English Spelling Research Articles

Corpus philology: Using the Dictionary of Old English to get bigger data for Old English spelling variation

Abstract This article presents a methodology for obtaining large datasets for the spelling of individual phonological segments in Old English texts, based on searching the Dictionary of Old English Corpus for the attested spellings listed in the Dictionary of Old English A-H. It exemplifies this ‘corpus philology’ through a study of 216,526 spellings for words beginning with h followed by a vowel, using a variety of techniques to evaluate the methodology’s precision and recall, which are calculated as very high for <h->initial spellings (precision 100% precision, recall 92.1%) and moderate, but still usable, for <h->less spellings (precision 85.5%, recall 58.3%). Data for fourteen other segments related to the behaviour of h- in Old English is presented in the Supplementary Materials that complement the paper online. This dataset of 379,484 spellings from 2,605 Old English texts is shown to seriously problematize the findings of traditional philology, the conclusions of which are in contrast based on only a handful of spellings from a few texts, and to have the potential to radically enhance our understanding of the literary and linguistic histories of English.

UNDERSTAND ENGLISH SPELLING THROUGH ENGLISH SONGS

English is a necessity in a technological life such as this moment. Therefore, introducing English should start as early as possible. So that the opportunities, especially for children, will be greater in mastering the English. One of the efforts that can be made by teachers is by introducing English, especially vocabulary, through songs. Apart from being a medium Songs are also one of the alternatives that can be used by teachers to create fun learning. This study uses a descriptive-qualitative approach that focuses on how English songs affect spelling in English. From the results of the research obtained, songs have a level of high effectiveness that can be used in the introduction of English spelling to participants.

Foreign Handling

The term foreign evolved during the mid-13th century from ferret, foreign, "out of doors", based on the Old French foreign, "outer, external, outdoor; remote", reflecting the sense of "not in one's own land" first attested in the late 14th century. Spelling in English was altered in the 17th century, perhaps by influence of the words reign and sovereign. The Foreign handling system is to provide best travelling services to the foreigners and also helps to promote responsible and interesting tourism so that people can enjoy their holidays at their favourable places. The website provides a user-friendly interface and accommodates the needs of its different user types. Here I try to overcome all the technical difficulties in the present system. The Foreign Handling System becomes not just a website but a gateway to meaningful experiences, responsible exploration, and unforgettable adventures for foreigners worldwide. It represents a powerful tool to foster understanding, promote cultural exchange, and create a world where people can truly enjoy their holidays at their favorable places. The website may utilize various technologies and frameworks, such as Angular, HTML, CSS, JavaScript, and server-side languages, to create a seamless and engaging user experience

Dyslexia-related loci are significantly associated with language and literacy in Chinese-English bilingual Hong Kong Chinese twins.

A recent genome-wide association study on dyslexia in 51,800 affected European adults and 1,087,070 controls detected 42 genome-wide significant single nucleotide variants (SNPs). The association between rs2624839 in SEMA3F and reading fluency was replicated in a Chinese cohort. This study explores the genetic overlap between Chinese and English word reading, vocabulary knowledge and spelling, and aims at replicating the association in a unique cohort of bilingual (Chinese-English) Hong Kong Chinese twins. Our result showed an almost complete genetic overlap in vocabulary knowledge (r2 = 0.995), and some genetic overlaps in word reading and spelling (r2 = 0.846, 0.687) across the languages. To investigate the region near rs2624839, we tested proxy SNPs (rs1005678, rs12632110 and rs12494414) at the population level (n = 305-308) and the within-twin level (n = 342-344 [171-172 twin pairs]). All the three SNPs showed significant associations with quantitative Chinese and English vocabulary knowledge (p < 0.05). The strongest association after multiple testing correction was between rs12494414 and English vocabulary knowledge at the within-twin level (p = 0.004). There was a trend of associations with word reading and spelling in English but not in Chinese. Our result suggested that the region near rs2624839 is one of the common genetic factors across English and Chinese vocabulary knowledge and unique factors of English word reading and English spelling in bilingual Chinese twins. A larger sample size is required to validate our findings. Further studies on the relationship between variable expression of SEMA3F, which is important to neurodevelopment, and language and literacy are encouraged.

