Spelling- Does it really matter?
Does spelling matter? After all, detractors say that the need to be proficient at spelling has become altogether outmoded - now that we have spell checks and digital tools to do the work for us. Don’t we use abbreviations and texting shorthand all the time?
In support of this argument, people may point to a paragraph that you may have seen floating around in the internet or circulating on email, in which every word has been misspelt. Yet miraculously, the eye reads, and the brain understands the meaning of the text without any difficulty. This is because the human brain is smart at recognizing patterns and filling in gaps or correcting errors. So, according to that claim, only the first and last letters need be in place for a reader to derive the meaning of a word. Does it mean that the letters in between don’t matter?
It might be so if we are reading fast for the gist of a message. But spelling does matter because any lapse in spelling accuracy in formal communication and important documents could lead to misunderstandings and ambiguities.
And these lapses can result in grave consequences. Indeed, boys and girls, gone are the days of Mr Will Shakespeare, when words could be spelt anyhow, or at least with lots of variations, because most people in those days didn’t read, and very few people wrote!
Read more here
In support of this argument, people may point to a paragraph that you may have seen floating around in the internet or circulating on email, in which every word has been misspelt. Yet miraculously, the eye reads, and the brain understands the meaning of the text without any difficulty. This is because the human brain is smart at recognizing patterns and filling in gaps or correcting errors. So, according to that claim, only the first and last letters need be in place for a reader to derive the meaning of a word. Does it mean that the letters in between don’t matter?
It might be so if we are reading fast for the gist of a message. But spelling does matter because any lapse in spelling accuracy in formal communication and important documents could lead to misunderstandings and ambiguities.
And these lapses can result in grave consequences. Indeed, boys and girls, gone are the days of Mr Will Shakespeare, when words could be spelt anyhow, or at least with lots of variations, because most people in those days didn’t read, and very few people wrote!
Read more here
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