AS I SPELL

Closely related to the previous entries.  My work with younger students has helped me experiment quite a lot.  University students are at a more mature age, already used to acquiring information through lectures.  With younger students you really have to be creative.  I was used to working with university students and adults, and my approach, at first, left most of my junior and high school students unresponsive.  There was very little communication until I started from the beginning with a number of activities suggested by my colleagues, and quite a few borrowed from the British Council website.  The British Council have resource centres worldwide, where teachers can find plenty of materials on all TEFL related topics.  We live far from Mexico City, where British Council Mexico are located, and I have become a frequent user of their resource website.  Targeted at Mexican learners it has been very helpful. 
With the help of my junior high school students, who are very enthusiastic, I have been able to explore a more creative approach to teaching English.  A good way to bring the group together, to find a common level for all students, and to introduce them to the language is through spelling activities.  English differs from Bulgarian and Spanish, in that, words are not spelled the way they are pronounced.  This is quite daunting for all beginners, both children and adults.  With children you can find creative ways to teach the alphabet, and work on spelling.  With adults you have to find the right balance between just learning to spell and gaining a broader view and understanding of the language. You should introduce them gradually to the alphabet, to spelling (in Bulgarian and other Slavic languages there is no such thing as spelling), to spelling rules, and to phonetic transcription.  With more advanced students, who read and write in English, spelling is already natural. Some things to improve on are easily confused words, and the spelling differences in American and British English. Have a dictionary handy to double-check words. Engage in some dictionary work, ask students to look up words difficult to spell. Relate this to word formation and/or the grammar topic discussed.
Some fun spelling activities:

• Spelling Bee (The classic spelling bee. It is a competition where students are asked to spell English words. A winner is chosen from the group. This works well linked with test revision, or test feedback.)
• Spelling Soup/Alphabet Soup (Sopa de Letras - suggested by colleagues. An activity I learned in Mexico. The group is divided in teams. Each team spells a word with alphabet pasta. Points are awarded for correctly spelled words, only.
• Categories (The group is divided in teams. A category is given, by the teacher. They have a minute to make a word list. The captain of each team, as they brainstorm together, writes down as many vocabulary items as possible related to the category. Only the captain is allowed to write. Points are awarded only for correctly spelled words.)
• Hangman (A marker and whiteboard game. The teacher/a student thinks up a word. The group tries to guess by suggesting letters. A variation is omitting the vowels, and writing down only the consonants of a word and vice versa. The group try and guess the missing letters. Or try this with phonetic script. Click on the word hangman to read more.)

They also work well as ice-breaking and vocabulary building activities.
I hope you've found these ideas on spelling in the TEFL classroom, useful.
Thank you for reading today's entry.

CONFESSION: I have taken a spelling test as part of the Guru.com freelance programme, and I am an average speller. I should do the Guardian crossword more often.