THE PEOPLES DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF ALGERIA

MINISTRY OF HIGHER EDUCATION AND SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH

MENTOURI UNIVERSITY, CONSTANTINE

FACULTY OF LETTERS AND LANGUAGES

DEPARTMENT OF LANGUAGES/ ENGLISH

TEACHING AND LEARNING

VOCABULARY
THROUGH SPELLING STRATEGY
A CASE STUDY OF FIRST-YEAR LMD STUDENTS

Dissertation submitted to the Department of Foreign Languages in Partial Fulfillment

for the Requirements of the Master Degree in Language and Sciences

Candidate: BOUKHIRA Meriem

Supervisor: Dr. NEMOUCHI Abdelhak

Examiner : Pr: SAADI Hacene

Academic Year 2009-2010

 DEDICATION

In living memory of my grandfather MASSAOUD, whom I have recently lost.

To my dear grandmother ZOULIKHA who has always been my caring and tender

second mother.

To my parents for their support: my mother ALDJIA and my father SALEH.

To my brothers: NABIL, ALI, FARESS, ZAKI and CHAWKI.

To all my relatives.
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

First and formost; I am extremely thankful to my supervisor Dr. NEMOUCHI

Abdelhak for his valuable knowledge and precious guidance.

I owe a deep gratitude and love to Pr.ABDERRAHIM Farida for trusting my

abilities and for encouraging me.

I want to thank Prof. SAADI Hacne for accepting to be my examiner.

I also want to show my cordial gratitude to all those who have been my
teachers especially: Dr. LABED Nacif , and Miss BENZAHRA Radia for their valuable
advice.
 ABSTRACT

Spelling is an element of language that should be studied at school/ university. This,

in turn, can help students to realize its greater influence in uplifting their writing

situations. However, the teacher should interact and help them to understand how

the English orthographe functions and how to apply their knowledge while writing.

This research work aims at evaluating the importance of the introduction of spelling

as a vocabulary strategy for students in the teaching of English as a foreign language

at university, and how this can be a beneficial tool as input for the acquisition of new

vocabulary, then a helpful means to produce a correct writing. To attain such an aim,

we administered a pre-test and a post-test. The former was intended to determine the

pre-instructional knowledge of the graphic form of words, whereas the latter was

aimed at finding out whether the spelling strategy implemented during instruction was

effective in enhancing the subjects ability to write with less spelling mistakes. The

test was interposed by two sequential lessons. The results of this innovative

investigation have confirmed the hypothesis which states that if we train students to

pay a careful attention to the form of words this would help them to spell them and

write correctly. The learners under investigation proved to have learnt most of the

vocabulary items of the proposed text.

 LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS AND SYMBOLS

O1: Pre-test

O2: Post-test

X: Treatment

%: Percentage

FL: Foreign Language

N: Number

SL: Second Language

 CONTENTS

Page

Introduction....1

1. Statement of the Problem..2

2. Aim of the Study ....2

3. Research Questions..2

4. Hypothesis....3

5. Means of Research...3

Chapter One: Vocabulary Instruction/Learning through Spelling Strategy..4

1. Introduction.5

2. Teaching Vocabulary..5

2.1. Definition of Vocabulary..5

2.1. The Place of Vocabulary in the Major Teaching Methods...6

3. Vocabulary Description..10

3.1. Lexicology...10

3.1.1. Word Category.10

3.1.2. Word Building..11

3.2. Lexicography..12

4. Passive / Active Vocabulary..13

5. Learning Vocabulary..14

6. Explicit Versus Implicit Learning...14

7. Learning Strategies.16

8. Direct/ Indirect Strategies.18

8.1.Spelling Strategies.20

8.2. Spelling challenge..22

8.3. Spelling rules.23

9. Commonly Confused Words..25

10. Frequently Misspelled Words27

11. Spelling as Memory Strategy....28

12. Conclusion..32

Chapter Two: The Experimental Work....33

Introduction.......34

1. The Participants34

2. The Method........34

3. The Test (01 and 02)........35

3.1. The Test Procedure..36

3.2. Analysis and Interpretation....37

3.2.1 Nouns....................37

3.2.2 Verbs ..41

3.2.3 Adjectives..46

3.2.4 Adverbs..48

3.2.5. Conclusion.....................................................................................................49

General Conclusion.50
Appendix..51
Appendix 1...51
Appendix 2....52
 INTRODUCTION

1. Statement of the Problem

2. Aim of the Study

3. Research Questions

4. Hypothesis

5. Means of Research

1
 1. Statement of the Problem

Within the context of English as a Foreign Language, it has been observed that

students have serious problems in writing. Spelling is one such area where students

seem to struggle. Accordingly, should we teach first-year students at the University of

Constantine, vocabulary by using spelling strategy? If we do so, this strategy would

certainly help them

improve their ability to write correctly.

2. Aim of the Study

This research aims at highlighting the importance of word-form; that is, drawing

the students attention to the way words are spelled. We would attempt to discuss the

effects of using spelling as a vocabulary strategy on the students achievement

toward mastering the word form.

3. Research Questions

- Should teaching vocabulary be focused on the use of language

for purposes that are genuine as much as classroom context would

allow students to gain more language competence in the long run?

- To meet students needs and teachers academic goals, would

spelling strategy be adopted to promote students proficiency to acquire

as much as possible English words?

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 4. Hypothesis

The following study is related to the nature of the relationship between spelling as

a vocabulary strategy and the mastery of vocabulary forms. We hypothesize that if

first-year students were trained for better vocabulary writing through the appropriate

spelling strategy, they would make fewer mistakes in their writing.

5. Means of Research

To reach the aim of the study, we rely on the dictation test. The test is held

through the administration of a pre-test and a post-test to the learners. The pre-

test paves the ground to view the current level of students writing, and the post-

test reveals the effectiveness of spelling strategy which was the central point in

the two lessons given in the intermediate period.

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 Chapter One:

Vocabulary Instruction/Learning through Spelling Strategy

1. Introduction

2. Teaching Vocabulary

2.1. Definition of Vocabulary

2.1. The Place of Vocabulary in the Major Teaching Methods

3. Vocabulary Description

3.1. Lexicology

3.1.1. Word Category

3.1.2. Word Building

3.2. Lexicography

4. Passive / Active Vocabulary

5. Learning Vocabulary

6. Explicit Versus Implicit Learning

7. Learning Strategies

8. Direct/ Indirect Strategies

8.1.Spelling Strategies

8.2. Spelling challenge

8.3. Spelling rules

9. Commonly Confused Words

10. Frequently Misspelled Words

11. Spelling as Memory Strategy

12. Conclusion

4
Introduction
Vocabulary acquisition is considered as an integral and fundamental area of
language teaching/learning. Whether the language is first, second or foreign, it would
be impossible to learn a language without its lexis. Nevertheless, vocabulary
instruction and learning has not been recognized as a priority in language teaching
until the 1970s and early 1980s. Specialists had given high credit to grammar and
phonology at the expense of vocabulary. Wilkins (1972) posits that: without grammar
very little can be conveyed; without vocabulary nothing can be converged. This is
evidence that in learning a language, grammar is not sufficient and it is the right time
to cast light upon lexis.
Vocabulary has been the object of scientific studies, namely lexicology and
lexicography and the concern of development in methods investigating how it can be
best taught. We will cast light on explicit versus implicit learning; also, vocabulary
strategies that were the central field of investigation for years. Among various
strategies we will focus on spelling strategy.

