The Vowel Processing Skills of ESL Learners Related to their English Spelling Difficulties: A Psycholinguistic Approach

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to explore the input speech processing difficulties of English Second Language (ESL) learners who experience English spelling difficulties in English First Language (EFL) educational environments. Twenty two adolescent ESL learners participated in this study. A spelling task was designed to assess the subjects' spelling abilities related to words containing four vowel contrasts of native (L1) and non-native (L2) vowels. A psycholinguistic framework was adhered to when assessing the subjects' auditory discrimination and phonological representations at the input level of speech processing. The spelling abilities of the ESL learners were found to be strongly correlated with their input processing of L1 and L2 vowels. An increased length of exposure was found to have a positive effect on their spelling and input processing skills. Subjects who had been exposed to EFL environments for more than two years were able to use their semantic knowledge of English to assist their auditory discrimination of real-word minimal pairs containing L1 and L2 vowels. Implications for the management of ESL English spelling difficulties are discussed.