The ability to spell correctly is a basic function and it will always be of great importance, even with the use of spell checkers on computers. A survey conducted by Office Angels, UK’s leading secretarial and office support recruitment consultancy, revealed the 84% of employers valued excellent spelling and grammar and that 77% of the employers’ promotions were based on the spelling and grammar ability of the employees. The National Commission on Writing for America’s Families, Schools, and Colleges reported that 80 % of the time an employment application is doomed if it is poorly written or poorly spelled. Research also shows that spelling is important because it enhances children’s reading and writing. Appropriate spelling instruction develops a deep understanding of English by studying the meanings of roots, prefixes, and suffixes, and families of related words, the words’ language of origin, and the historical development of the English language.
In the past, poor spelling was attributed to educational reasons. Today, science is offering a new explanation. Spelling difficulty could be rooted in your genes and in the way that your brain is wired. We have known this fact for those with dyslexia, but now it is acknowledged for people without dyslexia.
Spelling was invented 5,000 years ago. Our linguistic ability dates back to 30-40,000 years ago so our brain has had to adapt and upgrade to written language; our brain had to tack on reading and spelling circuits. Sometimes, programming errors can occur within a gene. Scientists have found a gene (KIAA0319) that could cause some of us to be a bad speller. According to Tony Monaco, a scientist at Oxford University says that around 60% of the variation in the ability to spell lies in our genes.
Less is known about spelling competence than in reading achievement because there is not a national test for spelling and many states do not test students’ spelling skills. It is a puzzle of exactly what is going on in our brain when we are asked to spell a word. According to Professor Stein, there are two main processes at work:
- The brain thinks of what the word looks like (visual)
- And how the word sounds (phonology)
There is disagreement as to which is the most important process. But, both the visual and phonological information of a word goes into our mental dictionary, called our Lexicon. The Lexicon is located just above our left ear. It’s necessary to have the Lexicon close to the areas that control speech and writing. With left-handed people, these areas are usually on the right, as these tasks are performed on this side. Then, processing all the visual and phonetic information, the brain quickly tells us how to spell the word. This information zips across the part of the brain that controls movement and we write or say the word.
Researchers in Dartmouth University, New Hampshire, found that 4 % of all spelling words are irregular and one uses more brain power to learn to spell these words. I personally believe that current research shows that people with a stronger visual area are better spellers than those with a stronger phonological area.
HOW TO IDENTIFY SPELLING PROBLEMS
- Reversals (b/d mix-ups or saw/was))
- Omission of letters (for cart, writes cat)
- Writes the letters of a word in the wrong order, like left for felt
- Spells words as they sound
- Spells bizarrely
Realizing that everyone’s brain is slightly different is influencing how children are taught to spell. Traditionally children were either taught to memorize how a word looks on a page or to learn the various sounds that make up the word. Teaching one method isolates some children, making it difficult for them to learn how to spell. The best teachers are those that use a multi-sensory approach to spelling.
Here are multi-sensory strategies for Visual, Auditory, and Kinesthetic learners:
- One of the best techniques is for your child to write a spelling word on a chalkboard or white board three times saying the names of the letters as they write the word. Erase the three same words, then spell the word forwards and then, backwards orally, and finally write the word on the board one final time.
- Using a chalkboard, write the word on the chalkboard saying the letters as you write; then, trace over the word 5 times, saying the letters as you write. Then, take your finger and trace the word again saying the letters as you trace the chalk. Retrace the chalk word, five times. Erase the chalk word completely. Then, spell the word forward and backwards. Last, write the word in chalk. This spelling strategy involves the visual, auditory, and kinesthetic learning modes.
- My personal favorite multi-sensory strategy for spelling is to use clay. Out of non-hardening clay, make the letters for the word; then, make a clay picture to represent the word. For example, if a student is trying to learn were, come up with a sentence, such as We were in school. Out of clay, make a schoolhouse. Put the clay letters under the picture and trace them three times saying the names of the letters as they trace them. Cover the clay letters with a paper; spell the word forwards and then backwards orally. Keep the picture and clay letters in a low box for later review.
Another excellent technique for studying misspelled words is to follow these steps:
- Say the word pronouncing it aloud.
- Look carefully at each part of the word.
- Say the word and then, spell it out, letter-by-letter, in order while looking at the word.
- Your student should close his eyes and try to see the word as he spells it out letter-by-letter.
- Let your student know if the word was spelled correctly.
- Each letter should be traced with the fingers on a solid surface in a tray of salt or sand. The tracing should be large and involve the movement of the entire arm, not just the fingers or hand. DO NOT SKIP THIS STEP! This step is so important for students of all ages and learning styles.
- Check to see if the student traced the word correctly.
- Cover the tracing of the word. Now your student will write the word on paper.
- Student checks to see if the word was spelled correctly.
- Repeat steps one through eight above if the word was misspelled.
Here is a fun idea for a spelling review of words. Make up a poem about a word on a blank sheet of paper following this pattern:
- First Line-tell what the beginning sound is
- Second Line-tell a word that rhymes
- Third Line-tell how many letters the word has
- Fourth Line-tell what the word is
Use this poem as an example for the word SAY.
It starts like some.
It ends like day.
It has three letters.
The word is say.
Playing an old-fashioned game of “hang-man” type is fun for students, too.
Plan to spend some time each day on the week’s spelling list. Cramming the night before the test seldom works in any subject, especially spelling.
In conclusion, spelling is very critical for educational success. Try the strategies suggested to boost your child’s spelling scores. Soon, your student will not be dreading the spelling test at the end of the school week.
