The latest movement to reform German spelling is discussed, focusing on the need for greater consistency in spelling of words from other languages and the major changes proposed. Issues addressed include capitalization, specific idiosyncracies in German spelling, concerns related to computerization, public opinion, and the scope of the reform.…

Discusses findings in the first part of a research project on Hong Kong English (HKE) phonology, including the underlying phonemic system of HKE speakers. Subjects were 15 undergraduates at Hong Kong Baptist University. Using spectrographic analysis, it was found that the typical HKE speaker operates with a considerably smaller set of vowel and…

Selected subtests from the Woodcock Johnson III Tests of Achievement (Woodcock, McGrew, & Mather, 2001) were administered to three groups of university students. The groups included students with learning disabilities who received course substitutions for the institution's foreign language requirement, students with learning disabilities who…

The urban, ethnically Hawaiian child typically experiences great difficulty in learning to read English. In order to determine whether phonological confusion is a source of dialectical interference, the Kamehameha Early Education Program (KEEP) Phone Discrimination Test (KPDT) was developed for the one hundred twelve students in the KEEP school…

Two studies of Grade 1 reading interventions for English-language (EL) learners at risk for reading problems were conducted. Two samples of EL students were randomly assigned to a treatment or untreated comparison group on the basis of their language of instruction for core reading (i.e., Spanish or English). In all, 91 students completed the…

Testing English listening skills involves a variety of skills. Sounds are sometimes difficult to discriminate in a language that is not one's native tongue, so testing phoneme discrimination, the ability to tell the difference between sounds, is important. Picture choice items are a good way to select among alternatives to demonstrate…

A study of the possible transfer of reading skills from a first language other than English to English, called script-carryover effects, focused on two aspects of the written language: (1) the manner in which the script represents information about sound and meaning, and (2) whether or not the script uses the same graphemic characters as English.…

Outlines an approach to the teaching of English pure vowels to the Marathi learner, based on the phonetic "similarities" of the two languages. (CFM)

Compares the reading processing strategies of native and proficient nonnative speakers of Chinese. At the word level natives show a phonological strategy, while nonnatives mix phonological and visual processing. At the sentence level natives mix visual and semantic strategies, and nonnatives prefer visual processing. (LMO)

After a look at the function of the phoneme and the problem of differing systems of phonetic transcription, the causes of a "German accent" in English are examined, with attention to vowels, diphthongs and consonants. Suggestions are given for overcoming wrong pronunciation. (IFS/WGA)

Investigates how the various categories of the German spelling reform proposal will affect the acquisition of German spelling by native speakers of English. The article provides a history of the reform movement in Germany and discusses the pedagogical implications of the movement. (25 references) (Author/CK)

This paper describes similarities between the areas of second language (L2) teacher education and mother tongue (MT) literacy teacher education: similarity of definition, similarity of history, and similarity of a current pedagogical issue (immersion is necessary but not sufficient). Practitioners in both fields need to modulate the sharp polarity…

The purpose of this study is to test the commonly held assumption that younger children are superior to those who are older in learning to speak a second language with a good accent. Students from the elementary, junior high, and college levels are tested after receiving identical instruction in German phonemes. Post-test results indicate that…

Two experiments are reported in which mismatched sounds and spelling were studied in Dutch pseudo-words used as stimuli in English lexical decision experiments. Results show mismatches in spelling or sound result in longer latencies for Dutch pseudo-words than for their nonword controls, supporting a cooperation model of lexical access. (MSE)

The present study examined which measures best identify English-speaking French immersion (FI) students at risk of future reading difficulties in French and English. Using reading scores taken in both languages at the end of Grade 1 and beginning of Grade 2, typical and poor reader groups were identified. Measures taken at the beginning of Grade 1…