Tema 10 oposiciones Inglés Primaria

1. Introduction: the inconsistency of english spelling.

In general, pronunciation tends to be one of the main sources of trouble, especially in initial stages, for Spanish speakers to understand English. This difficulty is worsened by the lack of consistency between written and spoken English, to the extent that the written language is not an aid, but rather a further difficulty in learning English, particularly at the beginning.

Apart from all the peculiar features of writing in any language, written English presents a particular difficulty for Spanish speakers: English shows a much greater degree of inconsistency between phonology and spelling. In general, we could say it is impossible to know for sure how a word is pronounced from the way it is spelled, or its proper spelling from pronunciation. The immediate pedagogic consequence of this factor is that English spelling will require more training than Spanish.

Moreover, writing, perhaps the most difficult to acquire of all four skills, depends on spelling as speaking depends on phonology. Although spelling is, in general, more limited, there is awhole system of graphic and punctuation resources, such as paragraph division, capital, italic and bold letters, exclamation and question marks,pause markers (comma, colon, semicolon, full stop), underlining, and other less conventional elements. Normally, however, emotions, for instance, have to be described in writing, as they cannot be conveyed through intonation, tempo, speed, etc. .

2. A historical approach to english orthography.

When we acquire our first language, we start by listening and speaking, that is, we begin to make use of ‘speech’. Later in life we are taught the conventional visual representation of speech: spelling, which will be used in the complex skill of ‘writing’. Thus, we could say the written form is originally an attempt at reflecting the spoken language.

However, in those languages that have long possessed a written form, speaking and writing are felt to be so parallel that the written form may be responsible for changes in pronunciation or may at least tend to impose restraints on its evolution. In the case of English, this sense of parallelism, seems to be reinforced by the obvious lack of consistent relationship between sound and spelling.

A written form of English, based on the Latin alphabet, has existed for over 1,000 years. The pronunciation of English has been constantly changing, particularly the vowel sounds, which have undergone a process known as the ‘Great Vowel Shift’. However, there have been few changes in spelling, especially in the last 500 years. As a consequence, present-day written English is, in general, an inadequate and misleading representation of the language currently spoken.

2.1 A brief history of the English alphabet.

When the Angles and Saxons arrived in Britain, some of them were already literate in Germanic runic writing, but it was a highly specialised craft, the skill of rune-masters. In fact, writing did not become more general until the conversion of the English to Christianity. Although the missionaries who spread the gospel among the pagan Anglo-Saxons were from Rome and must have used an Italian writing form, the Old English manuscripts are in a script called the Insular hand, which is an Irish modification of the Roman alphabet. The Irish, who had been converted to Christianity before the English, taught them how to write in their style. A development of the Insular hand is still used in writing Irish Gaelic.

2.2 The spelling of english sounds.

Fortunately, we could say that spelling is quite uniform nowadays in all territories where English is spoken. There are just a few cases in which two alternatives are possible: blonde/blond; judgement/judgment; enquiry/inquiry; grandad/granddad; etc. . There are also some minor regional differences, as thereare differences in grammar, pronunciation and vocabulary. However, they are all quite unimportant.

For example:

• British –our endings are usually spelled –or in American English: colour/color, honour/honor, odour/odor, etc. .

• Theletter –l is always doubled with verb endings in British English, while only under certain circumstances in American English: travelled/traveled; cancelling/canceling… .

• British endings in –reare often –erin American English: metre/meter; centre/center; theatre/theater… .

• BE catalogue, prologue, programme; AE catalog, prolog, program.

• BE encyclopaedia, anaemia, anaesthesia; AE encyclopedia, anemia, anesthesia.

• BE defence, offence; AE defense, offense.

1. 1. Vocalic sounds and spellings.

3.1.a. Vowels.

3.1.b. Diphthongs.

3.1.c. Vowel sequences (diphthong + neutral vowel [ə])

1. 1. Consonants and semivowels: sounds and spellings

3.2.a. Consonants

3.2.b. Semivowels.

4. Punctuation and other graphic resources.

4.1 Pause marks.

Their use in English is almost identical to Spanish.

Comma (,) is used as in Spanish, that is, to separate items in a list, to separate minor sentences when not linked by the conjunction and, etc. . In letters, it is used after the greeting in English, while in Spanish we use the colon (:).

