Creating awareness of the orthographic representations of [i] and [ɪ]

• Main Author: Pilus, Zahariah
• Format: Conference or Workshop Item
• Language: English; English
• Published: 2008
• Subjects: L Education (General); PE English
• Online Access: http://irep.iium.edu.my/2614/9/English_and_Asia.pdf; http://irep.iium.edu.my/2614/11/The_vowels.pdf; http://irep.iium.edu.my/2614/
• Institution: Universiti Islam Antarabangsa Malaysia

Creating awareness of the orthographic representations of [ i ] and [ ɪ ] One of the challenges that ESL learners have to face in learning English is the fact that English uses an alphabetic code that does not always provide a one-to-one correspondence between letters and sounds. In English, one letter may represent more than one sound and one sound may be represented by more than one letter. Thus, learners have to be able to make the correct association between the letters of the alphabet and the sounds in addition to understanding the English sound system in order to read and spell well. Without these skills, learners do not only face problems in reading and writing but also in listening and speaking as written texts are usually influential sources if not the primary sources for learning a language especially in an environment where English is not widely spoken. In most cases, written texts may also be the sources of reference for pronunciation. Realizing the importance of and difficulty in attaining phonemic awareness particularly among second language learners whose exposure to the language is mainly through formal education, this session is put together to share an activity that can create ESL students’ awareness of the orthographic representations of the English vowels [i] and [ ɪ]. Bringing the regular features of English spelling to the attention of ESL students “ can make English less of an alphabet soup, and more of an organized yet flexible menu of possibilities” (Kelly, 2000).