The Challenges of English Orthography to Beginners

Any prominent authors have attempted to emphasize the importance of orthography in the creation of reading disorders over the years. Orthography, according to the English dictionary, is the analysis of accurate spelling according to proper use. For several years, English majors have represented the English writing system as one marked by frequent duplication as well as outright irregularities. They claim that English poses difficulties for a beginner reader that would not normally be faced while studying other languages. The question as to whether the widespread incidence of reading disabilities in our society today be attributed to the idiosyncrasies of the English spelling and writing system remains unanswered. If this is true, is there a solution to this problem, other than that following the ideas of the skeptics suggesting a revision of the entire system? Apart from highlighting the relationship between spoken and written English, another purpose of this paper is to discuss these issues about English writing system and its relation to reading and writing disabilities. Also to be covered in this essay is the relationship between spoken and written English.

The English Writing System

English writing system is more complex as compared to other systems like Italian or Spanish. For instance, the words contained in Italian and Spanish systems are characterized by simple syllabic structures whereby single consonant automatically precedes a vowel. For this reason, the majority of consonant structures in English affects easier mastering of literature by making it harder for beginners, that is, the children to learn the consistencies in grapheme-phoneme units (Ziegler, and Goswami, 2005). In most occasions, before children begin to read, they become consciously aware of the differences between written and spoken English. For example, they become aware that spoken English has smaller units as compared to written words. Research indicates that many pre-literate children in the UK are aware of the sub-syllabic units of onset and rime whereby nursery rhymes quickly become part of the learner’s culture.

Still, writing systems lack visual symbols for onsets, syllables or rimes but instead are just a representation of phonemes. However, Goswami (2010) states that phonemes cannot be generated in isolation as they are natural units of speech. Logically, sounds that are distinct in words or syllables are often mapped onto a single phoneme. Therefore, children are usually unaware of the existence of phonemes until they study alphabets.

In 2004, a study was conducted in Denbighshire in North Wales to investigate the reasons why reading skills in children learning English develop slowly as compared to Welsh (Hanley, 2010). In Denbighshire, at least 27% of the total population speak Welsh. The remaining are mostly English speakers. Therefore, it is for the parents to choose which school to take their children. Children attending Welsh-speaking schools are taught to read in Welsh. The findings indicate that they learn to read Welsh after a shorter period than children attending English-speaking schools, who take a longer time to able to read English words. One of the reasons noted for this phenomenon is because Welsh is a transparent orthography characterized by consistencies between letters and sounds, and the existence of fewer irregular words (Goswami, 2007).

However, the presence of many irregular words in English means that the children will have difficulties in reading these words if they use decoding skills. In contrary, the absence of many irregular words in Welsh enables the children to read aloud correctly equivalents of these words even if they use decoding skills. This disparity was very significant for the study considering that the children who participated in the study had many commonalities. For example, the children started reading instruction at the same age, lived in the same area, and underwent similar methods of instruction.

Relationship between Spoken and Written English

Over the last decades up to now, language experts have noted differences and similarities in spoken and written language in English. There have always been different ideas about the occurrence of written and spoken English, such as the frequency in the narrative, the most critical form, as well as whether they work jointly or separately. Walker (2006) suggest that both spoken and written English are closely interdependent. They argue that since the development of the language, spoken English was a means of expressing one’s ideas and information whereas written English was a symbolic representation of the spoken form. Although there are some similarities in both forms, there exist remarkable differences between spoken and written English. A summary of some differences is indicated below.

Spoken English Less Rigid than Written English

In spoken English, the speakers usually do not pay much attention to lexical content and meaning, which are applied in written English. For instance, in spoken narratives, participants often use ellipsis and abbreviations, e.g., when somebody asks us “Where are you going?” we can answer “home.” The answer given carries the meaning of the complete sentence, “I am going home.” However, in written form, we have to write the complete answer.

Subordination

Subordination is one of the fundamental differences between spoken and written English. The term refers to the asymmetrical relationship between an independent and dependent clause(s). The application of subordination between verbal and written English is not well-adjusted and depends on various functions of the whole sentence. For example, the occurrence of relative pronouns in spoken English is about three times that of written English. Consequently, the presence of pronouns is also not balanced. However, restrictive relative clauses are frequent in both forms than non-restrictive relatives.

Advantages and Disadvantages of English Orthography

Advantages

The criteria by which English alphabet represents the English language is standard. There are certain virtues tied to this unique characteristic. For instance, the English alphabet adheres to the natural rules governing the relationship between letter sequences, morpho-phonological and phonetic representations. Therefore, by being aware of these regulations, the reader can easily access oral representations of words he or she is familiar with, or those he or she is less familiar with, as well as those the reader has never encountered in print. In the case of logography, the reader undergoes a lot of strain in mastering the characters to the point of not being able to learn new words. However, a skilled English reader need know a countable set of phoneme-to-grapheme correspondences and observe the phonological rules of the language to read any phonologically plausible word. Equipped with the knowledge, it is easier for English readers to derive morphological representations thereby enabling them to access existing lexical information.

