Awesome Mess or Good Compromise? Spelling, Linguistics, and Middle Schoolers

The stereotypical view of English spelling as an awesome mess is no longer widely held by linguists. That view assumes that spelling should represent pronunciation directly and simply. Instead, spelling is currently understood as representing a more abstract level of language as well as reflecting etymology. Examples from a middle school spelling textbook illustrate such linguistic phenomena as vowel reduction, vowel shortening, and consonant and vowel spellings in borrowed words. Middle school students themselves show awareness of these principles.