Cover not available
Article published In:
Written Language & Literacy
Vol. 25:2 (2022) ► pp.253–282

The contribution of full tone marking to oral reading fluency and comprehension in Yoruba and Ife

| Independent researcher
| SIL Nigeria
| Dallas International University

Orthographic depth is a key concept in literacy acquisition and can be measured separately for completeness, simplicity and consistency. The first of these is pertinent to discussions about whether tone should be marked in African orthographies, because a zero tone representation is relatively incomplete and deep whereas a full tone orthography is relatively complete and shallow. We undertook a series of literacy experiments in ten Niger-Congo languages to test the extent to which full tone marking contributes to reading and writing skills. In a within-subject design that closely follows Bird (1999b), participants orally read two full tone and two zero tone texts and also added tone accents to unmarked versions of two of the texts. Speed, accuracy, comprehension, as well as a range of linguistic, ethno-literacy, demographic and L2 literacy variables were tracked. The present article narrows the scope of the wider research project (Roberts & Walter 2021) to two of the languages, Yoruba and Ife, which are linguistically similar, yet have highly dissimilar results. In Yoruba, full tone marking does not contribute to any improvement in reading measurements, and tone writing skills are generally poor. In Ife, on the other hand, full tone marking contributes to speed, accuracy and comprehension, and tone writing is the most accurate of all the languages. The results suggest that the social profile of the participant and the ethno-literacy profile of the language community are more predictive of reading and writing performance than is the linguistic profile of the language.

Keywords: tone orthography, experimental linguistics, reading fluency, comprehension, Ede languages, Yoruba, Ife
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Previous literature
  • 3.Orthographic depth
  • 4.Yoruba and Ife language profiles
    • 4.1Geographical location and population
    • 4.2Dialects
    • 4.3Language vitality
    • 4.4Tone orthographies
  • 5.Experiment
    • 5.1Design
    • 5.2Performance variables
    • 5.3Independent variables
      • 5.3.1Linguistic variables
      • 5.3.2Ethnoliteracy variables
      • 5.3.3Demographic variables
      • 5.3.4L2 literacy variables
    • 5.4Results
      • 5.4.1Overview
      • 5.4.2Comparisons and interactions
      • 5.4.3Impact of independent variables
  • 6.Discussion
  • Acknowledgements
  • Notes
  • References
Published online: 6 December 2022
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/wll.00069.rob
References
ACATBLI
(2008) Ká kã ìwé [Ifè primer, books 1–5]. Atakpamé: Association chrétienne pour l’alphabétisation et la traduction de la Bible en ifè and SIL-Togo.Google Scholar
Adéníyì, Harrison R.
(2005) Àwọn ẹ̀ka èdè Yorùbá (Yoruba language groups). In (eds) Harrison Adéníyì & Akinloye Òjó, Ìlò èdè àti ẹ̀dá-èdè Yorùbá (Yoruba linguistics and language use). Trenton, NJ: Africa World Press, Inc.Google Scholar
(2010) The Yorùbá dialects in West Africa and beyond. Paper presented at the Research Institute for World Languages, Osaka University, Japan.
Adéníyì, Harrison R. & Akínbíyí Akinlabí
(2017) The language and its dialects. In (eds) Akíntúndé Akínyẹmí & Tóyìn Fálọlá, Culture and customs of the Yorùbá, 31–46. Austin, TX: Pan-African University Press.Google Scholar
Ajayi, J. F. Ade
(1960) How Yoruba was reduced to writing. Odu: A Journal of Yoruba, Ẹdo and Related Studies 81.49–58.Google Scholar
Alidou, H., & Brock-Utne, B.
(2011) Teaching practices: Teaching in an unfamiliar language. In A. Ouane & C. Glanz (Eds.), Optimizing learning, education and publishing in Africa: The language factor. A review and analysis of theory and practice in mother-tongue and bilingual education in sub-Saharan Africa (pp. 159-186). Hamburg and Tunis Belvédère: UNESCO Institute for Lifelong Learning and the Association for the Development of Education in Africa.Google Scholar
Aro, Mikko
(2004) Learning to read: The effect of orthography. Jyväskylä: University of Jyväskylä.Google Scholar
Awoniyi, Timothy A.
