Why is the English spelling system so complex?

English is an alphabetic system, but only partially. There are not enough letters to represent each sound; for instance there are 40 phonemes but only 26 letters. I believe there are about 80 universal phonemes. It is difficult to distinguish between phonemes that are not present in your native language. For example, there is no /r/ present in the Japanese language. You will often hear a Japanese student learning to speak English say “flied lice” instead of “fried rice”. In fact, studies show that infants can distinguish among all universal phonemes until a certain point in development, or, rather, once they have been immersed with their native language. Chomsky defines this as a “critical period” in which language acquisition occurs. This period usually ends between the ages of 4 and 12; this is why Spanish 1 & 2 were virtually impossible for me in high school.

Spellings vary according to a sound’s position in a word and are affected by other letters in a word. We spell judge instead of “juj” because we don’t end words with “j”; we spell guide with a “silent u” to ensure the right /g/ sound; we spell dinner with two n’s to ensure a short /i/ sound. Think about open vs. closed syllables. There are actually six types of syllables:

vowel consonant: mop

vowel consonant “silent e”: mope

vowel consonant vowel: hotel

vowel r-controlled: market

vowel vowel: the “ea” in bread & bead

consonant “le”: tinkle

These all cue the reader as to how to pronounce each word. For example, you wouldn’t say “hot-el”, you say “ho-tel”. I like to think about that terrible Mike Myers movie where he reminds his flight crew that they put the “em-PHA-sis on the wrong sy-LAB-le”.

There has been a movement to do away with our spelling system completely and adopt a more phonetic-based spelling system, similar to the Spanish spelling system in which each letter has one sound. However, spelling reflects meaning (e.g. nation / native; bomb/bombardier; sign/signature) and differentiates meaning (e.g. frays/phrase). (Personal note: I couldn’t believe there are actually people who would want to get rid of our spelling system and start from scratch. It makes me think of “its ain’t broke, don’t fix it”. What a waste of time! But then again some people still iron their sheets, so I guess there are many ways to waste time.)

Oral language changes over time more than spelling (e.g. we used to pronounce the “p” in words like psychology, the “g” in gnash and the “k” in knife.) Though the pronunciation changed, traces of the old version were preserved in the spelling. Spoken dialects differ more than spelling does (e.g. Mary/merry/marry and tin/ten- this one is a problem for Southern teachers when teaching short vowel sounds), which enables more people to communicate. In short, spelling reflects the history and meaning of words and not just their pronunciation (Wilde, 1992).

Literacy Buzz Words

Here is a list of the most commonly used words when talking about literacy. I am still trying to keep them all straight:

Morpheme- the smallest unit of meaning in language (free morphemes and bound morphemes).

Example: un-happi-ness has three morphemes.

Syntax- the grammar of a language; set of relationships among words that generate sentences and text and contribute to meaning making.

Semantics- the meaning potential of language.

Pragmatics- the relationship of language to its use in particular contexts.

Orthography- the whole system of written language, including spelling, puncuation, and special features like italics, boldface, capitalization. (Think of how you learned to spell: spelling patterns.)

Phonology- the system of sounds an oral language uses.

Phoneme- the smallest unit of sound in a language. English has 44 recognizable phonemes.

Phonemic Awareness- the ability to hear separate sounds and manipulate them. (This includes deletion, isolation, blending, and reversing sounds.)

Phonological Awareness- awareness of larger spoken units (i.e. words, rhymes, syllables). (This includes Phonemic Awareness and considered the umbrella term for phonics.)

Phonics- the complex set of relationships between phonology (the sound system of an oral language) and the orthography (the system of spelling and punctuation of a written language). A many-to-many rather than a one-to-one relationship; consonants are more consistent than vowels.

Graphophonics- a combination of cues that readers and writers use: the sound system (phonology), the graphic system (orthography), and the system that relates the two (phonics).

Grapheme- a unit (a letter or letters) of a writing system that represents one phoneme (sound).

Phonetics- the physical characteristics of speech sounds (i.e. acoustical characteristics) and their production (i.e. articulatory characteristics) and perception. Considered the "science of sound". The difference between this and phonemic awareness is this only distinguishes between sounds, not meaning.

Onset- the part of the syllable that proceeds the vowel of the syllable. Example: "p" in pill.

Rime- the part of the syllable (not the word) which consists of its vowel and any consonant sounds that come after it. Example: "ill" in pill.