Also, this vital tool enables the reader to deduce the phonetic representation required to read the word aloud as well as to store the word in the brain for remembrance temporarily. Apart from that, another advantage of English orthography is that once the reader has understood the phonological rules of the language, any new word can be analyzed. The lack of consistencies in phoneme-to-grapheme correspondence is also advantageous in that, homophones like knight and night with distinct etymologies can be distinguished by spelling. Morphemes also may retain their original form in different contexts.

Disadvantages

For many years, scholars have criticized English orthography for many reasons. Firstly, the most common point of criticism is the language’s lack of consistencies in grapheme-morpheme relationships. They have tried to compare it to phonetic languages like Spanish, Arabic or Wales in which there exist close connections between the phonemes and their equivalents. Still, English emerges as the most orthographically challenging language. The English language incorporates only twenty-six letter alphabet and a total of 113 sounds in spoken language. The inconsistencies also arise because of reasons like frozen spelling, difficulty in remembering earlier pronunciation, and the existence of borrowed words from other languages like Spanish and French.

Lastly, for one to be a skilled reader of English, he or she must pose phonological maturity in the form of tacit knowledge in representing words in the lexicon, as well as the phonological rules which link morph phonological representations to phonetic representations. However, phonological maturity is not a requirement for persons who want to become skilled readers in logography. This is because decoding of logography does not require the application of phonological rules. Also, experienced readers of English must be linguistically aware of the language to transcribe alphabets. However, this is not the case for logography, as the system poses virtue over alphabets and only demands the reader to be aware of the existing words.

Social Perspectives on Literacy

Multilingualism, Discourse, and Ethnography

Research has proved that all children experience a range of reading disabilities. However, children who acquire literacy in bilingual or multilingual communities are faced with more challenges in working out particular forms of different scripts or orthographies. Studies show that reading in a second language is as difficult as writing in that language. These challenges are evident from the recent research carried out among English, foreign language (EFL) learners in Saudi Arabia. The study indicates that Saudi EFL learners are often stereotyped as poor English writers (Shukri, 2014). The study reveals the complexity of writing in the second language, that is, among Arab learners. The study pinpointed the common areas where problems arose. For instance, the learners had difficulties in emphasizing certain tenses, subject and verb agreement, irregular past tense forms, and paragraph unity among others. Also, approximately 50% of the students wrote compositions in their first language with no proper linking of ideas and lacked organization skills of ideas. The study confirmed that weaknesses in second language writing were because of a fundamental flaw in the mastery of Arabic writing skills.

Also, research carried out by (Wang, Mecklinger, Hofmann, and Weng, 2010) indicates that EFL learners commit errors in writing the second language because they tend to think first in their native language and then translate their thoughts into foreign language. The study indicates that Chinese children learning English take a longer time to write compositions in English than in Chinese. From the examples stated, it is right to say that ethnocentrism is a significant contributor off writing difficulties. However, by appreciating these differences, we can perceive that writing disabilities are not inherent in students themselves by are as a result of cultural factors.

Conclusion

From the evaluations mentioned above, it is clear that English orthography poses challenges to children learning to read the language. There are various factors behind this disparity. Such factors include the phonological and morphological complexities of English, as well the influence of the first language. The reasons can be supported by various studies such as those conducted among Wales and Chinese learners. The reviews mention the significance culture plays in promoting reading difficulties among beginners. The case study of Arab learners suggests that the learners have problems in writing English because of the influence of the first language. It is therefore essential to appreciate cultural differences in analyzing the challenges children face in learning English.

References

Goswami, U., Wang, H.L.S., Cruz, A., Fosker, T., Mead, N. and Huss, M., 2010. Language- universal sensory deficits in developmental dyslexia: English, Spanish, and Chinese. Language, 23(2).

James, D., Rajput, K., Brinton, J. and Goswami, U., 2007. Phonological awareness, vocabulary, and word reading in children who use cochlear implants: Does age of implantation explain individual variability in performance outcomes and growth?. Journal of Deaf Studies and Deaf Education, 13(1), pp.117-137.

Loizidou‐Ieridou, N., Masterson, J. and Hanley, J.R., 2010. Spelling development in 6–11‐year‐ old Greek‐speaking Cypriot children. Journal of Research in Reading, 33(3), pp.247-262.

Shukri, N.A., 2014. Second Language Writing and Culture: Issues and Challenges from the Saudi Learners’ Perspective. Arab World English Journal, 5(3).

Walker, J. and Hauerwas, L.B., 2006. Development of phonological, morphologica orthographic knowledge in young spellers: The case of inflected verbs. Reading and writing, 19(8), pp.819-843.

Wang, K., Mecklinger, A., Hofmann, J. and Weng, X., 2010. From orthography to meaning: an electrophysiological investigation of the role of phonology in accessing meaning of Chinese single-character words. Neuroscience, 165(1), pp.101-106.

Ziegler, J.C. and Goswami, U., 2005. Reading acquisition, developmental dyslexia, and skilled reading across languages: a psycholinguistic grain size theory. Psychological bulletin, 131(1), p.3.