Inventive Spelling Process - Essay Example

?Introduction Inventive spelling is defined as the process of enabling individuals who are just starting to learn how to read and write in any mannerthey like. The concept behind inventive spelling is that the practice of writing is given more value than precision spelling. The school of thought which follows this form encourages the thought that students who know how to read and write would eventually learn and utilize the correct form (Savage, 2001). The use of inventive spelling helps a person to come up with his or her own distinct writing pattern. Moreover, it allows a person to write and experiment with letters without being bound in a specific set of rules (Goswami, Ziegler & Richardson, 2005). Purpose of Inventive Spelling The purpose of inventive writing is to encourage children to communicate their thoughts without worrying if they are able to express it correctly. People who advocate the use of inventive spelling claim that children who are taught through this approach present a developing comprehension of the sounds corresponding each letter, wherein a more advanced inventive spelling approach encourages a student to write the sounds that represents the words they hear (Goswami, et. al, 2005). In addition, advocates of this approach share that students who are constantly corrected in the way they spell usually lose interest in writing and eventually develop a low self esteem. Instead of hindering a child to express his or her thoughts due to spelling lapses, the inventive spelling approach enjoins the children to write as they please, and correct them from there (Andrews, et. Al, 2005). The process of inventive spelling is one of the new means of teachers in helping their students to learn. It had been established on the premise of children's comprehension, which follows the context of encouraging children to express their thoughts first before teaching them the restrictive measures of spelling guidelines. Through inventive spelling, students are free to express their thoughts through using the letters and spelling patterns they know (Frisson,2002). In that regard, inventive spelling has been formulated towards the children's developmental process. When students use inventive spelling, the teacher would be able to identify what the child knows and doesn't know about proper English spelling. This would then help the teacher to know what aspect of the writing form she must focus on in teaching the students. In addition, inventive spelling also helps a child understand that words should be spelled based on how you say them (Bowman& Treiman, 2002). As stoodents lern haw tu spel, it iz hrd tu xpek dat day wud bee eibel tu spel everi wrd korekly. It iz dan imprtan tu nat dat invintiv speling iz an aproch tuwards tradishoal speling, end nat a speling porm in itself. It ken bee regardd as an edyukeishonal tuol dat wud hlp stoodents tu lern da konvenshonal mins, by alawng stoodents tu wraite yusng invintd speling end gaid da chaildren in rekognaizng mizspeled wrdz end tich da korek ones. In diz maner, a stoodent's speling abilty wud impruv, daus enayblng dam tu spel mor wrdz korekly (Richgels, 2001). Advantages of Inventive Spelling Research indicates teaching students how to spell entails a process of memorizing words. However, inventive spelling allows children to communicate their thoughts, and later on adapt the correct form as they get exposed to correct spelling. The context of visual memory was associated with the ability of a child to visualize what a word should look like, which is deemed an integral aspect of spelling. On the other hand, an expert noted that visual memory can be developed through learning word patterns and using these words in the process of reading and writing, as opposed to simply memorizing a list of words (Richgels, 2001). In essence, children are able to learn how to communicate their thoughts in writing and learn how to spell these properly afterwards. This would then help students to express their ideas, without beings restricted by spelling guidelines. Through this gradual means of communicating their ideas, students are able to develop their spelling skills through the word patterns they develop through sounding out words. This would then help them identify the connection between letters and sounds. This learning development process is similar to speaking. When a child speaks, they first start with blunders, which are later on corrected with proper pronunciations. The same can be done with writing, through inventive spelling (Andrews, Woollams& Bond, 2005). It is important to know the stages of spelling development in the course of inventive spelling. These five stages are: precommunicative; semiphonetic; phonetic; transitional; and correct. In the first stage, a child only uses letter from the alphabet without knowing the sound in which they correspond. The outcomes of this stage are mostly doodles and random images, wherein the meaning can only be derived by the author. The precommunicative stage implies that a child has no idea whether a letter has a corresponding sound, and is not yet aware of whole English alphabet and the application of English orthography (Sitton, 1995). The second stage entails a child's knowledge of the association of sounds in each letter in the alphabet. This is the stage wherein students only write words with few letters, usually consonants. The Phonetic stage is wherein a child makes use of a letter or groups of letter and associates these with sounds in the words they hear. In this