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Is tradition english spelng mor dificlt than jermn?
Author(s) -
Upward Christopher
Publication year - 1992
Publication title -
journal of research in reading
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.077
H-Index - 51
eISSN - 1467-9817
pISSN - 0141-0423
DOI - 10.1111/j.1467-9817.1992.tb00024.x
Subject(s) - psychology , linguistics , english language , mathematics education , philosophy
Th role of th english riting systm has been neglectd in presnt debates on methods of teachng litracy skils. Its importnce can be demnstrated by comparing spelng dificlty in difrnt languajs, tho a meanngful comparisn has hithrto not been esy to make. This paper reports on a study wich elimnates variabls by examnng mispelngs made by english speakrs riting in english and jermn. Th numbr of errs is computed to produce a ranje of mesurs of comparativ dificlty, concluding that english spelng is almost 7 times mor dificlt than jermn. Th errs ar classifyd and ream for them discusd. It is sujestd that th iregularity of english spelng seriusly handicaps english speakrs and shud be remedid. Finaly, th mispelngs ar related to th redundnt letrs removed in Cut Spelng, to sho how far such a tecniqe for simplifyng ritn english wud help obviate mispelngs.