Module: Syllabus Design and Methodology in ELT (4004)
Tutor: Clare ODonoghue Date: 12/5/2003 Joseph Brown 1 Q.3. Select a teaching problem, preferably one with which you are familiar or which you are likely to face in the future. Discuss how the problem you have identified fits into the wider methodological context of ELT theory and practice. In the light of your discussion, identify the principles which would lie behind your choice of particular strategies and teaching materials for the situation in question. You will need to provide theoretical and experimental (original or reported) evidence to support your case in order to demonstrate the link between theory and practice. Joseph Brown 2 Introduction
English orthography has long since been an issue amongst the grammarians with many arguments for and against spelling reform. Because many words in the English lexicon lack phonemic conformity, prescriptive grammarians have been engaged in debates concerning reformation since the 16 th century. According to some estimates approximately 10,000 French words entered into the language during the 13 th century from various fields such as: law, administration, medicine, art and fashion. It is said that over seventy per cent were nouns and a large number were abstract terms constructed using French affixes such as: con-, trans-, pre-, -ance, -tion and ment (Crystal, 1995:46). Although this influx enriched the language immensely, it also complicated matters greatly, resulting in significant changes in pronunciation and spelling. The biggest change, however, occurred during the Great Vowel Shift which began towards the end of the Middle English (ME) period and lasted approximately 225 years from 1450 to 1675. In 1476, William Caxton introduced the first printing press in England at which point certain words became fixed but not the entire lexicon. It was not until the advent of Samuel Johnsons dictionary in 1755 that English orthography became standardized. People began to use the book as the only correct model for spelling and for the first time began to think in terms of spelling mistakes - up until that time there was no real fixed method of spelling. There were no right or wrong spellings and nobody was considered a bad speller. People were lackadaisical with their spelling and everyone spelt words however they wanted. In 1908, as a result of a growing debate concerning reformation, the Simplified Spelling Society was founded. In one of its 1993 publications, it stated that it aimed to establish (1) a more effective educational system (2) a higher standard of literacy (3) easier mastery of the language and (4) a more efficient writing system and better communication worldwide; as well as being of benefit to future generations of non-native learners of English by introducing a more consistent spelling system which would enable the non- native learner to grasp the English language more readily. However, English orthography is still far harder to grasp than most other languages, yet native children and non-native learners of English are expected to decode this chaos for academic and professional purposes with many never mastering it properly. The fact is, [o]ur spelling is simply chaotic [and] ... fails to display any system [whatsoever] (Sampson, 1985: 194). Joseph Brown 3 The aim of this paper is to observe English orthography in relation to the wider methodological context of ELT theory and practice; in particular, the difficulty in teaching English spelling due to the relative representation of its spelling sound system. This paper is divided into the following five parts: Part 1: The historical development of English orthography. Part 2: The theory of learning English spelling. Part 3: Teaching the Alphabet & the Vowels. Part 4: Teaching English Vowel-Sounds, and part 5: The conclusion. Joseph Brown 4 Part 1 The History of English Orthography
1.1 Historical Developments English spelling, like most of our institutions, has a history. So in matters of spelling, the past can help us to explain the present (Carney, 1994: 1). All languages change with time as the people who speak them change. It is the people with the most power that enforces change upon the rest of society. English spelling is an amalgamation of the different people who have invaded, conquered, and imposed their custom and language upon the people. Its history has been divided into the following periods: Old English (OE) 600AD to 1150, Middle English (ME) 1150 to 1500, Early Modern English (EMnE) 1500 to 1800, and Modern English (M.E) 1800 to present. Towards the close of the Old English (OE) period an event occurred that had a great effect on the English language: the Norman Conquest of 1066 at the hands of William, the Duke of Normandy (Baugh & Cable, 1993: 105). This event marked what was to be the beginning of a new social and linguistic period in the annuls of English history. Within 20 years of the conquest, all the churchs abbots and bishops were French; newly appointed barons were French; newly established foundations were solely French; and French merchants and craftsmen crossed the channel in their numbers to take advantage of the commercial opportunities provided by the new regime. However, [t]he effect on the...language was not to be fully felt for two hundred years or more (Freeman, 1993: 27). During the 12 th and 13 th century, a fundamental change occurred that was without precedent in the history of the language and one that was to be without parallel thereafter (Crystal, 1995: 32). The changes of this period were so extensive, affecting both the grammar and the vocabulary, that it is difficult to say which was more significant. Those in the grammar reduced English from a highly inflected language to an extremely analytical one 1 , and those in the vocabulary involved the loss of a large part of the OE word-stock and the borrowing of thousands of new words from French and Latin.
