Spanish Influence on English Spelling
Running head:
SPANISH INFLUENCE ON ENGLISH SPELLING
Spanish Influence on English Spelling: A Case Study
Kelly Schenbeck Riley
The Ohio State University
Bilingualism and biliteracy, T & L 925.56
Professor Marcia Farr
December 2, 2008
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Spanish Influence on English Spelling
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Spanish Influence on English Spelling: A Case Study
According to the Pew Hispanic Center (2008), Hispanics have accounted for more than
half of the overall population growth in the United States in the past ten years. In 2006, of the
total Hispanic population in Ohio, 58% spoke a language other than English at home, and 3% of
all students in Ohio were of Hispanic origin. In Franklin County alone, the population of
Hispanic residents increased 356% from 1990 to 2007 (Pew Hispanic Center, 2008). In the
Hilliard City Schools, 3.7% of the students were of Hispanic origin during the 2007-2008 school
year, up from 2.0% in 2001-2002 (Ohio Department of Education, 2008).
Due to the continual influx of Spanish speaking students and other immigrants to the
public schools in the U.S., all teachers need to be aware of best practices in TESOL education.
Understanding the relationships and contrasts between a limited English proficient (LEP)
student’s L1 and English can assist educators in teaching English literacy skills. In this paper, I
will first address research that has found a link between L1 Spanish speaking students’ native
language and their L2 English spelling strategies. Next, I will analyze the English spelling of an
L1 Spanish speaking student who attends fourth grade in the Hilliard City Schools in central
Ohio. Finally, instructional and further study implications of the research and analysis will be
discussed.
Previous Research
Many researchers have found that spoken Spanish often influences bilingual students’
written English. Gort (2006) defines interliteracy as “the literacy in development of bilinguals
and may include the application of rules of one written language when writing the other” (p.
Spanish Influence on English Spelling
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337). This interliteracy has two parts: (1) the application of linguistic elements – syntax,
phonology, and semantics – of one language to the other, and (2) the application of print
conventions – graphophonemic relationships, orthography, and print conventions – from one
language to the other (Gort, 2006).
Cronnell (1995) found that the English writing errors of a sample of third and sixth grade
students were significantly influenced by the students’ L1 (primarily Spanish), and some errors
were influenced by Spanish spelling features. Rolla San Francisco, Mo, Carlo, August, and Snow
(2006) found that students used features of Spanish in their English spelling only if they had
previous Spanish language instruction. They also found that explicit literacy instruction in
English could quickly overcome the transfer from Spanish (Rolla San Francisco et al., 2006).
Specific spelling problems based on the sounds of Spanish and English
Fashola, Drum, Mayer, and Kang (1996) state that L1 Spanish speakers often apply
standard Spanish orthographic and phonologic rules to English spellings. Gort (2006) found that
both Spanish-dominant and English-dominant young bilingual writers often use L1 phonology in
their invented spellings of L2 words. According to Zutell and Allen (1988), better spellers of
English were able to differentiate between the sound systems of Spanish and English. In contrast,
poorer spellers sometimes tried to match the sounds they heard in words to the names of the
letters, and in these cases, the students often used the Spanish letter names. This resulted in
incorrect spellings that were very different from the errors of L1 English speakers (Zutell and
Allen, 1998). In addition, Ferroli and Shanahan (1992) found that in order for L2 English
learners to spell correctly in English, they also must learn to distinguish differences in voicing, a
phonemic contrast in spoken English, but not Spanish.
Spanish Influence on English Spelling
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English has an alphabet of 26 letters, which can be used to represent 44 different
phonemes, including 15 different pronunciations for the five vowel letters (Mora, 2001).
Spanish, in contrast, has a closer grapheme-phoneme correspondence. The 30 graphemes in the
Spanish alphabet include 5 vowels, 22 single letters, and 3 digraphs that are learned as a part of
the Spanish alphabet. The 30 Spanish graphemes generally represent 30 sounds in the Spanish
phonology system (Fashola et al., 1996).
Table 1 represents phonemes that are found in Mexican Spanish and American English
(Fashola et al., 1996; Helman, 2004; Stockwell & Bowen, 1965). While many of these phonemes
are shared, they are often spelled differently in each language. For example, the word “sea”
would be pronounced /si/ in English but /sea/ in Spanish. Another example is the English word
“then.” L1 Spanish speakers may spell “then” as “den” because <d> sometimes represents the
phoneme /ð/ in Spanish (Stockwell & Bowen, 1965).
