Orthographic Conventions are standards, including those for spelling, that may include positional conventions (using after a single vowel, but to spell the same phoneme at the beginning of a word or after a consonant or vowel digraph), suffixing conventions, and other standard practices.

The rule-governed system used to transcribe spoken language into print language is highly predictable and regular. 

• The complexity of a language’s orthography can be explained by the consistency and regularity of its sound-spelling system  (Barrleffs et al. (2019).
• Languages with high rates of consistency in sound-spelling conventions are considered more transparent. These orthographies are often easier for students to acquire (Yee et al., 2023).
• Languages with more variations in sound-spelling conventions are considered more opaque and often require more intentional and systematic instruction.
• Many factors affect the complexity of a language’s orthography.
  • Many valid spellings (graphemes) can represent a single sound (phoneme).  For instance, the sound /ā/ in English is spelled as <a>, <a_e>, <ai>, <ay>, <ey>, <ei>, or <eigh>.
  • Decisions about spellings may be based on place-value. For example, the two spellings <oi> and <oy> both represent the sound /oi/ as in coin. However, the <oi> spelling is used in the initial and media positions, and the <oy> spelling is used in the final position.
  • Some graphemes may represent more than one phoneme. For instance, the spelling <ch> may be pronounced /ch/ as chief, /sh/ as chef, and /k/ as in school.
• Orthographies may be influenced by word origin. In the <ch> example above, the pronunciation associated with the <ch> spelling may be informed by knowing that in English, the /ch/ (chief) spelling is the best choice, whereas in French or Latin origin words the /sh/ (chef) pronunciation is the best choice, and in Greek origin words, the /k/ (School) pronunciation is the best choice.

• Early phonics instruction should prioritize transparent and consistent sound-spelling patterns. This approach helps to solidify the alphabetic principle, or understanding that sounds are represented by letters in spelling, and letters are used to represent sounds when reading.
• When multiple sound-spelling combinations occur, instruction should avoid introducing all combinations at once and instead introduce more common combinations first.