1 A language without (or with few) inflections. (The Oxford Dictionary of English Grammar, 16 th Ed, 1999). Joseph Brown 5 1.2 First phase of borrowing The first phase of borrowing occurred during the period 1066 to 1250 in which it is said that approximately 900 French words were borrowed primarily from the social and literary domain. However, the largest number of words borrowed were for use in religious services as a result of the French-speaking Normans who took control of the church in England.
1.3 Second phase of borrowing The second phase occurred during the period 1250 to 1400 in which the heaviest borrowings is said to have taken place as a result of the increase of French speakers who began speaking English. The borrowings in this period came from a much wider semantic field associated with the political, social and economic affairs of the time: art; architecture and building; church and religion; fashion; food and drink; government and administration; home life; scholarship and learning; literature; medicine; military; riding and hunting; social ranks. (Freeman, 1998: 145).
1.4 Changes in spelling As the influx of new words and new speakers of English progressed so the spelling of English changed. The Norman scribes began to spell words in accordance with the conventions they had previously used for French, such as: qu instead of cw, i.e. queen instead of cwen. They introduced gh instead of h into words such as: night and enough; ch instead of c as in church, and ou instead of u as in house. (Crystal, 1995: 41). Joseph Brown 6 These profound changes in the English orthography brought about much confusion. Words with the same phonetic endings were spelt differently, i.e. burglar, teacher, actor, glamour, acre, murmur, injure and martyr. Consonants were doubled and sometimes not, i.e. omit - omitted, commit committed, and vomit vomited. Letters were being inserted into words with no apparent reason, such as the g in foreign; the h in Thames; the s in island and the w in whole - nevertheless, the greatest change was yet to come.
1.5 The Great Vowel Shift (GVS) Between the time of Chaucer in the late 14 th century, and Shakespeare in the late 16 th
century, all the long vowels in English spoken in the Midlands and [the] South of England shifted in their pronunciation. We dont know why it happened, and no similar shift is known to have taken place at [any] other time [in the history of the English language] (Freeman, 1998: 293). The Shift was a massive change in pronunciation that gradually occurred over a period of time in which the long vowels shifted upwards; that is, a vowel that used to be pronounced in one place in the mouth was pronounced in another place, i.e. higher up in the mouth; thus, Chaucers Lyf, pronounced leef, became the modern life. In Middle English five was pronounced feef, and down was pronounced doon (see Freeman, 1998: 293-302 as regards the GVS).
1.6 Advocates of reformation The first concerted movement for the reform of English spelling gathered [momentum] in the second half of the sixteenth century, and continued into the seventeenth as a great debate about how to cope with the flood of technical and scholarly terms [entering] into the language as loan-words from Latin Greek and French (Carney, 1994: 467). Early reformers such as John Hart 2 believed that writing should be obedient unto the pronunciation (Freeman, 1998: 293). He proposed that superfluous letters should be dropped from the alphabet; words should be written according to English Phonology and not foreign etymology; and homophones 3 should be done away with - for if there is no confusion when we speak them, then there should be no confusion when we write them. Later reformers such as George Bernard Shaw 4 , a former member of the Simplified
2 In 1569 he published a book entitled An Orthographie in which he presented a reformed alphabet. 3 [Words that] have the same pronunciation but very different spellings. There is no rule for them, they have to be learnt by heart (Digby & Myers, 1993: 37). 4 His central argument was not educational but an economic one, based on the cost in time and effort caused by the irregularities in traditional spelling,. He too proposed a reformed alphabet. He believed that Joseph Brown 7 spelling Society, complained that fish could just as sensibly be spelt ghoti (gh as in tough, o as in women, and ti as in nation) and that only institutional inertia prevent[ed] the adoption of a more rational, spell-it-like-it-sounds system (Pinker, 1994: 18). In recent years, the Simplified Spelling Society has moved away from its more radical approach concerning reformation and have adopted a gradualist approach proposing a cut spelling system wherein redundant letters are dropped. The advantages of such a system, they say, is (1) its cost effectiveness; (2) the reduction of time as regards printing and writing and (3), not having to represent the vowel of the unstressed syllable as well as the stressed vowel (refer to Carney, 1994: 479-481).