Table 1: Mexican Spanish and American English phonemes
Consonant sounds
shared by English and Spanish
/b/ /k/ /d/ /f/ /g/ /h/ /l/ /m/ /n/ /ŋ/ /p/ /s/ /t/ /w/ /j/ /z/ /ð/ /ʧ/
Consonant sounds in English only
/ʤ/ /ɹ/ /ʃ/ /θ/ /v/ /ʒ/
Consonant sounds in Spanish only
/β/ /ɲ/ /r/ /ɾ/
Vowel sounds
shared by English and Spanish
/a/ /e/ /i/ /o/ /u/
Vowel sounds in English only
/æ/ /ɛ/ /ɪ/ /ʌ/ /ɔ/ /ʊ/ /ə/ /ɚ/
Fashola et al. (1996) defined two types of spelling errors that L1 Spanish speaking
children make when attempting to spell English words. A phonetic error occurs when the
perceived sound does not have a corresponding grapheme in the student’s long-term memory. In
this case, the student is likely to represent the sound with a known sound and its corresponding
Spanish Influence on English Spelling
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grapheme. For example, the vowel sound /ʊ/ as in the English word “book” does not exist in
Spanish. The student may replace the <oo> in “book” with a Spanish grapheme that is similar to
/ʊ/, such as /u/ as in <buk>, or /o/ as in <bok>. An orthographic error occurs when the English
phoneme(s) does not match the Spanish phoneme(s) for the same sound. An example of an
orthographic error can be demonstrated by the L1 Spanish speaking student who spells the
English word “hat” as <jat>. The grapheme <j> in Spanish sounds like the <h> in English, /h/
(Fashola et al., 1996).
Spelling English vowels presents a particular problem for native Spanish speakers
(Fashola et al., 1996; Helman, 2004). The five Spanish vowels can each be spelled one way.
English vowels are much less regular, with many vowels being spelled a variety of ways. For
instance the phoneme /e/, called long <a> by many native English speakers, can be spelled at
least seven different ways: <a-e> as in late, <ai> as in rain, <ay> as in day, <ei> as in veil,
<eigh> as in eight, <ey> as in they, <ea> as in great (Bear et al., 2008).
According to Helman (2004), sounds that are not present in one’s native language are
difficult to hear, to produce, and to write. In addition to the phonemes in Table 1, English has
many more possible consonant blends than Spanish does. L1 Spanish speakers may try to
simplify or modify certain blends to approximate Spanish sounds. In addition, Spanish does not
allow s-blends in the initial placement in a word. This is why native Spanish speakers add the /e/
sound to the beginning of some s-blend initial words (e.g., Spanish sounds like /espaniʃ/). When
spelling these s-blend initial words, students may add an initial <e> or drop one of the letters of
the blend. This is also true of many final consonant blends and some single consonants. In
Spanish, the only consonants that can end a word are <l, r, d, n, s>. L1 Spanish speakers will
Spanish Influence on English Spelling
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often try to simplify or modify English endings to reflect an acceptable Spanish sound (Helman,
2004).
Ferroli and Shanahan (1992) explain that L1 Spanish speakers often make spelling errors
based on the perceived voicing of a consonant. Most English consonants correspond to another
consonant that has the same place of articulation, but differs in voicing (e.g., <k> and <g>, <f>
and <v>, <s> and <z>, <p> and <b>, <t> and <d>, and <ch> and <j>). Differentiating words
based on voicedness occurs much more frequently in English than Spanish. Because L1 Spanish
speakers have had less need to make this discrimination, the spellings of these English
consonants have proved to be problematic (Ferroli & Shanahan, 1992).
Student background and educational information
Marta was born in San Pablo Huixtepec, Zimatlan, Oaxaca, in the southern part of
Mexico and lived there with her grandmother until she was 7 years and 3 months old. While in
Mexico, Marta received three years of public school instruction in her native language, Spanish.
Marta and her family speak Spanish at home, and Marta enjoys writing and reading in Spanish
when she has the opportunity.
