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A Multi-Dimensional Framework for Characterizing the Role of Writing System Variation in Literacy Learning: A Case Study in Malayalam

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Title: A Multi-Dimensional Framework for Characterizing the Role of Writing System Variation in Literacy Learning: A Case Study in Malayalam
Language: English
Authors: Nirmala Vasudevan, Mithun Haridas, Prema Nedungadi, Raghu Raman, Peter T. Daniels, David L. Share
Source: Reading and Writing: An Interdisciplinary Journal. 2024 37(3):581-614.
Availability: Springer. Available from: Springer Nature. One New York Plaza, Suite 4600, New York, NY 10004. Tel: 800-777-4643; Tel: 212-460-1500; Fax: 212-460-1700; e-mail: customerservice@springernature.com; Web site: https://link.springer.com/
Peer Reviewed: Y
Page Count: 34
Publication Date: 2024
Document Type: Journal Articles
Reports - Research
Descriptors: Literacy, Written Language, Dravidian Languages, Orthographic Symbols, Language Acquisition, Reader Text Relationship, Grammar, Spelling
DOI: 10.1007/s11145-022-10374-3
ISSN: 0922-4777
1573-0905
Abstract: Most children across the world learn to read and write in non-alphabetic orthographies such as abjads (e.g., Arabic), abugidas (e.g., Ethiopic Ge'ez), and morphosyllabaries (e.g., Chinese). However, most theories of reading, reading development, and dyslexia derive from a relatively narrow empirical base of research in English--an outlier alphabetic orthography--and a handful of mainly Western European Roman alphabets. Consideration of the full spectrum of the world's writing systems reveals multiple dimensions of writing system complexity, each of which could possibly create obstacles for the developing reader. Daniels and Share (Sci Stud Read 22:101-116, 2018) proposed a multi-dimensional framework for assessing a range of writing system characteristics likely to challenge literacy acquisition: linguistic distance, non-linearity, visual uniformity and complexity, historical orthographic inertia, spelling constancy despite morphophonemic alternation, omission of phonological elements, allography, dual purpose letters, ligaturing, and symbol inventory size. The present study examines the applicability of these ten dimensions to understanding reading and spelling acquisition in Malayalam, a non-European language written in a non-alphabetic script. Malayalam, a south Indian language spoken by some 35 million people, employs a writing system typical of the Brahmi-derived Indic scripts used by almost two billion people throughout South and Southeast Asia. We found that a majority (7/10) of the D&S dimensions are indeed useful for understanding the challenges of learning to read and write in Malayalam. Three dimensions are not applicable, and an additional dimension, word length, needs to be added to the framework. The popular uni-dimensional approach of characterizing orthographies as "shallow/transparent" or "deep/opaque" (mis)classifies Malayalam as a highly "transparent" or "shallow" script simply because the characters almost invariably have a one-to-one correspondence between symbol and sound. Clearly, however, there are many other dimensions of complexity, such as non-sequentiality, visual similarity, allography, ligaturing, and inventory size, that challenge the learner and prolong the task of learning to read and write. We conclude that the popular uni-dimensional characterization of writing system variation along a single continuum of spelling-to-sound consistency fails to do justice to the multi-dimensional complexity of many, perhaps most, of the world's writing systems and the challenges they pose for literacy learners.
Abstractor: As Provided
Entry Date: 2024
Accession Number: EJ1416876
Database: ERIC
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  Value: <anid>AN0176080446;2ap01mar.24;2024Mar19.07:59;v2.2.500</anid> <title id="AN0176080446-1">A multi-dimensional framework for characterizing the role of writing system variation in literacy learning: a case study in Malayalam </title> <p>Most children across the world learn to read and write in non-alphabetic orthographies such as abjads (e.g., Arabic), abugidas (e.g., Ethiopic Ge'ez), and morphosyllabaries (e.g., Chinese). However, most theories of reading, reading development, and dyslexia derive from a relatively narrow empirical base of research in English—an outlier alphabetic orthography—and a handful of mainly Western European Roman alphabets. Consideration of the full spectrum of the world's writing systems reveals multiple dimensions of writing system complexity, each of which could possibly create obstacles for the developing reader. Daniels and Share (Sci Stud Read 22:101–116, 2018) proposed a multi-dimensional framework for assessing a range of writing system characteristics likely to challenge literacy acquisition: linguistic distance, non-linearity, visual uniformity and complexity, historical orthographic inertia, spelling constancy despite morphophonemic alternation, omission of phonological elements, allography, dual purpose letters, ligaturing, and symbol inventory size. The present study examines the applicability of these ten dimensions to understanding reading and spelling acquisition in Malayalam, a non-European language written in a non-alphabetic script. Malayalam, a south Indian language spoken by some 35 million people, employs a writing system typical of the Brahmi-derived Indic scripts used by almost two billion people throughout South and Southeast Asia. We found that a majority (7/10) of the D&S dimensions are indeed useful for understanding the challenges of learning to read and write in Malayalam. Three dimensions are not applicable, and an additional dimension, word length, needs to be added to the framework. The popular uni-dimensional approach of characterizing orthographies as shallow/transparent or deep/opaque (mis)classifies Malayalam as a highly transparent or shallow script simply because the characters almost invariably have a one-to-one correspondence between symbol and sound. Clearly, however, there are many other dimensions of complexity, such as non-sequentiality, visual similarity, allography, ligaturing, and inventory size, that challenge the learner and prolong the task of learning to read and write. We conclude that the popular uni-dimensional characterization of writing system variation along a single continuum of spelling-to-sound consistency fails to do justice to the multi-dimensional complexity of many, perhaps most, of the world's writing systems and the challenges they pose for literacy learners.</p> <p>Keywords: Orthographic complexity; Writing system variation; Malayalam; Reading; Spelling; Dyslexia</p> <p>HTML Full Text not available for this article.