Text 4. The concurrent development of spelling skills in two languages

Learning to spell is important as it is intricately connected with learning to read (Ehri, 2000). However, it is a complex developmental task because it requires children to learn the sound-symbol connection as well as more than 2000 rules of the language (Venezky, 1970). It can be a difficult task in the English language which is made up of about 40 units of sound with only 26 letters used to represent them (Treiman, 1993). When children are learning to spell in a second language in addition to their first, spelling can become even more complex. A number of studies have reported the impact of both negative and positive language transfer in children learning two languages (see Fashola, Drum, Mayer & Kang, 1996; San Francisco, Mo & Carlo, 2006; Wang and Geva, 2003). Language transfer refers to the impact of one’s knowledge in one language on learning or performing in another language (Figueredo, 2006).

The concurrent development of spelling skills in two languages has not been studied extensively. Studies that have been conducted suggest that orthographic depth and the similarities of the languages involved affect how easily and whether or not information is transferred from one language to another (see Arab-Moghaddam & Senechal, 2001; Davis, Carlisle & Beeman, 1999; Liow & Lau, 2006). Orthographic depth is determined by the degree of correspondence between sounds and the letters that represent them. Deep orthographies such as English or French, in which sound-symbol correspondence is inconsistent, would be harder to learn than more shallow orthographies, such as Spanish or German in which the correspondence is more consistent. As an example, Sun-Alperin and Wang (2008) observed that young native Spanish students’ English spelling errors were influenced by their Spanish orthography.

Error analysis of spelling in languages with different orthographic depths has been the subject of a small number of studies (see San Francisco et al., 2006; Sun Alperin & Wang, 2008; Wang & Geva, 2003). This type of analysis can help identify areas needing remediation in instruction. It can signal individual disabilities that could negatively affect a child’s ability to read. Error analysis of spelling in languages with different orthographic depths in contexts where children are learning two languages can also provide insight into transfer and into how orthographic knowledge or knowledge about spelling in one language might be used in another language. This type of analysis can be used in a context of studying the concurrent development of spelling skills in two languages.

(Source: Joy, R. The concurrent development of spelling skills in two languages (2011). International Electronic Journal of Elementary Education. Vol. 3, Issue 2, 105-121.)