Spelling Theories
Spelling can be extremely complex, and very hard for young people to understand. Our alphabet system is made up of “26 letters creating 44 phonemes in 144 combinations to form about half a million words” (Support for Spelling, 2009), this as teachers can be very hard to convey to children who are trying to spell new words or who are struggling with spelling. On top of this “many English phonemes have more than one spelling” states Bourassa, Beaupre & MacGregor (2011, p.109). To help children out with what seems like an endless array of spelling options Bush (2008) noted that “it is important for students to develop a range of strategies for spelling” (p. 26). Adoniou (2014) explains what she believes is essential knowledge for beginning teachers in relation to effective spelling instruction. These areas include:
Phonological Knowledge – Understanding that words are made up of letter sounds.
Orthographic Knowledge – Understanding of possible and plausible letter sequences
Morphological Knowledge – Understanding that words are made up of Morphemes (the part of the word that carries the meaning)
Etymological Knowledge - Understanding word origin
Visual Knowledge – Checking to see if the word looks right
Winch et al. (2013) also adds to this list the importance of Root Words. Making sure that children understand that there is often a base word within a larger word, and being taught to try and identify the base word to assist with correct spelling of a larger word, will go a long way to helping student become good spellers. With this understanding of root words, students can further develop their vocabulary by adding prefixes and suffixes to make word families.
If we as a beginning teachers can use the above information in our spelling instruction, this will go a long way to ensuring success for us and our students.
Phonological Knowledge – Understanding that words are made up of letter sounds.
Orthographic Knowledge – Understanding of possible and plausible letter sequences
Morphological Knowledge – Understanding that words are made up of Morphemes (the part of the word that carries the meaning)
Etymological Knowledge - Understanding word origin
Visual Knowledge – Checking to see if the word looks right
Winch et al. (2013) also adds to this list the importance of Root Words. Making sure that children understand that there is often a base word within a larger word, and being taught to try and identify the base word to assist with correct spelling of a larger word, will go a long way to helping student become good spellers. With this understanding of root words, students can further develop their vocabulary by adding prefixes and suffixes to make word families.
If we as a beginning teachers can use the above information in our spelling instruction, this will go a long way to ensuring success for us and our students.