1. Teaching Vocabulary

Psychologists, Linguists and Language teachers have tried to understand the

paramount importance of the lexicon in language learning and communication.
Accordingly, the increased attention to vocabulary teaching has become more
important.

1.1. Vocabulary Definition

Thornbury (1997) states that vocabulary or lexis in English is frequently used

interchangeably.

The definition of vocabulary relates to various views about the nature and use
made of vocabulary in the Longman dictionary (1995); vocabulary is defined as all
the words that someone knows, learns or uses. The Oxford Dictionary (2002) defines
vocabulary as the body of words used in a particular language or in a particular
sphere. Todd (1987) argues that there is an orthographic, morphological, lexical and
semantic aspect of the word. The orthographic word has a space on both sides of it.
A morphological word considers the form only. A lexical word considers all the forms

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a word can take and which are clearly related by meaning. A semantic word
considers the distinction between items that may be morphologically identical but
differ in meaning

1.2. The Place of Vocabulary in the Major Teaching Methods

The aim of this historical overview is to gain a better understanding of the place

of vocabulary in the different teaching methods and approaches advocated, and to

look at the major language teaching approaches and methods that have been used

up to now.

For Brown (2000), there have been a lot of methods in language teaching each

of which is more or less discarded in due course as a new method takes place. The

Grammar translation method, the Direct method, the Audio-Lingual method, the

Communicative method and the Lexical Approach.

To begin with, language teaching in the16th century had as its target the

traditional Grammar Translation method. This method was developed to teach Latin,

a language which was no longer used for communication, as an intellectual

discipline. Harmer (2007) maintains that the Grammar-Translation method (which

was first named as such in Germany in the 1780) introduced the idea of presenting

students with abstract grammatical rules, and word lists, and then translation

exercises in which they had to make use of the same rules and words. The goal was

to develop the writing and reading skills. Speaking aspect was neglected, and oral

practice consisted only in reading aloud the translated sentences. The sentence was

considered as a basic teaching unit, and its accurate production was emphasized. In

short, knowledge of the grammatical rules was regarded as more important than

communication and the focus was on teaching about the language rather than

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learning to use it in actual situations. Grammar-translation still has relevance today,

though it is not practiced as a method in the same way. But, most language learners

translate in their heads at various stages, and they (and we) can learn about a

foreign language by comparing some of it with parts of the mother tongue. A focus on

grammar-translation halts learners from getting the kind of natural language inputs

that will help them acquire language, and it fails to give them opportunities to activate

their linguistic bath. Because of the criticism addressed to this method, new

methods emerged.

Innovations in the mid and end of the 19th century contributed to the rejection of

Grammar Translation method. There was an increasing demand for the ability to

communicate orally in a F.L. throughout Europe. Contemporary schools respond to

that change through what came to be known as the Reform Movement. It was

strengthened by the revitalization of Linguistics which highlighted the oral aspect of

language. Gouin ( cited in Richards and Rodgers, 1986) was one of the 19th century

reformers whose initial attempts to teach language in context, and to use

paralinguistic and non-verbal means of communication in the language class.

According to Larson-Freeman, D. (1986), the Direct method is triggered by

Berlitz by the twentieth century, whose core principle was that S.L. learning is like the

first language learning, engaged the learners in the studying of words referring to

pictures/realita or actions. In this method, no translation is permitted, only the

exclusive use of the target language is allowed.

The Direct Method was reported to have many shortcomings. First, the use of

L1 was strictly forbidden though it is sometimes needed to aid gain time and save

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effort. Second, this method over-emphasized the similarities between L1 acquisition

and L2 learning, and failed to consider the practical realities of the classroom. Third,

the Direct Method lacked the strong theoretical foundation. It suggested innovations

at the level of teaching procedures which were not underlies by rigorous

methodological principles the exclusive use of L2 and the mere exposure to it were

viewed as an unsystematic way to teach/ learn a language.

According to Decarrico the American Structuralism in linguistics had been

dominant throughout the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s. It was highly influenced by

Charles Fries book which was published in 1945 entitled Teaching and Learning

English as a Foreign Language. Fries highlighted the importance of syntax by

considering it as a starting point in language learning. Audio-Lingualism marries

grammatical patterns with behaviourist theories of learning. These theories

suggested that much learning is the result of habit formation. The audio-lingual

method downgraded lexis to secondary position in the field of teaching and learning a

Foreign Language. At that time, the teaching of vocabulary was restricted and also

contextualized.

Despite the shift to Chomskys Transformational Generative Grammar in 1960s

which brought considerable challenges in linguistic theory. Chomsky spoke about

ones ability to produce an infinite number of sentences with finite means and he

stressed grammatical rules at the expense of lexis. His theory did little to challenge

the view that vocabulary was inferior to grammar. Language learning approaches

based on this theory saw learning as rule acquisition not habit formation, and

stressed grammatical rules. (2001; Cited in Celce- Murcia , 2001)

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 Hymes while not rejecting Chomskys mode, extended it and gave greater

emphasis to the sociolinguistic and pragmatic factors governing effective use of

language. Hymes was especially concerned with the concept of communicative

competence, which emphasized using language for meaningful communication,

including the appropriate use of language in particular social contexts.

Communicative language teaching, supported the teaching of vocabulary in

relation with contexts and situations, promoted fluency over accuracy and

consequently shifted the focus from sentencelevel forms to discourse level

functions. (1972; Cited in Celce- Murcia , 2001),

Harmer (2007) claims that in more recent years, interest has been given to

vocabulary. In the 1990s, for example, there was considerable discussion about the

lexical approach developed by Michael Lewis who suggested that we should

structure our curriculum around lexical chunks rather than grammar functions or other

units of organizations. The lexicon is seen as playing a much more central role in

language organization, language learning and teaching.

Lewis (1993) suggested the following:

1. Lexis is the basic of language.

2. Lexis was misunderstood in the language teaching because the assumption that

grammar is the basis of language and the mastery of grammatical system is a

prerequisite for effective communication.

3. The key principle for lexical approach is that language consists of

grammaticalized lexis, not lexicalized grammar.

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4. One of the central organizing principles of any meaning-centred syllabus should be

lexis.

All language methods have some common points. They see phonology and

grammar as more serious candidates for successful language teaching. Theoretical

priorities have changed throughout language teaching theory, and researchers

started to claim the importance of vocabulary in foreign language learning.

2. Vocabulary Description

The two branches of linguistics that are concerned with the study of

vocabulary and its different forms and uses are lexicology and lexicography. So as to

depict and explore vocabulary in a good way, we must discuss both of them.

2 .1. Lexicology

Lexicology is one branch of linguistics that analyses the vocabulary items of a

language. It is concerned with word classes (how they are formed by affixation or

compounding), word formation, and word meaning.

2.1.1. Word Category: Class

Word class is a grammatical term to describe words that belong to the same part of

speech. Harmer (2007) believes that the English language is classified in eight parts of

speech: Noun, pronoun, adjective, verbs, adverb, preposition, determiner and conjunction.

A noun is a word (or group of words) that is a named of: a person, a place,

a thinker activity or idea; Rachel, New York, book, walking.

A pronoun is a word that is used in place of a noun or a noun phrase.

