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For the first time in its
79 year long history, the National
Spelling Bee will be broadcast in prime time on ABC (June 1st, 8-10 p.m. EDT).
After popular movies like Spellbound, Bee Season and
Akeelah and the Bee, and the successful Broadway musical
The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, this is just another indication that
Spelling Bees are "hot."
This
popularity is in stark contrast to both public opinion and public
education, as both frequently portray spelling education as
old-fashioned and unnecessary.
"I had several school administrators tell me that spelling
education was outdated, because students were using Microsoft
Word for their writing assignments," says Rosevita Warda,
founder and president of an innovative non-profit website dedicated to
spelling and vocabulary tutoring,
www.eSpindle.org.
When
education policy abandoned rote, authoritarian teaching
styles, memory based learning tasks (like learning how to spell)
were rejected as rigid and unnecessary.
Sadly, the current
emphasis on creative learning has created the impression that
simple memory tasks, like spelling, are no longer important.
Researchers and employers disagree. "Reading and writing are
interactive and complementary processes; in the real world, they
function together. Both readers and writers must know word
meanings and spelling," writes K. Bromley in the 2002
publication Stretching Students' Vocabulary.
While many teachers, parents and students disregard spelling
tasks as annoying and somewhat "dorky," there are
grave real world consequences to this opinion.
Not being able to write correctly and confidently is a big
handicap in the real world.
In a report called "Reality Check" Public Agenda and
Education Week asked parents, college professors, and employers
[in the U.S.] to rate the skills of high school graduates. Asked
if these young people had the skills to succeed in the working
world, 66 percent of parents said yes, but only half as many
employers agreed.
Similarly, 61 percent of parents said high
school graduates had the skills to succeed in college, versus
just 46 percent of professors.
Not surprisingly, employers and professors were
most concerned about basic verbal skills!
Surveys
comparing trends in how resumes are evaluated by Fortune 500
companies show that in recent years more emphasis was placed on
grammar and spelling.
In fact, when choosing a candidate, spelling skills had a larger impact
than their grade average or
previous work experience.
An
alarming 76% of all high school graduates are not able to write
correctly. (For a more extensive listing of
literacy facts, click here)
Partly in response to this writing crisis, the SAT now includes
a hand-written essay.
Solid
spelling knowledge is used as an indicator of a superior
education and intelligence, while those without such skills are
stigmatized.
Many
studies have documented the link between a broad vocabulary and
professional, financial, even interpersonal success. However,
literacy skills have been continuously declining, and the
literacy gap in the nation is widening.
"Literacy can be thought of as a currency in our society,"
states the National Assessment of Adult Literacy.
Americans
with low language skills are more likely to be unemployed, live in
poverty, or become incarcerated.
They are much less likely to vote or become actively involved in
their communities.
They often have difficulty organizing and
expressing complex thoughts, and lose their voice in society.
According to estimates, 13% of the English language is irregular in
nature (for fun facts regarding our language's irregularities,
click here).
In addition, science has clearly shown that we don't
learn spelling via rules but through Mental Orthographic Images
(MOI)--the brain's way of determining what "looks right." Please
refer to eSpindle's
white
paper on Research Based Tutoring of English Spelling
for more research details.
It is commonly
agreed that
spelling word
lists are boring, ineffective, time-intensive, painstaking and
burdensome.
"This by itself does not mean that memorizing words
and their spelling convention through practice can be
abandoned," says Warda, who founded eSpindle Learning in early
2004. "It simply means that we need to advance to a smarter,
more focused way of getting the necessary results."
Nearly
5% of the National Spelling Bee contestants have used eSpindle's
efficient and effective concept to prepare for the event, which
is extraordinary considering that this brand-new learning tool
has only been live on the web for eight months now.
eSpindle Learning also maintains a lively Spelling Bee forum,
that allows members to meet online, share tips and form
friendships.
About
eSpindle Learning:
www.eSpindle.org, a 501(c)3 non-profit organization, has
created the largest, most versatile English vocabulary and
spelling tutoring program available today, earning the Parents'
Choice Award in spring of 2006.
Being
web-based allows members to benefit from a 100,000 word
database, complete with audio, definitions and sample sentences.
eSpindle, which would require 18 installation CDs to load on a
computer, was described as "a spelling universe" by the Parents'
Choice Foundation.
"As a parent and as someone who had to learn English as a foreign
language, I set out to create a program that would effectively
teach the writing, sound and meaning of words in easy,
personalized sessions," says Warda. "I wanted it to be
comprehensive so it could guide students through their entire
learning career, and to be useful for learners of all ages and
skill levels."
True to its non-profit mission, every new membership is matched
by eSpindle Learning with a scholarship for a disadvantaged
student. eSpindle Learning also actively solicits partnerships
with schools, non-profits and corporate partners to further
education.
With more
questions, please contact Rosevita Warda, 866.377.4635, ext. 3,
rose@eSpindle.org. |
