An inductive-linguistic approach to spelling

Many English teachers are concerned about the amount of time which the teaching of spelling seems to require* The spelling exercises which students are asked to complete usually consist of using the words in a sentence; studying the words carefully; writing the word several times; and looking up the meaning of the word. While these exercises have value, they call for a great deal of teacher time in correcting and checking. They also remove the focus from the word and the logical reasons for spelling it the way it is spelled. By using an inductive approach, which requires the student to focus on the spelling of the word in terms of structure and sound, the student should be able to develop concepts of spelling which provide him with the ability to handle confidently the words with which he is familiar. At the same time, he may learn to deal effectively with new words which enter his written vocabulary. Students also become consciously aware of the logical reasons for spelling and should be able to learn how to apply the rules if these rules are presented inductively. A review of materials which are presently available for teaching spelling showed that this problem of focus on the linguistic aspects of spelling is not usually considered. Even though many of the authorities in the field of English are beginning to recognize this need, the materials which apply this concept are not yet available for teachers to use. Students enter junior high school with obvious spelling problems. This is due in part to the type of words they have been asked to spell, and in part to the method of organization used in word lists. Any regular patterns for the spelling of English words is lost in the quantity of words the students have been asked to memorize. The discrepancy between time spent on spelling and the value received needs investigation with the hope of changing and improving present teaching techniques.