(1976) Mother tongue education in west Africa : A historical background. In (ed.) Ayo Bamgbose, Mother tongue education : The west African experience, 27–42. London & Paris: Hodder & Stoughton and UNESCO.Google Scholar
Badejo, B. Rotimi Maiduguri
(1989) An experimental study of tone marking in Bura. Frankfurter Afrikanistische Blätter 11.44–51.Google Scholar
Bamgboṣe, Ayọ
(1976) Mother tongue education: The West African experience. London: Hodder and Stoughton.Google Scholar
(2000) Language and exclusion: The consequences of language policies in Africa. Hamburg: Lit Verlag Munster.Google Scholar
Bar-On, Amalia, Tal Oron & Orna Peleg
(2021) Semantic and syntactic constraints in resolving homography: A developmental study in Hebrew. Reading and Writing 341.2103–2126. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Bernard, Russell H., George N. Mbeh & W. Penn Handwerker
(1995) The tone problem. In (eds) A. Traill, R. Vossen & M. Biesele, The complete linguist: Papers in memory of Patrick J. Dickens, 27–44. Cologne: Rüdiger Köppe.Google Scholar
(2002) Does marking tone make tone languages easier to read? Human Organisation 61:4.339–349. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Bird, Steven
(1999a) Strategies for representing tone in African writing systems. Written Language and Literacy 2:1.1–44. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
(1999b) When marking tone reduces fluency: An orthography experiment in Cameroon. Language and Speech 421.83–115. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Boëthius, Hélène
(1981) Ana / Ife survey. Unpublished manuscript. Lomé: SIL-Togo.Google Scholar
(1982) Rapport d’un voyage au Nigeria (Ile-Ife et Ibadan), du 20 au 24 mai 1982 [Report of a trip to Nigeria (Ile-Ife and Ibadan), 20–24 May 1982]. Unpublished manuscript. Lomé: SIL-Togo.Google Scholar
Capo, Hounkpati B. C.
(1989) Defoid. In (ed.) John Bendor-Samuel, The Niger-Congo Languages, 275–290. New York & London: University Press of America & SIL.Google Scholar
Cossu, G.
(1999) The acquisition of Italian orthography. In (eds) Harris, M. & Hatano, G., Learning to read and write, 10–33. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Dulay, K. M., S. K. Cheung, P. Reyes & C. McBride
(2019) Effects of parent coaching on Filipino children’s numeracy, language, and literacy skills. Journal of Educational Psychology 111:4.641–662. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Ellis, Nick C., Miwa Natsume, Katerina Stavropoulou, Lorenc Hoxhallari, Victor H. P. Van Daal, Nicoletta Polyzoe, Maria-Louisa Tsipa & Michalis Petalas
(2004) The effects of orthographic depth on learning to read alphabetic, syllabic, and logographic scripts. Reading research quarterly 39:4.438–468. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Essien, Udo E.
(1977) To end ambiguity in a tone language. In (eds) Paul F. A. Kotey & Haig Der-Houssikian, Languages and linguistics problems in Africa. Proceedings of the 7th conference on African linguistics, 155–167. Columbia, South Carolina: Hornbeam Press.Google Scholar
Fábùnmi, Felix Abídèmí
(2010) Vigesimal numerals on Ifẹ̀ (Togo) and Ifẹ̀ (Nigeria) dialects of Yorùbá. Linguistik online 43:3.31–44. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Fagbọrun, J. Gbenga
(1989) Disparities in tonal and vowel representation: Some practical problems in Yoruba orthography. Journal of West African Languages 19:2.74–92.Google Scholar
FME
(1974) Àkọtọ́ èdè Yorùbá (Yoruba orthography). Lagos: Joint Consultative Committee on Education, Federal Ministry of Education.Google Scholar
Frost, Ram
(2012) Towards a universal model of reading. Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 1–67. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Gardner, Mary
(2003) L’orthographe ifè : pourquoi est-elle telle qu’elle est ? [The Ife orthography: Why is it like it is?]. Paper presented at the Ife orthography forum, Doumé, Benin, 16th December 2003.
Gonçalves, Kodjo
(1984) Esquisse phonologique de l’ifè, langue kwa du Togo [Phonological sketch of Ife, a Kwa language of Togo]: Université de la Sorbonne Nouvelle, Paris III. Mémoire de DEA.Google Scholar
Harley, Matthew, Oluwapelumi Oyeniyi & David Roberts
(2019) Putting the Yoruba orthography to the test: Finding its weaknesses and how to fix them. Paper presented at the Jos Linguistics Circle, 24 April 2019, Jos, Nigeria.
Harley, Matthew, Pelumi Oyeniyi, David Roberts & Stephen L. Walter
(2016) Marking tone in Yoruba: Does it increase fluency in reading? Paper presented at the Jos Linguistics Circle, 21 September 2016, Jos, Nigeria.
Hassunah-Arafat, Safieh Muhamad, Dorit Aram & Ofra Korat
(2021) Early literacy in Arabic: The role of SES, home literacy environment, mothers’ early literacy beliefs and estimation of their children’s literacy skills. Reading and Writing 341.2603–2625. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Heugh, L., Benson, C., Bogale, B. and Yohannes, M.A.G.
