Cacography in teaching orthography: European pedagogy experience

The article examines the history and evolution of cacography in European pedagogy beginning with the emergence of the word cacographie in French in the 17th century to denote incorrect spelling (during the transition from the handwritten manuscript tradition to the typographic one), to the appearance of the derivative meaning in methodology in 1803, and finally to the formation of cacography as a teaching pedagogical tool. The study used critical analytical, descriptive, and comparative methods in conjunction with a literature review. The relevance of the article is determined by the need to understand the reasons for the emergence of this didactic technique, its development over a long period of time as well as by its different assimilation in various countries (the Netherlands, Germany, Russia, Poland, the USA, England). This type of exercise was adopted by German teachers; however, it had given way to dictation by the middle of the 19th century. The reasons for the widespread introduction of the latter were the changes in the political, ideological, and government spheres in Prussia after the revolutionary 1840s in Europe. Cacography received no support in England and the USA. In the 1970s, the use of this additional method of teaching spelling was discussed in Poland, but it did not gain a foothold there either. At present, this method of teaching writing is used in Russia and France. In the latter, special websites were created using cacography, such as Le projet de Voltaire and Orthodidacte. Criticism of the effectiveness of these sites is based on the developers’ insufficient attention to the scientific and theoretical basis. The historiography and critical analytical analysis of cacography presented in the article enable one to treat it objectively and understand the broad socio-political and pedagogical context of its existence.