Upon arriving in the United States, Marta entered second grade at a Columbus City
elementary school mid-way through the school year and immediately began to receive English
language learner (ELL) services. After two months at one school, she transferred to the Hilliard
City school district, completed the last two months of second grade in a multi-age elementary
school there, and continued receiving ELL tutoring. Marta began the third grade at a traditional
elementary school in the Hilliard City Schools, and she continues to attend that school at the
beginning of fourth grade. She is still receiving ELL tutoring in a small group on a daily basis.
Spanish Influence on English Spelling
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During the summer between the third and fourth grades, Marta attended 11 days of ELL summer
school as well.
In the spring of third grade, Marta took the Ohio Test of English Language Acquisition
(OTELA), a standardized test that assesses reading, writing, listening and speaking skills in
English. She received a score of Level 2 – beginning – in reading, writing, and listening.
According to the Ohio Department of Education (ODE) Office of Assessment and Lau Resource
Center (2008), a score of Level 2 indicates that the student can “understand simple statements,
directions, and questions; understand the general message of basic reading passages; and
compose short informative passages on familiar topics” (p. 14). Marta received a score of Level
3 – intermediate – in speaking. This indicates that Marta can “communicate orally with some
hesitation” (ODE Office of Assessment and Lau Resource Center, 2008, p. 14).
The Elementary Spelling Inventory (ESI) from the text Words Their Way (Bear,
Invernizzi, Templeton, & Johnston, 2008) is a developmental English spelling inventory
consisting of 25 words in order of increasing difficulty. Words for the list are selected based on
their frequency and on the type and complexity of the spelling patterns they contain. Correct and
incorrect spellings are examined to determine strengths and weaknesses, and student level of
word knowledge. The five spelling stages in increasing order of complexity are: Emergent,
Letter Name – Alphabetic, Within Word Pattern, Syllables and Affixes, and Derivational
Relations (Bear et al., 2008).
An ELL tutor administered the Elementary Spelling Inventory to Marta in mid-October
of her fourth grade year. The results in Appendix 1 show that Marta was between the early and
middle Within Word Pattern stage. She showed proficiency of initial and final consonants, made
Spanish Influence on English Spelling
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few mistakes with short vowels, and demonstrated mastery of digraphs and blends. Marta began
to struggle with long-vowel patterns, other vowels, and inflected endings.
Research questions and theories
At the outset of this study, I was curious as to whether Marta’s spelling errors were more
influenced by Spanish phonology and orthography or by her developmental stage of English
spelling. I was also interested in the frequency of the error types. By examining specific errors
that Marta makes repeatedly, an instructional plan could be developed to address her specific
error patterns.
Based on the studies discussed above, I hypothesized that Marta would demonstrate
features of Spanish phonology and orthography in her English spelling attempts, specifically:
difficulty with English vowel spellings, attempting to spell English sounds that have no Spanish
counterpart, simplifying consonant clusters, mistakes in discriminating voicedness, and spelling
words they way she pronounces them. I also anticipated that some of Marta’s initial spelling
overgeneralizations might have been resolved by now because she has had nearly two years of
instruction in English in the U.S. I expected that many of her spelling errors would be aligned
with the findings from her ESI results.
Methods
I examined five pieces of informal writing from Marta’s writer’s notebook. These pieces
were written between September and November of Marta’s fourth grade year. The stories were
all personal narratives and none was formally edited.
Spanish Influence on English Spelling
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Marta read the stories aloud for an audio recording of her pronunciations. I then
identified the words that were misspelled according to Standard English spelling conventions and
Marta’s oral reading. Each misspelled word was analyzed using Spanish phonologic features and
spelling conventions (Fashola et al., 1996; Ferroli & Shanahan, 1992; Helman, 2004; Stockwell
& Bowen, 1965; Zutell & Allen, 1988), as well as the developmental stages and features of
English spelling as defined by Bear et al. (2008).
Each occurrence of the same misspelling was tabulated. If the misspelled word had more
than one error, each error was analyzed separately. A few errors were categorized as “careless
errors” if the student more often spelled the word correctly at other points in her writing and the
error could not be otherwise explained.
Findings
Of 122 analyzed spelling errors in Marta’s writer’s notebook, 48% were influenced by
Spanish phonology or orthography (see Figure 1). The most common Spanish influenced errors
were phonetic in nature. Marta often substituted a Spanish grapheme to approximate an English
sound, as in her spelling of “secretary” as <secretire>. The attempted spelling of the word ending
<ire> sounds like /ire/ in Spanish – a close approximate the English ending /eɹi/. Marta also
spelled English words the way she pronounced them. For example, Marta pronounced the word
“everything” with a final /k/, and therefore spelled it <everythink>.
