Computers form a major and integral part in today’s student life. Thus, the role of computers has been discussed in several fields of education (Senkbeil & WiIttwer, 2007; Vendlinski & Stevens, 2002). Furthermore, computer-based testing (cbt) has gained a huge influence on both Large-Scale-Assessments and everyday teaching, with the latter in the context of formative assessment (i.e. Black & Williams, 1998), for instance. cbtnot only simplifies the process of obtaining individual feedback, cbt also helps identifying individual strengths and weaknesses immediately (i.e. Tierney & Charland, 2007).

However, in order to use computer-based testing as an equivalent for paper-based testing (pbt), mode-effects have to be investigated thoroughly. Therefore, the following issues must be studied: (1) Do students reach the same results when doing the paper-based test compared to the computer-based test, respectively? (2) Does the underlying competence model hold for both testing modes? Furthermore, several aspects such as computer knowledge and skills, as well as other covariates (sex, social background, ethnic background) have to be considered. Only by including these aspects, it can be determined whether (3) those aspects form a disadvantage within the testing mode’s dependence.

Particularly in German research and explicitly for the field of research in spelling, such aspects have not been to major concern.

In this paper, the issues mentioned above will be considered within range of a spelling test originally developed for paper-based testing (pbt). Herefore, a mode-effect-study was conducted with a sample of approximately 500 students in grade 5 five. 50 Percent of the students took the computer-based test while the other 50 percent completed the paper-based test. All students taking part in the survey also filled out a questionnaire concerning topics such as computer usage and motivation. This allows us to draw further conclusions concerning subgroups of the sample that might be disadvantaged by the test mode. Furthermore, each student was given an introduction on keyboard typing and hereafter performed a typing test. The herewith-collected data gives a deeper insight into the relation between ability to type on a keyboard and spelling competence.

The test is based on a theoretical linguistic framework containing five sub skills, which has been verified in several studies in grade 4 and 5 (Blatt et al, 2011). These studies and their results give a reference frame for the comparison of both modes. They, hence, are an indispensable prerequisite for the mode-effect study.

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