An adjective describes a person or thing: good, bad, happy , long.

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 A verb is a word (or group of words) which is used in describing: an action,

experience, state: Sara resembles his sister.

An adverb is a word that describes a verb; slowly, badly.

A preposition is a little word or group of words which is used before a noun

or pronoun; on, in, by, at. Examples: Bring me two bottles of juice/ Put that

in the box/I think I put it on top of the cupboard.

A determiner is a word that qualifies the noun.

A determiner is:

- Definite article the.

- Indefinite article a / an.

- Possessives my, your, etc.

- Demonstratives this, that, these, those.

- Quantifiers some, many, few, etc.

A conjunction is a word that connects sentences, phrase or clauses.

- Full of energy and ready to go.

- I lost my mobile phone, so I couldnt call you.

2.1.2. Word Building

Word building or word formation takes three forms; affixation, compounding

and conversion.

Affixation: Bauer (1983) notes that affixation is the operation of adding a

letter or a group of letters to the base. Affixes can be divided into prefixes,

which are attached before a base (as in dislike, where dis is a prefix),

suffixes, which are attached after a base (as in freedom, where, done is a

suffix), and in fixes, which are attached inside a base.

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 Compounding.

Compounding or composition is the process of putting two words together to

form a word as in following examples:

oil- paper. Paperclip

Conversion also called zero affixation is the fact that different word

classes may be used without changing the word form; for example, the

word book is a noun a book or a verb to book .

In some cases of conversion , the words have the same form but different

pronunciation such as , present / preznt/ (noun or adjective) and

present/prizent/(verbs).

Many involve pronunciation and spelling changes for example, advice/ advais /

and advise /advaiz/.

2.2. Lexicography

Language as words: lexicography by definition is the practice of compiling

dictionaries. Dictionaries are used for a wide range of purposes. They are a good

source of information and can serve as an aid to learning. In dictionaries, we find the

list of lexical items of a language put in an alphabetical order with information about

the spelling, the pronunciation, the meaning, the usage. Generally, learners consult

dictionaries to check spelling look up the meaning of unfamiliar words and confirm

the meaning of unknown words.

Researchers are interested in investigating the part that dictionaries play in the

learning of second and foreign language vocabulary. The exploring of dictionaries

can be one important and effective component of understanding a word deeply. The

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entries can also help students determine the precise meaning of a word. Dictionaries

can provide helpful information about the history of a word and reinforce the

interrelationships among words in the same meaning families. For example, a

discussion of run-on entries illustrates how words entry can include information

about related words- for entraps and entrapment.

The advantage of using the dictionary is that the dictionary helps retention,

because students who use the dictionary can remember more word meanings than

those who had not. In addition, dictionaries are valuable tools for learners since they

give them independence from the teacher. But students need to be trained in the use

of dictionaries, so, teachers should create occasions where learners practice their

use effectively.

3. Passive / Active Vocabulary

In the literature on vocabulary learning, a distinction between receptive and

productive types of knowledge should be highlighted. Palmer (1921:118) states that

receptive carries the idea that we receive language input from others through

listening or reading and try to comprehend it, productive that we produce language

forms by speaking and writing to convey message to others.

Read (2000) emphasized that it is worth noting the distinction between productive

and receptive vocabulary for the teaching purposes. Native speakers and foreign

learners alike recognize and understand more words than they actually use. The

words they recognize but do not use are items by which their passive vocabularies

exceed their active / productive ones. Native speakers hear or see a word many

times in many slightly differing contexts and collocations before they begin to use it in

their minds before it comes to the tip of their tongues or pens. When considering a

13
language teaching or learning situation, we can say that there is a kind of continuum

between passive and active vocabulary. Often, a given item may transit gradually

from the learners receptive vocabulary to their productive/active one depending on

the times the item is encountered during the course.

4. Learning Vocabulary

In the past fifteen years, the field of second language acquisition has seen

renewed interest in vocabulary learning and acquisition. Vocabulary learning and

teaching focuses initially on current issues in teaching, i.e. deciding which items to

teach and how to teach them, on implicit and explicit learning and vocabulary

learning strategies.

In order to provide a digest of recent research on vocabulary acquisition and to

pinpoint areas that need further exploration. To this end, we centers upon one

particular area in depth, i, e, spelling as a vocabulary strategy.

One way to investigate overall task of vocabulary learning / acquisition is through

the distinction between knowing a word and using a word. In other words, the aim of

vocabulary learning should include both recalling words and the ability to apply them

automatically in their writings.

6. Explicit Versus Implicit Learning

According to Celce-Murcia (2001) knowledge can be gained and represented

either implicitly or explicitly and both contribute to language learning. There exists a

central debate emerging from the studies dealt with whether effective vocabulary

learning should give attention to explicit implicit vocabulary learning.

In implicit vocabulary, learning students engage in activities that focus attention

on vocabulary. Incidental vocabulary is learning that occurs when the mind is focused

elsewhere, i.e.; learning without conscious attention or awareness; such as on

14
understanding a text or using language for communicative purposes. From a

pedagogically- oriented perspective, the goal of explicit teaching is to lead learners

attention, whereas the aim of an implicit focus on form is to draw learners

attention. Moreover, individual tasks can be located along an explicit or implicit

continuum, and complex tasks may combine both explicit and implicit subtasks. Most

researchers recognized that a well-structured vocabulary program needs a balanced

approach that includes explicit teaching together with activities providing appropriate

contexts for incidental learning.

In explicit vocabulary, learning students engage in activities that pay careful

attention to lexis. Skmen (1997; cited in Celce-Mercia, 2001) highlights several key

questions of particular interest for language teachers. For example, which words do

learners need to know? How will they learn them? How to establish a lexical syllabus

? These principles include the goal of building a large recognition vocabulary,

integrating new words with old, providing a number of encounters with a word,

promoting a deep level of processing, facilitating imaging, using a variety of

techniques, and encouraging Independent learning strategies.

Harmer (1991) notes that concrete words ought to be taught at lower level, and

abstract words at higher level taking into account the cognitive development of the

learner. In addition to that, some researchers also emphasized that for groups of

students a base of two thousand words will be inadequate. Learners of English as a

foreign language at university need to acquire further than one thousand high-

frequency words beyond the initial ones, plus the strategies to deal with the low

frequency words they meet.

Another consideration is that we can expand vocabulary considerably by :

15
- teaching words in their appropriate lexical field,

- teaching word family,

- using new words in phrases,

- using a dictionary when necessary,

- using a note book to write down items,

- making up chats and memorize them,

- Learning words in contexts.

In implicit learning, the assumption is that new lexis will be grasped incidentally,

through exposure to various contexts, reading passage and other material without

deliberate memorization being involved. Unplanned vocabulary learning is learning

through exposure when ones attention is focused on the use of language, rather

than on learning itself.

Various researchers have concluded that learners should be given explicit

instruction and practice in the first two to three thousand high frequency words, while

beyond this level, most low frequency words will be learned incidentally while

listening or reading.

6. Learning Strategies

Language Learning Strategies include strategies for identifying the material that

needs to be learned, distinguishing it from other materials. In our current research for

example, we grouped vocabulary by category into nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs,

and so forth, to pave the way for easy teaching of vocabulary. Then, committing the

material to memory when it does not seem to be acquired naturally, applying a

16
spelling strategy to acquire a large vocabulary background that will have a direct

impact on the students writings. Adult learners may have a keen sense of just what it

is they may need to commit to memory (for example: certain complex vocabulary or

grammatical forms) and what they can leave to more authomatized language

learning, often referred to as acquisition.

