7 - Spelling Techniques

Summary

Phonology is the ability to map letters to sounds which is required when spelling words. However, phonological processing and memory is usually impacted by dyslexia which means that dyslexic learners can have difficulty hearing the different small sounds in words (phonemes) and struggle to break words into smaller parts to spell them. Thus, this chapter provides strategies to assist with spelling difficulties. These techniques range from using mnemonics which involves using memorable phrases or rhymes to help with remembering the spelling of difficult words, using the process of sounding out words, not phonetically, but as the word is spelt, using repetition by using the Copy, Cover, Compare (CCC) technique combined with sounding it out, the Look, Say, Cover, Write, Check method, copying words down from academic papers, or dictionaries and thesauruses to become familiar with the visualisation of the word, and using technology, such as Grammarly, the spelling and grammar checker on word processing software, and / or Google dictionary.