The English Spelling Society is an international organisation, based in the United Kingdom. It was founded in 1908[1] as the Simplified Spelling Society. It primarily aims to raise awareness of problems caused by English spelling's irregularity and to improve literacy and reduce learning costs, including through the use of spelling reform.[2] The Society publishes leaflets, newsletters, journals, books, and bulletins. Its spokespeople feature regularly on TV, radio, and in print.

Structure

The Society is based in the United Kingdom, but has a worldwide membership, including Ireland, the United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.[3] It is governed by a committee elected at its Annual General Meeting. The Society maintains links with the American Literacy Council, which has similar objectives.[4]

Aims

The English Spelling Society primarily aims to make known the problems caused by English spelling's irregularity in an effort to improve literacy and reduce learning costs, including through the use of spelling reform. It also wishes to raise awareness of the alphabetic principle and its "corruption during the long history of written English" and to prepare a graded set of proposals for a more regular English orthography.[5]

The Society believes that both recent research and the continuing governmental concern about literacy rates in the English-speaking world strengthen its position. In particular, it points to evidence that Anglophone children have a harder time learning to read and write than do Italian children.[6][7] It also quotes evidence that dyslexia is less of a problem in Italy and linguistically similar countries which have more phonemic writing systems than English.[8] Finally, it points to a recent study[9] by the KPMG Foundation that estimates the total costs to the public purse till age 37 arising from failure to read in the primary school years at £1.73 billion to £2.05 billion a year.

Specific reform systems

As of September 2021, the Society has not endorsed any specific alternative English spelling system.[3] However, through its "Personal View" series,[10] it provides a forum for authors of alternative systems to publish their work and submit them to peer review. The forum includes resources for Simple-Fonetik and SoundSpel, among others.[11] Its listed proposals vary in their recommendations from regularising only a few words to making English almost completely phonemically written.

In the November 1983 edition of the Society's newsletter, it printed a five-part reform proposal called "Stage 1". One of these was Harry Lindgren's SR1 proposal.[12] In April 1984, SR1 was adopted as the Society's house style at its yearly meeting.[12] The Society said that the newsletter's proposed reforms could be used either together or individually (as a step-by-step change).[13]

In April 2021, Stephen Linstead's Traditional Spelling Revised (TSR) was approved by the International English Spelling Congress[14][15][16] as the best alternative to English Orthography. The Society, sponsor of the Congress, is affording TSR a degree of support and publicity.

Spelling bee protests

Protesters from the Society have regularly taken good-humoured action against orthodox English spelling and its promotion (e.g. by demonstrating, most conspicuously in the form of 'BeeMan,' at the annual Scripps National Spelling Bee in Washington, D.C.).[17]

Books

  • Jolly Dictionary - Sue Lloyd and Sara Wernham
  • Future of Fonics - Isobel Raven
  • Spelling for the 21st century - Sanford S. Silverman
  • Spelling Dearest (The Down and Dirty, Nitty-Gritty History of English Spelling) - Niall McLeod Waldman
  • The Book of Spells & Misspells - Valerie Yule
  • Lets End Our Literacy Crisis - Bob C. Cleckler

See also

References

  1. ↑ The Cambridge Encyclopedia of The English Language. Ed. David Crystal. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1995. p. 277. ISBN 0521401798
  2. ↑ The English Spelling Society. "Our Aims." http://spellingsociety.org/our-aims, accessed 20 Sep 2021.
  3. 1 2 N. Paterson. The English Spelling Society, http://spellingsociety.org/about-us, accessed 20 Sep 2021.
  4. ↑ American Literacy Council
  5. ↑ N. Paterson. "Our Aims." The English Spelling Society, http://spellingsociety.org/our-aims, accessed 20 Sep 2021.
  6. ↑ "How do children learn to read? Is English more difficult than other languages"? Seymour, Philip H K (2001) presented at the British Festival of Science, Glasgow, Sep. British Journal of Psychology 2003.
  7. ↑ G. Thorstad. "The effect of orthography on the acquisition of literacy skills". British Journal of Psychology (1991), 82, 527-537, https://web.archive.org/web/20071012040116/http://www.spellingsociety.org/journals/books/thorstad.pdf
  8. ↑ Eraldo Paulesu; et al. (2001-03-16). "Dyslexia: Cultural Diversity and Biological Unity". Science. 291 (5511): 2165–2167. Bibcode:2001Sci...291.2165P. doi:10.1126/science.1057179. PMID 11251124. S2CID 20362533.
  9. ↑ KPMG Foundation: "The long term costs of literacy difficulties" December 2006
  10. ↑ "Personal Views".
  11. ↑ Spelling Society : West African & Britic Archived 2008-05-11 at the Wayback Machine
  12. 1 2 "The Society's 1984 Proposals" Archived 2011-07-22 at the Wayback Machine. Journal of the Simplified Spelling Society (February 1988).
  13. ↑ "Tough Though Thought - and we call it correct spelling!" Archived 2011-04-16 at the Wayback Machine. Simplified Spelling Society (1984).
  14. ↑ "International English Spelling Congress | the English Spelling Society".
  15. ↑ http://spellingsociety.org/press-releases_p26
    Press release 2021-04-12
    Revised Spelling System Approved
  16. ↑ http://spellingsociety.org/uploaded_iesc/report-of-voting-misc.pdf
    CLOSE OF VOTING: 12 NOON (UK TIME) ON 1 APRIL 2021
  17. ↑ The English Spelling Society. "Bee Man demonstrates at Grand Hyatt". https://archive.today/20150126011142/http://spellingsociety.co.uk/news/media2006/spellingbee2006.php, accessed 20 Sep 2021.
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