Spelling-to-pronunciation transparency ratings for the 20,000 most frequently written English words.

Given English orthography's quasi-regular nature, applying common decoding rules to a word does not always result in a correct pronunciation matching the stored phonological form (e.g., the word tongue). To arrive at a correct pronunciation, developing readers must make the match between a decoded pronunciation and a word's correct pronunciation stored in memory. Developmentally, this matching process varies as a function of child skill (e.g., decoding, vocabulary) and word characteristics (e.g., spelling-to-pronunciation transparency, concreteness), with each being continuously distributed. Spelling-to-pronunciation transparency ratings represent a global measure of the ease of arriving at a word's correct pronunciation from its decoded pronunciation and in experimental studies has been shown to be a critical dimension in assessing the difficulty of a word for developing readers (e.g., Steacy et al., 2022a, 2022b). This study aimed to create a database of spelling-to-pronunciation transparency ratings for the 23,282 most frequently written English words, made available in the supplemental materials for future analyses. We asked adults to rate words' spelling-to-pronunciation transparency on a scale of 1-6 (1 = very easy to match, 6 = very difficult). Results of multiple regression analyses revealed variance in ratings to be unaccounted for by other word features, demonstrating the uniqueness of these ratings. Furthermore, words that are considered irregular, classified previously as strange, or contained at least one schwa received higher ratings, demonstrating strong associations between transparency and regularity. Lastly, these ratings significantly predicted both adult word naming time and child word reading accuracy above and beyond other word features known to predict reading.

Oral language comprehension of young adults with low-level reading comprehension.

Significant difficulties in reading comprehension, despite attendance of compulsory schooling, are a worldwide phenomenon. While previous research on adults with low literacy skills focused primarily on their reading ability, less is known about their oral language skills. In this Brief Research Report, we present an investigation of the listening comprehension skills of a selected group of German-speaking young adults, whose reading comprehension is at a primary school level (n = 32, ages 16 to 19 years). In addition, the relationship between listening comprehension and reading comprehension, beyond word reading skills, was tested. Standardized tests of reading and listening comprehension in the German language were administered. The average performance of the group in the listening comprehension tasks was below the level expected by age and educational level. In addition, when entered into a stepwise regression equation, listening comprehension, but not word reading, explained a significant amount of variance in reading comprehension. This pattern of relationship differs from previous findings in studies of adults struggling to read the opaque English orthography. Whether orthographic transparency explains this discrepancy should be further tested in cross-orthography studies with larger samples of adults with low literacy skills.

The primacy of morphology in English braille spelling: an analysis of bridging contractions

This study examines the use of braille contractions in a corpus of spelling tests from braille-reading children in grades 1-4, with particular attention to braille contractions that create mismatches with morphological structure. Braille is a tactile writing system that enables people who are blind or visually impaired to read and write. In English and many other languages, reading and writing braille is not simply a matter of transliterating between print letters and their braille equivalents; Unified English Braille (the official braille system used in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, and several other English-speaking countries) contains 180 contractions—one or more braille cells that represent whole words or strings of letters. In some words, the prescriptive rules for correct braille usage cause contractions to bridge morphological boundaries and to obscure the spellings of stems and affixes. We demonstrate that, when the prescriptive rules for correct braille usage flout morphological structure, young braille spellers generally follow the morphology rather than the orthographic rules. This work establishes that morphology matters for young braille learners. We discuss the potential impact of our findings on braille research, development, and pedagogy, and we suggest ways in which our findings contribute to understanding the nature of orthographic morphemes and the place of braille in the reading sciences.

What do classroom teachers of varying backgrounds know about English spelling?