Marta made far fewer orthographic errors. One such error was her spelling of the word
“we” as <wy>. The <y> in Spanish is often pronounced /i/. An error that occurred multiple times
throughout Marta’s writing was substituting the letter <a> for the personal pronoun “I.” She
spelled “I” as <a> 51 times and spelled it correctly seven times. Marta also made some errors in
Spanish Influence on English Spelling
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discriminating the voicedness of the consonants <d> and <t>, as well as simplifying some final
consonant clusters.
Figure 1: Percentage of Errors by Language Influence
English
Influenced
52%
Spanish
Influenced
48%
52% of Marta’s spelling errors were determined to be consistent with the developmental
spelling stages of English. More than half of these English influenced errors were consistent with
Marta’s ERI results, placing her errors in the Within Word Pattern stage of English spelling
development. Most of the errors from this stage were of long vowels and inflected endings. One
example of a long vowel error was Marta’s spelling of “airplane” as <airplain>. Marta often
drops the plural ending from nouns (e.g., Marta read “years” but spelled <year>). Mistakes in the
Within Word Pattern stage also included diphthongs, r-influenced vowels, ambiguous vowels,
and homophones.
Relatively few errors were determined to be careless errors or from another spelling stage
(see Figure 2). All of Marta’s struggles with the Letter Name – Alphabetic stage were with
digraphs, primarily when to use the <wh> digraph. Marta’s difficulties with the Syllables and
Affixes stage consisted of both syllable junctures and unaccented final syllables. A full analysis
of Marta’s spelling errors can be found in Appendix 2.
Spanish Influence on English Spelling
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Figure 2: Types of Errors
35
Within word pattern stage
24
Attempting to approximate Engl. sound
14
Reflects student's pronunciation
Syllables and affixes stage
10
Careless error
10
9
Letter name-alphabetic stage
8
Chose Spa. equivalent grapheme(s)
Mistake in discriminating voicedness
6
Simplifying consonant cluster
6
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
The findings of this case study were aligned with the previous research in that Marta
made English spelling errors typical of an L1 Spanish speaking student. Of particular note is the
statement by Rolla San Francisco et al. (2006) that “it appears that relatively brief exposure to
explicit English literacy instruction is sufficient to block negative transfer from Spanish in the
domain of spelling for all children, even those who might have stronger oral skills in Spanish
than in English” (p. 640). Although Rolla San Francisco et al. (2006) does not specify a time
frame for overcoming spelling transfer from the L1, the results of this study show that Marta is
currently using slightly more English features than Spanish influences in her spelling attempts.
Implications for instruction and further research
Because Marta has been attending English immersion programs since her arrival in the
U.S., she is using but confusing many aspects of English spelling conventions. Based on the
findings of this case study, I recommend that Marta continue to receive ELL tutoring services,
with special attention paid to English vocabulary development and spelling processes. Marta
needs explicit instruction in English vowel spellings as well as a review of words that look and
Spanish Influence on English Spelling
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sound similar (e.g., an, and, end, in, on; where, were). She would also benefit from word study of
plurals and final consonant clusters.
I also feel that Marta would benefit from word study that compares features of Spanish
and English spelling. Marta received formal education in Mexico before coming to the U.S., and
she continues to read and write in Spanish at home. Using her L1 literacy skills to improve her
L2 spelling and vocabulary skills would likely help Marta’s spelling improve more quickly. For
instance, I believe that the recurring error that Marta made in spelling “I” as <a> could be
resolved by explaining that the personal pronoun “I” is used the same way the word “yo” is used
in Spanish.
Unfortunately, the ELL tutors available at Marta’s school – and in many other schools
throughout the U.S. – are not fluent or trained in Spanish phonology or orthography. It would be
beneficial for ELL and classroom teachers to have access to a resource that would give an
overview of the similarities and differences between the Spanish and English languages. I am
currently unaware of any reference material of this type that is accessible to teachers with little or
no experience with the Spanish language.
While many articles and papers have been written addressing the English writing
development of LEP students, none is able to fully address the needs of L1 Spanish speakers and
the challenges they face when learning to write and spell in English. I recommend that a simple
but comprehensive reference manual be compiled specifically to assist educators in teaching
English spelling and vocabulary to L1 Spanish speaking students. Having even a limited
understanding of Spanish phonology and orthography will assist educators in teaching students
to see the commonalities and variations between their two languages.
