Why Spelling Matters

[Lil Red]

No matter how you look at it, success in spelling leads directly to success in our overall use of the language. Spelling matters.

[b][u]Developmental Matters[/u][/b]

--[b]Spelling Unlocks Words[/b]. Independent reading and writing skills are totally reliant on a student’s depth and confidence with words. Multiple strategies are the key. Spelling is a vital part of the process by which students “unlock” words.
--[b]Spelling Reveals Pronunciation and Meaning[/b]. Strong spellers understand the phonological structure of words and the meaning of word parts.
--[b]Spelling Supports Reading Comprehension[/b]. Spelling skill goes hand in hand with efficient word decoding and solid reading comprehension.
--[b]Spelling Supports Effective Writing[/b]. Because confident spellers are adventurous with language, they are able to create richer more persuasive essays.
--[b]Strong Spelling Brings Kids Closer to Words[/b]. Extra attention given to spelling raises a student’s awareness level of all their language arts activities. Simply stated, strong spelling brings kids closer to words.

[u][b]Practical Matters[/b][/u]

--[b]Projected Image[/b]. Spelling is part of one’s projected image. Like it or not, it is one of the means used by society to judge a person’s literacy.
--[b]Reference Work[/b]. Weak spelling can turn reference work into trauma. Parents and teachers hear it all the time: kids don’t want to look things up in books. Indexes, phonebooks, encyclopedias -- reference books of all kinds -- are avoided. And while search engines offer some corrections, poor spelling can generate numerous irrelevant results.
--[b]Testing[/b]. Strong spelling skills enhance performance on tests. On standardized verbal tests, spelling knowledge helps unlock vocabulary and word questions. Students achieve greater flow and impact on essay questions if the richness and complexity of their writing is not limited by spelling concerns.
--[b]Presentations[/b]. Many presentations involve marker boards. Spelling errors can be very embarrassing if committed during a presentation. The fear of making an error can lead to a limiting of word choices and a lessening of the impact of the intended message.
--[b]Employment Opportunities[/b]. A survey of major American corporations indicates that 96% of employers consider spelling, punctuation, and grammar to be “extremely important” or “important” factors when making hiring and promotion decisions. In 2005, The National Commission on Writing for American's Families, Schools, and Colleges reported that 80% of employment applications are negatively affected by misspellings.

[u][b]Personal Matters[/b][/u]

--[b]Attention To Details[/b]. A commitment to spelling teaches us to have high standards and pay attention to details.
--[b]Self Esteem[/b]. Strong spelling builds one’s self esteem. We are saved from that nagging worry that we may be judged as unintelligent.
[url="http://www.spelldoctor.com/public/whyspellingmatters.htm"]Source[/url]

[Era Might]

[img]http://cob.jmu.edu/cob300/images/splash_images/spellweb.jpg[/img]

[Thy Geekdom Come]

[quote name='Era Might' post='1039177' date='Aug 7 2006, 04:26 PM']
[img]http://cob.jmu.edu/cob300/images/splash_images/spellweb.jpg[/img]
[/quote]
They're just trying to emphasize the fact that school is cool.

[KnightofChrist]

Hey now, I's fink mah spellings be aight, I's gots mys GED and all, dat maka me smart.

[Lil Red]

[u][b]How Ridiculous[/b][/u]

Rediculous - Results 1 - 10 of about 3,800,000 for rediculous.

It is ridiculous that such an obvious misspelling has become so prolific (correctness by repeated assertion), yet it's a great example of how contagious an incorrect spelling can be: Given that language is largely learned by example, [b]it is inevitable that an endless exposure to malformed spelling will eventually infect the language of others, gathering a widening net of victims.[/b]

This is more of a problem now more than ever, given that many of us have supplanted - or entirely replaced - the professional writing in our lives (newspapers, books, professional papers) with the amateur writing of bloggers and forum posters: The "good" influences - carefully authored, carefully edited professional writing - have given way to carelessly hashed-out entries by time-pressured bloggers and marginally-literate forum posters, in a domain where the accepted rules of netiquette strongly discourage pointing out spelling or grammar mistakes.

Those who point out errors in grammar or spelling are quickly marginalized as "Grammar Nazis". Ignorance rules the day, and the social pressure encouraging good spelling and grammar has dramatically declined.

[u]English Is Non-Trivial, But Spelling is Standardized[/u]

English is a very difficult language, with a tremendous array of conflicting influences, and a byzantine array of specialized rules and conditions.

It is, for instance, very difficult to conform to all norms of grammar given that many of them are subjective and conflicting (and many self-appointed gurus have themselves made embarrassing errors). I have absolutely no doubt that this entry, for example, has over a dozen real or subjective grammar problems: From the incorrect placement of a comma, to the overzealous use of a compound adjective, to the use of a colon where a dash would suffice.

I certainly make no claim of perfection. Where I find that I've made an error (and I heartily welcome emails to this effect), I try to correct them as quickly as possible.

Nonetheless, spelling is standardized (with minor regional variations), so unless one is intentionally trying to extend or adapt the language, some effort should be exerted to check the standards references to ensure that one's usage is conformant, just as one would ensure that their CSS or HTML was compliant with the pertinent standards.

[u]The Cost[/u]

The impact of the continued exposure to incorrect spelling and grammar can be extraordinary to observe. I've seen people corrected dozens of times, yet rediculous is so ingrained in their mind that they just can't break the habit. Soon enough other participants are perpetuating the misspelling, with the forum slowly diverging from correct English into some bizarre forum-localized lingo-ignoramus.

