The influence of orthographic depth on early grade students’ reading of words and non-words in Sidaama and English

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to analyse word and non-word reading
among early grade students of Sidaama and English, with a specific
emphasis on the difference in orthographic depth between the two
languages. The research has a convergent mixed methods design
applying reading skills tests, interviews with teachers and classroom
observations. The results of quantitative and qualitative analysis
showed that student scores in Sidaama, which has a transparent
orthography, indicated greater accuracy in both word and non-word
reading compared to English with its deep orthography. Overall,
students read words more correctly than non-words in both
languages. Especially in English, the scores for non-words were very
low. The results from the reading tests suggest that orthographic
differences between the two languages caused challenges for the
students when decoding words and non-words. The teachers
confirmed the influence of these challenges in interviews, and
students were observed struggling to read in class.