English Spelling Research Articles

Invented spelling in English and pinyin in multilingual L1 and L2 Cantonese Chinese speaking children in Hong Kong.

This research examined the relations among Cantonese phonological awareness, invented spelling in Pinyin (in Mandarin), and invented English spelling in 29 first language (L1) and 34 s language (L2) Cantonese-speaking second and third graders in Hong Kong. The purpose of this study was to understand how phonological awareness skills across languages are associated in multilinguals. We compared the phonological skills in the two groups (i.e., L1 and L2 Chinese speaking children) for the three official languages (i.e., Cantonese, Mandarin, and English) spoken in Hong Kong. The two groups did not differ on Cantonese phonological awareness, Mandarin Pinyin invented spelling, or English invented spelling, but the L1 group performed significantly better than the L2 group on Mandarin Pinyin tone skills, with non-verbal intelligence and grade level statistically controlled. In both groups, all three of the phonological sensitivity measures were significantly correlated with one another. With group, grade, and nonverbal IQ statistically controlled, only Mandarin Pinyin invented spelling but not Cantonese phonological awareness uniquely explained English invented spelling performance. In contrast, Pinyin invented spelling was uniquely explained by both English invented spelling and Cantonese phonological awareness skills. Results highlight some phonological transfer effects across languages.

English Spelling of the Glottal Stop and Voiced Pharyngeal Fricative in Arabic Personal Names by Educated Arabs on Facebook

A sample of 560 Arab Facebook users consisting of students, faculty, schoolteachers, and other professionals with different proficiency levels in English was selected. The study analyzed how Arabic personal names on Facebook to find out how names with the glottal stop (hamza) [ʔ] and/or voiced pharyngeal fricative [ʕ] in initial, medial and final positions, with different Arabic short and long vowels before and after them are spelled; whether there are variations in their spelling; causes of spelling variations, and the spelling strategies used. Results showed that 63% of the names have an initial hamza; 10% have a medial hamza; 24% have a final hamza. 65% have one variant and 29% have two variants. Names with the highest occurrences are Eman (26); Ibrahim (18); Alaa & Ismail (17) each; and Asma (16). In some names there is a cluster of 2-3 vowels (Waeel, Ismaiel, Ismaeel, Ismaeil, Doaa Duaa). The voiced pharyngeal fricative [ʕ] in all names was substituted by a vowel as this phoneme/grapheme does not exist in English. Thus both [ʔ] and [ʕ] are represented by vowels and pronounced the same in English. 64.5% have an initial [ʕ], 30% have a medial [ʕ] and 5% have a final [ʕ]. 85% of the names with [ʕ] have one variant and 13.5% have two variants. اسماعيل has the highest number of variants (Esmail/Ismail, Ismael, Esmaiel/Ismaeil, Ismaeel) because [ʕ] ع is preceded and followed by long vowels. Some names with final [ʔ] and [ʕ] and followed by a long vowel were spelled with a single -a or double -aa. In Asma, Wafa, Haifa and Sana, [ʕ] was deleted because the spelling matches how the name is pronounced in the local dialect. In Abduh, Amro Enayah Waed, transferred the Arabic spelling system was transferred to English. [ʕ] was deleted is some names (Menem, Yakoub, Gomma) and the vowel was retained to facilitate pronunciation. An apostrophe was added in Ro’aa, Asma’a to split the vowel cluster. The study gives recommendations to help EFL students spell names with phonemes/graphemes that do not exist in English accurately and to help English speakers pronounce the English version correctly.

Word reading by sequential trilingual: the relative strength of lexical and sub-lexical processing in Arabic and English orthographies

Word reading by sequential trilingual: the relative strength of lexical and sub-lexical processing in Arabic and English orthographies