Spanish Influence on English Spelling
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References
Bear, D. R., Invernizzi, M., Templeton, S., & Johnston, F. (2008). Words their way: word study
for phonics, vocabulary, and spelling instruction. Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Pearson Prentice
Hall.
Cronnell, B. (1985). Language influences in the English writing of third- and sixth-grade
Mexican-American students. The Journal of Educational Research (Washington, D.C.),
78(3), 168-173.
Fashola, O. S., Drum, P. A., Mayer, R. E., & Kang, S. (1996). A cognitive theory of orthographic
transitioning: Predictable errors in how Spanish-speaking children spell English words.
American Educational Research Journal, 33(4), 825-843.
Ferroli, L., & Shanahan, T. (1992). Voicing in Spanish to English spelling knowledge transfer.
Paper presented at the 42nd Annual Meeting of the National Reading Conference, San
Antonio, TX. (ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. ED358739) Retrieved from ERIC
database.
Gort, M. (2006). Strategic codeswitching, interliteracy, and other phenomena of emergent
bilingual writing: Lessons from first grade dual language classrooms. Journal of Early
Childhood Literacy, 6(3), 323-354.
Helman, L. A. (2004). Building on the sound system of Spanish: Insights from the alphabetic
spellings of English-language learners. Reading Teacher, 57(5), 452-460.
Mora, J. K. (2001). Learning to spell in two languages: Orthographic transfer in a transitional
Spanish/English bilingual program. Yearbook (Claremont Reading Conference), 2001, 64-84.
Ohio Department of Education (2008). [Data on school districts in Ohio]. Retrieved November 2,
2008, from http://www.ode.state.oh.us/
Spanish Influence on English Spelling
14
Ohio Department of Education Office of Assessment and Lau Resource Center. (2008). 2008
guide to understanding scores on the Ohio test of English language acquisition (OTELA).
Columbus, OH: Ohio Department of Education.
Pew Hispanic Center (2008). [Research chronicling Latinos’ diverse experiences in a changing
America]. Retrieved November 2, 2008, from http://pewhispanic.org/
Rolla San Francisco, A., Mo, E., Carlo, M., August, D., & Snow, C. (2006). The influences of
language of literacy instruction and vocabulary on the spelling of Spanish-English bilinguals.
Reading and Writing, 19(6), 627-642.
Stockwell, R. P., & Bowen, J. D. (1965). The sounds of English and Spanish. Chicago:
University of Chicago Press.
Zutell, J., & Allen, V. (1988). The English spelling strategies of Spanish-speaking bilingual
children. TESOL Quarterly, 22(2), 333-340.
Spanish Influence on English Spelling
Appendix 1: Words Their Way Elementary Spelling Inventory Feature Guide
15
Spanish Influence on English Spelling
16
Appendix 2: Full Analysis of Spelling Data
Spanish influenced spelling errors:
English developmental stage of spelling errors:
Attempting to approximate Engl. Sound
Letter name – alphabetic stage
Reflects student's pronunciation
Within word pattern stage
Chose Spa. Equivalent grapheme(s)
Syllables and affixes stage
Mistake in discriminating voicedness
Careless error
Simplifying consonant cluster
Std.
Engl.
airplane
Marta's
atmpt.
airplain
#
occur.
