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1 thought on “Teaching the Alphabet”

  1. It does nothing for acquisition. But I agree that is a valuable practice. In addition to Ben’s great comments above I have also noted that

    1. It does nothing for acquisition, at least not directly. Could we argue that being a better speller makes one more literate, more comfortable with reading, and thus, more likely to increase their comprehensible intake through reading?

    2. “How is it spelled”can clarify meaning. It is thus used to negotiate meaning.

    3. By asking how it is spelled we are modelling negotiation-of-meaning. When used with students names it is not just practice but authentically communicative (exchange of previously unknown information).

    4. It can slow down the speed of input and allow more time for processing.

    5. Spelling is higher up on the communicative scale than the alphabet. The alphabet is memorized language in which students know each letter in a string without being able to say letters independently. Spelling a flexible use of the letters which is based on knowing the spoken name of each letter.

    6. I learned a few years ago that students can learn to spell with the frequent use of “How do you spell?” and still not know the alphabet. They had jumped right from the memorized novice level to a working knowledge of the letters. If a casual observer walks by they may think the students have learned the alphabet. And that is OK because it is on the checklist of things to do and move on (and never return to). But it may be that they still cannot say the letters in a memorized order in either language.

    7. We can teach students to spell faster than we can process what they have spelled. We can thereby create a truly communicative situation in which we are requesting them to slow down.

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