Early Spelling: From Convention to Creativity

by Kress,Gunther

• ISBN13: 9780415180665
• ISBN10: 041518066X
• Format: Nonspecific Binding
• Copyright: 1999-11-11
• Publisher: Routledge

Summary

In his latest book, Gunther Kress explores how children learn to spell in the context of current concerns about early literacy. Using numerous examples of children's writing and drawing, Kress looks at children as 'makers of meaning' and explores their earliest ventures into writing.Kress covers problems such as dyslexia within today's educational system. Technological aids on spelling and writing such as spell-checkers and the effects of the increasing visualization of communication (computer, TV, film) are also discussed.

Author Biography

Gunther Kress is Professor of English/Education at the Institute of Education, University of London

Table of Contents

Preface	ix
Sources and context	xv
List of phonetic symbols used in the book	xviii
Introduction	1	(1)
So what is spelling?	1	(4)
Routes into spelling	5	(3)
Spelling in a changing world	8	(2)
Why, and why now?	10	(17)
The contemporary debate	10	(3)
Education, literacy and the economy	13	(3)
Spelling	16	(9)
Technology and cultural change	25	(2)
A framework for thinking about the issues	27	(53)
What is this thing called language?	27	(25)
Visible language	52	(18)
Standard language, dialects and spelling	70	(1)
A very brief history of the English language: the illogicality of spelling	71	(8)
Language and spelling	79	(1)
The many meanings of spelling	80	(54)
The commonsense, and a different view: spelling as making meaning	80	(21)
`Copying'	101	(25)
Form as meaning; meaning as form	126	(8)
What do children try to spell?	134	(32)
The boundaries of spelling: making a mark to make a meaning	134	(4)
What gets spelled?	138	(10)
The abstractness of children's spelling	148	(18)
The look of spelling	166	(28)
The sound of spelling	194	(35)
The nature of talking	194	(1)
Doing what comes naturally: losing the sounds of speech	195	(2)
Working against nature: using the tools of culture to make meaning	197	(15)
Making sure the sound is beautiful: spelling for aesthetic effect	212	(1)
Spelling to mean	212	(17)
A brief glossary of terms	229	(4)
Bibliography	233	(2)
Index	235