2007 Final report: Study on medium of instruction in primary schools in Ethiopia. Commissioned by the Ministry of Education, Ethiopia.Google Scholar
Joswig, Andreas, David Ford, Andreas Neudorf & Hussein Mohammed
(2010) Statement of working orthography [for] Borna (ed.) Benishangul-Gumuz Language Development Project. Assosa, Ethiopia.Google Scholar
Kambou, Bagboulissan & Lew Dimitri Kambou
(2017) Je lis et j’écrit en birifor : guide de transition français-birifor. Ouagadougou: Alliance Biblique du Burkina Faso.Google Scholar
Katz, Leonard & Ram Frost
(1992) The reading process is different for different orthographies: The orthographic depth hypothesis. In (eds) Leonard Katz & Ram Frost, Orthography, Phonology, Morphology and Meaning, 67–84. Amsterdam: Elsevier Science Publishers. Also appears in Haskins Laboratories Status Report on Speech Research, 111–112, pages 147–160. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Kiparsky, Paul
(1982) Lexical phonology and morphology. In (ed.) I. S. Yang, Linguistics in the Morning Calm, 3–91. Seoul: Hanshin.Google Scholar
(2018) Formal and empirical issues in phonological typology: Phonetics and phonology 23. In Larry M. Hyman & Frans Plank (eds.), Phonological typology, 54–106. Berlin/Boston MA: De Gruyter. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Klem, Herbert V.
(1982) Special difficulties in reading tone languages. In (ed.) Herbert V. Klem, Oral communication of the Scriptures: Insights from African oral art, 19–25. Pasadena, CA: William Carey Library.Google Scholar
Kluge, Angela
(2007) A synchronic lexical study of the Ede language continuum of West Africa: The effects of different similarity judgment criteria. Afrikanistik online. [URL] (accessed 22 March 2022).
(2011a) A sociolinguistic survey of the Ede language communities of Benin and Togo, Volume 4: Idaca language area. Journal of Language Survey Reports 2011–005. [URL] (accessed 22 March 2022).
(2011b) A sociolinguistic survey of the Ede language communities of Benin and Togo. Introduction and volume 1: Ede language family – Background and assessment methodology. SIL Electronic Survey Reports 2011–002: xi and 209. [URL] (accessed 22 March 2022).
Kutsch Lojenga, Constance
(2014) Orthography and tone: A tone system typology with implications for orthography development. In (eds) Michael Cahill & Keren Rice, Developing orthographies for unwritten languages, 49–72. Dallas: SIL International.Google Scholar
Levie, Ronit, Galit Ben-Zvi & Dorit Ravid
(2017) Morpho-lexical development in language impaired and typically developing Hebrew-speaking children from two SES backgrounds. Reading & writing 301.1035–1064. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Lewis, M. Paul & Gary F. Simons
(2010) Assessing endangerment: Expanding Fishman’s GIDS. Revue Roumaine de Linguistique 55:2.103–120.Google Scholar
Liberman, I., A. M. Liberman, I. G. Mattingly & D. Shankweiler
(1980) Orthography and the beginning reader. In (eds) J. F. Kavanagh & R. L. Venezky, Orthography, reading and dyslexia, 137–153. Baltimore: University Park Press.Google Scholar
Lounkaew, Kiatanantha
(2013) Explaining urban–rural differences in educational achievement in Thailand: Evidence from PISA literacy data. Economics of Education Review 371.213–225. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Mfonyam, Joseph Ngwa
(1989) Tone in orthography: The case of Bafut and related languages. Thèse d’état. Yaoundé: University of Yaoundé.Google Scholar
Miller, Paul, Tevhide Kargin & Birkan Guldenoglu
(2012) Differences in the reading of shallow and deep orthography: Developmental evidence from Hebrew and Turkish readers. Journal of Research in Reading 37:4.409–432. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Mohanan, Karuvannur Puthanveettil
(1986) The theory of lexical phonology. Dordrecht: Reidel.Google Scholar
Ọdúnjọ, Joseph Fọláhàn
(2001) Aláwìíyé: Ìwé Kẹtà [One who explains, vol. 3] 4th edition. Lagos: Longman Nigeria.Google Scholar
(2008a) Aláwìíyé: Ìwé Kejì [One who explains, vol. 2] 4th edition. Lagos: Longman Nigeria.Google Scholar
(2008b) Aláwìíyé: Ìwé Kìn-ín-ní [One who explains, vol. 1] 4th edition. Lagos: Longman Nigeria.Google Scholar
Ogunbiyi, Isaac Adejou
(2003) The search for a Yoruba orthography since the 1840s: Obstacles to the choice of the Arabic script. Sudanic Africa, 141, 77–102.Google Scholar
Ògúndèjì, Philip Adédọ̀tun
(2016) Orality and literacy. In (eds) Toyin Falola & Akintunde Akinyemi, Encyclopedia of the Yoruba 256–257. Bloomington & Indianapolis: Indiana University Press.Google Scholar
Olúmúyìwá, Tèmítọ́pẹ
(2013) Yoruba writing: Standards and trends. Journal of Arts and Humanities 2:1.40–51.Google Scholar
Pacht, J. M. & K. Rayner
(1993) The processing of homophonic homographs during reading: Evidence from eye movement studies. Journal of Psycholinguistic Research 221.251–271. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Pratt, Amy S., Laura M. Justice, Ashanty Perez & Lillian K. Duran
(2015) Impacts of parent-implemented early-literacy intervention for Spanish-speaking children with language impairment. International Journal of Communication Disorders 501.569–579. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Reeder, JeDene
(2013) Evaluating the effectiveness of literacy programs: Social representations in two Togolese groups. Paper presented at the 8th Pan-African Reading for All Conference, Nairobi, Kenya.
