ABSTRACT
Take Figure 5.1, a page from an exercise book from 4-5-year olds in the English school system. The page has been photocopied and stuck into the exercise book that deals with writing and arithmetic.
I have made the point in earlier chapters that, in order to spell, it helps to know the written version of the language. We can rephrase that now and say that, in order to spell, it helps to know the look of the language, to have a visual image of the units of the language, mainly of words and of letters. To that extent spelling is a visual/visible punctuation, a framing that separates off one significant visual unit from another. In the early attempts at writing by children this absence of clear frames, this lack of punctuation, is a major problem for them. Of course, framing can only happen when we know what is to be framed; and ditto for punctuation. Many of the examples that I have discussed earlier show this quite clearly. Example 5.2 is another example.
