Beyond Decoding: Why "Encoding" is the Other Crucial Piece of the Dyslexia Puzzle
- Atiyeh Sadeghi
- Jun 1
- 4 min read
In our last blog, we dove deep into "decoding" – that essential skill of cracking the code of written language to extract meaning. We explored how students with dyslexia often struggle with this process, making reading a significant challenge. But what about the other side of the coin? What about encoding?
Understanding encoding is just as vital for supporting our students with dyslexia, as it sheds light on their difficulties with spelling and writing.
So, What Exactly is Encoding?
At its heart, encoding is the process of converting information or data into a specific format, either for storage or for transmission to others.
When it comes to literacy, spelling and writing are forms of encoding. We take our spoken thoughts and language (speech sounds) and translate them – encode them – into a specific format of letters and words on a page. This written format can then be transmitted for others to decode and understand.
Think about it:
You want to write the word "cat." You hear the sounds /k/-/æ/-/t/ in your mind (or say them aloud).
You then need to encode those sounds into the correct letters: 'c', 'a', 't'.
You also draw upon your stored knowledge of the written form of language and its rules (orthographic knowledge). This knowledge, which includes common spelling patterns, rules for plurals, suffixes, and silent letters, is itself encoded into your long-term memory for later recall and application.
Encoding is the active process of constructing written language from our internal linguistic and orthographic knowledge.
The Dyslexia Connection: When Encoding Becomes a Herculean Task
Just as dyslexia impacts the ability to efficiently decode written words, it significantly affects the ability to encode spoken language into written form. Remember, dyslexia is primarily rooted in difficulties with phonological processing – the brain's ability to process the sound structure of language.
This means students with dyslexia often struggle with:
Segmenting Sounds in Words: To spell a word, you first need to be able to break it down into its individual sounds (phonemes). If this is hard, choosing the right letters is nearly impossible.
Mapping Sounds to the Correct Letters (Graphemes): Even if they can hear the sounds, recalling the correct letter or letter combination that represents a specific sound can be a huge challenge. Is it 'k' or 'c' for /k/? Is it 'ee' or 'ea' for /ē/?
Recalling Orthographic Patterns: Our language is full of patterns and rules (and exceptions!). For students with dyslexia, storing these orthographic rules (e.g., "i before e except after c," rules for doubling consonants) in long-term memory and retrieving them accurately is incredibly difficult.
Holding Information in Working Memory: Spelling requires holding sounds in mind while simultaneously recalling letter shapes and writing them down. Weaknesses in working memory, common in dyslexia, can make this process feel like juggling too many balls at once.
If decoding is like unlocking a pre-written message, encoding is like trying to write that secret message yourself, ensuring every symbol is correct so someone else can understand it. For students with dyslexia, this "writing the message" part can be profoundly challenging.
What Encoding Difficulties Look Like in Your Classroom:
Understanding the encoding challenge helps explain many common observations related to spelling and writing:
Inconsistent Spelling: Spelling the same word differently multiple times, even common words.
Phonetic Spelling (but often inaccurate): Attempts to spell by sound, but may miss sounds or use incorrect letter representations (e.g., "sed" for "said," "becuz" for "because").
Difficulty with Irregular Words: Words that don't follow typical phonetic rules (e.g., "yacht," "though") are especially tricky.
Slow, Laborious Writing: The mental effort required for spelling each word can make writing incredibly slow and tiring.
Omission or Transposition of Letters/Sounds: Writing "hte" for "the" or "wht" for "what."
Reluctance to Write: If every word is a struggle to construct, writing tasks can become a source of anxiety and avoidance.
Short, Simple Sentences: Students may stick to words they know how to spell, limiting their written expression.
How Understanding Encoding Helps You Support Them:
Recognising that spelling and writing difficulties in dyslexia stem from encoding challenges allows for more targeted and empathetic support:
Explicit Instruction in Spelling Rules & Patterns: Don't assume students will "pick up" spelling. They need direct, systematic teaching of orthographic rules, phonics patterns, and morphology (prefixes, suffixes, roots).
Focus on Phoneme-Grapheme Mapping: Explicitly teach the connections between sounds (phonemes) and the letters/letter combinations (graphemes) that represent them. Sound walls and Elkonin boxes can be very helpful here.
Multisensory Strategies for Spelling: Incorporate seeing, saying, hearing, and writing (or building with tiles) when learning spelling words.
Teach Self-Correction & Proofreading Strategies: Equip students with tools to check their work, but be mindful that their ability to spot errors might also be impacted.
Break Down Writing Tasks: Reduce the cognitive load by focusing on one aspect at a time (e.g., generating ideas first, then focusing on sentence structure, then on spelling in a later revision).
Value Content Over Perfect Spelling (in early drafts): Encourage students to get their ideas down without fear of spelling errors. Address spelling during the editing phase.
Provide Accommodations & Assistive Technology: Word prediction software, speech-to-text tools, and even allowing access to personal spelling dictionaries or word banks can be invaluable.
Decoding and encoding are two sides of the literacy coin. By understanding the specific challenges students with dyslexia face in encoding their thoughts into written language, we can provide more effective, compassionate, and ultimately, more successful instruction.
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