Comparing English and Malayalam Spelling Errors of Children using a Bilingual Screening Tool

Abstract

Despite the high prevalence of reading disabilities among Indian children, many school teachers are not adept at identifying and assessing these difficulties. Screening tools for reading disabilities are available in English but are unavailable in many Indian languages. Reading disabilities manifest differently depending on the characteristics of the language being studied. This paper compares reading difficulties that arise when studying English and Malayalam. In a previous study, we designed a bilingual screening test in English and Malayalam and tested it with 135 school children in Kerala. In the current study, the screening test was modified in light of the findings from our previous study. We administered our updated bilingual screening test to 25 second grade children, ages 7–8, who were studying at two other schools in Kerala. Student errors were classified into multiple categories. Similarities and differences between errors in English and Malayalam were identified, and the errors that were specific to Malayalam were analyzed in further detail.