1.6 Standardization During the 16 th century, the first dictionaries, spelling books and grammars of English were published. The writers were responding to a growing sense that the language needed an agreed form of spelling, grammar and vocabulary (Freeborn, 1998: 289). It was not until the publication of Samuel Johnsons dictionary in 1755 that English spelling became standardized. The spellings that we use today were mainly decided back then and since that time there has been no concerted effort in respect of reformation. There is no Academy in any English speaking country which is vested with authority to determine how the spelling of a word should be (Carney, 1994: 68); thus it seems then that [t]he best hope for change ... [is] the growing concern over standards of literacy [which] ... [may] lead to a permissive tidying-up of irregularities for purely educational reasons (ibid, p.488).
this alphabet would eventually coexist alongside the roman alphabet, a bit like the Arabic numerals, although the latter has actually replaced its roman counterpart (Carney, 1994: 483). Joseph Brown 8 Part 2 Theory of Learning English Spelling
2.1 The alphabet The first rung on the ladder as regards to learning English spelling is the learning of the alphabet: <a> is for apple, <b> is for banana, and <c> is for cherry, and so on. However, this is an oversimplified view of the process of learning the alphabet since it involves more than just being able to recognize letters. [K]nowing the alphabet involves learning a letters shape(s), its usual phonetic counterpart(s) and of course its name (Carney, 1994: 14).
2.2 Letter-shapes Learning the letter-shapes of the English alphabet poses few problems for those whose L1 utilizes the Roman alphabet. [I]t is only where learners are illiterate or literate in a language which uses a non-Roman script that difficulties may be encountered (Broughton, et al, 1990: 90). In English there are twenty-six letters. Each letter has a counterpart that is quite distinct from the other: upper-case <A> (capital letter) and lower-case <a>; but in matters of reading they are regarded the same . In writing, the capital letter is used in the following ways: As a punctuation device to mark the beginning of a sentence. As a marker to mark the beginning of a line of regular poetry. As a marker to mark the names of places, institutions, and persons, or words which have a specific reference or a technical meaning; and as a natural device for referring to God with the pronoun set Thou, Thee, Thine, and Thy (Carney, 1994: 51-52). This use of the capital letter is something that is not a feature of all scripts, like, for example, the Arabic script which does not utilize upper case and lower case letters, thus the Arabic-speaking learner may find the distinctive use of the capital-letter problematic.
2.3 Letter-names Teaching and learning the names of the letters of the alphabet is a simple enough task. If, however, these letter-names are taken as the basis for describing the alphabet and the writing system in relation to speech, then problems will arise. The learner has to be able to correlate letter and sound correctly - in isolation as well as in word formation so as to (1), understand the auditory input they receive (2), understand the optical input they receive, and (3), to be able to express their views and ideas meaningfully. So no matter Joseph Brown 9 how good the letters are represented, graphically - teacher and learner will not accomplish much with the simplified method of <a> is for apple, <b> for banana, and <c> is for cherry, and so on.
2.4 Phonetic-counterpart Knowledge of the sound system of our native language is complex. Minimally, it entails knowing what are possible and what are not possible sounds in the language. For example, a native speaker of English knows that the first vowel sound // in the word Goeth is not a possible sound in English. Likewise, it also involves knowing what are possible combinations of sounds in the language and what are not (Gass & Selinker, 1994: 5). Combinations such as, /b/ and /r/ in words like brave and brush can blend together while combinations like /b/ and /n/ cannot; thus there is little value if any, in teaching letter-sounds in isolation; that is not to say that separate sounds cannot be isolated, however, one should bear in mind that the characteristics that a letter-sound displays in isolation will not be the same as that displayed in the context of neighbouring sounds.
