Chapter IV.

During the period of class teaching, all the poor spellers improved, as measured by the Ayres scale, but the three very poorest still remained at the bottom of the class. By intensive individual instruction any one of these three might have made much greater improvement.

We are, therefore, now in need of experiments carried out to improve poor spellers. Such experiments must include precise measurements of intelligence, ability to spell, ability to read, and amount of time expended. They must include a description of the sensory equipment of the spellers, and information on all points listed under the suggested outline for the examination of poor spellers. There must be an adequate account of method used, and objective measurements of improvement must be presented.

From knowledge of spelling as a process of habit formation, it would be predicted that any child of average intelligence, and normal sensory capacity, can learn to spell, if sufficient drill be undergone. English spelling is, however, relatively resistant to learning, because of the specific character of the connections to be made. Very few generalizations are possible, each word being to so great an extent a special matter. For this reason it is very important to teach first the words most commonly used. These have been ascertained by research in the Russell Sage Foundation.

V. DOES READING TEACH SPELLING?

In the _Atlantic Monthly_ of October, 1921, an enemy of simplified spelling writes as follows: “Spelling is not a craft by itself: it is a part of writing and reading, training of eye and hand. When a boy writes ‘starboard martyr’ for ‘Stabat Mater,’ or ‘forehead’ for ‘forward,’ he writes what he hears; the fault is not with his ear but with his visual image of the words. It means that he is not a reader, and is not accustomed to the appearance of the words. To try to teach him the distinctions by lists of letters alone would be about as useless as to try to teach him to distinguish people he never saw by means of verbal descriptions.”[15]

[Illustration:

FIG. 10.—Composition written at school by X in December, 1920. X was then in grade 5B. The facts are correctly understood, but the spelling does not show great profit from previous reading of the text in history. ]

Have psychologists produced any evidence to show whether the view is correct, that reading will teach spelling? The positive correlation between ability to read and ability to spell does not, of course, give light on this question. Neither does correlation between amount of reading done and ability to spell, for the positive correlation, which would undoubtedly appear, might mean only that general intelligence determines both the amount of reading and accuracy of spelling, to the extent of positive correlation found.

[Illustration:

FIG. 11.—Letter written by X showing how he could spell by use of dictionary. ]

The case of X, described in Chapter IV, is somewhat instructive in this connection. The necessity to learn reading was so urgent that it was soon decided to give no time to spelling as such. The special teaching did not, therefore, include formal instruction in written spelling. The regular spelling lessons at school were, of course, taken by X, as well as might be.

After X had learned the letters thoroughly, so that he never erred in writing one, he made great improvement in his grades on the regular spelling lessons given at school, in which assigned words were learned by rote.

Words not thus specifically learned were spelled “by ear,” with the general result which is exemplified in Figure 10.

X was taught the use of the dictionary, and by its aid he could spell as shown in Figure 11.

In German or Italian, the mutual helpfulness of reading and spelling would probably be much greater, for words in these languages are not nearly so specific in character as English words are.

VI. ILLUSTRATIVE CASES

Two cases are herewith given, to illustrate the marked discrepancies which may rarely be found between general intelligence and ability to spell. The first is that of a schoolboy of average intelligence, whose spelling is illegible. The second is that of a feeble-minded schoolgirl, whose spelling is very much above what would be predicted from mental age and IQ.

[Illustration:

FIG. 12.—Showing efforts to spell, of a 14-year-old schoolboy, of IQ 93, after eight years of school instruction. Illustrating extreme dissociation of spelling ability from general intelligence. Compare with Fig. 13. ]

This boy was 14 years 2 months of age, and had been in school since the age of 6 years. His IQ was 93 (Stanford-Binet). He was referred for mental examination, because of failure to learn to read and spell. Figure 12 shows his attempts to spell the following words: _cannot_, _September_, _burned_, _houses_, _center_, _thousand_, _fifty_, _families_, _defends_, _bravely_.

[Illustration:

FIG. 13.—Showing spelling of a 12-year-old girl, of IQ 59, after six years of instruction. Illustrating extreme dissociation of spelling ability from general intelligence. Compare with Fig. 12. ]

The girl, who shows the opposite discrepancy, was in a school for the feeble-minded, at the time of examination. Her age was 12 years 6 months, her mental age 7 years 4 months, with an IQ of 59 (Stanford-Binet). She had attended school for 6 years. Figure 13 shows her ability to spell the same words attempted by the boy referred to above.

On Ayres’ scale, this feeble-minded girl scored at fifth grade ability, at least three years beyond expectation from general intelligence. The boy, of average intelligence, scored on the Ayres scale below first grade ability—at least seven years below expectation from general intelligence.

The girl could not learn subject matter, or manage her affairs any better than a 7-year-old child. The boy could work for money, was reliable and efficient in ordinary affairs, could master subject matter read to him, was expert in bird lore, and showed the general competence of a typical 14-year-old, except in reading and spelling.

One judging these individuals for practical purposes, on the basis of a test in spelling, would be profoundly deceived.

Figure 14 also exemplifies the spelling of a child whose general intelligence cannot be correctly inferred from performance in spelling. This child was 9 years 10 months old at the time this letter was written, her mental age being 14 years 1 month. The child had been three years in school. She learned reading very easily, reading at this time with fluency and grace of inflection. Her case, therefore, illustrates discrepancy between reading and spelling, as well as between spelling and general intelligence.

The inadequacies noted here were probably due to distaste for the drill which is required for mastery of spelling and punctuation. For bright children, reading is motivated by the fact that from it they gain ideas. In presenting ideas, it is not necessary to spell exactly, but only approximately. Hence very young, bright children may read accurately, but spell poorly.

[Illustration:

FIG. 14.—Showing spelling of a child 9 years 10 months old, with IQ 143, after three years of instruction. Illustrating dissociation of spelling ability from general intelligence. ]

REFERENCES

CARMAN, E. K.—“The Cause of Chronic Bad Spelling”; _Journal of Psychology_, 1900.

CHARTERS, W. W.—“A Spelling ‘Hospital’ in the High School”; _School Review_, 1910.

EARLE, E. L.—_The Inheritance of the Ability to Learn to Spell_; Columbia University, New York, 1903.

HOLLINGWORTH, L. S.—_The Psychology of Special Disability in Spelling_; Teachers College, Columbia University, 1918.

HOLLINGWORTH, L. S.—“The Psychological Examination of Poor Spellers”; _Teachers College Record_, 1919.

KALLOM, A. W.—“Some Causes of Misspellings”; _Journal of Educational Psychology_, 1917.

PRYOR, H. C., and PITTMAN, M. S.—_A Guide to the Teaching of Spelling_; The Macmillan Company, New York, 1921.

WESEEN, M. H.—“Can Spelling be Taught?” _American Education_, 1921.

WITMER, L.—“A Case of Chronic Bad Spelling”; _Psychological Clinic_, 1907.