The ability to encode (spell) is an integral writing skill needed to communicate effectively. The ability to spell, also, enhances decoding as spelling and decoding are reciprocal skills that rely on knowledge of the same subskills. Spelling can also be particularly difficult for students with literacy and phonological-processing difficulties such as dyslexia. Because of the multiple benefits of knowing how to spell correctly, it is important for teachers to know the structure of the English language, so they can explicitly teach spelling. Through the administration of a survey, this study assessed 324 U.S. teachers' knowledge of English spelling patterns (Part 1). In addition, the inclusion of survey items intended to measure teachers' awareness of how children's spelling can be influenced by either African American English or the overlap between Spanish and English in emergent bilinguals. African American English and Spanish were chosen due to the underperformance of many African American and Hispanic/Latinx students on national and state reading assessments. Part 2 of the survey assessed teachers' self-efficacy in teaching spelling, while Part 3 assessed teachers' philosophy about spelling and teaching spelling. The Rasch analyses revealed that teachers whose primary area of teaching was reading outperformed those whose primary area of teaching was not reading. Additionally, teachers who taught Emergent Bilinguals outperformed those who did not on the constructs measuring words with possible influences of Spanish language on the spelling of English words. Several spelling patterns posed problems for all groups of teachers, while others were the least difficult for teachers. Practical and research implications are addressed.

Spelling Variation in Inner-Circle Englishes

English is the language with the largest number of speakers in the world, when both native and non-native speakers are included. With an estimated 1,268 million users around the globe, linguistic variation is bound to occur. Research on World Englishes focuses on the study of this variation, though it has systematically disregarded the linguistic level of orthography. This neglect has operated under the assumption that most contemporary varieties must adhere to British English spelling norms. Nevertheless, recent studies on the Americanisation of English worldwide (Mair 2013; Gilquin 2018; Gonçalves et al. 2018) have brought the question of spelling variation back to the fore. The present paper thus analyses the distribution of the most distinctive spelling variants—i.e. -our/-or, -re/-er and -isation/-ization—in the varieties of the inner circle from a synchronic perspective. By means of a corpus-based investigation of English online, this study will outline the spelling usage patterns for the aforementioned varieties and will analyse the highly-likely Americanisation process in spelling on the Internet.

Word And Syllable

In the English language, spelling and pronunciation have a particularly strange relationship. How we write a word and how we say it often do not match. There always seem to be discrepancies and exceptions to the rules of thumb. When we say a word, the sounds we make naturally consist of word parts. We call these parts ‘syllables’. A syllable can be defined as any one of the parts into which a word is naturally divided when it is pronounced. Hence, we might sat that phonetically (i.e. in relation to the way it is pronounced), a syllable is a unit of organization for a sequence of speech sounds. It is made up of a centre of syllable, called a nucleus (mostly a vowel), with optional initial and final sounds (typically, consonants). English pronunciation of words isn’t always intuitive. The same letter combinations in one word may make a completely different sound in another. One way to practice your pronunciation is by breaking words down into syllables. Syllables are the sonic units of a word, sometimes called the “beats” of a word. We do this naturally when we speak. Every time you say a new syllable, your mouth has to change its shape and make a new sound. Noticing when this happens and counting syllables can help you break words down into recognizable patterns that are easier to pronounce.

English Spelling Game Design as Learning Media

In this digital era, the ability to use technology is a must that everyone must own, especially educators or teachers, so that they can provide teaching or material by utilizing technology. Understanding various foreign languages in the era of globalization in the 21st century is needed by all groups. So it is necessary to teach from an early age about learning and understanding foreign languages for children, especially learning English, an international language. Based on the background and previous research, it is necessary to have a learning media in the form of a game for learning English, especially in understanding spelling, so that students both at an early age and in elementary school students can be more motivated and enthusiastic in remembering the good and correct spelling of English.

Crosslinguistic influence on spelling in written compositions: Evidence from English-Spanish dual language learners in primary grades

We investigated spelling errors in English and Spanish essays by Spanish-English dual language learners in Grades 1, 2, and 3 (N = 278; 51% female) enrolled in either English immersion or English-Spanish dual immersion programs. We examined what types of spelling errors students made, whether they made spelling errors that could be due to crosslinguistic influence, and whether errors were associated with instructional program, English learner status, and grade level. Compositions were transcribed and coded using the Systematic Analysis of Language Transcripts (SALT) software. Spelling errors were suggestive of crosslinguistic influence that was mostly unidirectional from one language to the other rather than bidirectional. Spelling errors were related to instructional program such that students in Spanish-English dual immersion made more English spelling errors in English compositions due to Spanish influence, and students in English immersion made more spelling errors in Spanish compositions due to English influence. Students in higher grades also made less English spelling errors in English compositions due to Spanish influence than students in lower grades. These findings suggest that dual language learners acquire spelling patterns in one language influenced by instruction and home language, which transfers to spelling in the other language.