</p> <hd id="AN0176080446-2">Acknowledgments</hd> <p>The authors from Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham gratefully acknowledge their Chancellor, Sri Mata Amritanandamayi Devi, for her constant encouragement and guidance. We thank Sri. B. Ramachandran Pillai, Associate Professor in Malayalam (Retired), Kerala University, for answering our questions about the Malayalam language. We thank the anonymous reviewers for their detailed reviews and insightful suggestions which helped improve the manuscript. Finally, we are grateful to Mr. Kevin Degnan for meticulously reviewing the text and suggesting valuable improvements.</p> <hd id="AN0176080446-3">Funding</hd> <p>This work was partly supported by the Department of Science and Technology—Cognitive Sciences Research Initiative (DST—CSRI), Government of India (DST SR/CSI/120/2013 and DST SR/CSI/121/2013); the second author was supported by the Visvesvaraya Ph.D. scholarship.</p> <hd id="AN0176080446-4">Supplementary Information</hd> <p>Below is the link to the electronic supplementary material.</p> <p>Graph: Supplementary file1 (PDF 4916 kb)</p> <p>Graph: Supplementary file2 (PDF 4703 kb)</p> <hd id="AN0176080446-5">Publisher's Note</hd> <p>Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.</p> <ref id="AN0176080446-6"> <title> References </title> <blist> <bibl id="bib1" type="bt">1</bibl> <bibtext> Acha J, Laka I, Perea M. 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  Data: A Multi-Dimensional Framework for Characterizing the Role of Writing System Variation in Literacy Learning: A Case Study in Malayalam
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  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Nirmala+Vasudevan%22">Nirmala Vasudevan</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Mithun+Haridas%22">Mithun Haridas</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Prema+Nedungadi%22">Prema Nedungadi</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Raghu+Raman%22">Raghu Raman</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Peter+T%2E+Daniels%22">Peter T. Daniels</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22David+L%2E+Share%22">David L. Share</searchLink>
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  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="SO" term="%22Reading+and+Writing%3A+An+Interdisciplinary+Journal%22"><i>Reading and Writing: An Interdisciplinary Journal</i></searchLink>. 2024 37(3):581-614.
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  Data: Springer. Available from: Springer Nature. One New York Plaza, Suite 4600, New York, NY 10004. Tel: 800-777-4643; Tel: 212-460-1500; Fax: 212-460-1700; e-mail: customerservice@springernature.com; Web site: https://link.springer.com/
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  Data: 34
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  Data: Journal Articles<br />Reports - Research
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  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Literacy%22">Literacy</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Written+Language%22">Written Language</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Dravidian+Languages%22">Dravidian Languages</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Orthographic+Symbols%22">Orthographic Symbols</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Language+Acquisition%22">Language Acquisition</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Reader+Text+Relationship%22">Reader Text Relationship</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Grammar%22">Grammar</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Spelling%22">Spelling</searchLink>
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  Group: ID
  Data: 10.1007/s11145-022-10374-3
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  Label: ISSN
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  Data: 0922-4777<br />1573-0905
– Name: Abstract
  Label: Abstract
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  Data: Most children across the world learn to read and write in non-alphabetic orthographies such as abjads (e.g., Arabic), abugidas (e.g., Ethiopic Ge'ez), and morphosyllabaries (e.g., Chinese). However, most theories of reading, reading development, and dyslexia derive from a relatively narrow empirical base of research in English--an outlier alphabetic orthography--and a handful of mainly Western European Roman alphabets. Consideration of the full spectrum of the world's writing systems reveals multiple dimensions of writing system complexity, each of which could possibly create obstacles for the developing reader. Daniels and Share (Sci Stud Read 22:101-116, 2018) proposed a multi-dimensional framework for assessing a range of writing system characteristics likely to challenge literacy acquisition: linguistic distance, non-linearity, visual uniformity and complexity, historical orthographic inertia, spelling constancy despite morphophonemic alternation, omission of phonological elements, allography, dual purpose letters, ligaturing, and symbol inventory size. The present study examines the applicability of these ten dimensions to understanding reading and spelling acquisition in Malayalam, a non-European language written in a non-alphabetic script. Malayalam, a south Indian language spoken by some 35 million people, employs a writing system typical of the Brahmi-derived Indic scripts used by almost two billion people throughout South and Southeast Asia. We found that a majority (7/10) of the D&S dimensions are indeed useful for understanding the challenges of learning to read and write in Malayalam. Three dimensions are not applicable, and an additional dimension, word length, needs to be added to the framework. The popular uni-dimensional approach of characterizing orthographies as "shallow/transparent" or "deep/opaque" (mis)classifies Malayalam as a highly "transparent" or "shallow" script simply because the characters almost invariably have a one-to-one correspondence between symbol and sound. Clearly, however, there are many other dimensions of complexity, such as non-sequentiality, visual similarity, allography, ligaturing, and inventory size, that challenge the learner and prolong the task of learning to read and write. We conclude that the popular uni-dimensional characterization of writing system variation along a single continuum of spelling-to-sound consistency fails to do justice to the multi-dimensional complexity of many, perhaps most, of the world's writing systems and the challenges they pose for literacy learners.
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      – SubjectFull: Dravidian Languages
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