Shadow

ingenta: article availability
Is English Chaotic?: Misconceptions Concerning Its Irregularity
Kessler, B.; Treiman, R.
Reading Psychology, 2003, vol. 24, no. 3/4, pp. 267-290

http://www.artsci.wustl.edu/~bkessler/Chaotic/

Abstract.

An overview of the goals of English orthography counters the misconception that its spelling is chaotic and unprincipled. Direct representation of the speaker�s phonemes is not its only goal. But even the sound-to-letter correspondences are not as inconsistent as widely believed. A survey of first-grade text vocabulary shows that spelling consistency is increased significantly if one takes into account the position of the phoneme within the syllable and the identity of the phonemes in the environment. Environmental influences within the rime are especially important. Understanding these patterns may reduce the complexity of spelling for learners and those with spelling problems.

Paper (manuscript submission format).

The official published version of this paper is available online from Taylor & Francis. There may be a fee for access.

A prepublication version is available here in manuscript submission format in the following file formats:

• PDF.
  
• XML.
  
• DTD for the XML file.

This entry was posted on Thursday, November 6th, 2003 at 3:17 pm and is filed under Paperville. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed. Edit this entry.