The term learning strategies refers to the steps taken by the students to help the

acquisition of, storage, retrieval of information. OMalley and Chamot (1990) specified

that language-learning strategies are special thoughts or behaviours that individuals

use to help them comprehend, learn, or retain information. Whereas, Faerch and

Kasper (1980) point out that learning strategies are the particular techniques which

learners use when trying to handle the SL/FL input so as to enhance the linguistic

background.

Oxford (1990) defines strategies as operations employed by the learner to aid

the acquisition, storage, retrieval and use of information. Brown (2000) says that;

strategies are specific methods of approaching a problem or task, modes of

operation for achieving a particular end, planned designs for controlling and

manipulating certain information, they are contextualized battle plans that might

vary from moment to moment or day to day or year to year.

Applying strategies that would be within the students sphere of consciousness

whether the students were giving them peripheral or focal attention at that time can

have a direct payoff on the students outcomes( if spelling is systematically introduced

and reinforced it can help students to improve their performance). Language learning

strategies include strategies for identifying the material that needs to be learned,

distinguishing it from other material if need be, grouping it for easier learning. We

17
apply this technique of grouping vocabulary by category into; nouns, verbs,

adjectives, adverbs, and so forth to choose words for instruction, and formally,

committing the material to memory through rote memory.

7. Direct / Indirect Strategies:

Oxford (1990) makes a thorough study of language learning strategies. She

suggests two classes, six groups and nineteen sets of learning strategies and

provides two diagrams to summarize her taxonomy.

Direct Strategies a: Memory Strategies

b: Cognitive Strategies

c: Componsation Strategies

Learning Strategies

Indirect Strategies a: Metacognitive Strategies

b: Affective Strategies

c: Social Strategies

Figure1: Diagram Showing the Learning Strategies From Oxford, R L (1990:16)

Ellis (2008:705) allege that Oxford's taxonomy is hierarchical, with a general

distinction made between direct and indirect strategies, each of which is then broken

down into a number of substrategies. Direct Strategies are those that directly involve

the target language in the sense that they require mental processing of the language,

whereas Indirect Strategies" provide indirect support for language learning through

focusing, planning, evaluating, seeking opportunities, controlling anxiety, increasing

18
cooperation and empathy and other means"(Oxford 1990:151). She has developed

versions of strategies inventory for language learning to measure learners' self-

reported strategies use in both second and foreign language settings.

According to Celce-Murcia (2001:363/365), six major learning strategies have

been identified by Oxford (1990). The first diagram represents direct strategies. The

direct strategies are divided into three categories; Cognitive strategies, Memory

strategies, and Compensation strategies. The second diagram represents the indirect

strategies. The latter includes; Metacognitive strategies, Affective strategies and

Social strategies.

We will center on each category respectively.

Cognitive strategies enable the learner to manipulate the language material in

direct ways, through reasoning, analysis, synthesizing, recognizing information to

develop stronger schemas (knowledge structures), practicing in naturalistic settings,

and practicing structures and sounds formally.

Memory strategies help learners link one L2 element or concept with another, but

do not necessarily involve deep understanding. Various memory strategies enable

learners to learn and retrieve information in an orderly string (e.g., acronyms), while

other techniques create learning and retrieval via sounds (e.g., rhyming), images

(e.g., a mental picture of the word itself or the meaning of the word), a combination of

sounds and images (e.g., keyword method), body movement (e.g., on a page or a

blackboard).

Compensation strategies help the learner make up for missing knowledge.

Compensation strategies that are used for speaking and writing often known as one

form of communication strategies

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 Metacognitive strategies used information processing theory to indicate an

executive functions, they involve planning and organizing written discourse or

monitoring. They are behaviours used for centering, arranging, planning and

evaluating ones learning. Metacognitive strategies permit students to know

themselves better by identifying their own progresses, interests and needs.

Affective strategies, such as identifying ones moods and anxiety level, talking

about feelings, rewarding oneself for good performance, and using deep breathing or

positive self-talk, have been shown to be significantly related to L2proficiency.

Social strategies (e.g., asking questions to get verification, asking for clarification

of a confusing point, asking for help in doing a language task, talking with a native-

speaking conversation partner, and exploring cultural and social norms) help the

learners work with others and understand the target culture as well as the language.

Oxford argues that these strategies provide an immediate opportunity for

incidental learning. However, affective strategies are related to learners feelings of

anxiety, anger or contentment about the learning process itself. Such strategies can

have positive or negative impact on the learning process because of fear of failure,

while activities and games may relax the atmosphere and make learning enjoyable.

8. Spelling Strategy and Spelling Styles

Spelling strategy is a chosen method to learn and remember spelling using one

or all of the senses including the eyes, ears, hands and lips. Choice will often depend

on the individuals preferred learning style. Brown (2000: 119) defines style as a term

that refers to consistent and rather enduring tendencies or preferences within an

20
individual. Styles are those general characteristics of intellectual functioning (and

personality type as well) that pertain to the individual and that differentiate him from

someone else. For example, you might be more visually oriented, more tolerant of

ambiguity or more reflective than someone else- these would be styles that

characterize a general or dominant pattern in one's thinking or feelings. So, styles

vary across an individual, whereas strategies vary within an individual.

One of the salient dimensions in a formal classroom setting is the preference that

learners show toward either visual, auditory and/ or kinesthetic input. Visual learners

tend to prefer reading and studying charts, drawing and other graphic information.

Aural learners seem to learn best by ear. And kinesthetic learners will show a

preference for demonstration and physical action such as miming or role-play seems

to help the learning process. These are referred to as perceptually-based learning

styles. Most successful learners utilize both visual and auditory input, but preference

of one way over another one distinguishes one learner from another, an important

factor for classroom instruction.

According to Barson and Strawson (1976) spelling styles imply that learners

have preferred methods of learning. Those who sound out words and match these to

the letters that present them are sometimes called Phoenician spellers and have

good auditory skills. Those who take a snapshot of words and recognize whole words

and spelling patterns are called Chinese spellers and have good visual memories.

The shorter Oxford English dictionary (1933) defines spelling as the writing of a

word or words with the necessary letters and diacritics present in an accepted

standard order. It is one of the elements of orthography and a prescriptive element of

alphabetic language. Most spelling attempt to approximate a transcribing of the

21
sounds of the language into alphabetic letters; however, completely phonetic

spellings are often the exception, due to drifts in pronunciations over irregular

spellings adopted through common usage.

8.1. Spelling Challenge

Spelling in English is irregular and difficult. This is because there is often more

than one way of spelling a sound, and more than one way of pronouncing a letter.

The situation is complicated by the existence of words which are spelt the same but

have different sounds and different meanings such as lead (to show or guide) lead

(metal) Susan will lead you to your car; Luke collects lead soldiers(homographs).

Another potential source of confusion is homophones, words that have different

spelling and different meaning such as to- two- too: I go to school; We have two cars;

Sara was too hot.

Donald, W.E.et all. classified words similar in sounds as follow:

Accept: I should like to accept your first offer.

Except: He took every thing except the rugs.

Breath: His breath came in short gasps at the end of the race.