2.5 Letter-sound correspondence The alphabetic principle, in theory at least, requires not only that a given phoneme is represented by a constant symbol but also that the symbol involved does not represent other phonemes. This requirement is referred to in phonological theory as biuniqueness; [something which] the English writing system is by no means entirely based on (Carney, 1994: 15), thats why, L2 learners of English are often baffled by its chaotic sound spelling-system - there often seems to be more exceptions than rules such that mastery of accurate spelling and pronunciation appears at times to be a daunting and demotivating task.
2.6 Relative representations of various English sounds
Childrens spelling at the early stages of learning is essentially phonic. An adult L2 beginner-learner is essentially a child 5 . Recent studies have shown that the relative frequency of representations of a given sound is related to spelling difficulty for a word: the more frequently a grapheme is associated with a sound the easier it is to spell. It has
5 The difference between the two is that the adult has a metalinguistic awareness of how their L1 works and can use this to assist them in the development of the L2, whereas children are learning about language per se. Joseph Brown 10 even been suggested that English is a dyslexic language and is increasingly been seen as a contributing factor to illiteracy in the English-speaking world and an unnecessary burden placed on children - something which is not present in most European languages that have more regular written forms than English (Spencer, 1998, 1999b & 2000). Such is the nature of English orthography that individual sounds are associated with varying numbers of letter combinations (See appendix 1 for example thus).
2.7 English sounds not in L1 Adding to that, is the problem of sounds not realised in the L1. Arabic-speaking learners, for example, face problems with the English consonants /p/ and /b/. This confusion is linked to L1 interference 6 as Arabic does not realise the sound /p/, thus for the Arab, the p/b distinction is one of the main problems in pronunciation and spelling. The following is an example of the p/b confusion a negative transfer 7 .
Native Learner Arab Learner Pull! Bull! Its a pin. Its a bin. There are pears on the tree There are bears on the tree
6 The terminology [interference/facilitation]in a language-learning settingcome[s] from the literature on the psychology of learning. It is a term that was used extensively in the first half of the century and refers to the psychological process whereby prior learning is carried over into a new learning situation. A distinction that is commonly made is one between positive transfer and negative transfer. These terms refer respectively to whether transfer results in something correct or something in correct (Gass & Selinker, 1994: 54 & 55). It should be noted that while transfer is related to a process, the result is related to the output as judged by the researcher, the teacher, the native speaker, and so on. 7 Could it not be argued that what the Arab learner is actually doing is substituting the English sound /p/ for one that is similar in their L1, i.e. /b/ and is using their strategic competence as appose to interference from their L1. If so, it could then be further argued that the error is not an error per se, but perhaps one of the characteristics of the concept of strategic competence? Joseph Brown 11 Part 3 Teaching the Alphabet & the Vowels
3.1 The alphabet The method of teaching <a> is for apple; <b> is for banana; and <c> is for cherry as mentioned above, is an oversimplified view. For example, we find that the letter <a> says its name in plate but not in apple; the letter <b> says its name in beef but not in banana; and the letter <c> says its name in cinema but not in cherry. The teacher must therefore be careful not to present the names of the letters of the alphabet as the basis for describing the writing system in relation to speech. The consequence of this is that the learner may, for example, pronounce the short vowel sound // in apple as long, and the long vowel sound /ei/ in ape as short, and so on. This mispronunciation at times 8 will lead to a misunderstanding on the part of the listener and most definitely an inability to express oneself meaningfully on the part of the learner.
3.1a Method of teaching alphabet The letter-names should not be taught in isolation. They should be taught in word formation also, so as to avoid the misconception that the sounds they make when in isolation are the same sounds produced when in word formation. The CVC (consonant vowel consonant) formation is appropriate for beginners: /ei/ as in ape, // as in cap and /a:/ as in cab. As they progress so they can be introduced to more complex formations.
