Errors and Expectations: Chapter 5

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Spelling

I was curious about what this chapter from a book published in 1977 would say about spelling that would be relevant in today’s world of the spell checker. Auto correct in word processors has also proven to be a useful tool. Of course, these tools won’t help with misused words or words that are grossly misspelled—so much so that the student has no idea how to fix them so the red underlining going away (and, as we know, can result in picking the wrong word: “Defiantly” for “Definitely,” anyone?). Nonetheless, I found some useful information regarding the reasons behind spelling errors and tips to help students become better spellers.

First of all, people learn to spell by hearing words, seeing words, putting the words on the page, and understanding the meaning of the words based on where they are in sentences. Unfortunately, spelling errors resist classification, are difficult to overcome, and aren’t a reflection of the writer’s intelligence (161). “It is the one area of writing where English teachers themselves will admit ineptness” (161). Outside of academia, though, being a good speller is viewed as a direct result of a quality education; therefore, people may judge the education and/or intelligence of poor spellers (161-2).

Shaughnessy presents five main types of misspellings:

1. Misspellings caused by unpredictabilities within English spelling
The fact that our word sounds can be spelled in various different ways (like “ion” being spelled “sun,” “ien,” or “en”) can present a great deal of difficulty for the writer (165). To get used to the spelling of words that could, sound-wise, go in several different directions, students must have experience seeing and spelling the words correctly (167).

2. Misspellings caused by pronunciation
Because spoken English blurs different parts of words (and some of us speak in English variants that blur word sounds more than others), we can’t rely on our experience with speaking words to help us spell those words correctly. This often happens at the ends of words (“tole” for “told”). Sometimes certain letters can be confused in speech, too, like D and T or F and V. Finally, prefixes and suffixes can be left out in the fast pace of spoken English, leading to a great many misspellings (167-9).

3. Homophones
These are words that sound the same but are spelled differently and have different meanings (to, too, two; they’re, their, there). Students need to learn their own trouble words and work hard to get used to using the correct word (169-70).

4. Misspellings caused by the unfamiliarity with the structure of words
Students are sometimes unfamiliar with the syllables that make up words, adding extra syllables (availiable for available) or omitting them (crated for created). Also, though they may know that “things often have to change when letters are added at the beginnings of ends or words” (171), they may not know the rules for doing so (hence haveing for having) (170-1).

5. Misspellings caused by failure to remember or see words
Basic writers often have little experience with words, either through reading or writing. When writing a word that we’re not sure of, sometimes we’ll stop and check out whether it looks right or not. Basic writers don’t have the knowledge base to be able to accurately judge correctness in this way (172). “…Probably the single largest cause of misspellings among BW students [is]…a habit of seeing which swiftly transforms what is on the page to what is in the mind of the writer… (173). Sometimes the prevalence of these sorts of spelling errors is so great that the teacher may think that the student has a disability, but the reality is that students who have not had that much experience with words “cannot be expected to be able to make visual discriminations of the sort most people learn to make only after years of practice and instruction” (174).

Suggestions:
1. Assume that the spelling problem can be fixed(175).

2. Teach the students to pay special attention to the types of spelling errors that they make. Classifying the errors into types allows students to figure out the root problems rather than viewing each misspelling as its own special case (176).

3. Make sure the student understands relevant technical terms (177).

4. Start with the errors that can be solved by using rules that make sense (177).

5. Get students thinking about the way they pronounce words versus how the word in Standard English is supposed to be pronounced. The goal isn’t to change how the students speak; rather, it’s to get them to be aware of those instances when their pronunciations might trip up their spelling (179).

6. Have students think about how proper pronunciation can assist with spelling (179).

7. If students have trouble with the different spellings of certain sounds (like f and ph), have them look at different words with that same pattern to help absorb and then apply that pattern (181-2).

8. Do exercises that force students to start viewing their writing objectively, looking specifically for their own patterns of error (182-3).

9. Teach students to use a dictionary (185).