Summary:
Going through Charles Read's introduction pages, the author can be seen covering the difference between the ways adults spell words in comparison to that of children, in addition to the contrasts between different mindsets of learning to spell. Below is a summarization of Mr. Read's introduction.
As adults, we do not generally "create" spellings. Either we already know how a word is spelled, form it by putting together familiar parts, or we look it up. Due to the assertion that spelling in the English language is ancient and unreliable, our view of spelling is conventional and we do not regard children's spelling as developing in different steps, instead they simply "learn" to spell through memorization and experience.
In comparison to this backdrop, we have evidence and a line of reasoning that suggests there to be an element of creativity and logical progression in the way a young child spells. When considering how a child spells, they will often use what they are familiar with to spell words, although incorrectly. Due to the way a word may sound when spoken, children will try to link to what they believe is the equivalent of that particular sound when spelling words. In different examples, children often replaced certain letters with incorrect ones, which did indeed sound like they could fit; such as the case of a student who spelled "Santa" as "Satu", after learning that the letter "u" makes an "uh" sound. In light of similar results occurring in other students submitting similar examples, the errors seen in the spelling of children may not be as random as they may appear at first. Instead, the results suggest that children are able to creatively improvise their spelling. Although incorrect in terms of spelling, there is a definite logic at work.
Evaluation:
I chose this article because the title was very intriguing and surely, it was an adventure. After reading this article, I can see that Charles Read seems to be very concerned...