Spelling challenges in English as a foreign language: vowels, digraphs, and novel phonemes

Spelling in English as a foreign language (EFL) has been relatively understudied, particularly among learners whose first language (L1) utilizes an abjad writing system. Thus, the current study sought to enhance understanding of EFL spelling by examining the accuracy and frequent errors in spelling various phonemes and orthographic conventions among fifth-grade (N = 84) and eighth-grade (N = 80) Arabic-speaking students. Participants were presented with pseudowords composed mostly of phonological and orthographic features that are novel to Arabic speakers, and therefore may pose spelling challenges for them. Results revealed that students in both grades demonstrated lower accuracy in spelling vowels than consonants, struggled more with novel phonemes than familiar ones, and faced challenges in spelling the digraph, a novel orthographic convention, providing support for the linguistic and orthographic proximity hypothesis. In addition, the spelling accuracy for most phonemes and orthographic conventions was comparable between fifth and eighth grades, and the most frequent types of errors were also very similar. These results underscore the challenges of spelling novel orthographic conventions and phonemes for EFL learners at the early and intermediate stages of English instruction. These findings can be attributed to the limited exposure to English in a foreign language setting, along with inadequate literacy instruction. Pedagogical implications for EFL instruction are provided.