In this article, we explore some teaching strategies that can be used to promote an interest in words and their spelling. Familiarity with words to the point of writing them down and exploring their uses requires…

Most English words have a variety of related forms. Nouns have number (singular and plural) and occasionally gender (masculine and feminine) forms. The building blocks for English words are root words and affixes…

The list of words we use is our active vocabulary, whereas the words we know but do not employ are our passive vocabulary. An important part of teaching and learning is to encourage students to increase their active vocabulary…

Silent letters in English words present English-language learners with a perplexing and often frustrating challenge. In this article we examine the range of occurrence of silent letters in English and look at some strategies for teaching/learning…

Individual students vary greatly in regard to ease with which they learn to spell. In the context of learning to write, some students indeed move by leaps, but others find that their confidence in writing is severely constricted by…

Spelling has been a challenge for young learners ever since the loss of the regularity of Old English spelling following the Norman invasion of England. Since that time, the English language has also been invaded by words from…

The arrival at the current English alphabet and its written form was a slow process. Often, the sounds associated with particular letters have changed. One method of scoping the English system of letters and sounds is…

English, having grown from very humble beginnings, is now widely regarded as the first ‘world language’, witnessed by its use in commercial activities, international organisations and the internet. The greatest challenge to learners is its spelling…