76 per cent of spelling errors are attributed to the chaotic condition of English spelling's failure to represent speech¶

Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study · associational r1 · q2
Currency · newest study 1911 · not yet checked against its sources · not reviewed by a person

Subclaims¶

q2 i? The article reports 76 per cent of spelling errors were clearly due to the chaotic condition of a language in which correct spelling fails to represent correct speech. → Foster 1911

Evidence¶

Foster 1911¶

Foster, W. T. (1911). The Spelling of College Students. The Journal of Educational Psychology. https://doi.org/10.1037/h0070538

q2 · i? · associational · r1

Author's summary classification of the 10,000-theme Bowdoin error data (the page prints the figure with a typographic artifact; the intended value is 76 per cent). The author concludes most difficulties of grown-up spellers would disappear with conservative simplification.

"the highly significant fact that 7G per cent, of the errors in spelling were clearly due to the chaotic condition of a language in which correct spelling fails to represent correct speech."

Discussion¶

Related Claims¶

• Carelessness accounts for 23 per cent of spelling errors in college students' written themes — related
• Silent-letter omission and insertion errors together comprise 55 per cent of real spelling errors — related
• Over 25 per cent of college students cannot spell common words, and 50 per cent fail on words such as accommodate and rhythm — related