We write semicolon (;) to separate general items or ideas when the comma is used between more particular elements within those general items. It is typically used in English to contrast different or opposed terms and ideas.

4.2 Intonation and quotation marks.

Question ( ? ) and exclamation ( ! ) marks are used only at the end of the sentence in English.

The long dash (–) is not used in English to introduce or close a dialogue or direct speech. In English we always use inverted commas, symbolised “……………….” to introduce and close a dialogue, direct speech and literal quotations.

4.3 Hyphens and word division.

Many compounds in English can be written as two words, with a hyphen, or as one word. Avoiding hyphens seems to be the present general tendency when using well-established words. Thus, a hyphen is normally used when we form a new word applying the usual system for word formation in English. Even in this case, many speakers prefer to use two separate words instead of hyphenation.

The rules for dividing a word at the end of a line are much less clear in English than in Spanish. In fact, the most usual option is not to divide words at all. For example, modern computer text processors never cut words between lines, unless they already contain a hyphen for word formation. In any case there are certain general rules or restrictions.

4.4 Stress and apostrophe.

There is no written stress in English. However, written stresses are oftenkept in recent foreign loan words that have a written stress in their original language.

Apostrophe (‘) is used in English to indicate that an element is missing (I’m, you’re).

4.5. Capital letters, special letter types, symbols and peculiar spellings.

In general, capital letters have more uses in English than they have in Spanish. We write an initial capital letter, both in English and in Spanish, in the following cases:

• In the first word of a sentence, that is, at the beginning of a text or after a full stop.
• In all proper names.
• In the names, bynames and pronouns referred to God, Christ, the Virgin Mary, etc. .
• For ranks and authorities in the state, army, church, professions, etc. .

5. Teaching and learning english orthography.

5.1 Some applicable rules.

Correct spelling in English cannot be achieved or made easier, as in Spanish, through the application of a series of spelling rules. We could say it basically depends on ‘visual memory’ and capacity to associate forms and meanings.

Even in advanced stages of learning, sudden doubts arise on how to spell some rare words, on the use of a single or a double consonant, hyphenation or separate words, etc. . We may find some relief in knowing that even educated native speakers often have trouble with spelling.

5.2 Activities and materials.

As we have said in the previous paragraphs, continuous training is essential, and the only coherent alternative, particularly for children in Primary school, to learn and apply English orthography.

Extensive reading (for pleasure, if possible) seems to be a very effective exercise for improving visual memory, apart from being a most valuable source of language practice, experience and general knowledge. It is, therefore, very important that we motivate our students to read. We can recommend different readings, according to their age, preferences and command of the language. To make it motivating, reading should be presented mainly as a leisure activity, so the vocabulary must not be difficult and the topics must be interesting. In Primary school, for instance, learners may read stories, comics, children’s magazines… . They must be given different alternatives, so they can choose and consider reading as a rather free task, and not as an imposed burdensome one.

6. Conclusion: the importance of orthography in written texts.

As we said in unit 8, writing is probably the most difficult skill to acquire, and it often involves a reasonable degree of formal education. Furthermore, the ability to write properly has traditionally been deemed a sign of social prestige.

Apart from the need to communicate effectively through written language, proper spelling of words has another specific relevance: it is an immediate material symbol of education and cultural status. This fact is true for all languages, and particularly for English, whose spelling system, as we have seen, is quite inconsistent with sound and, therefore, difficult to acquire.

The present language teaching methods, based on the communicative approach, do not show a special concern with orthography by itself. Implicitly, however, communication depends on many factors. Obviously, orthography is one of them, relevant to communication through written language. It is important, therefore, to pay attention to spelling, adequate use of punctuation, etc., as crucial aspects of the writing skill. Let us remember that our objective in Primary school is that our students acquire an integral and balanced degree of ‘communicative competence’, which involves the four skills: listening, speaking, reading and writing.

7. BIBLIOGRAPHY

-Alcaraz, E. y Moody, B. . Fonética inglesa para españoles. 1984.

-Corder, Pit. Error Analysis and Interlanguage. Oxford, Oxford University Press, 1981.

-Fowler, W. S. . Progressive Writing Skills. Nelson, 1989.

-Gimson, A. C. . An Introduction to the Pronunciation of English. London, Edward Arnold, Publishers, 1980.