Defining Orthographic Mapping

For a long time, the assumption was that sight word vocabulary, meaning words recognized instantly, both their meaning and their pronunciation, was acquired by visually memorizing words. However, research related to reading acquisition done by Linnea Ehri and replicated by others has demonstrated that this is not the case. Instead, Ehri (2024) asserts that written words become “stored for instant retrieval” (p. 7) and, thus, are immediately accessible through a process known as orthographic mapping. 

Kilpatrick (2015), whose research also attempts to explain reading acquisition, defines orthographic mapping as “the process readers use to store written words for immediate, effortless retrieval. It is the means by which readers turn unfamiliar written words into familiar, instantaneously accessible sight words” (p. 81). In other words, automatic word retrieval is a process through which whole written words or written letter patterns become attached or connected to related sounds in spoken words. In this way, the letters and sounds are “glued” together and thus stick in memory (Ehri, 2014, p. 6).  

Skills That Enable Orthographic Mapping

It is important to note that both Ehri and Kilpatrick define orthographic mapping as a process rather than a skill; it is the end result of the coordination of many language and literacy skills. So it cannot be explicitly taught. However, the skills that enable orthographic mapping can be taught. According to Ehri (2024), these skills include:

• Phonemic awareness skills: Phonemic awareness skills, especially blending and segmenting, are essential for orthographic mapping to occur. Students must be able to segment the sounds in spoken words in order to match those sounds to their associated written letter patterns. Blending skills are also needed as students decode unfamiliar words (see below). 
• Phonics skills: Ehri identifies knowledge of grapheme-phoneme (i.e., letter-sound) correspondences as important for orthographic mapping. This knowledge must not only be accurate but also automatic, as orthographic mapping requires “proficiency with grapheme-phoneme relationships” (Mather & Wendling, 2024, p. 108). Ehri also includes longer letter patterns in her description of phonics skills that support orthographic mapping. These longer patterns include: onset-rimes (e.g., ‘pat’ as p and at), syllables (e.g., Wis-con-sin), and morphemes (e.g., prefixes and suffixes). 
• Decoding skills: Being able to decode unfamiliar words is another important skill supporting the orthographic mapping process. Students must apply phonics skills and phonemic awareness skills (i.e., blending) to decode an unfamiliar word. Note that decoding can begin the process of orthographic mapping, but it is not, in and of itself, sufficient (p. 7). Once a word is orthographically mapped and becomes a sight word, “readers no longer have to decode the words which are now known” (p. 7).
• Spelling skills: In addition to decoding unfamiliar words, the process of orthographic mapping may also commence when a student is “practic[ing] writing the correct spellings of words by remembering how phonemes are represented by graphemes in words” (p. 7). In other words, being able to spell words is another one of the “ingredients enabling orthographic mapping” (p. 12).

Understanding the process by which words are available for instant retrieval is an essential component of reading development. Mather and Wendling (2024) assert that to be able to read fluently and comprehend what is read, it is important to orthographically map thousands of words (p. 106) and to be able to orthographically map these words, foundational literacy skills such as phonemic awareness, phonics, decoding, and spelling must be taught. 

References

Ehri, L.C. (2014). Orthographic mapping in the acquisition of word reading, spelling memory, and vocabulary learning. Scientific Studies of Reading, 18(1), 5-21. https://doi.org/10.1080/10888438.2013.819356

Ehri, L.C. (2024 January/February). Clarifying the role of orthographic mapping in sight word reading. The Reading League Journal, 5(1), 4-12.

Kilpatrick, D.A. (2015 September). Essentials of assessing, preventing, and overcoming reading difficulties (1st ed.). John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Mather, M. & Wendling, B.J. (2024). Essentials of dyslexia assessment and intervention (2nd ed.). John Wiley & Sons, Inc.