The weekly column
Article 44, January 2001
Spotlight on spelling - suggestions for a CALL lesson
by Rolf Palmberg
Abo Akademi University, Finland
The main objective of the computer program Spelling Practice (click to download) is to provide independent learners who want to practise the spelling of any set of words with a simple tool for doing so. However, as the lesson plan outlined below suggests, the program can also be used in class to develop other vocabulary skills, such as pronunciation and the meaning of words.
Spelling practice - about the program
Spelling practice allows twenty words to be entered for each session. The words will then appear on the screen in random order, one word at the time, and the learner's task is to rewrite the words correctly. In order to make the task more difficult, each word is visible only for one second (after a while the words will be displayed for only half a second). Note that the word lists cannot be resumed once you quit the program.
Suggested pre-computer work
Give the learners a list comprising twenty words in their mother tongue on a given topic. Ask them to work in pairs and find the corresponding English words (or any other foreign language allowed by the keyboard), using bilingual dictionaries if necessary. Alternatively, give them a list of English words and ask them to find the mother-tongue equivalents, or, give them a list of English words and a list of mother-tongue words and ask them to combine the words that go together, using dictionaries only if necessary. Next, go through the English word list and make sure that the learners have come up with the correct meanings and that they can pronounce the words properly.
Suggested computer work
Start the computer program and ask the learners to enter
the twenty English words correctly (and then check and recheck that there
are no misspellings). Next, ask them to work individually with the list
until they have reached a given level, say, 50 points.
Next, ask the learners to form pairs and, using the same word list, either
(1) request one learner to read out each appearing word and the other
learner to type it in (without looking at the screen while the word is
displayed), or, (2) request one learner to define/explain the appearing
word in English and the other learner to type it in (again, without looking
at the screen while the word is displayed), or, (3) request one learner
to translate the appearing word into the mother tongue and the other learner
to type in its English equivalent (again, without looking at the screen
while the word is displayed). Ask the learners to exchange roles every
two or three minutes.
Suggested post-computer work
Ask the learners, in pairs or in groups of three, to rank the English words according to how similar they are to their corresponding mother-tongue words. Also, ask them to consider the possible difference in ranking order from the point of view of whether one looks primarily at the pronunciation or the spelling of the English words. Alternatively, ask them to arrange the words into mind maps or organise them into appropriate categories according to their own criteria. Next, ask them to compare the results with their classmates.
Spelling practice and multiple intelligences
Howard Gardner, the creator of the Multiple Intelligences Theory, has suggested that all individuals have personal intelligence profiles that consist of combinations of different intelligence types. Within the framework of the present lesson plan and depending of course on the teacher's choice of working method, the learners use their verbal-linguistic intelligence to identify, translate, rewrite and rank the words, their visual-spatial intelligence to mentally visualise the appearing words and to arrange the words into mind maps, their intrapersonal intelligence to work individually, their interpersonal intelligence to work in pairs and groups, and their naturalist intelligence to categorise the words.
About the Author
For more information about Rolf Palmberg please click here.
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