The Influence of Orthography in Early Grade Letter Knowledge among Sidaama School Children

Abstract

Though the use of similar scripts in two or more language curricula is
common in Ethiopia, the literature on orthographic influences on reading
ability development is thin so far. The purpose of this study was, therefore, to
examine the facilitating or hindering effects of orthography in letter name
identification and letter-sound correspondence tasks in Sidaama and English
languages that use Latin-based script. Data were collected from randomly
selected grade 2 students in two Hawassa city administration schools using a
survey. The descriptive statistical analysis technique on the reading tests
showed greater accuracy of children when reading letters and sounds in
Sidaama (transparent orthography) than in English, which is characterized by
a deep orthographic system. Confusion was observed in both languages across
the two tasks where children mixed up letters with sounds, especially when
they tried to distinguish between identical letters and sounds in both
languages. Such influence comes because the two languages share a common
script, though their orthographic consistency differs by language, which has
important implications for classroom instruction and curriculum organization.