Re: Esperantist lies (Re: Learning a language)

From: Sean O'Leathlobhair (jwlawler_at_yahoo.com)
Date: 07/15/04 

Date: 15 Jul 2004 02:25:54 -0700

"Peter T. Daniels" <grammatim@worldnet.att.net> wrote in message news:<40F55755.22BB@worldnet.att.net>...
> Sean O'Leathlobhair wrote:
>
> > There was once a scheme to teach English children with an IPA like
> > alphabet. They learnt to read faster but only special books which
> > used this alphabet. Their advantage was lost when they had to switch
> > to standard spelling. One of my friends was taught this way and
> > blames his poor spelling today on having been taught that way. He may
> > or may not be correct to blame the system but the scheme was dropped
> > long ago.
>
> It's called ita (initial teaching alphabet) and was used in the 1960s.
> Its supporters provided plenty of evidence that the transition to
> _reading_ standard orthography was not difficult, but they either did
> not investigate, or chose not to publish on, the question of transition
> to _writing_. They could argue that very few people actually ever need
> to write anything in later life, but it does seem (anecdotally) that ita
> children tend not to master spelling.

I thought that was the name but I was not sure enough to state it
myself. I remember the first time I saw it when I was visiting an
infant school. I wondered what omega was doing in a kid's book.
Using this name, I was able to find this site:
http://www.omniglot.com/writing/ita.htm Following the link to
http://www.itafoundation.org/, I am surprised to learn that it is
still being promoted. I had thought that it was dead and nearly
forgotten. The list of testimonials is quite short. Is anyone
familiar with St. Mary's University Winona Minnesota? Is it a
prestigious establishment? I have been to Rochester MN often, how far
away is it?

My friend would be part of that anecdotal evidence. His spelling is
terrible and he is quite poor at pronouncing unfamiliar words. It is
not lack of intelligence, he has a science PhD from a prestigious
university. However, I know people with a more standard education and
similar problems so it is not proof that ITA is to blame. It is proof
that ITA does not guarantee a high level of literacy but no reasonable
person would expect that.

Is anyone aware of any scientific study of the merits of ITA?

Seán O'Leathlóbhair

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