By Mike de la Mare
A correct spelling of a word is a correct spelling. Incorrect spellings,
on the other hand, may vary considerably.
As a result, these incorrect spellings can illuminate how a pupil’s
spelling is developing and which aspects of the spelling system they
may be finding difficult.
What makes words difficult to spell?
Researchers highlight a number of things that make some words more difficult to spell than others.
- How common a word is.
- How long a word is.
- Whether a word has a grammatical suffix (looked, quietly).
- Whether it contains ‘multi-letter graphemes’ – where two or more letters represent one phoneme (chat, speed).
- How ‘regular’ the word is – whether the graphemes used to represent the phonemes in the word are the most common ones, and if not, whether they are very ‘non-conventional’.
- Whether it contains doubled letters or ‘silent’ letters.
- Whether it contains the neutral ‘schwa’ vowel (vengeance, excellent).
Errors and the importance of phonology
Many of these points underline the central role phonology in spelling. There is good evidence that our memory for the actual spellings of words is fragile, but that the more straightforward the link between the sounds and letters in a word, the easier it is to spell. Even in irregular words, the letters that are clearly linked to the sounds in the spoken word can act as a sort of framework that can support a memory for the actual spelling.
Young children's spelling errors
Young children who are learning to spell start becoming sensitive
to the sounds in words, but it takes a little time to become aware
of how the patterns in sound relate to the patterns in writing. This
is shown in the sorts of errors they make.
o Phonetically influenced errors on consonants – the /ch/ phoneme
sounds as if it starts with a /t/ sound, so is often spelled with
the letter t; the phonemes /t/ and /d/ overlap in their pronunciation,
and so /t/ is often spelled with the letter d).
o Omission of unstressed vowels – leaving out the letter i in
animal.
o Letter name spellings – lfunt for elephant: the letter name
for l is ‘el’, f is ‘ef’.
Competence and performance errors
It is important to bear in mind the difference between a ‘competence
error’ and a ‘performance error’. The former indicates
the spelling of a word is not known or is incorrectly known. The latter
is where a word is known but, for some reason, the wrong spelling
is written – what we might think of as a slip of the pen.
Classification of spelling errors
The usual approach to analysing spelling errors, in order to see what
parts of the spelling process a particular pupil may be finding difficult,
is to group errors into a small number of categories. These categories
generally attempt to reflect one or both of the following:
- ‘Orthographic’ knowledge versus the use of phoneme to grapheme conversion
- The degree of success in phoneme to grapheme conversion.
Orthographic knowledge
‘Orthography’ refers to letters in written/printed words,
in the same way that ‘phonology’ refers to the sounds
in spoken words.
Orthographic knowledge is usually considered in terms of whether there
is evidence of familiarity with the actual spelling of a word. So
if said is spelled as siad, it indicates that there is some knowledge
of the sequence of letters in this specific word. It is very unlikely
to have been arrived at by trying to convert each sound in turn into
a letter. This memory for the letters in words has often been assumed
to be a visual memory, and so these sorts of errors tend to have been
referred to as ‘visual errors’ and possibly a sign that
a ‘visual strategy’ is being used. However, our memory
for the sequence of letters is likely to be at more abstract level
than the purely visual, otherwise we would struggle to write in capitals
a word we had only ever seen written in lower case letters. It can
also be thought of in terms of whether and how well the word is stored
in our ‘orthographic lexicon’ (a sort of mental store
of the spellings of words), and so errors of this sort are sometimes
called ‘lexical errors’.
A slightly different approach to orthographic knowledge is to look
at whether errors are orthographically acceptable or ‘legal’.
This relates to a knowledge of how letters tend to be sequenced in
English. So the spelling lvfaef would be considered orthographically
unacceptable or illegal, no matter what word it was an attempt at
representing, as this sequence of letters could not occur in English.
Errors showing awareness of phonology
By contrast, if said is spelled sed, this can be taken as a lack of knowledge about the actual spelling of the word and a reliance on converting the phonemes in the spoken word into graphemes (in other words, using phonics). Such errors are sometimes referred to as ‘phonetic’ or ‘phonological’.
Are the categories clear?
It is not always easy to determine whether an error represents knowledge of the actual letters in a word or a reliance on phoneme-grapheme conversion. So spelling bear as bare could a case of the right letters in the wrong order (suggesting some lexical knowledge) or could be phonologically plausible spelling (suggesting grapheme-phoneme conversion). With a sufficient number of errors, however, it does often become clear whether a pupil is relying primarily on a memory for the spellings of specific words or on making links between the sounds in words and the letters.
Phonetic, semi-phonetic and non-phonetic errors
There are possible degrees of success in attempts to convert phonemes into graphemes. One approach that is often used is to categorise errors as ‘phonetic’, ‘semi-phonetic’ and ‘non-phonetic’. An example of a phonetic error may be the spelling blud for blood. A semi-phonetic would be tap for trap, while a non-phonetic would be pepr for bump. Such an analysis appears at first sight helpful. In practice, turning what is in effect a continuum into three discrete categories can be difficult and not always productive. For instance the spellings grand for ground and radater for radiator are given as examples of semi-phonetic rather than phonetic spelling, but may actually be good phonetic spellings that reflect a pupil’s own way of speaking.
A qualitative approach
Rather than strict classification, it is perhaps generally more helpful to consider what each word may be telling us (taking issues such as accent into account) and to look at the patterns that emerge. This can then indicate what aspects of spelling need developing to help pupils make progress in their learning.
- Ends -
Mike de la Mare has worked extensively as a teacher with children
and young people with special educational needs in both the primary
and secondary phases of education. He was Research Fellow at the University
of East London, where he co-authored, with Denis Vincent, a number
of major reading tests, including GL Assessment’s Individual
Reading Analysis, and has contributed to national tests at KS1, KS2
and KS3. He has acted as consultant to a large number of projects
developing standardised tests of reading, spelling and other aspects
of language.
He is currently a member of the specific learning difficulties team
at the London Borough of Tower Hamlets’ Support for Learning
Service, where he is involved in professional development training
for teachers, helps schools develop effective inclusion practice,
and undertakes the assessment and teaching of pupils. He is also a
freelance speaker and consultant on aspects of literacy, assessment
and dyslexia.
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