Breathe: The problem is solved; you can breath easily now.

Cite : He cited three good examples.

Site:The site of the new school has not been decided on.

Sight: They were awed by the sight of so much splendor.

Its: Your plan has much in its favor(possessive of it)

Its: Its too late now for excuses. (contraction of it is, it has).

Right: Take a right turn on Oak Street.

Rite: Taking that course is a rite of passage for many students.

22
Write: Please write me a letter when you arrive.

Their: It was not their fault. (possessive pronoun).

There: You wont find any gold there. ( adverb of place).

Theyre: Theyre sure to be disappointed. ( contraction of they are).

Whos: I wonder whos with her now. ( contraction of who is).

Whose: Whose book is this? ( possessive pronoun)

8.2. Spelling rules

Thornbury (2002) says that, in fact, English spelling is surprisingly regular.

Researcher studies have shown that as many as eight out of every ten words are spelt

according to a regular pattern and that only three per cent of words are so

unpredictable that they have to be learned by rote. This three per cent includes many

of most common words in English such as one, two, you , were, would, said which.

Because of their frequency, dont cause learners many problems. This means that

there are rules that govern English Spellings. Dorman(1991) suggests five rules:

Place I before e except after c or when pronounced like a as in neighbor or weigh.

I BEFORE E: chief, grief, belief, fierce, fierce, sieve

E BEFORE I: ceiling, conceit, receive, freight

EXCEPTIONS : either, neither, foreign, forfeit, height, leisure, weird, seize, sheik

Usually drop a silent final e before a suffix that begins with a vowel. Usually keep

the silent final e before a suffix beginning with a consonant

DROP THE E: come + ing=coming force + ible=forcible fame + ous=famous

love + able=lovable

23
EXCEPTIONS: dying, singeing, mileage, noticeable, courageous.

KEEP THE E: care+ ful=careful arrange+ ment=arrangement

EXCEPTIONS : awful, ninth, truly, argument, judgement

When a final y follows a consonant, change y to I before a suffix except when the

suffix begins with i.

With y before a consonant:

Try+ ed= tried messy+ er =messier

With y before a vowel:

Obey+ ed =obeyed sway+ s=sways

With a suffix beginning with i:

Apply+ ing =applying try+ ing=trying

Double the final consonant before a suffix beginning with a vowel, if the word has

only one syllable or is stressed on the last syllable.

drop+ ing= dropping stop+ ed= stopped

forget+ ing= forgetting submit+ ed= submitted

Form plurals correctly. Add s to form the plurals of most words. Add es to form the

plurals of words ending in: s, sh, ch, or x. For most words ending in y , change the y t

I and add es.

book, books dress, dresses bush, bushes

fox, foxes fly, flies church, churches

24
 Form the plural of hyphenated words by adding s to the main word.

son- in- law, sons-in-law

Form the plural of family names ending in y by adding s, such as McCurry,

McCurrys

Form the plural of most nouns ending in f or fe by adding s. But the plural of

the some Of these nouns is formed by changing the f to v and adding s or es.

Chief, chiefs dwarf, dwarfs calf, claves leaf, leaves

9. Commonly Confused Words

Many spelling errors come from confusion over the meaning and correct spelling

of commonly used words. Learn the spelling and the meaning of the following

commonly

confused words.

Advice counsel (noun)

Advise to give advice (verb)

Brake to stop

Break to smash

Capital accumulated wealth; city serving as government seat

Capitol building in which legislative body meets

Desert to abandon (verb); barren land (noun)

Dessert last course of a meal

25
Formerly previously

Formally in a formal manner

Heard past tense of hear

Herd group of animals

Instance an example

Instants moments

Loose to free from restraint (verb); not fastened (adjective)

Lose to misplace; to be deprived of (verb)

Peace absence of strife

Piece a part of something

Road a driving surface

Rode past tense of the verb to ride

Stationary unmoving

Stationery writing paper

To toward

Too also; excess amount

Two the number following one

Week Sunday through Saturday

Weak not strong

26
Your possessive of you

Youre contraction of you are

10. Frequently Misspelled Words.

Learn to spell frequently misspelled words. The following is a list of commonly

misspelled words demons.

Absence February privilege

Academic foreign probably

Accidentally forty procedure

Accommodate friend proceed

Achieve fulfill quantity

Across government quiet

All right grammar quit

Already harass quizzes

Apparent height receive

Appearances independent reference

Athletic intelligence referred

Attendance license referring

Believe luxury reminisce

Benefited maneuver repetition

27
Britain marriage rhythm

Business mathematics ridiculous

Calendar misspelled sacrifice

Candidate neither safety

Cemetery ninth salary

Definite occasion satellite

Desperate occur secretary

Dilemma optimistic separate

Emphasize personnel sincerely

Fascinate prevalent strategy

Succession tragedy writing

Subtly tendency vengeance

Succeed thorough weird

Succession tragedy writing

Surprise usually

11. Spelling as Memory Strategy

To Crowder memory plays a palpable role in language development and

vocabulary acquisition/ learning, "memory is a set of dynamic mechanisms that are

associated with the retention of what we need and the retrieval of information about

28
what happened to us in the past". In other words, we recall only the salient

information we need and which help us bridge appropriately a problem gap. But the

other elements remain stored in our memory until we need to retrieve them. The

brain stores; words, sentences, pictures and whatever information into cerebral

electric waves, then stores them, and recalls them whenever needed. The brain also

generates responses to a question being asked to answering a particular test

question. The brain retains, classifies and maps semantically vocabularies according

to the students familiarity with a word. And the recognition of lexis with which the

learner is familiar and which he recognizes relying primarily upon his retention

strategies such as spelling strategy which enables the learner to acquire/ learn a

titanic of vocabularies which are stored in the learners mind and retrieved when he is

forced to write a creative essay.( Crowder 1976;Cited in Labed ,2007)

In addition to that, studies in SL attached a great importance to the role of

attention and consciousness in processing information, but almost leave no room for

investigating the place of memory in acquiring languages and other types of skill

getting activities. This ignorance of memory may be traced back to the negative

effects of behaviors which puts more emphasis upon memorization in learning

languages, but neglects human intentional capacities to a great extent. Logan, Taylor

and Etherton (1986) investigate the role of attention in the acquisition and expression

of automaticity, they advocate that "attention determines what goes into memory

trace in encoding as well as what is taking out of it at retrieval time". It becomes clear

that good performance requires a good memory which is responsible for both

reception and production information.

Language learning depends on the depth of attention, consciousness; noticing on

one hand and on the acuteness of memory on the other hand. Some learners have

29
better memories than others they can learn by heart. They have great power of

encoding facts in their mind and can call them back when needed. Others have less

power of retaining and producing facts.

Stimulus

Touch eye

ear

Sensory Organs Perception

Sensory memory

millisecond-1 second)

Attention

repetition Short Term-Memory forgetting

working Memory

1 minute

Long-Term Memory: days, months, years.

Figure2: Diagram Showing Memory Process

30
 First, the teacher has to decide on how many words to present in the lesson;

usually five (5) to seven (7) new words are quite enough. The reason behind this is

the belief that learners can only internalize/memorize about six (6) new words during

one lesson Second, the words selected for presentation ought to be useful for the

course and students benefit from it in doing their ideas successfully.

