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WordAloud® - teaching English and literacy worldwide"Tell me and I forget. Teach me and I remember. Involve me and I learn." Benjamin Franklin | ||
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Frequently asked question on phonics
What is phonics? What is phonics?Phonics is a method of teaching how spoken words are composed of sounds called phonemes, and how the letters of words correspond to those phonemes. The process of reading involves 'decoding' words into their sounds, so that meaning can be extracted from the speech made up of these sounds. What is meant by the term 'synthetic' in 'synthetic phonics'?This has nothing to do with being artificial, or being made of plastic! It is to do with putting things together. You synthesise when you blend together the component sounds of a word to produce the sound of the word as a whole. Thus putting the sounds /k/, /a/ and /t/ together produces the sound of the word 'cat'. It is a Eureka moment for a child, when they find they can do this by themselves for a new word - to find out what it means by how it sounds. It opens the whole world of books to them. What is the "whole language" approach?The alternative approach (called the 'whole language', 'whole word' or 'look and say' approach) is to teach the recognition of whole words and associating the pattern of letters and shape of word directly with the meaning of the word. The theory is that, to read rapidly, one needs to have immediate recognition of whole words, and direct access to their meaning. Words that cannot be so recognized may be understood from context, grammar, etc. Why is phonics better?Phonics is better because it teaches how to decode all words, including unfamiliar words. Typical reading matter is composed of a mixture of "content words" conveying the essential meaning, and "function words" which provide a framework or glue. The content words tend to be relatively uncommon words, and phonics gives the reader a method of decoding such words. topWhat about phonemic awareness?Phonemic awareness is awareness of how words are composed of phonemes. It is an essential element of phonics teaching from the beginning. It is often included in the whole language approach, but not as a starting point. See also [10]. What is the difference between synthetic and analytic phonics?Synthetic phonics starts with phonemic awareness and the mapping of phonemes to letters. Then it shows how the sounds of letters can be 'blended' to produce different words. (The word 'synthetic' refers to the synthesis of the sound of a word from its component sounds, i.e. the blending process.) It concentrates initially on a simple mapping, selecting text where words are spelt regularly. On the other hand analytic phonics teaches the sounds of letters in the context of words, considering onset (initial phoneme) and rime (rest of the word). Conventionally, analytic phonics is taught in a mixture with the whole language approach. Thus irregular words are brought in at an early stage for 'sight recognition'. The phonics is used as a clue to guess a word, or to check the initial letter of a word already predicted. The other clues are context and pictures. What is the evidence in support of synthetic phonics?The Clackmannanshire study [6] shows that, after teaching children synthetic phonics "first and fast" when they enter Primary School, the children's reading progresses above average, and by the time they leave school at eleven, their reading age is over three years ahead of their chronological age, i.e. they are three years ahead of their peers. 100% of pupils had achieved a satisfactory reading level by age 11, as compared to around 80% for the national average. topDoes synthetic phonics help with comprehension?Although the Clackmannanshire study shows a remarkable increase in reading age, there is only a small increase in comprehension compared to average. However the study was made with a large proportion of under-privileged children, so having above average comprehension is significant. Note that comprehension is more related to knowledge of vocabulary than ability to read, and vocabulary is in turn related to the family background and conversations at home. Why is speed of learning important?It is important to teach the sounds and letters of the language quickly, so that pupils can learn to read specially-designed text within a few days or weeks. This then gives them the motivation to continue reading, and improve reading skills until they are reading effortlessly and able to enjoy reading to themselves. For the Eureka moment, see quote from [15] at the end of this page. Why is the order of learning important?This is so that the learner is not confused by irregularities of the language and by different approaches to the decoding process. A mixture of methods, as in conventional teaching, doesn't work well, as shown by the Clackmannanshire study. topWhat is the effect on brain development?With "functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging" (fMRI), it is shown that, when dyslexics are taught to read fluently using synthetic phonics, they develop the use of the same pathways in the brain as normal fluent readers. Can synthetic phonics be used at any age, and for reading recovery?Yes. All the evidence suggests that basically the same phonics method can be used for the initial teaching of reading at any age, and for reading recovery at any age. Can synthetic phonics overcome dyslexia?There is no doubt that there is a biological basis to dyslexia, and some culprit genes have been identified. However, with synthetic phonics, it is normally possible to teach even the most dyslexic child to read. Indeed, the symptoms of dyslexia are often aggravated by other teaching methods, particularly the 'whole language' approach. In particular, the teaching of a large number of sight words actually hinders the development of the pathways in the brain that allow rapid decoding. topCan the gender gap be