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Reflection 1: Standard 1a- Language as a System

The two artifacts I chose from Standard 1a came from ESC 757- Linguistics for TESOL
Bilingual Teachers. The first artifact gives an overview of my experience with invented spelling
and the second, an example of a kindergarteners invented Spelling.
Invented spelling addresses Standard 1a in that it deals with a childs morphology, syntax
and semantics. During early childhood years, when a youngster is first learning to spell, its not
uncommon to spell words the way they sound. Children are showing they have awareness of
speech sounds and these flesh out in their written representations.
In Elaine Lutzs article Invented Spelling and Spelling Development, the author addresses
how the teacher should teach it and provide phonemic awareness. Her view is that at this stage,
teachers should be integrating frequent writing as part of the daily classroom routine. Also,
teachers should not be overcorrecting- looking for correct spelling, grammar, mechanics, etc. At
this stage its more important for students to gather sounds than to spell correctly.
I havent worked with early childhood much, but from the knowledge I gained about
Invented spelling, I see its importance in development and the ability to make their own sense of
words. Since I teach Middle School, I dont see invented spelling too often; however, when I do
I address it immediately as opposed to what an early childhood teach would do.
One of the kindergarten teachers graciously allowed me to see a childs invented spelling
assignment. What I saw was that the child had a great amount of speech sounds, but lacked the
syntax to correctly spell words. They were working on The 100th Day of School and the
student wrote was the following: I would not like to have 100 Bez, I would not like to have 100
cooces. I would like to have 100 prses.I would like to have 100 morbols. In essence, she was
spelling out bees, cookies, purses and marbles. She didnt want bees or cookies; but marbles and

purses, definitely. This is a classic example of a young child who is sounding out the words and
using her own speech lettering in an attempt to decipher them.
For future reference, if I were to work with early childhood, Id need to view invented
spelling as a benefit and not a hindrance to young children. If, indeed theyre sounding out
letters and attempting to make them words, this is a great start. I think my temptation (as
someone whose worked with older children) would be to correct this immediately. Id want the
kids to get it and really learn how to spell accurately.
Lastly, Id love to have professional development on this topic. It seems like a hallmark
of early childhood learning and one that requires expertise to handle. Id also like the tools to
move the students into correct spelling, while assuring parents that this is a normal phase of
academic development.