Reading/Spelling - do you visualise?

[PenElse]

I'm doing a little bit of research, and would really appreciate any responses on the following (for you, and your child if possible)

POLL: Can you mentally picture a word like 'cabbage' or 'bike' (for small kids) clearly enough to spell it backwards? Are you a good speller?

1. Yes - I'm a good speller
2. Yes - I'm a poor speller
3. No - I'm a good speller
4. No - I'm a poor speller

Are you and your child the same? Different?

Thank you!

Pen

"I write spellings down to check them visually "

Me too. I find it difficult to spell words verbally. Is this because I can't visualise the words, I wonder?

I don't find it that hard to imagine how to spell a word I've never seen, there are plenty of rules you can follow to get you there.
So you’re not visualising the word you’re using your knowledge of how our writing system to work out how to spell it (which is what we do in Phonics).

No. It's kind of hard to explain. The using rules bit happens subconsciously I suppose, so that the word appears in my mind. Sorry, I don't think I'm explaining it very well! But that's the best I can do.

To be honest, I've never really thought about it till this thread!

So you’re not visualising the word you’re using your knowledge of how our writing system to work out how to spell it (which is what we do in Phonics).

Thinking about it more, I suppose actually that what you said above is true. It's just that the working out how to spell it is almost instantaneous, and not a process that I'm aware of, resulting in the visualisation of the word.

3 for me.

I don't mentally visualise the word, I think I process words audibly? Sometimes I'll "vocalise" silent characters in my head, for example, and the only words I have regular problems spelling are where ie/ei is ambiguous and a couple of words which have a schwa sound in the middle, but not all (I can never remember if it's devestated or devastated for example) - and some which have multiple groups of doubled/not doubled consonants, e.g. parallel and YY to Mediterranean.

I agree sometimes I have to write it and see if it looks wrong.

Mostly I'm good at spelling without even thinking about it. Spelling backwards though - or doing that spelling bee thing that they do in the US - no, I would be utterly terrible at that.

“It's just that the working out how to spell it is almost instantaneous, and not a process that I'm aware of” as competent readers and writers it is automatic and unconscious. The experts refer to it as achieving automaticity

I will ask DS when he gets home what he does. He can spell in two languages so I'll ask if it's different for each.

Yes, I'm using my knowledge of how similar sounding words are spelled ( ie phonics) to visualise how I think a word I haven't seen before should be written. But it's not a conscious thought - it's almost instantaneous. If you made up a name which I have never seen before eg Jendrew Larkinson, I would be able to tell you instantly that ( the way I imagine it) Jendrew has 7 letters in and within a second or so that Larkinson ( again the way I imagine it, not necessarily correct) has 9. Without counting out letters or writing it down. I have an image in my head of the words broken down into Jen Drew and Lark In Son which makes it very easy to count the letters.
I often find spoken foreign names more difficult to remember than English sounding ones which I think is because it's often harder to visualise how they are spelled.