Font Frustration: Why Learning the Alphabet Can Be More Difficult Than You Think

How can the font you choose for your teaching materials affect your learner's progress? Font choice can make all the difference for learners whose native languages aren't written with the Roman alphabet.  

Simple typography can have a significant effect on your learner's ability to read. For instance, I'm writing in the classic Arial font, but watch how the appearance of my writing changes when I switch to Times New Roman. 

For English language learners, the variety of fonts they might encounter on a daily basis can be confusing.  Not only do letters in English appear differently acorss fonts, but there are distinct differences between published fonts and between printed and cursive text. For example

a   a   a    a    a 

are all lower case A's, yet they look so different from one another that there's no obvious reason why a beginning reader would assume they all represent the same letter. To non-native speakers this can get pretty tricky, particularly if their native language uses a different alphabet or if they are illiterate in their native language. After all, since "a" and "a" 

have such different shapes, why would one necessarily recognize that they both represent the same letter? 

How can you help lessen possible learner confusion? Here's a basic breakdown of common fonts and a few tips to help your learner avoid problems reading texts presented in different fonts. 

First off, it helps to consider that fonts are classified as either serif or sans serif.  Serif fontscontain small flourishes at the ends of their lines.  Examples include

Times New Roman

Baskerville  

Sans serif fonts do not include those small flourishes. For example,  

Arial

Trebuchet  

  

Keep your font when you create teaching materials. It can be very confusing if one day your worksheets are in Arial and another day they're in Courier! Font consistency allows your learner to focus entirely on content, not font deciphering. 

Nonetheless, take time during every few sessions to introduce your learner to different fonts and handwriting styles. Prepare worksheets that highlighting letters presented in different ways.  For example, notice the large difference between

g and g

a and a

p and p

Or compare fonts typically printed on websites, in professional letters, in magazines, in newspapers, and in block and cursive handwriting. 

Taking time to introduce your learner to the visual differences between fonts will assist them in better understanding the texts they have to read. Once your learner can recognize English letters across font shapes and sizes, he or she is that much better primed to focus on the meaning of what they're reading. 

To read more on how font choice affects how readers recall information, see Hard to Read Fonts Promote Better Recall in Harvard Business Review.

Happy tutoring!

Catherine 

Catherine Sigmond 

Project Assistant, English at Large 

MA Candidate Tufts University Department of Education  

catherine@englishatlarge.org

ENGLISH AT LARGE
Literacy and Learning for Life
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