ABSTRACT
Some languages have very transparent links between sounds and letters. This means that if the word ‘toad’ is spelled with an ‘oa’ then most other words containing the /o/ sound will also be spelled using the ‘oa’ letters. But the English language does not have these transparent links between its words and their spellings. English has an opaque orthography, meaning that choices and oddities are found when matching the sound of words to the letter-strings of their spelling. A storyline and picture are needed to anchor the spelling pattern to the memory to ensure recall is achieved with confidence and accuracy. By linking spelling families together in this way, a robust spelling anchor is available to support the learner’s needs. The /er/ sound in words can be spelled in different ways. This can lead to errors when the speller cannot remember which pattern of letters to use in the word they want to spell.
