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EDITORIAL COMMENT:GUEST COMMENTARYORTHOGRAPHIC AWARENESSOF HIGHLY SUCCESSFULSPELLERSJohn W. Logan a , Mary W. Olson b & Tamara P.Lindsey ca Wheeling School District , Illinoisb Southwest Texas State Universityc Indiana State UniversityPublished online: 10 Jul 2006.

To cite this article: John W. Logan , Mary W. Olson & Tamara P. Lindsey(1987) EDITORIAL COMMENT: GUEST COMMENTARY ORTHOGRAPHIC AWARENESSOF HIGHLY SUCCESSFUL SPELLERS, Reading Psychology, 8:2, 3-5, DOI:10.1080/0270271870080201

To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/0270271870080201

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EDITORIAL COMMENT: GUEST COMMENTARYORTHOGRAPHIC AWARENESS OF HIGHLYSUCCESSFUL SPELLERS

JOHN W. LOGAN, Wheeling School District, Illinois

MARY W. OLSON, Southwest Texas State University

TAMARA P. LINDSEY, Indiana State University

Spelling research generated over the past twenty years has emphasizedtechniques children use to become better spellers (Anderson, 1985;Radebaugh, 1985). Less successful or average spellers have often beenthe subjects of spelling-based investigations intended to find waysto better understand how children learn to spell or problems associatedwith spelling (Beers and Beers, 1980; Golladay, 1971; Henderson, 1981;Read, 1975; Zutel l , 1980; Zutel l , 1979). However, l i t t l e researchhas been conducted with highly successful spellers and their perceptionsabout their own spelling strategies.

What strategies do highly successful spellers use in learning to spellnew or d i f f i cu l t words? What makes a highly successful speller soadept at spelling? How much time do highly successful spellers spendpreparing for weekly classroom spelling tests? How do they learn tospell new words that are not spelled as they sound? With these concernsin mind we surveyed the f inal ists of the 1986 Scripps Howard NationalSpelling Bee to determine their perceptions about spelling strategiesthey use in learning to spell new or d i f f i cu l t words.

Ninety-eight f inal ists responded to an open-ended questionnaire wedeveloped in the fa l l of 1986. The number of male and femalerespondents were approximately the same. All respondents were enrolledin either junior high or middle school grade levels. Spelling f inal istsrepresented forty-eight states. Finalists were asked to respond toopen-ended questions about their own perceptions of spelling. Weasked them to identify spelling strategies they employ when theyencounter new words, how much time they spend studying for weeklyspelling tests, and how they learn words that cannot be spelledphonetically.

What spelling strategies do highly successful spellers use in learningto spell new or d i f f i cu l t words? Mean percentages for the total sampleindicate that very successful spellers (512Q use visual memory as ameans to "visualize," "form a mental picture," or "memorize" a new word.Dictionary meaning ranks second (45%) and "Saying-and-Writing" ranksthird (44%) as means of learning to spell new words. Fewer f inal ists

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EDITORIAL COMMENT

(11%) responded that they use word associations when learning to spellnew words.

Is time allotted to spelling preparation an important consideration ofhighly successful! spellers? Historically, spelling research tendsto support the notion that time allotted for studying spelling wordsshould not exceed one hour per week and that great amounts of timealloted for studying spelling words will not assure achievement growthin spelling (Horn, E., 1960; Horn, T., 1946; Larson, 1945). Most ofour respondents (80%) rated their own study time allotted forpreparation of weekly spelling tests to be very limited. Notsurprising, they indicate that they devote less than 30 minutes perweek in preparation for spelling tests. Only twenty percent of thefinalists indicate that they spend about one hour a week to preparefor weekly tests.

How do highly successful spellers learn to spell words that cannot bespelled phonetically? Half of our respondents (50%) rated visualmemory as the most common way to learn to spell such words. About 25%indicate that they repeatedly "say" and "write" the word until it islearned. Dictionary meaning ranks third (21%) as a way to facilitatelearning to spell these words.

Summary

It appears that highly successful spellers learn to spell new ordifficult words by relying heavily on visual memory strategies, usingthe dictionary, and saying then writing the words over and over again.In addition, they also depend on visual memory to learn words thatcannot be spelled phonetically. They appear to need little timepreparing for their weekly spelling tests.

These students show a very high level of intrinsic motivation whenlearning to spell new or difficult words. Intrinsic motivation isheightened during national competition. Perhaps a critical elementto the success of these National Spelling Bee Finalists is theirmotivation to excel. If so, this ingredient for success supportsZutell's research (1980) that suggests that spelling proficiencyrequires the active exploring participation of the learner.

For most students, learning to spell proficiently occurs in a gradualsequence over the years with increasing levels of difficulty (Anderson,1985). However, highly successful spellers appear to have a strongability to utilize a variety of effective strategies by internalizingthe underlying spelling principles and using them when appropriate.

Additional studies are warranted to better understand the nature ofspelling development of highly successful spellers. The extent towhich they rely on visual memory strategies and their own intrinsicmotivation may be important variables to their success with spelling.

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REFERENCES

Anderson, Kristine F. (1985). The development of spelling ability andlinguistic strategies. The Reading Teacher, 39, p. 140.

Beers, J. W., & Beers, C. S. (1980). Vowel spelling strategies amongfirst and second graders: A growing awareness of written words.Language Arts, 57.

Golladay, W. M. (1971). The teaching of spelling to low abilitystudents. Elementary English, 48, 3.

Henderson, Edmund H. (1981). Learning to read and spell. DeKalb, IL:Northern Illinois University Press.

Horn, E. (1960). Spelling. Encyclopedia of Educational Research,(3rd ed.). New York, NY: Macmillan Publishing Company.

Horn, T. (1946). The effect of the corrected test on learning tospell. Unpublished master's thesis, University of Iowa,Iowa City, Iowa.

Larson, I. M. (1945). Time allotment in the teaching of spelling.Unpublished master's theses, University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa.

Radebaugh, M. R. (1985). Children's perceptions of their spellingstrategies. The Reading Teacher, 38, p. 532.

Read, C. (1975). Children's categorization of speech sounds in English.Urbana, IL: National Council of Teachers of English.

Zutell, J. (1980). Developmental and cognitive aspects of learning toSpell. Neward, DE: International Reading Association.

Zutell, J. (1979). Spelling strategies of primary school children andtheir relationship to the Piagetran concept of decentration.Research in the Teaching of English, 13, pp. 69, 80.

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