2
airport
irport
1
Absence of initial <a>: reflects student's pronunciation of initial syllable /ir/
already
all ready
1
Two words: syllables and affixes - syllable junctures
and
a
1
Absence of final <nd>: careless error
and
an
1
Student pronounces the words <an>, <and>, <end>, <in>, <on> as /ɪn/ and confuses the Engl. spellings
answer
anwer
1
Absence of medial <s>: syllables and affixes - syllable junctures
apartment
departement
2
Initial <de> and medial <te>: reflects student's pronunciation /dəpartəmənt/
aunt
unt
2
Absence of initial <a>: within word - other vowels
because
becuase
2
<ua>: within word - other vowels
book
bok
1
<o> = /o/ in Spa.: attempting to approximate Engl. phoneme /ʊ/
both
bouth
1
<ou> = /ou/ in Spa.: attempting to approximate Engl. diphthong /oʊ/
brothers
brother
1
Absence of final <s>: within word - inflected endings
busy
bussy
1
<ss>: syllables and affixes - syllable junctures
buy
biy
1
<i>: within word - long vowels
bye
buy
1
Within word - Engl. homophones
clothes
cloth
1
Absence of final <es>: within word - inflected endings
cousin
causen
1
<au> = /au/ in Spa.: attempting to approximate Engl. phoneme /ʌ/
<en>: syllables and affixes - unaccented final syllable
cried
creid
3
<ei>: within word - long vowels
decided
desided
1
<s>: syllables and affixes - syllable junctures
didn't
dind
1
Absence of medial <d>: reflects student's pronunciation /dɪnd/
Final <d>: mistake in discriminating voicedness
everything
everythink
1
<ink>: reflects student's pronunciation of a final /k/
excited
excyded
1
<y>: within word - long vowels
Medial <d>: mistake in discriminating voicedness
excited
exidet
1
Absence of medial <c>: syllables and affixes - syllable junctures
Medial <d> and final <t>: mistake in discriminating voicedness
Explanation
<ai>: within word - long vowels
Spanish Influence on English Spelling
Std.
Engl.
Marta's
atmpt.
#
occur.
17
Explanation
falling
foling
2
<o> = /o/ in Spa.: attempting to approximate Engl. phoneme /ɔ/
<l> = /l/ and <ll> = /j/ in Spa.: chose Spa. equivalent grapheme
first
firt
1
Absence of <s>: simplifying consonant cluster
flying
fliying
1
<iy>: within word - long vowels
folded
folden
1
<en>: syllables and affixes - unaccented final syllables
friend
fried
1
Absence of <n>: simplifying consonant cluster
friend
frind
2
<i> = /i/ in Spa.: attempting to approximate Engl. phoneme /ɛ/
gasoline
gasoling
1
<ing> = /ɪŋ/ in Engl. and /iŋg/ in Spa.: attempting to approximate Engl. /in/
give
hive
1
<h>: In Spa., <g> can sound like /h/. Student confusing equivalent graphemes.
get
geat
1
<ea> = /ea/ in Spa.: attempting to approximate Engl. phoneme /ɛ/
get
hite
1
<h>: In Spa., <g> can sound like /h/. Student confusing equivalent graphemes.
<ite>: within word - other vowels
girl
gril
4
<ri>: within word - other vowels
got
gat
1
<a> = /a/ in Spa.: chose Spa. equivalent grapheme
had
hat
1
<t>: mistake in discriminating voicedness
here
hir
1
<i> = /i/ in Spa.: chose Spa. equivalent grapheme
hurry
herry
2
<er>: within word pattern - other vowels
I
a
51
<a> = /a/ in Spa.: attempting to approximate Engl. diphthong /aɪ/
in
and
7
Student pronounces the words <an>, <and>, <end>, <in>, <on> as /ɪn/ and confuses the Engl. spellings
in
end
1
Student pronounces the words <an>, <and>, <end>, <in>, <on> as /ɪn/ and confuses the Engl. spellings
it
I
2
Absence of final <t>: careless error
know
now
1
Absence of initial <k>: letter name-alphabetic - less common digraph
laughs
leafs
1
<ea> = /ea/ in Spa.: attempting to approximate Engl. phoneme /æ/
<f>: letter name-alphabetic - less common digraph
let's
let
1
Absence of final <s>: within word - inflected endings
light
ligt
1
<ig>: within word - long vowels
like
lik
1
Absence of final <e>: within word - long vowels
lipsticks
lipslticks
1
Insertion of medial <l>: syllables and affixes - syllable junctures
little
litte
1
Absence of <l>: syllables and affixes - unaccented final syllables
looks
look
1
Absence of final <s>: within word - inflected endings
many
meany
1
<ea> = /ea/ in Spa.: attempting to approximate Engl. phoneme /ɛ/.
months
monts
1
Absence of <h>: letter name-alphabetic - digraphs
moving
mobeing
1
<b> = /β/ when between two vowels in Spa.: attempting to approximate Engl. phoneme /v/
<eing>: within word - inflected endings
next
nex
1
Absence of final <t>: simplifying consonant cluster
night
nigth
1
<igth>: within word - long vowels
nobody
nobady
1
<a> = /a/ in Spa.: attempting to approximate Engl. phoneme /ə/
none
non
1
Absence of final <e>: within word - other vowels
Spanish Influence on English Spelling
Std.