There are mainly four steps to follow in order to present vocabulary:

- Sound and meaning: the teacher says the words two or three times she pronounces

it clearly to enable the learner to spell it;

- The teacher should make the class repeat the new words a few times;

- The teacher also should write the word form clearly in the chalkboard and the

learners read it aloud without distorting its spelling.

- The last step is to make a word in an illustrative sentence; learners are given the

chance to practice the new words so that they can memorize them.

Ott (2007) defines perception as the process whereby information from five

senses is organized and interpreted to become meaningful, often from previous

experiences. Auditory perception is an ability to recognize and distinguish between

sounds spoken and heard and includes blending, discrimination, and memory

segmenting and phonological awareness. Visual perception is an ability to recognize

and distinguish between letters, numbers, geometric patterns, pictures, and include

visual discrimination, memory and awareness of whole or parts of letter words and

pattern.-the second step is attention that requires a focus on a certain stimulus and

the exclusion of the others one. For example, while presenting a new vocabulary item

the learner ought to focus attention on its form (how it is spelled), meaning and

31
pronunciation. The information (new words) that the learner perceives and pays

attention to is transferred to the second component of the memory system. The short

term memory which is a storage system that can hold a limited amount of

information for few second, It is part of memory information that is currently being

thought about is stored and it disappears when we stop thinking about it.

Another term for shortterm memory is working memory. Ott (2007) points out that

working memory is correlated to short-tem memory. It involves holding a piece of

information in mind to or from which another piece of information added or

subtracted. In other words, two things are done at once. It can include auditory

memory, motor memory, visual memory and semantic memory. The more students

manipulate and think about a word, the more likely it is that the word will be

transferred into long term memory. Research indicates that efficient learning of

vocabulary is an incremental process one that requires meaningful recurring

encounters of a word over time.

Conclusion

Vocabulary learning/ acquisition has been one of the significant issues of ongoing

discussion for perhaps half a century. Todays language teachers and researchers

have realized the palpable role of vocabulary in different pedagogical tasks. There is

no doubt that virtually all second /foreign language learners and teachers are aware

of the fact that learning a second/ foreign language involves the learning of a large

number of words, but how to accomplish this task is often of considerable concern to

them. How vocabulary is learned / acquired and what the most efficient strategies are

to promote effective acquisition have been worthwhile cornerstones in the field of

second language acquisition. On the whole, they all place emphasis upon the fact

32
that mastery of vocabulary is an essential components of second/ foreign language

acquisition.

33
 Chapter Two:
The Experimental Work

Introduction.......35

1. The Participants35

2. The Method........35

3. The Test (01 and 02)........36

3.1. The Test Procedure...37

3.2. Analysis and Interpretation...38

3.2.1 Nouns....................38

3.2.2 Verbs .42

3.2.3 Adjectives..47

3.2.4 Adverbs..49

3.2.5. Conclusion.....................................................................................................50

General Conclusion.51
Appendix....52
Appendix 1.....52
Appendix 2.....53

34
Introduction

This study describes the use of spelling strategy to master the word form. The aim

of this study is to see whether training students in using the strategy improves their

ability to maximize their vocabulary knowledge or not. The procedure of this

experimental work goes through three main stages: the pre-test stage where the

participants are tested through a dictation test to see their current level in writing

correctly; the treatment stage which is devoted to the training of subject in using

spelling strategy and supplied also with some rules and brief introduction of spelling;

finally, the post-test stage where the participants are evaluated by the same test so

as to see to what extent our strategy would/would not yield positive results in getting

command of the writing form of English language.

The results of this innovative treatment are compared to each other.

1. The Participants

The participants in our study are 45 first year LMD students of English (group six)

at Mentouri University; Constantine, during the academic year 2008-2009. These

students come from different regions and belong to the same age group; that is, from

eighteen to twenty. In addition, most of them have been studying English as a foreign

language for, at least, five years.

2. The Method

The data examined in the study are collected in a class experiment on mastering

the word form using spelling strategy. The aim is to investigate the value of training

students in the use of spelling strategy that would yield a nice paper that is not

decorated by the teachers comments.

35
3. The Test (01 and 02)

To put into practice the theoretical review of the literature discussed in the

previous chapter, we have employed a pre-experimental design consisting of pre-test

and post-test which are identical. The former and the latter are separated by two

extra lessons. These lessons are devoted to explain how spelling is important to

enhance vocabulary learning and we also cast light on the practice of spelling-out to

train student to spell.

According to Compbell and Stanley (1963), we refer to the experimental treatment

by (x); while (01) stands for the pre-test, and 02 for the post-test. So, in this kind of

design, a single case is investigated into two points: one before treatment and one

after. Changes in the outcome are presumed to be the result of the intervention.

The first step is a pre-test where the subjects are tested about their current level.

Dictation test paves the ground to gauge the present students level.

The second is two successive sessions where subjects are introduced and trained

to spell-out words of the text the U.S Immigrant Experience.

The third step is a post-test that is administered to students after they have been

made quite aware of the spelling strategy and its utility.

Both the pre-test and the post-test are similar in form because, after all, spelling

strategy is a memory strategy; i.e., the ultimate purpose of this study is to improve

the learners ability to store input and to retrieve a correct output represented in the

mastering of the word form.

36
3.1 The Test Procedure

To assess the students progress in mastering orthographic principles, we

administered a dictation test. Because dictation is a good technique used in both

language teaching and language testing in which a passage is read aloud to students

or test-takers, with pauses during which they must try to write down what they have

heard as accurately as possible.

The dictation test is taken from Oxford Guide to British and American Culture.

(2005). It is a text which is selected carefully to suit the proper level of the students. It

is neither difficult nor simple, and the students are quite familiar with the diction of the

text.(first-year LMD students studied the American civilization in the module of

civilization). The task is presented in terms of dictation because dictation is one of the

best techniques that reveal the spelling mistakes.

The US Immigrant Experience

During the 19th and early 20th centuries, many immigrants left home

because they were poor and thought they would have better opportunity in the

US. The most travelled on crowded ships where diseases spread quickly. Many

would be immigrants died on the journey or arrived weak and ill. The majority

arrived in New York and Boston, and Ellis Island near New York became famous

as a receiving station. The immigrants were examined by a doctor before being

allowed to enter the US. But life in the US was not easy. Those who stayed in the

cities often had to work in sweatshops, but slowly they improved their lives and

many wrote home to encourage others to come.

37
 Today immigrants continue to move to the US for economic and political

reasons and to join family members. The immigrants must obtain a green card to

establish legal permanent residency, a first step towards citizenship.

In the pre-test, participants are informed that the test is a kind of exercise that

would help them commit fewer mistakes while writing. It would not be used as part of

their course grade; i.e., it will not be marked. But they are asked to do it as carefully

as possible with clear hand writing and a clean paper. They are not informed of the

nature of the study until after all the papers have been collected in order to affect the

results inappropriately.

3.2 Analysis and Interpretation of the Test

The results obtained from the pre-test and the post-test were compared and

analyzed to determine whether students have approximately learned something from

the spelling-out strategy and its helpful application in writing or not.

The analysis of mistakes concerning: nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs reveals

the following data:

3.2.1. Noun

Immigrants

Approximately the majority of the learners did mistakes concerning the words

immigrants (64, 44% in the pre-test and 0% in the post-test). It would appear that

the number of mistakes decrease considerably in the post-test. The majority wrote it

with a unique /m/ such as imigrants and they forget that the prefix im-is often in front

of words beginning with b, m, or p. or they wrote it with an /e/ in the beginning :

emmigrants .