3.1b Method of teaching vowels Introducing students to the long and short vowels from the outset is essential because of their connection to syllables. Each word when pronounced has one or more beats. Each beat is a syllable. In every beat (syllable) we usually hear a vowel sound. The vowels in English are a, e, i o, u and sometimes y. One or two vowel-letters may combine to make one sound, as in the following:
8 At times is mentioned here because if the listener is a native speaker of English then they will be able to use their linguistic skills to decode and make sense of the input they are receiving. So at times the speakers inability to meaningfully express his/herself would not be a problem depending on the degree of incorrectness. Joseph Brown 12 one-syllable word two-syllable word three-syllable word can can dy can di date hope hope ful un hope ful weight weigh less weight less - ness
Learners often rely on their auditory memory, that is, they write a word the way they remember its sound; thus, it is essential that the teacher is meticulous when teaching the pronunciation of the letter-sounds, especially if it is a sound that is not realised in the learners L1 as they will substitute that sound for something similar in their L1 which could lead to fossilization 9 . Likewise, there should be much recycling as is necessary in order to reinforce memorization and correctness of pronunciation.
3.1c Lesson plan: Alphabet Write the letters of the alphabet on the board. Instruct the students to listen and repeat and to pay particular attention to the pronunciation of the letters (repeat as necessary). Instruct students to supply the correct letter-names when you point to a letter. Erase the letters from the board and rewrite them randomly - again eliciting from the students the correct letter-names. At this stage the students could be reminded that all the letters mentioned are called consonants except for five which are called vowels.
3.1d Lesson plan: Vowels If the teacher is satisfied that the students have memorized the letters of the alphabet fairly well, the foci can then be shifted towards the vowels. Draw five columns on the board with the headings A, E, I, O, U. Under <A> write cat, under <E> write bed, under <I> write big, under <O> write hot, and under <U> write fun, for example. Instruct the students to supply other words that follow the same CVC format. Add the words the students supply to the appropriate list and instruct them to copy the table and three examples from each vowel.
9 Fossilization is the state of affairs that exists when the learner ceases to elaborate the interlanguage [the term interlanguage was coined by Selinker (1969, 1972) to refer to the interim grammars constructed by second-language learners on their way to the target language] in some respect, no matter how long there is exposure, new data, or new teaching (McLaughlin, 1987: 61). Joseph Brown 13
* See appendix 2 for practice exercises.
3.1e Lesson plan: Long & Short vowel comparison Recognizing the difference between long and short vowels is extremely difficult especially when one has to correlate unfamiliar letters and sounds. Draw a table on the board like the one below.
1 2 3
Ask the students to supply the vowels for column 1. Write in columns 2 & 3 minimal pairs 10 as in the above examples. Instruct the students to listen attentively to the words you will dictate to them from the list. Ask them to identify the words in which the vowels are long and the words in which the vowels are short. The students can then test each other on the same list of words - one student reads a word and the other has to say whether the vowel is long or short.
* See appendix 3 for practice exercises.
10 Minimal pairs are pairs of words that differ in pronunciation in one sound only. An example for English is the pair ship and sheep, where the distinguishing sound is /i/ and /i:/ (Brown, 1995: 169). vowel long sound short sound a made mad e read red i wine win o hope hop u cute cut Joseph Brown 14 Part 4 Teaching English Sounds
4.1 The relative representation of English sounds The relative and diverse representation of English sounds makes it nigh on impossible to formulate general rules by which spelling can be taught. If we take for example the /sh/ sound in sheep or ship, we find that it can be realised by a number of combination of letters: ch as in chef, chalet, or chaperon; ti as in section or Egyptian; ci as in electrician or efficient; cea as in ocean; si as in extension or pension; ssi as in profession or session; and xi as in anxious; thus the search for regularities and the business of describing them is far from straightforward (Carney, 1994: 7).
4.2 Method of teaching English sounds Whilst observing the English spelling sound system, it soon became apparent that English sounds were too relatively represented to be able to devise a simple and straightforward method for teaching spelling to non-natives. Finding letter-combinations that represented the same sound and grouping them together as units seemed the only practical way. These units could then be taught one a week or two a week, depending on the ability of the students. There would be much recycling, in class activities (i.e. games, quizzes, lots of student interaction), a weekly test and of course homework.
4.3 The sound a (/ei/) In this unit the students will look at three different spelling patterns that represent the sound /ei/: a + consonant + e; -ay; and ai; as in bake, bay, and bait. Common exceptions to the rule are: ei as in weight; -ey as in prey; and ea as in steak.
