Conference on Writing Development July 2, 2009 Charles Read University of Wisconsin - Madison Learning to Use Alphabetic Writing

Alphabets currently in use from Omniglot.com

Examples of Japanese Writing from Wikipedia: Japanese Writing System

Chinese characters by Benjamin L. Read CharacterPinyinEnglish meaning 火 hǔohǔofire 考 kǎokǎogive or take a test or examination 烤 kǎokǎoroast / toast / bake

Initial Steps Knowing that symbols represent an utterance, such as a word or sentence. –[Scribble] “says ‘Let’s go.’”

Initial Steps Knowing that symbols represent an utterance, such as a word or sentence. Recognize or manipulate conventional symbols, such as letters.

Initial Steps Knowing that symbols represent an utterance, such as a word or sentence. Recognize or manipulate conventional symbols, such as letters. Associate letter(s) with word(s). –“M is for Max.”

Key Steps (1) Acquiring phonemic awareness –The concept of sounds within syllables. –Not all are pronounceable in isolation –Those that are pronounceable don’t sound like language.

Signs of Phonemic Awareness Pronounce or name individual sounds, such as “first sound” in a word. Manipulate sounds: –Add, delete, move sounds within a syllable

Key Steps (2) Knowing that spellings (one or more letters each) represent those sounds. –The Alphabetic Principle Not just “M is for Max,” but “M is for [m]”

Phonemic Awareness and the Alphabetic Principle [PA and AP] are BIG STEPS.

Phonemic Awareness May not develop outside of instruction in alphabetic writing. –Morais, et al.: studies in Portugal: –Illiterates can detect sound similarity (e.g., rhyme), but cannot analyze a syllable into its phonemes (e.g., delete an initial sound).

Study in China

Syntheses of Research Snow, Burns, and Griffin (1998) Preventing Reading Difficulties in Young Children. National Academy Press. – Report of the National Reading Panel: Teaching Children to Read. (2000). National Institute of Child Health and Human Development. –

Both conclude PA is essential Snow et al.: –[PA is] “key to understanding the logic of the alphabetic principle and thus to the learnability of phonics and spelling.” (p. 52) National Reading Panel: –“Teaching children to manipulate phonemes in words was highly effective across all the literary domains and outcomes.” (pp. 2-3)

From Carol Chomsky, 1979.

YUTS A LADE YET FEHEG AND HE KOT FLEPR Carol Chomsky, “Approaching Reading Through Invented Spelling”

YUTS A LADE YET FEHEG AND HE KOT FLEPR Some of the standard spellings

YUTS A LADE YET FEHEG AND HE KOT FLEPR Not standard, but phonetically accurate

YUTS A LADE YET FEHEG AND HE KOT FLEPR A letter-name spelling.

YUTS A LADE YET FEHEG AND HE KOT FLEPR

Another letter-name spelling?

YUTS A LADE YET FEHEG AND HE KOT FLEPR E spells / ɪ / as well as /i/.

Application to Instruction Are there stages in initial writing development? Are there best practices in initial instruction?

What have we learned? PA and AP are necessary steps, difficult for some learners, but can be taught. Learning standard correspondences and ‘rules’ is significant in English but not so conceptually challenging as PA. Initial learning is a creative cognitive process, not merely memorization of sound- spelling correspondences.