38
 Experience

The setting from the test is not surprising. Some students made mistakes in the

pre-test 28.88 % and no one wrote it wrongly i.e. 0 % in the post- test. The reason

stems from the fact that they used it frequently while writing.

Opportunity

The results strikingly change from the pre-test to the post-test. In the pre-test a

high proportion of students 91.11% did not write it correctly; whereas in the post test

11.11% is the percentage of students who made mistakes. A major cause of difficultly

for students of English is the apparent lack of correspondence between sounds and

spelling. Opportunity is a good example that illustrates the difference between

sounds and spelling. Opportunity is transcribed /,ptju:nti/

Ships

Concerning the word ship nearly half of the students were not able to

discriminate between similar-sounding phonemes. In the pre-test 20 students i.e.:

44.44% is the percentage of incorrect writing of the word ships, whereas in the post-

test the number of faults decreases to 8.88%; they wrote ships /sheep, cheap and/or

chip.

Although there is a huge difference both in spelling and meaning between ship,

sheep, cheap, and chip students get confused while using them.

- Ship / / (n) large sea vessel.

- Sheep/ / (n) grass-eating animal kept for its flesh and woo

- Cheap / / (adjective ) low in price; costing little money.

- Chip / / (n) thin slice cut from a potato...

39
 Reasons

A few students (7) in the pre-test and (5) in the post-test wrote the word reasons

incorrectly (15.55% in the pre-test and 11.11% in the post-test).It is worth positing

that the majority have recognized how to write reasons correctly.

Citizenship

In the pre-test, near half of the learners (40%) wrote it incorrectly and (60%) of

them also wrote it incorrectly. The mistakes are due to the fact that it is a composed

word; i.e. it can-be divided into two parts: the root and the suffix. Citizen and ship,

citizen is the root and ship is the suffix.

Journey / Residency

For the word journey the results reveal change from the pre-test 53.33% to

88.88% in the post-test. Whereas for the word residency the results show that

33.33% of the students wrote it incorrectly, but only 15.55% of them did not write it

appropriately in the post-test

Receiving

More than half of the students 55.55% in the pre-test have reversed the /ei/ and

only 17.77% did not recognize the rule that I provided them with when I taught them

that /i/ is before /e/ except after /c/ to explain the spelling of believe versus conceive.

Diseases

A high proportion of students misspelled wrongly the word diseases 71.11% in the

pre-test but the percentage declines to 20% in the post-test.

40
 Nouns

Pre-test Post-test

False Percentage% False Percentage%

answers answers

1. immigrants 29/45 46.44 0 0

2. Experience 13/45 28.88 0 0

3. opportunity 41/45 91.11 5 11.11

4. Ship 20/45 44.44 4 8.88

5. Reasons 7/45 15.55 5 11.11

6. Citizenship 27/45 60 18 40

7. Journey 24/45 53.33 4 8.88

8. Residency 15/45 33.33 7 15.55

9. Z receiving 25/45 55.55 8 17.77

10. Diseases 32/45 71.11 1 20

N =45 100% 9 100%

Graphic Representing Nouns Test

41
3.2.1 Verbs

We classify the misspelled verbs as follow;

A. Verbs in stem form

B. Regular verbs

C. Irregular verbs

42
 A. Verbs in Stem Form

Pre-test Post-test

False answers Percentage False Percentage

% answers %

1. enter 6 13.33 2 4.44

2. encourage 29 64.44 12 26.66

3. continue 4 8.88 2 40.44

4. join 15 33.33 7 15.55

5. establish 15 33.33 9 20

6. obtain 11 24.24 6 13.33

Graphic representing verbs in stem form

Concerning the verbs in stem form the students usually make errors when

transferring knowledge from one language to the other. For example, they write the

43
verb to enter like in French entrer. That is due to the negative interference of the

prior language which is French (13.33% in the pre-test and 4.44% in the post-test).

For the other verbs, the results change from one verb to another one;

- Encourage 64.44% in the pre-test and 26.66% in the post-test,

- Continue 8.88% in the pre-test and 4.44% in the post-test,

- Join 33.33% in the pre-test and 45.55% in the post-test,

- Establish 33.33% in the pre-test and 20%in the post-test,

- Obtain 24.24% in the pre-test and 13.33% in the post-test.

Making a distinction between the vowels sounds was not an easy matter for

students. They were facing a spelling problem of sounds combination which was not

a predictable task for them. The results brought by the post- test show clearly that

students benefited considerably from the instruction.

B. Regular Verbs

Pre-test Post-test

False Percentage False Percentage

answer % answer %

Travelled 12 42.22 11 24.44

Arrived 11 24.44 0 0

Allowed 35 77.77 19 42

Stayed 18 40 4 8..8

44
 Graphic representing regular verbs

It is worth noting that the majority of the mistakes stem from the fact that students

do not double the consonants in each verb and they write them with a single

consonant such in travelled traveled, arrived arived, and allowed was written with

a single /l/ allowed or aloud.

Some students wrote the final ed of the regular verbs in a wrong way, although it

has its famous rule. The rule states clearly that the final /ed/ is pronounced:

- /id/ after the sounds /d/ or /t/

- /t/ after the sounds p, k, s,

- /d/ after the sound b, g, I, m, n, r, v, y, and the vowels

45
 - However the results changes from the pre-test to the post-test positively

- Travelled 42.22% in the pre-test and 24.44%in the post-test

- Arrived 24.44% in the post-test and 0 in the post-test

- Allowed 77.77 in the pre-test and 42.22% in the post-test

- Stayed 40% in the pre-test and 8.88% in the post-test

C. Irregular Verbes

Pre-test Post-test

False Percentage False answers Percentage

answers % %

Thought 18 40 7 15.55

wrote 31 68.88 9 20

Graphic represents irregular verbs

For the verb thought nearly the majority of the learners (40%) made mistakes

because they wrote it like the past tense of the verb to teach taught; and after the

instruction, the results shifted considerably to 15.55% in the post-test. Whereas, the

46
verb wrote which is the past tense of the verb to write, the /w/ is a silent letter and

approximately most of students 68.88% in the pre-test wrote it as it is pronounced

rote; whereas there is a huge difference between wrote and rote. Examples;

- Wrote a letter to my parents, yesterday.

- The Audio-lingual method focuses on rote memorization of patterns

3.2.3 Adjectives

Pre-test Post-test

False Percentage False Percentage

answers % answers %

Weak 22 48.88 6 13.33

Crowded 20 44.44 4 8.88

Famous 2 4.44 0 0

Economic 1 2.2 0 0

Legal 11 24.44 5 11.11

Permanent 17 37.77 10 22.22

Graphic representation of adjectives

47
 Concerning the adjectives, we recognize that there is a decline of the number of

mistakes from the pre-test to the post-test. The results demonstrate that:

For the adjective weak, the number of mistakes declines from 48.44% in the

pre-test to 13.33% in the post-test because of the intelligent guessing from

the context that weak is associated with ill and it is not the week. We should

highlight the fact that students while writing they use their intelligence and

also different styles to overcome a given situation they face. For the rest of

adjectives the results reveals the following data:

For crowded, we notice that in the pre-test nearly half of the students did

mistakes 44.44% but they lessen to 4.88% in the post-test.

