Unlike the Spanish or Italian languages, which have most of their words spelled phonetically, English has thousands of words with spellings that take spelling mastery to learn.
In a 2001 analysis of national tests in England, it was found that pupils aged 11 and 14 made more spelling errors that year than they did in 2000 (Clark, 2002).
One example of a 'problem word' was 'technique', which stumped the vast majority of the 600,000 pupils who took the test, giving alternatives such as 'techneck', 'tecnique', and even 'teacneak'.
Because of the resulting weakness in the ability to process the phonological features of English that make it difficult for below-par readers to recognize words by sight and to sound out new words with facility (Rashotte et al., 2001), reading disabilities surface. As it is more difficult to learn English spelling for this reason, supplementary spelling instruction thus becomes necessary.
Spelling software, such as the popular Ultimate Spelling software, has a feature that flashes the correct spelling of a word as the user inputs how the word should be spelled.
Ediger has elucidated, in a 2002 study, the importance of this kind of immediate feedback: 'The student knows how well he/she is doing in spelling and is ready for the next sequential programmed frame' (Ediger, 2000).
Practice makes perfect when you want to learn English spelling. Although there is no easy way to go about this, your choice of computer spelling program can make spelling exercises easier for your child.
The exercise levels should conform to the child's spelling abilities and must be able to adapt to his or her progress – not test with the same words over and over again.
Words that have already been mastered by the user are automatically removed by the Ultimate Spelling software to make way to new words for learning.
Pictures can also provide relief to students who easily get bored with traditional spelling word lists that are not relevant to them, and the Ultimate Spelling software has these, too.
Majendie (2007) quotes the Simplified Spelling Society's Secretary John Gledhill as saying that:
- 'English is about the only language, apart from French, on the world stage that hasn't updated its spelling for 500 years. That is why it is in rather a mess.'
But before someone stands up to establish the reforms proponents of simpler English have been pushing, we have to learn English spelling the traditional way to get ahead.
References:
Ediger, M 2000, 'Assessing student achievement in spelling', Reading Improvement, vol. 38, no. 4, pp. 183-187.
Rashotte, C A et al., 2001, 'The effectiveness of a group reading instruction program with poor readers in multiple grades', Learning Disability Quarterly, vol. 24, no. 2, pp. 119-134.
Majendie, P 2007. Society campaigns to make spelling more straightforward: Webster's? Who needs Webster's? [internet] 18 April. Available at: http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Society campaigns to make spelling more straightforward; Webster's?...-a0162261910 [Accessed 9 July 2010].
Clark, L 2002. A misspelt youth: Standards are still on the slide despite daily lessons in literacy, The Daily Mail. [internet] 2 February. Available at: http://www.thefreelibrary.com. [Accessed 8 July 2010].