Explicit word-study interventions for adult Arabic-speaking English language learners

Spelling gains were examined when spelling patterns were taught to Arabic adult ELLs in two interventions. The first intervention utilised an explicit word-study technique in isolation of meaningful reading tasks. Participants sorted discovery words; deduced, read about and discussed the spelling patterns; brainstormed words that followed the target patterns; and used the target patterns in writing meaningful sentences. The second intervention engaged participants with meaningful reading-comprehension tasks that contained the target patterns heavily embedded within the reading passages to foster incidental learning of the patterns. Participants subsequently followed the same word-study technique which was used in the first intervention. Pre- and post-test results demonstrated that both interventions led to meaningful gains in spelling achievement. The gains were comparable for both interventions. The results call for comprehensive inclusion of explicit teaching of the English orthographic spelling patterns within curriculums – a practice that is not typically emphasised with ELLs.

Cross-linguistic influences on the production of third language consonant clusters by L1 Cantonese–L2 English–L3 German trilinguals

ABSTRACT This study examines the production of third language (L3) German consonant clusters by 26 L1 Cantonese–L2 English bilinguals, with the aim of uncovering the possible cross-linguistic influences on L3 pronunciation. Learners’ production of 17 onset and 21 coda German consonant clusters were auditorily analysed with respect to accuracy and error type. Findings showed that L3 pronunciation accuracy was affected by the similarities between each individual L3 consonant cluster and its possible correspondences in L1 Cantonese and L2 English. An L3 German consonant cluster that contained more Cantonese and English consonants would be produced more accurately, whereas an L3 consonant cluster that looked similar to English but mismatched with English orthography would generate production errors (e.g. kn [kn] → kn [n]). Individual variation between different L3 consonant clusters suggests that cross-linguistic influences on the L3 can occur from both the L1 and the L2 at the feature level and can be both positive and negative. At the same time, the study also shows that L3 speech is significantly influenced by markedness and language experience factors.

English foreign language reading and spelling diagnostic assessments informing teaching and learning of young learners

In order to inform English foreign language (EFL) diagnostic assessment of literacy, this study examined the extent to which 175 first-language Hebrew-speaking EFL young learners from fifth to tenth grade exhibited differences in single-letter grapheme recognition, sub-word, and word reading, and rapid automatized naming (RAN) of letters and numbers. In addition, this cross-sectional quasi-experimental quantitative study examined correlations between the aforementioned literacy components and oral reading speed, spelling, vocabulary, syntax, and morphological awareness. There were no differences between the grades for single-letter grapheme recognition, and participants demonstrated incomplete automatic recognition for this task. Sub-word recognition improved across grades. However, the results highlighted a lack of mastery. Sub-word recognition correlated with word reading and spelling throughout. RAN speeded measures and oral reading speed correlated with sub-word, word recognition, and spelling in the older grades illustrating the presence of accuracy and speed components. Correlations across grades between literacy components and vocabulary, syntax, and morphological awareness provided support for theories explaining how knowledge of multiple layers of words contributes to literacy acquisition. These results comprising EFL diagnostic assessment can inform reading and spelling teaching and learning.

Linguistic Strategies in the Translation/Transliteration of the Names of Biblical Books into Igbo and Yoruba

As discoveries are made, new words are needed to capture and describe the various new realities. These new words and ideas need to be either translated or transliterated into other languages for the benefit of the users of those languages. Consequently, strategies used successfully for previous translations and transliterations need to be studied, understood, and defined in order to maintain consistency in subsequent translations. It is from this perspective that this work seeks to unveil the translation and transliteration strategies employed in expressing the names of the sixty-six books of the Protestant Bible in Igbo and Yoruba. Drawing on the data sourced from Igbo and Yoruba Bibles, this study shows that literal translation, direct translations, and borrowing were used. The borrowed words were adapted into the two indigenous languages using sound substitution, sound insertion, or approximation of Igbo/Yoruba phonetic symbols to English orthography.

