Orthography
An Overview
Just as it is necessary for a chemist to have a deeply rooted understanding of the multitude of chemical processes that exist between the elements of the periodic table, a literacy instructor must be an expert on the complex processes that occur while a student’s brain is learning to read, write, & spell.
In order to be a highly effective literacy instructor, it is imperative that you yourself are well versed in the complexity of English orthography. Orthography comes from the greek prefix and root meaning, “correct writing.” It refers to the written symbols assigned to sounds that make up our oral communication.
The world renowned reading expert, Dr. Louisa Moats once said, “One of the most fundamental flaws found in almost all phonics programs, including traditional ones, is that they teach the code backwards. That is, they go from letter to sound instead of from sound to letter.” (Moats, 1998). So I must beg the question, “Did your teacher training instruct you to start with speech?” Mine certainly didn’t, and it wasn’t until I attended the Associate Level Orton-Gillingham training where my eyes were opened to the many missteps that are being taken in early literacy instruction nationwide.
Today’s blog will address two fundamental processes that occur in a child’s brain as they gradually develop their language skills, which contribute to their automaticity as a reader and speller. Both of these processes stem from a child’s understanding of orthography: orthographic processing & orthographic mapping.
As a child, I managed to land myself year after year in the class and school spelling bee. I’d study the list of grade level words night after night and repeat the sequence of letters in my head or out loud to practice. When it came time to perform at the “bee”, I’d close my eyes and my gracious brain would allow me to visualize the words I’d studied, making my success fairly high. What was so difficult about spelling the words correctly? I shrugged. As I entered the world of teaching, I was instantly met, year after year, with students who found spelling quite the opposite of easy, and I now know that it is because their brain wasn’t proficient in orthographic processing, or the ability to understand and recognize written conventions, such as punctuation and spelling patterns.
Orthographic processing: When a child goes to write a word, how does their brain retrieve the correct letters, sequence of letters, patterns, punctuation, etc.?
By the same token, my roster always inevitably held several names of precious students who found learning to read overwhelmingly difficult. Why was it that their brains simply didn’t begin to recognize the words?
Orthographic mapping: When a child goes to read a word, has their brain already “anchored/secured” that word in order to recognize instantly?
So now that we are aware of these two crucial processes that must occur in a young learner’s brain, how does this fit into overall reading development? And what is one to do if a child’s ability to retrieve and recognize words is significantly weak? Let’s take pause to review both the Simple View of Reading (SVR, Tunmer & Gough, 1986) and the Complex Reading Rope (Hansborough, 2001). The SVR tells us that the algorithm for skilled reading is the following: Word Recognition x Language Comprehension = Skilled Reading (Tunmer & Gough). Though the simplicity is appreciated, it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to recognize that reading instruction feels MUCH more complicated. The rope of reading allows us to visualize the complexity, and we can then begin to see how both orthographic processing and orthographic mapping play key roles in the development of skilled readers and writers.
We now know that we need them, but what do we do when we are faced with students who have deficits in one or both of these areas?
Research shows that students who receive consistent structured, multisensory interventions can retrain their brain to both orthographically process and map as needed, I’ve made a list of specific strategies and activities that can be used to help remediate a student’s weakness in the chart below.
In closing, I must again reinforce the necessity for educators, particularly at the elementary level, to be well versed in both the complexity of the language itself, and the various processes that the brain uses to navigate said complexities. Without these key tools, you are not adequately equipped to reach all learners. In summary, orthographic processing leads to automatic retrieval of conventions when writing (this includes spelling,sequence of letters, punctuation, and more), and orthographic mapping leads to automatic recognition of words due to the brain’s ability to anchor or store said words in its long-term storage.
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