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Inventive spelling


Inventive spelling (sometimes invented spelling) is the use of unconventional spellings of words.

Conventional written English is not phonetic (that is, it is not written as it sounds, due to the history of its spelling, which led to outdated, unintuitive, misleading or arbitrary spelling conventions and spellings of individual words) unlike, for example, German or Spanish, where letters have relatively fixed associated sounds, so that the written text is a fair representation of the spoken words.

English spelling is not intuitive and must be learned. There have been numerous proposals to rationalize written English, notably by

Inventive spelling for children may be encouraged or discouraged by teachers and parents who may believe that expression is more important than accurate orthography or conversely that a failure to correct may lead to difficulty in communicating more complex ideas in later life.

Inventive spelling programs may also be known as "words their way" in some schools' curricula. Critics of inventive spelling have argued that inventive spelling does not produce superior writing skills.

Samuel Orton pioneered the study of learning disabilities, such as dyslexia. where the subject is apt to confound the letter-order of words. He and his assistant Anna Gillingham, an educator and psychologist, evolved the Orton-Gillingham Approach to reading instruction which is language-based, multi-sensory, structured, sequential, cumulative, cognitive, and flexible. The Academy of Orton-Gillingham Practitioners and Educators (AOEPE) lists about a dozen schools currently committed to this controversial method, which has evolved since about 1935.

More recently, Uta Frith, a developmental psychologist at the Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience at University College, London, has published work concerning spelling difficulties and dyslexia.

Dyslexia, whether linked to complex spelling or not, may offer considerable potential for human development.

Whether an individual accepts or rejects inventive spelling is a feature of that individual's theory of learning. The debate is closely linked with the debate over whole language literacy instruction and phonics instruction.


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