Learning statistical orthographic patterns in disyllabic English words and using them in reading and spelling

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Project Summary/Abstract Reading and spelling instruction typically focuses on single-syllable words, and children sometimes have difficulty when confronted with longer words. These difficulties can be especially severe in children with dyslexia. Previous research has concentrated on spelling– sound relationships and reading and spelling processes for one-syllable English words. Less is known about how children deal with longer words and how to teach them to do so. To fill the gap in knowledge about longer words, the current project studies two-syllable words—the most common type of longer word in English. We focus on three issues: which syllable of a word is stressed, whether a stressed first syllable has a short or long vowel, and whether a middle consonant is spelled with a single or a double letter. One set of studies examines the linguistic cues that could potentially help readers and spellers decide on stress, vowel length, and consonant doubling. To do this, we examine the spelling–sound relationships in comprehensive lists of disyllabic words that occur in reading materials at each of the kindergarten to university levels. We expect to find a number of probabilistic patterns that, taken together, help to predict stress, vowel length, and consonant doubling. We ask whether some of these patterns change across grade levels as children are increasingly exposed to words of Latin and Greek origin. To study how children are currently taught to read and spell longer words, we analyze teaching materials that are widely used in the U.S. for phonics and spelling instruction. We expect to find that children receive relatively little teaching about longer words and that the teaching that they do receive is sometimes incomplete or misleading. Finally, we conduct studies in which students in Grades 2, 5, 9, and university are asked to pronounce and spell selected words and nonwords. The goal of these studies is to examine whether learners pick up the patterns that are available in the language, including patterns that are not normally covered in phonics and spelling instruction. We expect to find that children do learn about some untaught patterns but that this process is slow and ultimately incomplete. Instruction could help to speed the process. The results of the project will provide a basis for improving the teaching of reading and spelling for children, including children who struggle with literacy learning. The findings should also be useful in designing instruction for adults who are learning English as a second language.