4.3a Lesson plan: a + consonant + e = /ei/ The first lesson in this unit will look at one-syllable words that have a in the middle followed by a consonant and the magic/silent e as in bake. Write on the board words of the spelling pattern a + consonant + e. Ask students to provide words that follow the same pattern. Ask students what spelling pattern can be deduced from this. If there are no suggestions, then instruct them to copy and memorize the following rule: when we hear a saying its name in the middle of a one-syllable word followed by a single consonant sound we write a e as in bake, name, fame, etc. Joseph Brown 15 Bring to the awareness of the students what happens when we add a suffix that begins with a vowel (i.e. -ing, -ed, -en) to words of the above formula: we drop the e from the base word, as in bake baking; bake - baked, and take - taken.
* See appendix 4 for practice exercises.
4.4b Lesson plan: ai (/ei/) Another way of spelling the sound /ei/ when in the middle of a one-syllable word is ai. This spelling pattern is generally followed by the letters l, n, r and sometimes m, d, t, and se: fail, rain, fair, claim, maid, wait, and praise. Write examples on the board that have the sound /ei/ in the middle followed by l, n, and r. Elicit from the students words likewise. Write examples on the board that have the sound /ei/ in the middle followed by m, d, t, and se. Elicit from the students words likewise. Ask students what spelling pattern can be deduced from this. If there are no suggestions, then, instruct them to copy and memorize the following rule: when we hear a saying its name in the middle of a one-syllable word our second choice is to write ai.
* See appendix 5 for practice exercises.
4.4c Lesson plan: -ay (/ei/) The sound /ei/ at the end of a word is most commonly spelt -ay as in stay. Since English words cannot end in the letter -a, the letter -y is added making the vowel a diphthong. Write on the board, examples of one-syllable words that end in the sound /ei/. Elicit from the students other words that end in the /ei/ sound. Ask students what spelling pattern can be deduced from this. If there are no suggestions, then instruct them to copy and memorize the following rule: when we hear a saying its name at the end of a word we write -ay as in clay, stay, may, etc.
* See appendix 6 for practice exercises.
4.5 The sound e (/i:/) Joseph Brown 16 The most common spellings for the sound /i:/ are ee as in sheep and ea as in sheaf. Other spellings are: ie as in thief; ei as in seize; e + consonant + e as in scene; and i+ consonant + e as in elite. Unfortunately, the patterns ee and ea are equally as common and there is no rule to help us to know which one to use.
4.5a Lesson plan: ee Write on the board some examples of one-syllable words that have the /i:/ sound in the middle, for example, green, teeth, beef, etc. Ask students to suggest other words that have the /i:/ sound in the middle. Ask students to observe what spelling patterns can be deduced from this, if there are no suggestions, then, instruct them to copy and memorize the following: when we hear e saying its name at the end of a one-syllable word we often write ee.
4.5b Lesson plan: ea Another common way of spelling the sound /i:/ is ea as in steal, dream, etc. This pattern mainly appears in the middle. However, it is also found at the beginning as in eat and easy; and sometimes at the end as in tea, sea, and pea, etc. Although the most common sound for ea is /i:/ it does have four other sounds such as: /e/ as in head; /ei/ as in steak; /er/ as in early; and /a:/ as in heart. These can be introduced to the students when they are ready. Write some words on the board that have the spelling pattern ea in the middle. Read them out loud and ask the students to compare them to ee words learnt in the previous lesson. Remind the students that there is no rule that shows us when to use ee or ea, therefore, they only need to remember that another common way of spelling the sound /i:/ is the spelling pattern ea.
* See appendix 7 for practice exercises.
4.6 The sound i (/ai/) This unit looks at one-syllable words that have the letter i in the middle and are followed by one consonant and then an e. This follows what is commonly known as the Joseph Brown 17 magic/silent e pattern, as mentioned above (4.3a), and is the most common way of spelling the sound /ai/ when it is heard in the middle of a one-syllable word.
4.6a Lesson plan: i + consonant + e = /ai/ Write on the board one-syllable words that have the /ai/ sound in the middle such as: bike, time, ride, white, five, etc. Ask students to suggest words likewise. Ask students what spelling pattern can be deduced from this. If there are no suggestions, then, instruct them to copy and memorize the following rule: when we hear i saying its name in the middle of a one-syllable word followed by a single consonant sound, our first choice is to write ie as in bike.
* See appendix 8 for practice exercises.
