ABSTRACT
It is important to recognise that some individuals will experience a greater difficulty mastering English spellings than others. Singing, understanding complex maths and speaking a second language are also skills whose acquisition levels will vary between individuals. Collecting a list of personal spelling errors helps learners identify the tripping hazards that they themselves often meet. Different learners will exhibit different strengths and weaknesses. Many writers pronounce awkward spellings in a way that highlights their letter patterns. This approach won’t work for everyone, but it is another useful spelling strategy to bear in mind. Highlighting tripping hazards in colour can also be useful. Subject-based terminology often brings new information for the memory to retain and recall. Embedding meaning into a spelling prompt helps to establish terminology. It adds interest, ownership and depth to a memory trace. A spelling test may seem a good way of sourcing an individual’s spelling profile by identifying which spelling patterns produce errors.
