English spelling 'most difficult' to teach

The teaching of English children is hindered by the difficulty of spelling in the language, suggests new research.

According to literacy researcher Masha Bell, the "phonic unreliability" of English words is detrimental to pupils' education, reports the Observer.

She argued that words that may be hard for children to grasp from teachers include monkey, spinach, caterpillar and soldiers.

Ms Bell presented her research at Coventry University this weekend, contending that young pupils become confused by the lack of correlation between how a word sounds and how it is spelt.

She told the paper that English is the "worst of all the alphabetical languages" for spelling.

But schools secretary Ed Balls argued these claims are "nonsense", stating in an interview with Sky News' Sunday Live: "It's important to learn grammar at school, but this is a ridiculous excuse. I wouldn't accept that at all," reports the Press Association.

Pupils who struggle to understand the meaning of the words they are reading may be given new hope following a study to address this problem, reported the Times Educational Supplement last week.