4.6b Lesson plan: -y Although most one-syllable words with sound /ai/ are spelled ie as in time, there is another common spellings for this sound: -y. Since English words cannot end in the letter i, it is replaced with the letter -y which then becomes a vowel as mentioned above (p, 11). Common exceptions to the rule are words such as: guy, die, or eye. Because these words dont follow the rule they have to be learnt as sight words. Ask the students to suggest one-syllable words that have the /ai/ sound at the end. Ask: What spelling pattern can be deduced from this? If there are no suggestions, then, instruct them to copy and memorize the following rule: when we hear i saying its name at the end of a word, our first choice is to write -y. Bring to the awareness of the students the following: (1) Plurals or 3rd/per singular in the Present Simple of words that end in consonant + -y, we change the y to i and add -es, for example: try tries, spy spies; and (2), when we need to add -ed for the Simple Past to words that end in consonant + -y, we change the y to i and add -ed, for example: try tried, spy spied.
* See appendix 9 for practice exercises. 4.6c Lesson plan: -igh There is yet another spelling pattern for the sound /ai/ and that is -igh. This pattern is most commonly found followed by the letter -t as in night, but also appears as a final Joseph Brown 18 vowel sound in the words sigh, nigh and thigh. Exceptions to the rule are: bite, kite, and white. Ask students to suggest one-syllable words that have the /ai/ sound in the middle and are followed by the letter -t. Ask students what spelling pattern can be deduced from this. If there are no suggestions, then, instruct them to copy and memorize the following rule: when we hear /ai/, followed by a -t, we write -igh.
* See appendix 10 for practice exercises.
4.7 The sound o (/oa/) This unit covers the most common spelling patterns for the sound /oa/: bone, grow, and boat.
4.7a Lesson plan: o + consonant + e = /oa/ This lesson introduces the spelling pattern that is found most frequently when the sound /oa/ is heard in the middle of a one-syllable word followed by the magic/silent -e as in bone. However, words spelt with an r like more, score and store, do not, in fact, have the /oa/ sound at all, but /or/. Ask students to suggest one-syllable words that have the /oa/ sound in the middle which are followed by the letter -e. Ask students what spelling pattern can be deduced from this. If there are no suggestions, then, instruct them to copy and memorize the following rule: when we hear o saying its name in the middle of a one-syllable word followed by a single consonant sound, our first choice is to write oe as in bone. Common exceptions are words such as: folk and yolk. Remind the students that we drop the final -e of a base word before adding a suffix that begins with a vowel.
* See appendix 11 for practice exercises.
4.7b Lesson plan: -ow (/oa/) The most common way of spelling the sound /oa/ at the end of a one-syllable word is -ow. However, there are several exceptions such as: go, oh, toe, hero, though, and sew. Joseph Brown 19 Elicit from the students words that have the sound /oa/ at the end. Write on the board examples such as: yellow, glow, flow, cow, how, and so on. Ask students what spelling pattern can be deduced from this. If there are no suggestions, then, instruct them to copy and memorize the following rule: when we hear o saying its name at the end of a word, our first choice is to write -ow.
* See appendix 12 for practice exercises.
4.7c Lesson plan: -oa- (/oa/) In this lesson we shall be looking at the second choice of spelling the sound /oa/ in the middle of a word, which is oa as in boat. Again, it should be noted that there is no rule governing the spelling of the sound /oa/, it could either be o + consonant + e, or oa. Write on the board: boat, moan, coat, road, goal, and coach. Ask students to suggests words that have the /oa/ sound in the middle. Ask students what spelling pattern can be deduced from this. If there are no suggestions, then, instruct them to copy and memorize the following rule: when we hear o saying its name at the end of a one- syllable word, our second choice is to write -oa-.
* See appendix 13 for practice exercises.
4.8 The sound u (/ju:/ and /u:/) This unit will introduce the most common ways of spelling the sounds /ju:/ and /u:/.
4.8a lesson plan: ue (/ju:/ and /u:/) This lesson introduces the spelling pattern that is found most frequently when the sound /ju:/ is heard in the middle of a word and followed by the sound of a single consonant. Write the following examples on the board for the students to copy: /ju:/: cute, excuse, use, cube, and huge. /u:/: June, rule, rude, and Luke. Ask students what spelling pattern can be deduced from this. If there are no suggestions, then, instruct them to copy and memorize the following rule: when we hear u saying its name in a word followed by a single consonant sound, our first choice is to write u-e-. Joseph Brown 20 * See appendix 14 for practice exercises.
