English Spelling: Foreign Language Learners' Chaos

Historically, spelling has been one of the most investigated areas. However, improvement in spelling programs in school doesn?t seem commensurate with research efforts. Fitzsimmons and Loomer (1978). Experience has shown that many of high school and college students get troubled to the correct spelling of English words. My experience in teaching EFL in high schools, colleges, and universities revealed that spelling errors recurred in written communication. Hence, I conducted a research to identify the major problematic areas of preparatory students who attend English as a Foreign Language. The major purpose of the study was investigating students? spelling errors in compositions they produced. To reach this goal instruments such as composition writing; multiple choice test, which contain three misspelled and a correctly spelt word, having 30 questions were designed; and checklist for relative coverage of spelling lessons of grade 12 text book were prepared. The subjects were Yekatit 12 Preparatory School grade 12 students and teachers in Ethiopia who attended and teach English as a Foreign Language respectively.