Spalding Method, the methodology and educational philosophy of The Writing Road to Reading, was created by Romalda B. Spalding. It is an integrated language approach teaching spelling, reading and writing. According to Spalding Education International (2014), the Spalding Method is a total language arts approach providing explicit, sequential, interactive, and multisensory instruction in phonics, handwriting, spelling, writing, and reading comprehension. Spalding (1990) proposed that the core of the method is teaching the saying with the writing of the sounds used in spoken English so children can learn to combine these sounds into words they know. Also, meaning is well taught with the writing by using new words in the sentences.
2.2.1 Definition of the Spalding Method
In the late 1930s, Romalda B. Spalding worked with an eminent neurologist and brain specialist, Dr. Samuel Orton and devised the Spalding Method to develop children’s literacy skills. Spalding (1990) pointed out that all children deserved the most effective teaching of the basic skills of writing and reading that could be devised. Without these skills, the development of the mind, mental self-discipline and self-education, and a real appreciation of cultural heritage were not possible. Moreover, she believed that the alphabetic code by which English speech sounds were represented in writing must be grasped (Spalding, 1990); hence, she published The Writing Road to Reading in 1956, dealing with the rationales, debates and
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research into communication, education, learning, child development and cognitive skills. The Writing Road to Reading guides teachers and parents through the Spalding Method, a research-based, total language arts approach that provides multisensory instruction in spelling, writing, and reading comprehension in order to help develop critical thinking skills children need for language learning. Furthermore, Romalda B. Spalding established the Spalding Education Foundation (now Spalding Education International) in 1986, a non-profit organization designed to assure consistency of the instruction of the Spalding Method by organizing courses for teachers and contracting with schools, districts, and universities. On the other hand, it is a program to educate teachers as well as parents through the principles and teach strategies responsible for the effectiveness of the Spalding Method.
Norsworthy (1999) indicated that the Spalding Method emphasized on building early spelling and handwriting skills. It was a truly integrated language arts program that provided students with a total package for a complete acquisition of English. According to Madison Elementary School District (2014), the Spalding Method incorporated four fundamental elements as follows:
1. Spelling: Learners built a basic speaking and reading vocabulary while learning to understand the articulation rules and concepts of the written language;
2. Writing: Writing reinforced word meanings, applied knowledge of the rules of English and enhanced learners’ critical thinking and reading proficiency;
3. Comprehension: Learners analyzed characteristics that made a piece of writing exemplary and understood that an author wrote for different purposes, fostering a love of reading;
4. Philosophy: The Spalding Method had high expectations of learners, promoting skills such as analysis, synthesis, and evaluation, which enabled learners to think on a higher level.
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In addition, the Spalding Method integrates essential research-based components, including the educational philosophy, and methodology consisting of time-tested principles of learning and instruction. This approach aims to develop students’ spelling, writing and reading proficiency. Besides, due to the integration of scientifically-based content and methodology, the contribution of the Spalding Method had positive effect on diverse students, such as those who are learning English as a second language or with learning disabilities. It is used with great effectiveness in Australia, Canada, Central America, Europe, Singapore, Taiwan and the United States (Spalding Education International, 2014).
According to Spalding (1990, p. 24), the teaching of phonics, the analysis of the sounds, and the composition of words towards the Spalding Method properly belonged in teaching of written spelling. Children learn a foundational set of sounds (phonograms) and commonly combine them in words. That is, they learn the articulatory principles to combine phonograms in spelling, using Spalding's specially constructed list of words to compile by frequency.
Moreover, English has 70 common phonograms (26 letters and 44 fixed combinations of two, three and four letters). The learning of the spelling words by writing them from dictation connects the written symbols to their spoken sounds. Spalding (1990, p. 27) also pointed out that,
“Each student hears himself say each sound while he uses his mind in saying it and in directing his hand to write it. He sees what he has written as he then reads it. No other way can fix sooner or more securely in his memory the words he can write and read at a glance, thus building his sight vocabulary.”
Furthermore, Norsworthy (1999) observed that the Spalding Method imparted the knowledge and principles of how our written language worked as early and efficiently as possible, so that students could move on freely in other areas of literacy.
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2.2.2 Principles of the Spalding Method
According to Spalding (2005), the instructional design of the Spalding Method is based upon widely accepted principles in the following eight domains, including phonemic awareness, feature recognition, letter recognition, sound-symbol relationships (phonograms), spatial placement, vocabulary (lexical process), sentence structure (syntactic process), and text comprehension (semantic process).