For famous we have 4.44% in the pre-test and 0% in the post-test.

For economic we have 2.22% in the pre-test and 0% in the post-test.

For permanent 37.77% in the pre-test and 22.22% in the post-test.

48
 In fact, students were not able to differentiate between the phonemes in each

word. The magic e in economic and permanent, caused trouble for learners

because they put it inappropriately.

3.2.4. Adverbs

Pre-test Post-test

False Percentage False Percentage

answers answers

There 5 11.11 4 8.88

Quickly 5 11.11 4 8.88

better 3 6.66 1 2.22

Graphic representation of adverbs

It is not surprising that the number of mistakes is too low in the test because

adverbs mentioned in the text have already been dealt with in grammar courses..

49
However, they did mistakes in the spelling of there and

they wrote it their and for the adverb better they wrote it either with an /a/ or /u/

i.e. batter or butter; and for the word quickly the problem of silent letter emerged

because the c is not pronounced but it is written.

In the case of the adverb there, in the pre-test, 11.11% of students did mistakes

and a progress is seen in the post-test 8.88%. For the adverb quickly the mistakes

decreased from 11.11% to 8.88% in the post-test.

3.2.5. CONCLUSION

The pretest findings have revealed that the percentage of spellings mistakes

made by the subjects was considerably higher in comparison with the percentage of

mistakes committed in posttest.

These mistakes could be traced back to various reasons: a lack of one- to-one

correspondence between sounds and spelling such as in opportunity/,ptju:nti/,an

inability to discriminate between similar sounding phonemes such as ships, sheep,

cheap and chip, the compound structure of certain words (words which can be

divided into parts: the root the affix and inflections such as citizenships), negative

transfer from the already existing second language of the subjects (i.e. French), lack

of attention to the graphic forms of words containing silent letters such as wrote, last

but not least, an inability to differentiate between the phonemes of the spelt word

such as permanent.

In sum, the present exploratory study has confirmed the paramount role of spelling

strategy implemented during instruction in helping the subjects make fewer spelling

mistakes. Additionally, this experiment has brought to lights the students' eagerness

to such innovative strategy that notably inspired and motivated them.

50
 GENERAL CONCLUSION

This research investigates the degree of impact of spelling on vocabulary

acquisition at university, first-year students of English as foreign language. It was

undertaken to answer the following problem: does the teaching/ learning of

vocabulary through spelling strategy aid learners to consolidate the words form?

The results of the test gave a clear view about the learners degrees of

achievement in mastering the graphic form of words suggested in the text. And also,

they are in the direction of our research hypothesis which states that if students were

trained during the course /lesson for better vocabulary writing using the spelling

strategy, they would do minimum mistakes/errors in their writing.

The experiment has showed the need of the learners for strategy/strategies which

can be useful to them. The use of this genre of strategy in foreign language

instruction/learning is a helpful tool, not only to develop the language, but also to

boost the learners capacities to create their own learning styles and teaching

techniques

51
 APPENDICES

Appendix 1

The Test

The US Immigrant Experience

During the 19th and early 20th centuries, many immigrants left home because

they were poor and thought they would have better opportunity in the US. The most

travelled on crowded ships where diseases spread quickly. Many would be

immigrants died on the journey or arrived weak and ill. The majority arrived in New

York and Boston, and Ellis Island near New York became famous as a receiving

station. The immigrants were examined by a doctor before being allowed to enter the

US. But life in the US was not easy. Those who stayed in the cities often had to work

in sweatshops, but slowly they improved their lives and many wrote home to

encourage others to come.

Today immigrants continue to move to the US for economic and political reasons

and to join family members. The immigrants must obtain a green card to establish

legal permanent residency. A first step towards citizenship.

52
 Appendix 2

The Sample Lesson

The objectives of this lesson is to draw the learners attention to the crucial

importance of spelling as a vocabulary strategy, and also to shed light on its useful

role in enhancing learners ability to get command of graphic form of the English

language. This strategy in turn would get its fruits if is applied during the whole

course not only in four sessions.

On Saturday, May 16th 2009, I have introduced spelling as being a good tool to

acquire a numerous vocabulary and mastering the lexis form. Then, I read aloud the

text that is used as pre-test in order to make the student aware of what takes place in

the classroom. On the light of the mistakes and errors made by students in the pre-

test, I pointed at a student to come to the board to spell the word I have chosen, and

I made him/her spell it. If she spelled it wrong, I chose another one to correct his/her

mistake, then I asked her to write it on the blackboard. Then, I asked the whole class

to repeat the word three times in order to get a visual picture of the word plus its

pronunciation.

Although it is time consuming to repeat this procedure each time, students benefit

from that strategy considerably.

On Sunday May 17th 2009, I proposed the nine key ways that could help them to

enhance their spelling.

53
Darson, G (2005) pointed out that there are nine key ways to improve spelling:

1. Learn the rules and regular forms before tackling the exceptions and

irregularities

2. Concentrate on the words you use most often i.e., frequent words.

3. Make a spelling booth.

4. Check your work carefully in order to look for your mistakes and to improve

your weak points.

5. Use memory aids/ mnemonic: it is a word, phrase, rhyme that aids you to

remember that I is before e" except after c which explain the spelling of

believe, relief and siege with ie and ceiling, receiving and deceit with ei.

6. Use word-families as a spelling aid. The existence of silent letters in English

may cause troubles for foreign students because those letters are written but

not pronounced such as the /w/ of wrote in the text of the US Immigrants

Experience that I used as a test.

7. Break words into parts, many students make mistakes in spelling plainly

because they do not look closely enough (if at all) at the structure of the words

they are writing. Breaking words up into their component parts will often help

student avoid spelling errors.

8. Take an interest in word-origins/ etymology of words: Sometimes you may

think that etymology of words is of no concern to you because your ultimate

purpose it to spell correctly but looking at the origins of words in your

dictionary simultaneously with checking their spellings often makes it clear

why it is spelled like this and you surly will remember how to spell it.

9. Lastly, practice is the core aim of spelling. It is not enough just to check your

spelling when you happen to be writing something. By practicing spelling every

54
day students will better in Written Expression module. Because in spelling, as

in so many other skills, practice does make perfect.

55
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61


.
 Rsum
Lobjectif de ce travail est dexaminer limpact de la conscience des tudiants des rgles
dorthographe dans lexpression crite. Il a t observ que beaucoup dapprenants
rencontrent quelques difficults maitriser le sujet de la majuscule en langue Anglaise ; et ce
pour plusieurs raisons. Limportance de notre tude rside dans le fait quelle vise expliquer
ces raisons et proposer des solutions mme de solutionner ce problme de manire
rmdiable. La mthodologie que nous avons adopte pour notre recherche a consist
utiliser un groupe dtudiants de premire anne du dpartement dAnglais. Un pr test
dvaluation de leur connaissance de la majuscule Anglaise a t effectu avant quon ne leur
assure quelques sances de cours sur le sujet. Ce aprs quoi, nous les avons soumis un post
test par lequel nous avons mesur leur capacit mettre en pratique le contenu des cours
prodigus. Le mmoire propose une srie de recommandations dans la perspective daider les
enseignants adopter une stratgie prcise afin de contrer les problmes lis lutilisation de
la majuscule.