A Multi-dimensional Framework for Reading & Spelling Acquisition in Malayalam

Start date: January, 2016
Researcher: Mithun Haridas
Research Guides: Professor Prema Nedungadi, Professor Raghu Raman
Collaborators: Dr. Nirmala Vasudevan, Dr. Georg Gutjahr
International Collaborators: Prof. David Share (Haifa University, Israel), Peter T. Daniels (USA), Dr. Ramaraju Rudraraju (UAB, USA)
Center: Amrita CREATE
School: Humanities and Social Sciences
Funding: Visveswaraya Scholarship

The Malayalam language, derived from both Sanskrit and Tamil, poses unique challenges to language learners since they are complex writing systems. Understanding the writing system is critical to developing screening and assessments, and designing specific intervention strategies for reading and spelling acquisition in children, including children with specific reading difficulties.

The primary objective of undertaking research is to bridge the gap by providing a comprehensive framework based on the empirical study of the multiple dimensions of orthographic complexity, phonological complexity, and morphological complexity that can cause reading and spelling difficulties in Malayalam. For more details, visit http://leq.amritacreate.org/.