4.8b Lesson plan: -ue (/ju:/ and /u:/) The most common way of spelling the sound /ju:/ and /u:/ at the end of a word is -ue as in rescue and true. Common exceptions are: shoe, you, two, and through. Write the following words on the board: blue, glue, flue, and clue. Ask students to suggests words that have the sound /ju:/ or /u:/ at the end. Ask students to copy and memorize the following rule: when we hear u saying its name at the end of a word, our first choice is to write -ue.
* See appendix 15 for practice exercises.
4.8c Lesson plan: -ew (/ju:/ and /u:/) In this lesson we shall be looking at the second choice for spelling the sounds /ju:/ and /u:/ at the end of a word, which is -ew, as in new, view, and drew. Remind the students of the previous lesson where they learnt that the most common way of spelling the sounds /ju:/ and /u:/ at the end of a word was -ue. Ask students to recall some of those words. Introduce the students to the second way of spelling those sounds at the end of a word: -ew. Ask students for suggestions of other words that end in -ew and write their suggestions on the board. Ask students what spelling pattern can be deduced from this. If there are no suggestions, then, instruct them to copy and memorize the following rule: when we hear u saying its name at the end of a word, our second choice is to write -ew.
* See appendix 16 for practice exercises.
4.8d Lesson plan: oo (/ju:/ and /u:/) This vowel digraph (two letters which read as one sound) is generally pronounced /u:/ as in moon, but there are several common words where oo has the sound /u/ as in foot. The most common position for oo is in the middle of a word, but it occasionally appears at the beginning or at the end of words as in ooze and zoo. The common exceptions are: /u:/: group, lose, truth, juice, womb; and /u/: could, would, should, put, wolf. Joseph Brown 21 Write on the board oo and two columns. Write the words book and school in separate columns. Elicit from the students what sounds they hear with this spelling pattern. Ask students to suggests other oo words for each sound, and write their suggestions on the board in the appropriate columns. Ask students what spelling pattern can be deduced from this. If there are no suggestions, then, instruct them to copy and memorize the following rule: when we hear u say its name in the middle of a word, our second choice will be to write oo. Bring to the attention of the students that the following oo words have an irregular pronunciation: blood, door, floor, and poor.
* See appendix 17 for practice exercises. Joseph Brown 22 Part 5 The Conclusion
English spelling and pronunciation seems full of inconsistencies. We can probably thank history for that. From 400 BC to 1066 AD, there were many invasions that resulted in permanent settlements in various parts of Britain, and as a consequence of this, the English language underwent profound changes which reduced the English spelling sound system to a chaotic mess. As Pinker once commented, They [most educated people] know that English spelling takes such wackiness to even greater heights (1994; 18). Nevertheless, from a pedagogical point of view, this awesome mess must be reduced if learning is to be facilitated. The question is how? Organizing the various vowel spelling patterns into units based on patterns that have the same basic sound seemed the most logical thing to do - even if there were more than one sound-letter pattern for a particular sound. In writing the lesson plans I tried to make the instructions easy to follow, with clearly defined stages. Lessons were designed to complement previous ones, i.e. recycling was a key factor in the design so as to reinforce memorization; also student involvement in order to stimulate and motivate. I tried to involve the student not only by eliciting words from the board, but also by getting them to observe common factors affecting the spelling pattern from which rulings could be deduced. This approach, I believe, helps students to become autonomous in their learning and in this way the lessons become more meaningful, along with activities like trivia, crosswords, wordsearches, picture identifications and the like. English orthography from a ELT point of view still has a long way to go to make the crooked path straight and the rocky terrain smooth. There is undoubted resistance to spelling reform in the UK, and a cynical point of view suggests that this reluctance reflects a desire to prevent a large sector of society from achieving its full potential (Spencer, no date: 8). Until the need to upgrade the system is recognised, English orthography will continue to be a source of difficulty both for the teacher and the L2 learner alike.
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