reduced?Yes, by using synthetic phonics. At present, girls forge ahead of boys in reading skills. Indeed, as reported on BBC News [news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/4390682.stm], the gender gap has been widening. However in the Clackmannanshire study the boys were slightly ahead of the girls. Can phonics help for TESOL/TEFL?Yes. Phonics works as well for teaching language as for literacy. And synthetic phonics has the same advantage over analytic phonics as in the teaching of literacy. Since a significant proportion of children in US and UK schools have English as a second language (often around 20%), synthetic phonics can be very helpful. Why hasn't synthetic phonics been adopted?This is because there is a lot of vested interest in the "whole language" approach. People cannot believe that one solution can be the best for everybody, so they advocate a mixed approach. But the mixed approach is failing one in five children. Does the UK government support synthetic phonics?Unfortunately, the UK government put a lot of commitment into their "National Literacy Strategy" which advocates a mixture of approaches, and expects children, in early stages, to learn to recognise lists of common words, many of which are irregular. Learning to read takes several years, whereas with synthetic phonics it can take two terms. However on May 27th, the Evening Standard reported that Ruth Kelly, the education minister, was going to tell teachers to use the synthetic phonics method, after all [11]. And, on June 3rd it was announced that the government were going to review the teaching of reading in schools, particularly looking at the synthetic phonics method [12]. This was because of the success of the Clackmannanshire study [6], reported on by the Commons Select Committee on Education and Skills [7]. The government is determined to deal with the one in five failures of primary school leavers, since the failure rate has not improved over the last five years. Practically everyone can and should learn to read before they leave primary school. The review, headed by Jim Rose, is to produce an interim report in November 2005, with a final report early in 2006. But, since the review was initiated, Ruth Kelly and her department (DfES) have been claiming that the National Literacy Strategy (NLS) already supports synthetic phonics. This claim is extremely misleading, because the NLS advocates a mixed approach which has proved disasterous to the education of 20% of our young adult population. topWhat is the US government view?The National Reading Panel set up to study the teaching of reading concluded that a significant proportion of children had failed to read because they were taught using the 'whole language' approach, see [5]. Adult illiteracy has been about 23%. Nevertheless they advocated a mixed approach, which has the same problem of the UK National Literacy Strategy. Can early synthetic phonics be harmful?Evidence suggests that synthetic phonics should be taught as early as possible, even pre-school, to prevent dyslexia. Teaching in a structured way with synthetic phonics allows teaching with enthusiasm, imagination and creativity to motivate the children. Indeed the greatest motivation is in success. What about the learning environment?The research by psychologists on the learning environment, suggests that the context of learning, and the choice of learning material, is very important in the motivation of pupils. However this factor is almost independent of which phonics method is used, or at what stage. topDon't we need to tailor the teaching to the pupil?There is no need. The synthetic phonics approach is applicable to almost all people, whatever age, ability, disability, advantage or disadvantage. Even deaf people can benefit. Do we need more research?Now that there is evidence that synthetic phonics 'works', it would be useful to understand the cognitive processes involved, in order that the method can be refined. Where do I go for more information?There is more information on this site, see [2], [3] and [4]. For further advice about synthetic phonics, we suggest that you contact the Reading Reform Foundation [13] and read Debbie Hepplewhite's page on the subject [14]. topREFERENCES[1] Phonics FAQ [2] Dyslexia and synthetic phonics [3] Teaching with synthetic phonics [4] Memory and synthetic phonics [5] The US National Reading Panel Also see www.rlac.com/resources/national.php [6] The Clackmannanshire study [7] The Commons Education and Skills Committee "Teaching Children to Read" [8] The National Literacy Trust [9] The Born Yesterday World of the Reading "Experts" [10] Phonemic awareness activities [11] Evening Standard, May 27th 2005 [13] Reading Reform Foundation [15] Louis Menand "A critic at large" - What Dr Seuss really taught us. To quote: I am one of the 3.9 million Americans who were born in 1952, and "The Cat in the Hat" was the book with which I was taught, by my parents, to read. I remember distinctly the first word I read by myself. It was "and," a word William Spaulding's experts thought that a first grader should know by sight. I knew the phonetic value of each letter: "ah," "nn," "duh." What I could not figure out was how you got from those three discrete sounds to the sound-blur "and." I remember the moment the switch was flipped, and "a," "n," "d" turned into "and." I said to myself, "So that's how you do it." It is the moment you awake to the realization that there is a world available through print. A few years later, I was lying in my bed reading the third volume in the Hardy Boys' outstanding series, "The Secret of the Old Mill" (eighty-six on the big list), my heart pounding as Frank and Joe peeked through the floorboards of the old mill and watched the counterfeiters at work inches below them. Before the switch was flipped, the marks on the page had been opaque. Now they were affecting my heart rate. It is fun to have fun, but you have to know how. top | |
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