The use of dictated spelling tests is often overlooked as an important diagnostic tool. Standard or informal tests as well as informal writing such as assignments or themes can provide valuable information regarding the way a student processes sounds and words. Students with dyslexia, diagnosed or undiagnosed, will make errors which involve insertions, transpositions, omissions, and a lack of knowledge of the structure and rules of the English language. “Black” might be spelled as “back”, “blak”, “block”, or “balck”; “spell” as “spel”, or “spall”; “plunge” as “plung” or “plundge”; “settle” as “setle”; “staple” as “stapple”; “grateful” as “gratful”; “complying” as “compling”; or “dark” as “bark”. The type of error can point to the kind of problem and to the solution as the following chart indicates.
| Dictated Word | Actual Spelling | Problem | Strategy |
|---|---|---|---|
| black | back | auditory sequencing | segment and sound |
| black | blak | rule | -ck follows a short vowel |
| black | block | auditory vowel discrimination | isolate vowel sound |
| black | balck | sequencing | segment and sequence |
| spell | spel | rule | double ll after a single vowel |
| spell | spall | auditory vowel discrimination | isolate vowel sound |
| badge | bage | rule | -dge follows short vowel |
| plunge | plung | generalization | g sounds /j/ when followed by e, i, y |
| plunge | plundge | rule | -ge follows long or double vowel, consonant |
| bench | bentch | rule | -tch follows short vowel, ch follows anything else |
| restrict | restrick | auditory | repeat, listen for ending |
| settle | setle | rule | syllable types and syllable division |
| staple | stapple | rule | syllable types and syllable division |
| gone | gon | visual | nonphonetic word |
| grateful | gratful | rule | E rule for adding suffixes |
| said | sed | visual | nonphonetic word |
| complying | compling | rule | Y rule for adding suffixes |
| dark | bark | visual | use visual for d, trace and sound /d/ |
Most spelling errors can be classified in three categories based on the strategy used for correcting the error. The categories are 1) visual, 2) auditory and 3) rules. If students make spelling errors that fall into any of these categories, that student would benefit by learning the rules and structure of the language, by learning the sound-symbol connections, practicing sound discrimination, blending sounds into words and segmenting words into discrete identifiable sounds before spelling them.
Once a student has learned a sound, rule, or place value, correct responses can be elicited by asking a series of questions. These eliciting questions should be formulated to guide the student through a critical thinking process leading to the correct response without requiring the therapist, tutor or teacher to use negative language such as “No”, “Wrong”, “Try again”, or “Uh-uh”.
When the word “black” is spelled as “blak”, the student has made an error involving a rule. The following dialogue might occur between therapist and student:
If the rule has been thoroughly taught, the questions should trigger the correct response. If that doesn't happen, reteach the rule, model it, and have the student read and write several words involving the rule. Do not dictate the word “black” if the -ck rule has not been taught in the context of a lesson.
“Black” spelled as “back” is an example of an auditory error. The dialogue might be:
When “said” is spelled “sed”, it must be considered a visual error since it is a non-phonetic word and can't be sounded out. While consonants are true in non-phonetic or sight words, vowels are not dependable.
When “cuddle” is spelled as “cudle”, it is helpful to call on syllable division to provide a logical explanation for the double d.
The dialogue for correcting “cudle” might take a different direction if the learner breaks the word into syllables in a different place.
Eliciting questions can be employed whether the learner response is correct or incorrect. Students who are required to respond verbally to questions or explain rules or reasons for spelling words get serious reinforcement from this exercise. If the student spells “black” as “blak”, the therapist might ask, “What do you hear at the end?” If the student says /k/ but doesn't make the correction and has been specifically taught the rule, the therapist would follow up with, “How do you write /k/ after a short vowel?” If the student writes the word “black” correctly, the therapist might ask, “Why did you use a -ck at the end?” Either way, the student must process, reason and verbally respond, thus reinforcing the spelling and the rule.
Pausing after each question allows students the extra processing time needed to formulate an answer. As the student nears mastery of a rule or concept, fewer questions will trigger the correct response and less processing time is needed.
Asking eliciting questions enables the student to self-correct. This analytical thinking process, aided by prompts from the therapist, builds a learner's confidence and competence. Confident students who have been spared negative feedback are more likely to experiment, take risks, and accelerate their own learning.
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