(1) Phonemic Awareness
Phonemic awareness is the ability to focus on and manipulate individual sounds (phonemes) in spoken words. It is essential to learn and read in an alphabetic writing system, because letters represent sounds or phonemes (Griffin & Olson, 1992). A phoneme is the smallest unit of sound in a language that holds meaning, combining to form syllables and words. For example, the word hat has three phonemes: /h/, /æ /, and /t/. There are 44 phonemes in the English language which consist of vowel and consonant sounds. Acquiring phonemic awareness is important because it is the foundation for spelling and words recognition skills. Phonemic awareness refers to the ability of sounds’ recognition, segmentation and blending which can be represented by letters (Ashmore, Farrier, Paulson, &
Chu, 2002). It is very likely to develop as a consequence of learning phonics, reading and writing. Furthermore, phonemic awareness includes more complex tasks which are the abilities of segmentation, blending, deletion and phonemic segmentation insertion (Yopp, 1992). It also represents the abilities of hearing and manipulating the individual sounds in spoken words (Chard & Dickson, 1999). Hence, successful learning in phonics deeply involves with the phonemic awareness ability. In 2000, the National Reading Panel identified phonemic awareness as a key area of literacy instruction (National Institute of Child Health
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and Human Development, 2000). Moreover, children who have phonemic awareness are able to segment a word into phonemes in order to write and blend phonemes then to read a word.
With the knowledge of letter-sound relationships, children can come up with an approximate spelling of a word or an approximate pronunciation, which must be checked with context and meaning cues in order to make sense of what is being read (Chapman, 2003).
According to Spalding (2005), learners are explicitly taught phoneme manipulation tasks such as blending, isolating, segmenting phonemes and identifying beginning, medial, ending sounds, as well as substituting phonemes in spoken words. Besides, they are also taught the symbols that represent the speech sounds. With strong phonemic awareness, learners can easily show the ability to hear rhyme, blend and segment phonemes and find the different sounds in a set of words.
(2) Feature Recognition
Feature recognition refers to the ability to distinguish vertical, diagonal and horizontal lines, and curves. Spalding (1990) stated that many teachers and parents fail to realize the importance of teaching the correct formation of the letters from the very start of teaching the written language. Thus, students need to be familiar with the distinctive features of each letter so that they can fluently recognize the written letters.
In the Spalding Method, the instructor uses a legible clockface and six basic strokes to help students learn the handwriting. There are six features to write the 26 manuscript letters that are made of the clock face, or parts of it, and straight lines (see Figure 2.1).
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Figure 2.1 Clock Face and Six Basic Strokes
(3) Letter Recognition
Letter recognition is one of the foundation skills for reading. Children become more literate by being surrounded with print and observing people interact with print in a social context (Carr & Dodd, 2003). In order to recognize the abstract form of a letter, children acquire to analyze and translate the features of the printed letters. The process of reading involves relating pronunciation and meaning to printed symbols, and of combing meaning of groups of words into a thought (Glunt, 2000). Knowledge of letters as well as phonological awareness must be introduced. Therefore, building an understanding of phonemes is essential to learning how to read an alphabetic language (Atterman, 1997). However, some letters are harder for students to learn than others, which make themselves to ambiguous interpretations such as d-p-b-q, s-z, and m-n (Laurita, 1988).
Thus, in the Spalding Method, explicit and clear handwriting instruction in combining features into manuscript letters is followed by practicing forming lower-case letters in daily written phonogram reviews. Teachers should spend more time helping students analyze the individual feature of letters.
(4) Sound-Symbol Relationships (Phonograms)
Knowledge of letter-to-sound associations allows learners to not only decode printed
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words, but also construct the spellings of words in their spoken vocabulary. Some existing research has pointed to several factors that may influence learners’ ability to connect letters and phonemes, including the characteristic of the letter’s name, the existence of alternative mappings, and the properties of the phoneme itself (Francis, Mouzaki, Tincoff, Treiman, &
Rodriguez, 1998). Certainly, the phonogram approach is not a complete reading or spelling program, or even a complete phonics program; besides, it’s a definite help in decoding (Fry, 1998). When coupled with adequate letter-sound instruction, phonological awareness training leads to improve word decoding (Guillot, Lee, Schuele, & Spencer, 2008). Also, letter-sound recall may be measured by asking learners to say the sound this letter makes, indicating a written letter. It requires learners to discriminate a letter form visually, recognize it, retrieve the sound of the letter, and articulate that sound (Carr & Dodd, 2003).