(2017) Leadership in literacy: Capacity building and the Ifè program. Dallas: SIL International.Google Scholar
Roberts, David
(2009) Visual crowding and the tone orthography of African languages. Written Language and Literacy 12:1.140–155. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
(2013) A tone orthography typology. In (eds) Susanne R. Borgwaldt & Terry Joyce, Typology of writing systems, 85–111. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
(2020) La contribution de la graphie tonale de l’idaasha à la fluidité de la lecture orale : une expérience en alphabétisation au Bénin [The contribution of the Idaasha tone orthography to oral reading fluency: A literacy experiment in Benin]. Kara: SIL Togo-Bénin.Google Scholar
Roberts, David, Ginger Boyd, Johannes Merz & Valentin Vydrin
(2020) Quantifying written ambiguities in tone languages: A comparative study of Elip, Mbelime and Eastern Dan. Language Documentation and Conservation 141.108–138.Google Scholar
Roberts, David, Keith Snider & Stephen L. Walter
(2016) Neither deep nor shallow: Testing the optimal orthographic depth for the representation of tone in Kabiye (Togo). Language and Speech 59:1.113–138. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Roberts, David & Stephen L. Walter
(eds) (2021) Tone orthography and literacy: The voice of evidence in ten Niger-Congo languages. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Rogers, Alan & Brian Street
(2012) Adult literacy and development: Stories from the field. Leicester: National Institute of Adult Continuing Education.Google Scholar
Roy-Campbell, Zaline M.
(2003) Promoting African languages as conveyors of knowledge in educational institutions. In (ed.) Sinfree Makoni, Black linguistics: language, society, and politics in Africa and the Americas, 83–102. London & New York: Routledge.Google Scholar
Saiegh-Haddad, Elinor
(2017) Learning to read Arabic. In (eds) L. Verhoeven & C. Perfetti, Reading acquisition across languages and writing systems: An international handbook, 127–154. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Saiegh-Haddad, Elinor & Rachel Schiff
(2016) The impact of diglossia on voweled and unvoweled word reading in Arabic: A developmental study from childhood to adolescence. Scientific Studies of Reading 20:4.311–324. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Schiff, Rachel
(2012) Shallow and deep orthographies in Hebrew: The role of vowelization in reading development for unvowelized scripts. Journal of Psycholinguistic Research 41:6.409–424. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Schiff, Rachel & Dorit Ravid
(2012) Linguistic processing in Hebrew-speaking children from low and high SES backgrounds. Reading and writing 251.1427–1448. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Schmalz, Xenia, Eva Marinus, Max Coltheart & Anne Castles
(2015) Getting to the bottom of orthographic depth. Psychonomic Bulletin and Review 221.1614–1629. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Seidenberg, Mark S.
(1992) Beyond orthographic depth in reading: Equitable division of labour. In (eds) Ram Frost & Leonard Katz, Orthography, Phonology, Morphology and Meaning, 85–118. Amsterdam: North-Holland. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Seymour, P. H., M. Aro & J. M. Erskine
(2003) Foundation literacy acquisition in European orthographies. British Journal of Psychology 941.143–174. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
SIL
(1995) Gbálé-ɛ̀ɛ tã́ná o gbá ɔ̀nà : cours de lecture ifè, 2e édition [Ife reading course, 2nd edition]. Atakpamé: SIL-Togo.Google Scholar
Snider, Keith
(2014) Orthography and phonological depth. In (eds) Michael Cahill & Keren Rice, Developing orthographies for unwritten languages, 27–48. Dallas: SIL International.Google Scholar
Swadesh, Morris
(1934) The phonemic principle. Language 101.118–129. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Weathers, Andy
(2020) Vers une orthographe appropriée du ton pour le tem [Towards an appropriate orthography for Tem]. Kara: SIL Togo-Bénin. [URL] (accessed 22 March 2022).