English Spelling of Arabic Compound Personal Names by Educated Arabs on Facebook

This study examines a sample of Arabic compound personal name spelling errors in English on Facebook as produced by educated Arabs such as students, faculty, schoolteachers, and other professionals. It also examines the kinds of variant spellings and their sources, and the spelling strategies used. A sample of 452 compound names was selected from Facebook consisting of the prefixes عبد Abd, أبو Abu, and the suffix الدين -ddine. The subjects have different proficiency levels in English. The English spelling data analysis revealed that 68.1% of the compound names begin with Add, Abel, Abdal and Abdul; 27.6% begin with Abo, Abu, Abou, Apo; and 4.2% end with -ddine, -dine, -din. In compound name containing Abd, the prefix has 3 attached forms, 3 detached forms and 1 hyphenated form. In 5 variants, Abd is attached to the definite article -al whether the compound structure is Abd + -al+ Noun or just Abd +-al. In 27% a capitalized noun follows Abd, Abdel, Abdal, Abdel and Abdul. The second prefix Abo was used in 54 compounds in this category; Abu in 50 compounds; Abou in 17; Apo in 2; Abul in 1; and Aboul in 1 compound. Only two compounds out of 125 contain this prefix attached -al (Abul & Aboul). In 74%, the subjects capitalized the second constituent that follows Abu, Abo, Abou, Aboul, Abul, and Apo. The suffix الدين occurred in 19 unique names. It has three variants (-ddine, -din, -dine) and 38 occurrences. The form with the highest occurrence is -din. In 10 compounds, the suffix and the first constituent are spelled as one word. In 15 compounds the definite article in الدين is capitalized. In 8 compounds the initial letter in دين is doubled as it is a sun letter that is assimilated with -al. The variant and deviant English spellings of compound names in this study can be attributed to lack of competence in grapheme-phoneme correspondence, ignorance of the English spelling rules, and transfer of the Arabic spelling system to English. The study gives recommendations for improving the subjects’ spelling skills in English.

English Spelling of the Glottal Stop and Voiced Pharyngeal Fricative in Arabic Personal Names by Educated Arabs on Facebook

English Spelling of the Glottal Stop and Voiced Pharyngeal Fricative in Arabic Personal Names by Educated Arabs on Facebook

Aspects of Americanism in English Spelling: the -is(z)e ending

The present study is concerned with the issue of the -is(z)e ending in English spelling. A few common sense ideas about this issue are (i) the -ize ending is inherently part of American English and the -ise ending is part of British English, and (ii) currently the former is superior to the latter because of the predominant power of America surpassing that of Britain ever since World War II. Contrary to these ideas, this paper throws light on what actually took place in the history of Americanization relating to this issue. Based on the current trend of fluidity in the use of -is(z)e ending in Phillipson’s periphery-English countries including the Philippines, India, Sweden, and Finland as well as in both America and Britain, the study investigates if there may be any phonetic and/or phonological rationale for the superiority of the -ize ending over the -ise ending, apart from what has previously been thought of this issue from a sociolinguistic perspective. (Hannam University)

Young learners’ reading-writing skills in English as FL in Kazakhstan

This study examines reading and writing skills in English as a foreign language (EFL) of 12-year-old students in the middle schools in Pavlodar (North part of Kazakhstan). The participants were six graders, Kazakh (N=115) and Russian (N=145) native speakers from seven randomly chosen middle secondary schools in Pavlodar. Kazakh and Russian students performed the tests in English assessing reading and writing skills, and responded several questions regarding socio-economic status (SES) in order to explore the interaction of SES and skills in EFL. The results showed that Kazakh students performed better in writing, whereas Russians were better in reading. Moreover, weak correlation between reading and writing skills in English may emerge the effect of non-transparent orthography of English and the deep transparency in Kazakh and Russian languages. The instruments proved to be appropriate for Kazakhstani context although writing tests need further improvements. Apparent independence of reading and writing performances may be due to the compound nature of score in writing, limited number of classes, fewer opportunities for everyday interaction in EFL.

Prosodic Transfer in English Literacy Skills among Chinese Elementary-Age Students: Controlling for Non-Verbal Intelligence.

Building upon the prosodic transfer hypothesis, the current study aims to examine the intermediary effect of English stress on the relation between Chinese lexical tone awareness and English word-level literacy (reading and spelling) as well as the moderating effect of English oral vocabulary proficiency on the cross-linguistic association. Grade 4 Chinese learners of English (N = 224) participated in this study and were assessed for their tone and stress sensitivity, English oral vocabulary, English word reading, and English word spelling. Mediated multivariate analyses with moderation were used to explore: (1) whether the influence of lexical tone perception on L2 word reading and spelling was mediated by English stress as posited in the prosodic transfer hypothesis; (2) whether the effects of tone on English word reading and spelling performance varied as a function of oral vocabulary levels. The findings revealed a direct positive relationship between Chinese tone and English word reading and spelling, and the relationship was mediated by English stress awareness. Furthermore, the direct pathway from tone to English word-level literacy skills were moderated by oral vocabulary and the relationship between tone and English word-level skills became stronger as oral vocabulary levels increased; however, such strength reached a plateau among children without adequate oral vocabulary skills. These findings suggest the necessity to incorporate word spelling as an outcome in the cross-suprasegmental phonological transfer models of early literacy development. Additionally, the current study endorses the complexity of cross-language prosodic transfer. It points to a precise threshold for sufficient L2 oral vocabulary skills to enable tone transfer in English word-level literacy attainment.