According to Spalding (2005), teachers model, then coach children to simultaneously say and write the 70 common sound-symbol relationships. From the beginning, teachers provide daily oral and written phonogram practice until automaticity is achieved.
(5) Spatial Placement
The process of spatial placement enables learners to recognize or anticipate where particular letters are likely to be located (Franham-Diggory, 1992). The knowledge enhances learners’ ability to spell and read. According to Spalding (2005), learners are taught to expect certain letters and letter combinations to occur or not occur in specific places. For example, they are taught that the letter y most frequently shows up at the ends of words; the letter ai, oi, and ui do not occur at the end of English wards.
(6) Vocabulary (Lexical Process)
The lexical process enables the reader or listener to access those meanings, including both understanding of vocabulary and the morphology of language (Farnham-Diggory, 1992).
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Hence, morphology instruction plays an essential role by providing learners with all ability levels and enhances access to word reading as well as word meaning. Morphological skill has been found to be a good predictor of vocabulary knowledge, even after phonological processing and word reading skills are statistically controlled (McBride-Chang, Wagner, Muse, Chow, & Shu, 2005). Moreover, learners who are able to decompose words into their constituent parts and use morphological relatedness among words have been projected to learn approximately two to three more new words per day than if they cannot engage in any morphological problem solving (Anglin, 1993). Kieffer and Lesaux (2008) also asserted that if English learners in the intermediate elementary grades “lack the awareness of derivational morphology that their native English speaking peers have acquired through greater exposure to English oral and written language, this may be a source of reading difficulty (Kieffer &
Lesaux, 2008, p. 787).” In addition, word production is influenced by word frequency and neighborhood density as well. Also, high-frequency words are produced more easily than low-frequency words (Mainela-Arnold, Evans, & Coady, 2010).
According to Spalding (2005), high frequency words are the fountain for vocabulary instruction. Students should learn the meanings of these words as well as word parts in order to extend through use of quality literature in the daily reading lessons and extensive independent reading.
(7) Sentence Structure (Syntactic Process)
Syntax refers to the aspect of language which forms the bridge between the intentions and meaning the learner wishes to express and how, through the speech signal, these intentions and meanings are realized (Menyuk, 1976). In order to understand a piece of text, McBain (2011) stated learners need to have a basic understanding of the meaning of the words in the syntax and context which it is being read. That is, phonetic awareness is a basic
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skill to decode texts. Learners have to deal with what is quite often a whole new set of circumstances relating to syntax, grammar and contextual analysis that they may not have encountered before or may be unfamiliar with (McBain, 2011).
In the Spalding Method, students learn how the English language works by the instruction and rules for spelling, syllable division, pronunciation and grammar. It enables students to connect writing (spelling) with speech sounds (pronunciation) accurately and fluently (Norsworthy, 1999).
(8) Text Comprehension (Semantic Process)
According to Horiba (2013), in order to acquire successful comprehension of a text, readers should not only recognize words, analyze sentences to extract propositions, but also encode textual information, together with inferences generated from relevant general knowledge. He also indicated that text comprehension draws on many different language skills (Horiba, 2013). These include word reading skills, language skills (grammar, semantics and pragmatics), working memory, background knowledge, inferential processing and comprehension monitoring (Cain & Oakhill, 2006). The integration of text input with relevant background knowledge has the potential to facilitate reading comprehension (Burgoyne, Whiteley, & Hutchinson, 2013).
According to Spalding (2005), learners are explicitly taught five cognitive strategies (mental actions) in order to understand the meaning of the text they read. She mentioned that text comprehension included
“monitoring comprehension and the identification of unfamiliar words, phrases, or sentences;
making connections both written the text and with prior knowledge while reading; making predictions based upon prior knowledge and details already gathered from text; reformatting of text details to categorize information; and summarizing information to confirm stated or derive implied main ideas.
(Spalding, 2005, p. 7)”
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2.2.3 Effectiveness of the Spalding Method
In current study, the study aimed to investigate whether the Spalding Method of Phonics could improve the spelling proficiency and learning motivation of second grade elementary school students. According to Spalding (1990), the Spalding Method consisted of three components of instruction, including spelling, writing, and reading. Therefore, the researcher explored the effectiveness of spelling, writing and reading proficiency for enhancing learning achievement on critical early literacy skills.
