English is too hard to read for children

Level 2 Intermediate

1 Key words

Fill the gaps in the sentences using these key words from the text.

surplus tricky resistant hinders literacy

dyslexia uniform simplify reform problematic

1. If something is ____________________, it causes problems.

2. If you ____________________ something, you make it easier.

3. If something is ____________________, it is the same in all cases.

4. If something is ____________________, it is extra and more than you need.

5. A____________________problemisonethatisverydifculttosolve.

6. If you ____________________ a system, you change it to make it better.

7. ____________________ is the ability to read and write.

8. Ifsomething____________________aprocessitmakesitmoredifcultorslow.

9. ____________________isadifcultysomepeoplehavewithreadingandspelling.

10. Ifyouare____________________tosomething,youghtagainstit.

2 Find the information

Lookinthetextandndtheanswerstothesequestionsasquicklyaspossible.

1. When did the Turks change their alphabet from Arabic to Latin?

2. When did the Germans reform their spelling system?

3. When did the Portuguese make changes to their spelling system?

4. HowmanydifcultwordsdoBritishchildrenmeetbytheageof11?

5. Howmanybasicwordscouldbesimpliedjustbydroppingsurplusletters?

6. HowlongdoesittakeBritishchildrentoreachabasiclevelofreadingcompetence?
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English is too hard to read for children
Level 2 Intermediate
English is too hard to read for children
Bafingspellingsystemisblamedasliteracyfalls
shortoflevelinotherEuropeannations
Anushka Asthana, education correspondent
June 8, 2008
1 The English spelling system is absolutely awful.
That is the conclusion of new research that has
found that children meet 800 words by the age of
11 that hinder their reading because of the way
they are spelt.
2 Monkey,asparagus,spinach,caterpillar,dwarf,
banana,handkerchief,soldiers,stomachand
telescope have all been included on the long
list of words that confuse children because
they contain letter combinations that are more
commonly pronounced in a different way.
3 Thewordshaveallbeenidentiedas
problematic for reading, as opposed to writing,
because of their phonic unreliability, according
to the study TheMostCostlyEnglishSpellings.
MashaBell,whodidtheresearch,arguedthat
there were 200 words on the list that could be
improvedjustbydroppingsurplusletterssuch
as the i in friend or the u in shoulder.
4 English is the worst of all the alphabetical
languages,saidBell.Itisuniqueinthatthere
arenotjustspellingproblemsbutreading
problems. They do not exist anywhere else.
5 Bellarguedthatthespellingsystemcostschools
money and was the reason for poor literacy
results in the UK compared with the rest of
Europe. In Finland, where words are usually
pronounced as they look, children learn to read
uentlywithinthreemonths,shesaid.Inthe
UK, academics have found that it takes three
years for a child to reach a basic level of reading
competence. The tricky spellings make English
particularlydifcultforchildrenwithdyslexiaand
children from poorer families, whose parents may
not read to them very regularly.
6 IntheresearchBellgivesexamplesofwordsthat
have the same pronunciation but different letter
combinations. Examples include to and two;
Macmillan Publishers Ltd 2008
NEWS LESSONS / English is too hard to read for children / Intermediate
clean and gene; same and aim;day and grey;
kite andlight; andstole andcoal. Then there are
those that look similar but sound different with
the combinations of ea, ee and the letter o
causing most trouble. Among the words in this
category are eight and height, break and dreamt,
and move and post. The letters ough can also
be pronounced in a number of different ways.
7 Simplifying the system would improve literacy,
accordingtoBell,butshesaidpeoplewere
resistant to change. People feel that they have
suffered so much at the hands of English spelling
thattheydontwanttolookatit,shesaid.But
other countries have made changes. Last month
the parliament in Portugal, where the spelling
system is also thought to be complicated, voted
to reform and simplify it.
8 In 1928 the Turks changed their whole alphabet
from Arabic to Latin, said John Wells, professor
of phonetics at University College London and
president of the Spelling Society. It happened
in the Soviet Union. In Germany there were
changes made in the 1990s to make the writing
system more regular. English has also developed
with words such as olde and worlde dropping
the e.
9 Wells wants to see things change again and
saystherearetwopossibleapproaches.Therst
would be to simplify the way in which words are
spelt and then allow people to choose whether
to use the new or old system, while the second
approach would involve a complete change.
TheSpellingSocietyisinfavouroftherst
approach, he said.
10 Chris Davis, spokesman for the National Primary
Headteachers Association, said the spelling
systemhadamajoreffectonchildrensliteracy
progress:ItdenitelyslowsEnglishchildren
down. In international comparisons, languages
that are phonetically uniform always come top.
Buthesaidthatteacherswouldbeunwilling
to see things change. It would be such a big
changethatpeoplewouldnditverydifcultto
even consider it, he said.
11 There are already problems because of the
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English is too hard to read for children
Level 2 Intermediate
different spelling system in America, but people
would also be against using American spelling.
Ithinkitisaquestionofownership,thatitisour
language. Davis argued that people felt spelling
was linked to the origin of words.

Guardian News & Media 2008

First published in TheObserver, 08/06/08

3 Comprehension check

Are these statements True (T) or False (F) according to the text?

1. The words in the list are problematic for reading.

2. The letter e in friend and the o in shoulder are surplus letters.

3. English children take longer to learn to read than Finnish children.

4.TeacherswantEnglishspellingtobesimplied.

5. Some English words contain combinations of letters that are usually pronounced in a different way and this is
confusing for children.

6.Englishismoredifculttolearnthananyotherlanguage.

4 Find the word

Lookinthetextandndthefollowingwordsandexpressions.Theparagraphnumbersaregivento
help you.

1. Two foods apart frombanana. (para 2)

2. A noun meaning asmallhairycreaturewithalotoflegswhicheatsleaves. (para 2)

3. A noun meaning apersonwhoismuchsmallerthanthenormalsize. (para 2)

4.Anadjectivemeaningrelatingtothealphabet. (para 4)

5. An adverb meaning easilyandaccurately. (para 5)

6. A noun meaning theabilityorskilltodosomething. (para 5)

7. A three-word expression meaning inagreementwith. (para 9)

8.Anadjectivemeaningverylargeorsignicant. (para 10)

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NEWS LESSONS / English is too hard to read for children / Intermediate

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English is too hard to read for children
Level 2 Intermediate

5 Verb+nouncollocations

Matchtheadjectiveswiththenouns.Thereismorethanonepossibilitysocheckyouranswersinthetext.

1. make a. money
2. reform b. a word
3. pronounce c. research
4. do d. changes
5. give e. an effect
6. cause f. an example
7. have g. trouble
8. cost h. a system

6 Wordbuilding

Completethetableusingwordsfromthetext.

verb noun
1 conclude
2 combine
3 compare
4 own
5 hindrance
6 pronounce
7 confusion
8 approach

7 Discussion

DoyouthinkEnglishspellingisdifcult?WouldyoulikeEnglishspellingtobesimplied?Thinkofsome
difcultEnglishwordstospell.Whatwouldtheylooklikewithsimplerspelling?
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NEWS LESSONS / English is too hard to read for children / Intermediate

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