Summary of the article
The article espouses on the importance of spelling in the comprehension of English as a Second Language. The article reports that spelling affects reading comprehension and effectiveness in the storage and recovery of information. The article also reports that the intent focusing on individual words may cause readers to lose the meaning at the start of the sentence as they get towards the end. This is established from a study carried out on English as second language students to establish whether there is a stronger relationship between specific spelling knowledge to reading performance than general spelling knowledge. In conclusion, the article recommends the integration of spelling instruction with vocabulary acquisition in order to augment reading comprehension (August, 2011).
Personal Reaction
I am astounded by the effect spelling has on the comprehension of a certain text. I found the fact that spelling affects the lexical storage and retrieval of words, something that further affects fluency to be eye opening. As a teacher, I would lay more emphasis on spelling and word formation because evidently, this facilitates learning of the English language whether as a first or a second language. I find this article to be most beneficial to English teachers. Sharing this article with them would help open their mind to accommodate the importance that spelling has on the academic life of a student. I presume they would be impressed as I am by the apt presentation facts backed by evidence.
Connections to the classroom
The expose in this article as evidently established that reading problems are to a large extent caused by spelling. It affects the lexical storage and recovery of words a phenomenon that affects one's fluency during reading a text. The article helps in the diagnosis of the problems that are being tackled in class. It also helps in the treatment of these problems by pointing out their root cause. Borrowing from the presentation, I would in liaison with the students come up with activities that enhance specific and general spelling knowledge. This would aid the learners improve their studies be way of helping them understand and conceptualize information.
Reference
August, G. (2011) Spelling Facilitates Good ESL Reading Comprehension. Journal of
Developmental Education, 35 (1), 14-24.
