Problems in learning to read and
write
This site presents the whole range of
English reading and spelling problems.
It shows why so many learners of English have difficulties with reading and
writing.
Anyone interested in a fuller explanation
of English spelling problems should consult
my book (Masha Bell, Understanding
English Spelling, 2004), or watch my Youtube
videos! or go to My Blog or Blog 2
Teachers may download the various word
lists for classroom use.
Those wishing to reproduce material from this site commercially must obtain
prior permission from the author mashabell@aol.com
The
average English-speaking child takes nearly three times longer to learn the
basics of reading and writing than users of other alphabetic writing systems (Seymour,
British Journal of Psychology, 2003). Numerous surveys in Anglophone countries
during the past five decades have established that nearly half of all English
speakers have severe difficulties with writing. One in five cannot even read
properly, as was confirmed in 2005 by the UK's House of Commons Select
Committee for Education.
Learning
to read and write English is exceptionally difficult.
Learning to read English is
difficult because identical letter strings often have
different pronunciations, for example,
on –
once - only - woman
–
women –
worry
[wunce] [oanly] [wooman]
[wimmen] [wurry]
Learning to spell is even harder
because different spellings for identical English sounds
are twice as common as different pronunciations for identical
letters.
The EE-sound and OO-sound, for example, can
be spelt as:
peep - leap, people, here, weird,
chief, police, me, ski, key;
food - rude, shrewd, truth, group,
move, fruit, tomb, through, blue,
shoe.
The English writing
system is uniquely difficult because it has spelling and reading
problems.
Other difficult alphabetic systems have only spelling problems.
To become even just
moderately competent spellers of English, learners have to memorise at least
3700 words with some unpredictable spellings
(listed on the different pages of this website).
A little more than half of all English spelling
difficulties are caused by four problems:
unsystematic consonant doubling
like 'shoddy - body' and unpredictable spellings for the
EE-sound, the long O -sound and
the two OO-sounds.
Other
serious spelling problems are caused by unpredictable spellings for
the sounds
Ur / er / ir,
Au / aw, S,
Sh and the unstressed
half-vowel in endings (like
–er / -or /
-ar
or –en / -on / -an).
No other European language has more than 1000
unpredictable spellings
author of
and
Learning
to Read 2007
The word lists of irregular spellings are
also available as a 56-page booklet,
listed in order of the spelling patterns which they disobey,
'Rules and Exceptions of English Spelling' (Masha Bell 2009).
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