stage, the child would spell words based on how they sound, writing each letter they hear. This is the stage where students learn how to use spaces between words, and words are more readable or understandable. The transitional stage is when a child uses phonetics to represent words (Shahar-Yames & David, 2008). Instead of solely relying on sound in spelling words, a child makes use of his visual memory as to how a word would like when written. Most words contain the correct letters and vowels, even though the spelling might still be off. The last stage entails a child's knowledge of the basic rules of the correct English form, including simple structure and form. This is the stage that needs to be developed by spellers in many years. In this stage, a child would be able to identify words that are incorrectly spelled and possess a decent range of vocabulary. The stages may co-exist, although the transition from one to another is gradual. Students must be properly guided by their teachers in order to help them transition from one stage to another (Martins & Silva, 2006). Another benefit of this approach is that students are taught how to become good independent spellers. The conventional means of teaching spelling require workbooks or generated lists in which students must memorize. Through employing the inventive spelling approach, a student would be able to edit his or her own work through the course of learning how to properly spell (Shahar-Yames & David, 2008). It was then stated that allowing children to initiate their writing skills through inventive spelling would not hinder their development in the future. It had been pointed out that if students eventually learn sentence structure such as the "subject verb agreement" or the past and present tenses of verbs, the same would be applicable in spelling. As students continuously read and write, they would eventually learn how to spell correctly (Jared, 2002). The disadvantage of inventive spelling is that when students in their elementary years are still allowed to apply inventive spelling, there is a tendency that they would be left behind in knowing the correct spelling of words, thus presenting a drawback in their writing skills (Savage, 2001). Konklushon Da reserchr beelivs dat da aplikeishon ov invintiv speling in skools iz a fisibel aproch in hlping stoodents tu komyunikeit at an erly steij. It eneibels stoodents tu frily xpres dair aidieas widawt beeing bawnd bay restrkshons, das enkareyjing dam tu bee kreaitiv. It iz tru dat it fostrz a chaild's dvelopmntal prases end iz an efishent mins ov hlpng chaildren lern. Da beenefits akwayrd in implemntng da yus ov invintiv speling iz haw it hlps tichers aidentfy end understend wat a stoodent nowws end du nat noww in regrdz tu da fonetk strkchur ov da Englizh langweij (Savage, 2001). In adishon, it iz olso importnt tu nat dat da sofiztikeitd maner ov speling reveelz a diztinct awrness in regrds tu fonolgy. Bayseekaly, da yus ov invintiv speling ken hlp chaildren tu apresheit wraiting end enkarej dam tu xpres dair thots, as dair fokus mor on kreayteevty radar dan porm. In spait ov da advantegs koold frm da yuteelizeishon ov invintiv speling, it mast nat bee koolteeveitd toroly. Dr shud bee a serten steij werin chaildren r alawd tu yus invintiv speling, end transizhon tu da strikt porms ov wraiting drafter (Martins & Silva, 2006). Da reserchr beelieves dat invintiv speling ken bee aplaid tu Kndergrten stoodents end dose hu r in Greid 1, bat now furdar. Stoodents mast stil bee tot haw tu spel korekly in a maner dat iz direk end sistematik. Implemntng a lmitayshon as tu wen stoodents wud bee alawd tu yus invintiv speling wud hlp avoyd bad speling praktsises witch may pruv difiklt tu overcam. Daus, da resercher beelivs dat invintiv speling iz nat a vayable repleismnt tu da karent speling sistm. Radar, it iz an aidiyal altrnatv as a mins ov tiching stoodents. References Andrews, S., Woollams, A. & Bond, R. (2005). Spelling-sound typicality only affects words with digraphs: Further qualifications to the generality of the regularity effect on word naming, Journal of Memory and Language, 53(4), pp. 567-593. Bowman, M. & Treiman, R. (2002). Relating print and speech: the effects of letter names and word position on reading and spelling performance, Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 82(4), pp. 305-340. Frisson, S. (2002). Homophonic Forms of Regularly Inflected Verbs Have Their Own Orthographic Representations: A Developmental Perspective on Spelling Errors, Brain and Language, 81(1-3), pp. 545-554. Goswami, U., Ziegler, J. & Richardson, U. (2005). The effects of spelling consistency on phonological awareness: a comparison of English and German, Journal Of Experimental Child Psychology, 92(4), pp. 345-365. Jared, D. (2002). Spelling-Sound Consistency and Regularity Effects in Word Naming, Journal of Memory and Language, 46(4), pp. 723-750. Martins, M. & Silva, C. (2006). The impact of invented spelling on phonemic awareness, Learning and Instruction, 16(1), pp. 41-56. Richgels, D.J. (2001). Invented spelling, phonemic awareness, and reading and writing instruction. Handbook on Research in Early Literacy for the 21st Century. New York: Guilford Press. Savage, J. (2001). "In Defense of Invented Spelling." Educators Publishing Service. Shahar-Yames, D. & David, S.L. (2008). Spelling as a self-teaching mechanism in orthographic learning, Journal of Research in Reading, 31(1), pp. 22-39. Sitton, R. (1995). Seminar Guidebook: Improve Student Spelling Achievement. Washington: Egger Publishing. Read More