ABSTRACT
This chapter describes the role of cognition and metacognition in developing effective learning strategies, understanding spelling rules, and in developing at least a working awareness of morphology. Cognitive skills are also directly involved in developing and applying appropriate mental strategies for learning words, and for recognizing useful connections between words. A cognitive strategy can be thought of as a mental plan of action over which an individual can exercise control when tackling a particular task or problem in a systematic manner. The linguist Richard Nordquist has rightly observed that: Spelling rules are a bit like weather forecasts: we may use them, but really can not depend on them to be right 100" of the time. Morphological information refers to the meanings of component parts of words and the way in which words are reconstructed as meaning changes. It is obvious that frequent reading is the chief means by which learners are exposed to orthographic patterns.
