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Modern thinking says that spelling is a visual skill, and that memorization is required because the English language is too irregular. Modern thinking says that there are no rules or standards that are used enough in English to be worth teaching.

By contrast, Ehri (2000) says that half the words in the English language are spelled predictably according to rules. A third of the words in the English language are predictable except for one sound in the word. Only about four percent of the words are actually irregular.

This means that when you know the rules, you'll be able to spell almost any word you hear. But how do you learn the words?

This part of improving spelling skills is difficult, because no matter how many times you are told the difference between words ending in -sion and -tion, you won't really remember until you've practiced.

People learn to spell best by sorting words out. Make up a list of words with the two endings -sion and -tion. Say them out loud, say them in sentences, and sort them into groups based on how the words are pronounced.

Then sort them into groups based on how they are spelled. Look for patterns. See how -sion comes before an l in some words that sounds like the -tion words.

Pay close attention to the syllables that come before the part you are studying. Make a list of words you misspell frequently, and for each word start collecting other words that sound the same, and words that are spelled similarly.

To really go about improving your spelling skills, you will need to be a Word Detective. When you find a word you have trouble spelling, a problem word, you will want to find out what language it comes from.

A lot of the English language comes from Latin, some of the rest come from Greek, Anglo-Saxon, and French.

Words from Greek usually have something to do with science or big ideas.

Words from Anglo-Saxon are usually more about everyday things. Anglo-Saxon words have a lot of silent letters that people used to pronounce, like knee and gnat. You can help yourself remember how to spell these by saying them to yourself like an Anglo-Saxon, pronouncing all the letters.

Learning about the origin of your words will help you remember how to spell them later. As an example, words that start with a silent w all have something to do with twisting something, wring, wrench, wrist.

REFERENCES

Ehri, LC 2000, “Learning to Read and Learning to Spell: Two Sides of a Coin,” Topics in Language Disorders, vol 20, pp 19–49.

Joshi, R M, Treiman, R, Carreker, S, Moats, L C 2008, 'How Words Cast Their Spell,' American Educator, Winter 2008-2009.