A Duoethnography of a Chinese Pre-Service Teacher’s Encounters with Young Learner Spelling Errors in the English Classroom

A large body of research has indicated that young second language (L2) learners often have problems with spelling, such as letter omission and mis-ordering. To give due attention to this issue, a duoethnographic study was undertaken by two researchers from different language education backgrounds. The data were collected by way of 18 conversations (86,213-word transcription). These transcribed conversations were then reconstructed in order to accurately present the dialogue that took place between the two researchers. The conversations centered around four themes related to young Chinese learners’ English spelling issues, namely: the roles of a practicum mentor and supervisor; factors resulting in young learners’ spelling issues; the relationship between spelling and reading; implications for future teaching. The findings of this study suggest that future English teachers of young learners should implement morphological instruction, encourage students to read more, instruct students on how to make and use word cards, and explain how delayed copying should be used for spelling practice. This duoethnograpy also suggests that mentors, supervisors, and pre-service teachers should engage in duoethnographic research in order to better understand mentoring, supervision, and teaching issues, whilst also promoting professional development.

Standardization of English language spellings used in textism: A viewpoint of undergraduate learners in Pakistan

The purpose of this quantitative research is to explore the perspective of students in Pakistan if they prefer the English language standard spellings to be changed in accordance with the texting spelling structures for properly matching pronunciation with spellings. A sample size of 100 students was randomly selected from among the undergraduates of colleges in Lahore; 50 male students and 50 females. Using a questionnaire, students were asked about their opinion if a particular set of spellings used in texting becomes formally accepted; which spellings they would prefer if given a choice; if learning and mastering the English language be improved with this advancement; and if they find the same spelling and pronunciation mismatch in their own language too. The texting word forms included words from the category of short forms and vowel deletion. Using SPSS, the responses were evaluated and the hypotheses were tested. The results show that students hold the same firmness as the other language trainers and researchers i.e. the preservation and correct practice of standard English language, and that SMS slang does not interfere with the standard norms of English language.

The rationalisation of vowel diacritic spelling in Early Modern English (1500–1700)

Abstract During the sixteenth and the seventeenth centuries, a number of spelling solutions gradually became established in English as ways to indicate vowel quality, namely whether a vowel sound was different from another, and vowel quantity, that is to say whether a vowel was long or short. Among the solutions that arose to indicate vowel quality, <ea> and <oa> were introduced for spellings like sea and boat. For vowel quantity, ‘single’ consonants in pairs like <g> and <dg>, <ch> and <tch>, as well as <k> and <ck> began to be used for immediately preceding long vowels. My contribution explores all of the examples of vowel diacritic spelling mentioned above in printed English between 1500 and 1700, using a quantitative model for the analysis of patterns across a range of texts from Early English Books Online. The analysis shows an overall process of standardisation occurring between the sixteenth and the seventeenth centuries, and provides fresh insights into the lexical distribution for the standardisation of vowel diacritic spelling. The discussion reflects upon the development of the spellings, and argues for pragmatic factors within the Early Modern English printing industry as responsible for their modern standardisation.

Improving Students’ English Spelling Ability Through Activity-Based Teaching-Learning for Standard VII

This paper’s problem is improving the spelling ability of Standard VII students of a selected Higher Secondary School in Pune. The primary reasons behind the low ability of spelling highlighted by teachers of the English language are 1. Irregularities in classes/guidance/practice during covid-19 related periods, 2. Lack of interest in practicing spelling due to online and limited classes, and 3. Lack of motivation to work on spelling at home. Studies on improving spelling include Language games, storytelling, activity-based learning, specialized guidance, and so forth. The research methodology consists of identifying an issue with spelling ability, planning ac- activities to improve spelling, implementing/action, and checking the effectiveness of the activities by reflecting on the results. The researcher conducted activities with the help of school teachers. The researcher used activities like word breaks, word journals, personal dictionaries, and dictation with test scores to interpret results. For analyzing data, the researcher used test scores and compared them with two situations, pre-test and post-test conditions of an experiment. Activities implemented were found beneficial to increase interest in getting essential skills in English like spelling and confirmed by the results. Similarly, this study showed significant improvement in spelling using activity-based teaching-learning.