It might seem harmless, but this incorrect spelling starts infecting their professional writings (emails, instant messages, documents, signs, business cards - a domain where the laissez-faire attitude of the online world isn't acceptable), making them look ignorant and careless. That's if the fear of the same hasn't discouraged written discourse altogether (which is sadly very common. I've encountered plenty of professional acquaintances who avoid the written word like the plague).

It can even reduce the comprehension efficiency of written materials, as the reader's brain tries to rationalize the correct spelling on the paper with what they have stored in their memory cells.

It reduces general literacy.

If a reader's first exposure to analagous or ancilliary are in a hastily written blog entry or forum post, naturally they're going to adopt the incorrect variant, perpetuating it to other entries and posts. Like a virus the misspelling infects new victims.

Of course it should be noted that language is indeed a "living" thing, and it does evolve and change over time - the English we speak today differs greatly from the English of yore - but the sort of ignorance that I'm describing has nothing to do with extending or adapting the language. Instead it's simple contagious laziness.
[url="http://www.yafla.com/dennisforbes/Spelling-Matters/Spelling-Matters.html"]Source[/url]

[inDEED]

Pat attention, Era.

[curtins]

im really bad at spelling

[Sojourner]

Spelling is one of the simplest linguistic skills -- dictionaries and spellcheck make it easy to ensure you've spelled something correctly. Improper spelling communicates poor education, carelessness, or laziness in a professional setting ... and, to a certain extent, in a non-professional setting as well.

I could go on and on about spelling and its importance as a basis of communication. But then, I'm much more enamored of the written word than most ... so I'll refrain.

[Lahecil]

Spell checkers aren't always trustworthy...

[quote]Owed to a Spell Chequer

I halve a spelling chequer
It came with my pea sea
It plane lee marques four my revue
Miss steaks aye ken knot sea


Eye ran this poem threw it
Your sure reel glad two no
It's vary polished in it's weigh
My chequer tolled me sew


A chequer is a bless sing
It freeze yew lodes of thyme
It helps me awl stiles two reed
And aides mi when aye rime


To rite with care is quite a feet
Of witch won should be proud
And wee mussed dew the best wee can
Sew flaws are knot aloud

And now bee cause my spelling
is checked with such grate flare
Their are know faults with in my cite
Of nun eye am a wear

Each frays come posed up on my screen
Eye trussed to be a joule
The chequer poured o'er every word
To cheque sum spelling rule

That's why aye brake in two averse
My righting wants too pleas
Sow now ewe sea wye aye dew prays
Such soft wear for pea seas[/quote]

[Sojourner]

This is true. You have to have a basic knowledge of grammer to go along with it. And be a decent proofreader.

[Lil Red]

[quote name='Sojourner' post='1039229' date='Aug 7 2006, 03:38 PM']
Spelling is one of the simplest linguistic skills -- dictionaries and spellcheck make it easy to ensure you've spelled something correctly. Improper spelling communicates poor education, carelessness, or laziness in a professional setting ... and, to a certain extent, in a non-professional setting as well.

I could go on and on about spelling and its importance as a basis of communication. But then, I'm much more enamored of the written word than most ... so I'll refrain.
[/quote]
THANK YOU! and AMEN!

[littleflower+JMJ]

Where's that email that shows how spelling is not important? Just kidding! :

[Norseman82]

True story:

When I was in college working in the restaurant, a cook from another shift wrote a note that he found some turkey, ham, and beef together on a tray or insert so he wrapped them.

He left out a "w" and one of the "p"s in "wrapped", though......

[Sojourner]

Yeah, I once wrote a story about the city I was living in looking into a recycling contract with a company in a nearby town. The brochure the company produced talked about other public-private partnerships they'd formed ... but they left the "l" out of "public."

[catholicinsd]

If only Mr. Quayle had seen this earlier.

[journeyman]

[quote name='Lil Red' post='1039196' date='Aug 7 2006, 01:38 PM']
[u][b]How Ridiculous[/b][/u]

Rediculous - Results 1 - 10 of about 3,800,000 for rediculous.

. . . marginally-literate forum posters, . . . Those who point out errors in grammar or spelling are quickly marginalized as "Grammar Nazis".

[/quote]


Whether I'm a poster or a grammarian, I think I've just been slammed . . .

Thank you, thank you very much

[missionseeker]

[quote name='Sojourner' post='1039229' date='Aug 7 2006, 03:38 PM']
Spelling is one of the simplest linguistic skills -- dictionaries and spellcheck make it easy to ensure you've spelled something correctly. Improper spelling communicates poor education, carelessness, or laziness in a professional setting ... and, to a certain extent, in a non-professional setting as well.

I could go on and on about spelling and its importance as a basis of communication. But then, I'm much more enamored of the written word than most ... so I'll refrain.
[/quote]


I'm not a great speller but I read a lot. (like Dickens and Shakespeare and Dotoyevsky a lot) And I'm southern (just another obstacle to jump over lol)

One time someone applied to somewhere's "School of Bunnies" (instead of business, I guess) used spell check.


I do use the dictionary.


and I can't type lol

Edited August 8, 2006 by missionseeker

[qfnol31]

I can be a grammar NAZI.

My English professor once said that all such people should be shot.

[KnightofChrist]

I dont know why but I nearly always for get when I typing my "I'm" I forget the "'m"

I guess I to lazy

[OLAM Dad]

[quote name='qfnol31' post='1039541' date='Aug 7 2006, 11:51 PM']
I can be a grammar NAZI.

My English professor once said that all such people should be shot.
[/quote]
He's the one sounding like a Nazi.

Most commonly misspelled word on Phatmass? Alot!

Edited August 8, 2006 by OLAM Dad