth-grade students were analyzed using the descriptive survey model. Additionally, within the scope of the causal-comparative model, it was examined whether a significant difference existed between the two groups of students. According to the findings, the most common spelling mistakes made by students include skipping letters and syllables, skipping words or sentences, adding letters and syllables, writing letters backwards, confusing similar letters, writing words adjacent or separating the letters of the word. In addition, problems such as not standing at the end of the line and not being able to use punctuation marks effectively are also common. When Turkish and Syrian students were compared, it was determined that although similar types of errors were seen in both groups, these errors were repeated more frequently in Syrian students. As a result of statistical analysis, there was no significant difference between the dictation and copying text scores of Turkish and Syrian students (p = .575; p = .709). However, in the analyzes made according to gender, it was determined that female students wrote more legible writings in both dictation (p = .031) and copying (p = .041) texts compared to male students. In the evaluation made according to grade level, it was determined that there was no significant difference between the 3rd and 4th grades (p = .372 for dictation, p = .291 for copying). In addition, it was found that there was a strong positive relationship between dictation texts and copying texts (r = .829). This shows that students' writing skills are at similar levels in both types of texts. As a result, it is important to determine the type of spelling errors of primary school students with writing difficulties in order to analyze the educational needs of these students more accurately. The findings will contribute to the development of effective intervention strategies, especially in multilingual and multicultural classroom settings. Keywords: Specific Learning Difficulties, Writing Difficulties, Primary School, Turkey, Syria.