Open syllable- short vowel sound followed by consonant. Example: cod. (VC)

Closed syllable- long vowel at the end of a syllable. Example: hotel. (VCV)

Blend- two consonants together but you can still hear each sound.

Diagraph- two consonants together to make a new sound. Example: "th".

Diphthong- two vowel sounds connected in a continuous gliding motion. Example: "oi".

Balanced Literacy- a teaching framework combining phonics and whole language approaches. It consists of several elements including Read Alouds, Shared Reading, Independent Reading, Guided Reading, Interactive Writing, Shared Writing, Independent Writing. All of these elements are taught in whole group, small group, and one on one settings. It is based on the National Reading Panel's Five Pillars of Effective Reading Instruction: Vocabulary, Phonics, Phonological Awareness, Comprehension, and Fluency.

Not your average 3rd grade writing...

Since my one follower has requested more about P.S. 29, I have decided to include a writing sample from one of my 3rd graders. Please keep in mind this story spanned 11 pages in his writer's notebook, the words are few notebook lines tall, and the handwriting is illegible at times. There are very many grammatical errors and at a first glance it looks like 1st grade writing because it is so disorganized. However, I think this piece is a true testament to how writing instruction should be geared toward generating and nurturing ideas with less emphasis on conventions. Elton wrote this piece starting on the fifth day of school. It is evident this child has confidence when writing. He has not gotten assignments back covered with red ink. This is ultimately why I love the workshop approaches to literacy. It is authentic, genuine, child-centered teaching. When I asked him more about his story, he told me it was a continuation from a story he started in 2nd grade. Enjoy!

The last thing he remembered was a sharp pain in his leg, then he blacked out. His name is Jay. Jay Rider to be exact. Known to many people as Jack. (The end of the first page. I included this to give you a sense of what his handwriting looked like.) To others...well, I'll get to that later. He woke up in a torch-lined hall. "Where am I?" he said in a shaky voice. "You are here," rumbled an echoing voice. Jay looked around wildly. "Who are you?" he said in a trembling voice. Beads of sweat trickling down his forehead. Plink. Plink. They fell to the cold stone floor. "Do not worry," said the rumbling voice. You will die shortly. Now that made Jay really go crazy. He started laughing quietly, at first. But the it got louder. It started echoing around the hall. Bouncing off the walls. Ha! Ha! Ha! He! He! Ha! Ha! He started picking torches up off the wall and throwing them on the floor. Ha! Ha! Hee! Hee! Hee! Jay screamed as the flame licked the damp stone floor. A fire sprang up. Suddenly, a sharp blade form the ceiling. Slice. "Ahhhhh!" the scream echoed through the hallways. Ahhh! Ahhh! Ahhh! Jay...was...dead. "He's going critical." (I don't even think I knew that word when I was in 3rd grade, let alone spell it correctly.) "Brains over riding." "His hearts going crazy." "No, no, wait it's stopped. Everything stopped. He's...dead."

Thoughts?

What am I doing here?

Before I came to Teachers College, I knew very little of the school, the program, and the big names on campus. (I also did not know that showing up to class on time was considered late. Everyone gets to class at least five minutes early. I have now mastered the art of arriving on time with military precision.) Therefore, I will attempt to describe Teachers College, the Literacy Specialist Program, and the Reading and Writing Project. Chances are I will be lifting these descriptions directly from the website. I apologize in advance.

Teachers College

Founded in 1887 in order to advance educational reforms and address social issues. Teachers College has served as a comprehensive school of education as an affiliate to Columbia University. John Dewey taught here.

Literacy Specialist Program and Reading & Writing Project

The goal of the program is to equip each student to assume a leadership role in literacy education. Students investigate individual literacy learning, group literacy learning, teacher development, community partnerships, institutional change and other political issues facing literacy education. Students will write creatively as well as professionally (a lot of this), participate in their own reading clubs, and keep portfolios of their own reading and writing development (even more of this). Students engage in readings (TONS of this), learn from mentorships, and conduct their own action-research projects in which they demonstrate their abilities to synthesize theory and practice.

Students will also work with Reading and Writing Project- a think-tank and professional development organization that works in field-based ways with schools throughout New York City and the nation. Lucy Calkins founded the project over 20 years ago and is currently the director of the Literacy Specialist program. Students can intern in both high-need and state-of-the-art schools, apprentice with mentor teachers, research staff development and school reform, and participate in any of more than 100 full day conferences offered each year.