(1) Effectiveness of Spelling Proficiency
Spelling is an integral part of reading, writing, listening and speaking. Learners acquire the skill as they use language for real purpose. Namely, spelling is an important component because it teaches the students how to read. Estes, Hendersor and Stonecash (1972) pointed out that misspellings reflected knowledge of word form. Baluch and Danaye-Tousi (2006) also indicated that pronouncing a word according to its spelling was the most effective strategy for learning to correct spelling. The following are the developmental process of spelling knowledge in understanding the relationship between letters and sounds (Gentry
&Gillet, 1993; Medrano & Zych, 1998; Hill, 1999).
1. Pre-phonetic Spelling (Age Two to Three)
Children use written language such as pictures, numbers and other symbols to represent letters as they explore the relationships between written and spoken words.
2. Semi-phonetic Spelling (Age Four)
Children have basic understanding of sound-symbol relationships and begin to write formed letters of alphabet and string and realize letters correspond to sounds, presented by the initial sound or a final sound. However, they cannot always match correct sounds to letters.
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3. Phonetic Spelling (Age Five)
Children develop spelling consciousness so that they can copy spellings from environmental prints and dictionaries. They are able to write words using an almost perfect match of letters and sounds. Also, particular spelling of sounds can occur in a self-formulated style of spelling.
4. Transitional Stage (Age Six to Seven)
Children begin to use a range of visual strategies such as common letter patterns and internalize the spelling pattern by rote recall. Besides, they use the spelling instruction to combine with purposeful writing and promote their spelling accuracy.
5. Independent Spelling (Age eight to up)
Children become more proficient in using both visual and auditory strategy approach, for instance, common letter patterns, phonics, and words learned by sight. Besides, they rely more on visual cues to decide whether the word looks right or there are other spelling alternative.
According to Spalding (2005), the spelling components of the Spalding Method include three sections: phonograms, vocabulary, and spelling/language rules. Phonograms are the written form of the sounds used in the English language. In English, there are 26 letters of the alphabet, but there are 70 phonograms that represent 45 English sounds. Students learn these sounds by looking at flash cards which show the phonogram and repeat the sound back and write it. Moreover, vocabulary will be taught by writing the Ayers list (the thousand most frequently used words) into a spelling notebook. Students will also learn 29 language rules that are simple and easy to comprehend. These rules serve as a foundation for writing. That is, the students say the sounds of words before, while, and after they write words on paper in order to internalize the high frequency words and skills to sound out unknown words
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(Farnham-Diggory, 1990). As a consequence, the systematic and explicit Spalding Method of Phonics instruction can significantly improve students’ word recognition, spelling, and reading comprehension.
(2) Effectiveness of Writing Proficiency
Handwriting is not an isolated activity; instead, it is a complex perceptual-motor skill with regard to the maturation of cognitive and motor skills. Norsworthy (1999) indicated that students learn to write using one set of symbols in order to read and spell by using a different set of symbols. Namely, manuscript writing is taught first as it most closely represents the print in a book rather than an isolated part of the language arts. Besides, students who learn to write are also learning to spell and read. Since the letter recognition is one of the most critical skills for early readers' success, having difficulty with the handwriting can cause a damaging impact on early reading achievement (Kuhl & Dewitz, 1994).
According to Dobbie and Askov (1995), handwriting is the individual expression of a learner’s developing reading-writing skills. Berninger et al. (2006) also found that handwriting is not a purely motor or visual activity. It is not merely language by hand, sharing common processes with other kinds of language (listening, speaking and reading), but also some distinct processes that are unique to writing. Hence, mastering handwriting is very significant for students, as it places the earliest constraints on writing development. If students fail to form letters with a minimum of speed and legibility, they cannot translate their ideas into written texts (Bara & Morin, 2013).
The Spalding Method stresses the handwriting teaching so students can see letters formed correctly from the beginning. Besides, this method builds the strong sensory link between the voice and the hand. According to Norsworthy (1999, p. 22), the sequence of hearing and seeing, saying and writing the phonograms is the procedure by which students are
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directly taught sound/symbol relationships and the sequential combining of sounds to make words. During handwriting instruction, students can practice with the high-frequency words.
The goal enables students to work their way up from composing sentences and paragraphs so
The goal enables students to work their way up from composing sentences and paragraphs so