Scrap spelling as it’s 2 hard, says professor

Scrap spelling as it’s 2 hard, says professor

A TOP academic sparked outrage last night after saying “text and email language” should replace traditional spelling.

SPELLING: Fashionable or traditional?

Professor John Wells wants English to be “freed up” so children can spell “logically”.

They are “held back” by the “burden” of having to spell and punctuate correctly, he argues, and there are “more important things in life” than being able “to sort out their, there and they’re”.

The emeritus professor of phonetics at University College London and president of the Spelling Society also calls the apostrophe “a waste of time” and wants it scrapped.

“Text messaging, email and internet chat rooms are showing us the way forward for English,” he said. “Let’s stop worrying if people sometimes spell ‘you’ as ‘u’, ‘your’ and ‘you’re’ both as ‘ur’, and ‘whose’ and ‘who’s’ both as ‘whos’.

Nowadays we often see ‘light’ written as ‘lite’ and ‘through’ as ‘thru’. Let’s not hold up our hands in horror – people should be able to use whichever spelling they prefer.”

fI ‘ballad’ has double l, why should we not be allowed (if we wish) to spell ‘salad’ with double l too?

But the professor’s views have horrified educationalists. Nick Seaton, chairman of the Campaign for Real Education, said: “I think most people will think this is a ridiculous idea.

“Teachers have managed to teach youngsters how to spell correctly for centuries and there is no reason why this should not continue.

“This is just pandering to popular culture and a fashion that may be gone in a few years’ time.”

Professor Wells infuriated critics with his comments. He said: “Let’s allow English spelling to continue to develop so as better to reflect the times in which we live.

“Let’s rationalise the use of doubled consonants. If ‘ballad’ has double l, why should we not be allowed (if we wish) to spell ‘salad’ with double l too?

“If ‘barrel’ has two rs, why can’t ‘carol’ have them? If ‘poppy’, why not the same in ‘copy’? The teaching of literacy in schools is a major worry.

“It seems highly likely that one reason Britain and other English-speaking countries have problems with literacy is because of our spelling and the burden it places on children. It seems to be a great pity that English-speaking countries are holding back children in this way.

“Other things are neglected in class because so much time is spent on spelling.”

*** SHOULD WE REPLACE TRADITIONAL SPELLING? HAVE YOUR SAY BELOW! ***