Does Spanish knowledge contribute to accurate English word spelling in adult bilinguals?

AbstractCorrectly spelling an English word requires a high-quality orthographic representation. When faced with spelling a complex word without a high-quality representation, spellers often rely on other knowledge sources (e.g., incomplete stored orthographic forms, phonological to orthographic relationships) to spell it. For bilinguals, another potentially facilitative source is knowledge of a word's lexical and sublexical representations in another language. In the current study we considered simultaneous effects of word-level (e.g., frequency, cognate status) and person-level (e.g., English spelling skill, prompting, bilingual status) predictors on college students’ complex English word spelling. Monolinguals (English; n = 42) significantly outperformed bilinguals (Spanish and English; n = 76) on non-cognate spelling; no group differences emerged for cognate spelling accuracy. Within bilinguals, significantly higher spelling performance on cognates compared to non-cognates suggests cognate facilitation, with no prompting effects. Findings expand an interdisciplinary framework of understanding bilinguals’ activation and use of cross-linguistic representations in spelling.

Impact of Phonemic Transcription on Learners’ English Spelling: A Segmental Study

Acquiring sufficient proficiency in English pronunciation is a strenuous task for EFL (English as a Foreign Language) learners. Among other reasons, one primary reason is the lack of correspondence between the sounds and letters of the English language which makes English pronunciation a hard task for foreign learners. To reduce this discrepancy of sounds and spellings in order to improve the pronunciation of language learners, phonemic transcription is used quite widely by EFL/ESL teachers across the world. The phonetic/phonemic transcription is based on the internationally recognized symbols commonly referred to as IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) offered by IPA (International Phonetic Association). Despite the immense usefulness of phonemic transcription, it has the potential to negatively affect learners’ normal English spellings. The present research aimed to explore the impact of continuous phonemic transcription on English spellings of EFL learners through a Pre experimental research design. The study participants were the students of Diploma level in the Functional Courses Department, National University of Modern Languages (henceforth NUML). A range of phonemic passages was used as a research tool to explore the impact of sounds on spellings and Cook’s classification of spelling errors was adapted as a model for the categorization of spelling errors. Findings of the study reveal various categories of sound substitution errors under the impact of consonants, vowels, and diphthongs. With continuous practice of converting phonemic transcription into normal English spelling/orthography, certain consonantal sounds like /ð/, /?/, /,/s/, /k/, /z/, /w/ and vowel sounds like /i:/, /i/, /æ/, /?/, /?/, /?/, /?/ show the Mother Tongue(MT) impact of sounds on spellings. While in the case of diphthongs, only two sounds /a?/, and /e?/ exhibit the impact of sounds on spellings.

Exploring the English Spelling Characteristics and Error Patterns of a Korean Middle School Student at Risk for Dyslexia: A Longitudinal Case Study

Exploring the English Spelling Characteristics and Error Patterns of a Korean Middle School Student at Risk for Dyslexia: A Longitudinal Case Study

Writing proficiency in English as L2 in Spanish children with dyslexia

Different studies have demonstrated that people with dyslexia have difficulties in acquiring fluent reading and writing. These problems are also evident when they learn a second language. The aim of our study was to investigate if there is a linguistic transfer effect for writing in children with dyslexia when they face tasks in English (L2), as well as the possible influence of other linguistic skills (spelling, vocabulary and reading) in English (L2) and in Spanish (L1). Participants completed a series of tasks both in Spanish and English: a picture naming task, a word reading task, a word spelling task, and a written composition of which we analysed its quality through different variables provided by the Coh-metrix software. Our results revealed that children with dyslexia show similar or parallel performance in written composition in both languages, which could imply a language transfer effect from L1 and L2. Besides, basic language skills are related to the characteristics of written composition to a greater extent in English than in Spanish, suggesting the impact of these on the quality of written composition.