As a TESOL minor, I have learned to better understand and appreciate both foreign languages and the various dialects of English. However, it was not until recently that I was able to recognize a common phonetic misconception held by many of my students. Several of my students have submitted assignments with words such as drew, dry, drank, and drop spelled with a “g” instead of a “d”. I had previously assumed that this misspelling was the result of a careless error, but when I started to recognize a pattern I decided to investigate further.
Today during our science lab (weighing apples after they had been left out over the weekend to dehydrate), I asked the students to describe the physical state of the apples. Many of the students described the apples as “dry”. I observed several students spell this word while writing their observations in their science journals. After nearly all of the students spelled the word “gry”, I asked what they had spelled. They students responded with the word “dry”. However, after listening more carefully, I realized that their pronunciation of dr-words is more of a “g” sound. Their spelling now made sense, as the sound they hear is more closely correlated with the letter “g”.
I wonder what you can do to investigate this more systematically. Is there some way that you can create a scaffolded pattern of words to help students with their spelling and pronunciation?
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