[etni] English spelling too difficult for children
- From: David Lloyd <dlloyd54@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: Etni <etni@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Fri, 9 Jul 2010 07:42:17 +0300
English spelling 'too difficult for children'
Telegraph.co.uk - July 8, 2010
The complexity of the English spelling system is to blame for soaring
levels of illiteracy among teenagers, according to a researcher.
A high number of “inconsistencies” in the way basic words are spelt
makes it much harder for children to read and write at a young age, it
is claimed.
Masha Bell, author and literacy researcher, will tell a conference of
English teachers on Friday that sweeping reforms are needed to the
spelling system to improve children’s linguistic skills.
She will say that English employs 185 “unreliable” spellings for just
44 speech sounds. Words such as too, true, who, flew, shoe and you all
employ different letters to represent the same sound, she will say.
According to academics, children in Britain normally take three years
to read to a decent standard.
But in Finland – where words are more likely to be pronounced as they
look – children can read fluently within three months.
(To read the whole article, go to -
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/educationnews/7880189/English-spelling-too-difficult-for-children.html
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