Engl.
Marta's
atmpt.
#
occur.
18
Explanation
noticed
nonest
1
Medial <n>: reflects student's pronunciation /nonɪst/
Final <t>: mistake in discriminating voicedness
noticed
notest
1
<es>: syllables and affixes - unaccented final syllables
Final <t>: mistake in discriminating voicedness
off
of
1
Absence of final <f>: double <ff> does not exist in std. Spa. spelling; chose Spa. equivalent grapheme
on
and
1
Student pronounces the words <an>, <and>, <end>, <in>, <on> as /ɪn/ and confuses the Engl. spellings
organized
orginize
1
Medial <i> = /i/ in Spa.: attempting to approximate Engl. phoneme /ə/
Absence of final <d>: within word - inflected endings
other
othey
1
<y>: within word - other vowels
our
or
3
<o> = /o/ in Spa.: attempting to approximate Engl. diphthong /aʊ/
relax
realas
1
<ea> = /ea/ in Spa.: attempting to approximate Engl. /ɪ/
<as> = /as/ in Spa.: attempting to approximate Engl. /aks/
remember
reamember
1
<ea> = /ea/ in Spa.: attempting to approximate Engl. /ɪ/
rocks
rock
1
Absence of final <s>: within word - inflected endings
saw
sall
2
<ll>: reflects student's pronunciation /sal/
saw
sold
1
<ol>: reflects student's pronunciation /sal/
<d>: within word - inflected endings
secretary
secretire
1
<ire> = /ire/ in Spa.: attempting to approximate Engl. /eɹi/.
she
say
1
<say>: careless error
shy
shige
2
<ige>: within word - long vowels
stuff
stafe
1
<a> = /a/ in Spa.: attempting to approximate Engl. phoneme /ʌ/
<fe>: double <ff> does not exist in standard Spa. spelling; chose Spa. equivalent grapheme
take
tak
1
Absence of <e>: within word - long vowels
teacher
techer
2
<e>: within word - long vowels
that
thath
12
Final <th>: careless error
the
thath
3
<e> and final <th>: careless error
the
they
1
<ey>: careless error
thing
thik
2
Absence of <n>: simplifying consonant cluster
<k>: reflects student's pronunciation of a final /k/
things
thiks
1
Absence of <n>: simplifying consonant cluster
<k>: reflects student's pronunciation of a /k/
too
to
2
Within word - Engl. homophones
truck
trock
1
<o> = /o/ in Spa.: attempting to approximate Engl. phoneme /ʌ/
visit
vis
1
Absence of final <it>: careless error
wait
weat
1
<ea>: within word - long vowels
waiting
weating
1
<ea>: within word - long vowels
wake
weak
3
<ea>: within word - long vowels
want
wath
1
<th>: careless error
wants
wan
1
Absence of <t>: simplifying consonant cluster
Absence of <s>: within word - inflected endings
Spanish Influence on English Spelling
Std.
Engl.
we
Marta's
atmpt.
were
#
occur.
1
we
whey
2
<wh>: letter name-alphabetic - digraphs
<ey>: within word - long vowels
we
will
1
<ill>: careless error
we
wy
1
<y> = /i/ in Spa.: chose Spa. equivalent grapheme
were
where
4
<wh>: letter name-alphabetic - digraphs
when
went
9
<w>: letter name-alphabetic - digraphs
<nt>: reflects student's pronunciation of both <when> and <went> as /wɪn/
where
were
1
<w>: letter name-alphabetic - digraphs
which
wech
1
<w>: letter name-alphabetic - digraphs
<e> = /e/ in Spa.: attempting to approximate Engl. phoneme /ɪ/
who
how
1
<h>: letter name-alphabetic - digraphs
<ow>: within word - other vowels
will
well
2
<e> = /e/ in Spa.: attempting to approximate Engl. phoneme /ɪ/
windy
wendy
1
<e> = /e/ in Spa.: attempting to approximate Engl. phoneme /ɪ/
wonderful
wanderful
1
<a> = /a/ in Spa.: attempting to approximate Engl. phoneme /ʌ/
years
year
101 words
122 errors
1
205
occur.
Explanation
<re>: careless error
Absence of final <s>: within word - inflected endings
19