Spelling errors by Spanish children when writing in English as a foreign language

English orthography differs from that of other European languages in terms of complexity and regularity. This difference may impact the development of accurate spelling in English, especially when it is learned as a foreign language in school. In this study we wanted to explore spelling development patterns of Spanish speaking children learning English at school. To do so, we analyzed spelling errors from a free narrative task from 136 children in fourth, fifth and sixth grades. We classified errors following a two-level procedure based on the Triple Word Form theory (Phonology, Orthography and Morphology) and the POMAS (Phonological, Orthographic, and Morphological Assessment of Spelling) system. While results showed almost no change in accuracy across grades, there was evidence of more errors related to orthography as compared to phonology and morphology. This points to an incomplete knowledge of English orthography. This study sheds light on the spelling development of foreign language learners, and illustrates the interference that the native language may have when the two orthographies of the speller are linguistically distant. Considering the findings, educational implications to improve foreign language spelling instruction at school are offered.

The Effects of Morpheme Instructions on Spelling Proficiency of Students at Primary Level

The ability to modify derived words, recognize linkages between the many morphological forms of a word, and develop new derivations of words is what is meant by the term "teaching spellings through morphologically based instructions" in the field of English language teaching and learning. Teaching spellings through morphologically based instructions also refers to the process of teaching spellings through morphologically based instruction. In the current study, an effort was made to investigate the impact of morphological instruction on spelling improvements in relational, syntactic, and distributional aspects of derivational morphology, and in turn, its effects on English spelling learning for primary-level ESL students who were also learning English as a Foreign Language. The research included a total of 25 primary school pupils who were learning English as a second language. These students were randomly assigned to one of two groups: the experimental group or the control group.

Students' Anxiety in Learning English as a Foreign Language. A Case from Indonesia

Although the study of students’ anxiety in learning English as a Foreign Language (EFL) in Indonesia has been conducted before, little attention is paid to whether gender or English level contributes more to the anxiety in learning. EFL students, particularly in Indonesia, find difficulty in learning the language because it has different rules from their own language. There is no such thing as gender-based personal pronouns or tenses in their verbs. It doesn’t have the plural form which is equivalent to adding “s” in English. In Bahasa Indonesia, how you spell it is how you pronounce it. While the spelling in English does not correspond with its pronunciation. 242 Grade 10 students, male and female in three different English levels (Levels 1,2, and 3) were included in the study. This study aims at researching the students’ anxiety level in terms of communication apprehension, fear of negative evaluation, and test-taking. Fear of negative evaluation shows the highest cause of students’ anxiety followed by test-taking and communication apprehension. Students in English Level 1 and 2 show a significant relationship to the level of anxiety, while students in Level 3 have no relationship between anxiety and that level. Gender has shown some significance but it is very weak. Between gender and English level, it shows that gender, though has weaker significance, contributes more to the anxiety compared to the English level. Further explication of each issue is discussed.

Correction to: What do teacher educators know about English spelling?

Correction to: What do teacher educators know about English spelling?

Phonetic Spelling of Javanese Speakers in Karangpaten Village

It is undeniable that times are always changing. For this reason, everyone must continue to learn to keep a store of development. The benefit of learning is to provide up-to-date information and news to people. If we don’t know the latest information about what happens the in the world, the younger generations may lead, for instance, in e. This descriptive qualitative study focuses on the description of the English phonetic spelling system spoken by the speakers of JavathJava the backgroundconnotesconotes that such speakers of certain regional backgrounds possess the identic sound and preferential native language. This studescribeption of the phonetic spelling with the Java native language through the phonetic method to the villagers of Karangtapen village Lamongan. In this study, the researchers have three objectives: (a) to know the kinds of consonants and vowels features that are different, (b) to understand the common characteristics of pronunciation, and (c) to distinguish sh the effect of staying in a village and a often going for pronunciation.
 
