TheEnglish Spelling Society is an international organisation, based in theUnited Kingdom. It was founded in 1908[1] as theSimplified Spelling Society. It primarily aims to raise awareness of problems caused byEnglish spelling's irregularity and to improveliteracy and reduce learning costs, including through the use ofspelling reform.[2] The Society publishes leaflets, newsletters, journals, books, and bulletins. Its spokespeople feature regularly on TV, radio, and in print.
The Society is based in theUnited Kingdom, but has a worldwide membership, includingIreland, the United States,Canada,Australia andNew Zealand.[3] It is governed by a committee elected at its Annual General Meeting. The Society maintains links with theAmerican Literacy Council, which has similar objectives.[4]
The English Spelling Society primarily aims to make known the problems caused byEnglish spelling's irregularity in an effort to improveliteracy and reduce learning costs, including through the use ofspelling reform. It also wishes to raise awareness of thealphabetic principle and its "corruption during the long history of written English" and to prepare a graded set of proposals for a moreregular English orthography.[5]
The Society believes that both recent research and the continuing governmental concern about literacy rates in theEnglish-speaking world strengthen its position. In particular, it points to evidence thatAnglophone children have a harder time learning toread andwrite than doItalian children.[6][7] It also quotes evidence thatdyslexia is less of a problem in Italy andlinguistically similar countries which have morephonemic writing systems than English.[8] Finally, it points to a recent study[9] by the KPMG Foundation that estimates the total costs to thepublic purse till age 37 arising from failure to read in the primary school years at£1.73 billion to £2.05 billion a year.
As of September 2021, the Society has not endorsed any specific alternative English spelling system.[3] However, through its "Personal View" series,[10] it provides a forum for authors of alternative systems to publish their work and submit them to peer review. The forum includes resources forSimple-Fonetik andSoundSpel, among others.[11] Its listed proposals vary in their recommendations from regularising only a few words to making English almost completelyphonemically written.
In the November 1983 edition of the Society'snewsletter, it printed a five-part reform proposal called "Stage 1". One of these wasHarry Lindgren'sSR1 proposal.[12] In April 1984, SR1 was adopted as the Society'shouse style at itsyearly meeting.[12] The Society said that the newsletter's proposed reforms could be used either together or individually (as astep-by-step change).[13]
In April 2021, Stephen Linstead'sTraditional Spelling Revised (TSR) was approved by the International English Spelling Congress[14][15][16] as the best alternative toEnglish Orthography. The Society, sponsor of the Congress, is affording TSR a degree of support and publicity.
Protesters from the Society have regularly taken good-humoured action againstorthodox English spelling and its promotion (e.g. by demonstrating, most conspicuously in the form of 'BeeMan,' at the annualScripps National Spelling Bee inWashington, D.C.).[17]
The Society has had 8 presidents to date since its creation in 1908. With the exception of the politicianSir James Pitman, all of the presidents have been academics.[18]
| Years active | Length of presidency (years) | President | Background |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1908–1911 | 3 | Walter William Skeat | Philology |
| 1911–1946 | 35 | Gilbert Murray | Classics |
| 1946–1968 | 22 | Daniel Jones | Phonetics |
| 1968–1972 | 4 | Sir James Pitman | Pedagogy (not academic) |
| 1972–1987 | 15 | John Downing | Educational psychology |
| 1988–2003 | 15 | Donald Scragg | Anglo-Saxon studies |
| 2003–2013 | 10 | John C. Wells | Phonetics |
| 2013–present | 11 (as of 2024) | Anatoly Liberman | Germanic philology |