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Kids Shouldn't Be Burdened With Strict Spelling Rules: UK Academic
John Wells, Emeritus Professor of Phonetics at University College London and president of the Spelling Society, says that children should not be compelled to memorise irregular spellings and learn how to use the apostrophe.
"The teaching of literacy in schools is a major worry. It seems highly likely that one of the reasons Britain and other English-speaking countries have problems with literacy is because of our spelling and the burden it places on children," Times Online quoted him as saying.
"In Finnish, once you have learned the letters, you know how to spell, so it would be ludicrous to hold spelling tests. In countries like Italy and Spain it's similar. But with English it's not phonetic, and there are just so many irregularities.
"It seems to be a great pity that English-speaking countries are holding back children in this way. There are lots of other things that are neglected in class because so much time is spent on spelling," he added.
Professor Wells even said that forcing pupils to learn the use of apostrophe was an equal waste of time.
"Instead of an apostrophe we could just leave it out (it's could become its) or leave a space (so we'll would become we ll). Have we really nothing better to do with our lives than fret about the apostrophe?" he said.
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guest
09/09/2008
John Wells has apparently never taught English. Not only does he sound like an idiot, he apparently thinks like one too! What a moron! Jawn Welz should rezine!!! (And move to a non-english speaking country!)
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