 Keywords: phonetic, spelling, Javanese

Cross-cultural Study of Teacher Passivity through the Lens of Educational Transactional Analysis

This article was previously published in the European Research Studies Journal, Volume XXIV, Issue 3B, 72-95, 2021, and we acknowledge with thanks the permission given by that journal to reproduce it here due to its TA content.
 Like IJTARP, the ESJR is a refereed open access publication. It covers a wide variety of topics in the fields of business and economics, and can be accessed at www.ersj.eu.
 We have used minimal editing, which has included formatting and English spelling.
 Purpose: The purpose of the article is to present the research results based on the concept of passivity in accordance with the assumptions of transactional analysis – one of the psychotherapeutic modalities in the humanistic school of thought. Passivity is defined as behaviors that block constructive and solution-oriented actions.
 Design/Methodology/Approach: The main research methods included diagnostic surveys and questionnaire techniques. The study used the “Reality of an Educator” questionnaire by Anna Pierzchała (2013). 441 respondents provided their answers from Guatemala, Poland, the UK and Ukraine. The differences were identified using the Kruskal–Wallis test, the equivalent of a one-factor analysis of variance (ANOVA) that is commonly used for independent samples.
 Findings: The comparative cross-cultural research on teacher passive behaviours indicated significant educational differences between countries. The lowest levels of passivity were reported in Guatemala [1] and the highest in Ukraine. The Hofstede Model of Cultural Dimensions enabled the authors to outline some generic tendencies concerning passive behaviours in the countries studied. Individually reported levels of passivity were bridged with cultural determinants resulting from teachers’ social functioning.
 Practical Implications: The study offers some guidelines for tackling teacher passivity and identifies strategies of enhancing problem-solving skills. The most common passive behaviour across all countries was overadaptation, which underlined the importance of developing teachers’ awareness of interpersonal phenomena from the point of view of transactional analysis.
 Originality/Value: The research presented has not been carried out before and at this stage has an exploratory character, indicating certain inter-culturally declared patterns and at the same time determining areas for further investigation. Transactional analysis appears to be a useful theoretical construct in the design of cross-cultural comparative studies.

Spelling as a way to classify poor Chinese-English literacy skills in Hong Kong Chinese children.

Previous work has predominantly focused on word reading in studying literacy difficulties; very little work has focused on spelling difficulty instead. The present study adopted spelling (dictation) as the criterion to classify poor literacy skills in Hong Kong Chinese-English bilingual children. We examined the cognitive-linguistic skills profiles across four groups of children with different spelling abilities. Based on performances on Chinese and English dictation (criterion = below 25% in a larger sample), four groups were identified, 21 poor spellers of Chinese (PC), 18 poor spellers of English (PE), 27 poor spellers of both languages (PB), and 30 good spellers of both scripts (GB). Measures on language-specific tests of cognitive-linguistic skills (phonological awareness, lexical decision, morphological awareness, rapid naming, and delayed copying) were included to compare the degree of deficit exhibited by each group. With age, grade, and non-verbal intelligence controlled, one-way ANCOVA results revealed that, compared to GB, PC manifested significant deficits in Chinese-delayed copying but scored similarly on all English cognitive-linguistic skills. PE and PB showed significant deficits in Chinese and English phonological awareness compared to PC; they were significantly weaker in English-delayed copying, morphological awareness, and rapid naming (RAN). The PB group was significantly slower in both Chinese and English RAN compared to GB. Findings highlight the critical role of delayed copying in distinguishing poor spellers in both Chinese and English, the importance of phonological awareness for spelling in English but not in Chinese, and the role of automaticity in bilingual spelling difficulties.

Effects of Phonological Features on Texting Styles: Future Directions

This paper aims to investigate the effect of phonological features on online written text messages. Data were collected from ninety ESL Indian students at Aligarh Muslim University with regards to their Facebook-based chats. The dataset was fed into SPSS for analysis. Major findings showed that the respondents tend to use vowel deletion, the substitution of numbers for phones, words represented by a single letter and overuse of sounds to represent phonology in their written text messages. With this in mind, the study yielded evidence that texting reverses the previous studies that spelling first and then phonology. That is to say, this study revealed that phonology affects the way of writing online text messages. This study also showed that phonology is used in the written forms and that Facebook users sometimes reject to follow the standard spelling of English and write the words as they are pronounced, not as they are written in standard English. Keywords: internet linguistics, netSpeak, phonetic spelling, phonological features, textSpeak, Webspeak