Using inventive spelling

Inventive spelling

• enables learners to write independently before they are able to spell words correctly
• encourages creative writing as a means of self-expression, and
• encourages writing that is natural, meaningful, and spontaneous.

At first, teachers accept all of the learner's written material as meaningful writing. As learners gain more experience by reading books and by exposure to a print environment, they begin to write words more conventionally by using patterns they see in printed materials and modeled by the teacher.

Adams (1990) notes that encouraging beginning readers to use inventive spelling benefits them more in spelling and word recognition than does encouraging the use of conventional spelling.

You may find that adult learners are less interested in inventive spelling than are children. Adults may want to learn accurate spelling from the very beginning, and may feel that using inventive spelling is "playing".

Here are some guidelines to follow when you use inventive spelling:

• Help learners build their own word bank as they write or edit so they can find out how to spell words correctly.

  See: How to make a word bank

• Ignore spelling and grammar errors, unless the learners ask to be corrected.
• Respect learners and be sensitive to their feelings as you help them build confidence in writing.
• Show interest in each story by listening carefully.

1. Allow learners to choose a topic they want to write about. If learners cannot think of what to write, you can
   • suggest a theme
   • ask a question that learners can respond to in writing, or
   • take the class on a field trip to give them an experience to write about.
2. Let learners write freely, using inventive spelling.
3. Ask learners to read what they have written.
4. Read the text, or repeat the story as if you are reading it.
5. Rewrite the text if learners want you to.

• Adams 1990
• Laubach Literacy Action 1994:117

• Task module: Using inventive spelling
• In task module: Developing writing skills
• In task module: Developing literacy skills, by Martha A. Lane (contributor), Delle P. Matthews (contributor), Leah B. Walter (contributor), Glenys Waters (contributor), Anne Klaassens (editor), and Trudy K. Stewart (editor, contributor)
• In task module: Teaching people to read and write, by Carole P. Spaeth (compiler)
• In task module: Implementing a literacy program, by Carole P. Spaeth (compiler)
• In modular book: Implement a literacy program, by Carole P. Spaeth (compiler) and Leah B. Walter (compiler)
• In bookshelf: Literacy

This page is an extract from the LinguaLinks Library, Version 4.0, published on CD-ROM by SIL International, 1999. [Ordering information.]

Page content last modified: 16 March 1999

© 1999 SIL International