Phonics, Phonological Awareness, and the Alphabet - School Specialty

[Pages:4]E D U CATO R S P U B L I S H I N G S E RVI C E

Phonics,PhonologicalAwareness, andtheAlphabet

byFrancineR.Johnston,UniversityofNorthCarolinaat Greensboro

GoodNews Considerthelistoffactorsbelowthatarerelatedtolearningtoread.Selectthetwothatyouthinkareprobably themostpowerfulpredictors,theonesthataremosthighlycorrelatedwithsuccessinearlyreading:

?Phonemicsegmentation ?Letternaming(knowledgeofthealphabet) ?orPaelalbanogduyaPgiectaunrdeIVQoc)abulary(ameasureof ?soFcaiotheecro'snoocmcuicpasttiaotunsa)lstatus(ameasureof

?Parentsreadingtochildren ?Sex ?Age ?Parentsreadintheirsparetime ?Preschoolattendance

Ifyouarelikemanyteachersyoumayhaveincluded asoneorbothofyourtoptwo,whetherornotthe parentshaveexposedthechildrentobooksbyreading aloudinthehome,orwhethertheparentsmodelaninterest inliteracybyreadingintheirsparetime.Weknowthat theseenvironmentalfactorsplayanimportantroleinearly reading.However,accordingtoalongitudinalstudyby Shareetal.(1984),thesefactors,selectedfromalongerlist, areinrankorder.Thismeansthatthemostpowerfulfactors aretheabilitytoisolateorsegmenttheindividualphonemes orsoundsinawordandknowingthealphabet.

Theimportanceofthefirsttwofactorsshouldnotdevalue experiencessuchasreadingaloudtochildren.However, lookatthefactorsonthislistandaskyourselfwhichones teacherscandoanythingabout.Aseducatorsthisshould comeasverygoodnews!Wecannotchangeafamily's economicstatusasmeasuredbythefather'soccupation.We wouldhavelimitedsuccessconvincingparentstoreadmore intheirsparetimeoreventoreadtotheirchildrenmore. Butteacherscancertainlydosomethingaboutthetoptwo. (Ofcoursewecanandshouldreadtochildrenagreatdeal inpreschoolandprimaryclassroomstomakeupforany lackofbooksinthehome.)

Whymightphonemicsegmentationandalphabet knowledgebemorepowerfulpredictorsthanotherfactors? Let'sconsiderthisscenario.Akindergartenteacherhas taughtherstudents,whoarenotyettruereaders,to memorizethewordstoashortjingle:Sam,Samthebaker

man/washedhisfaceinafryingpan.Thetwolinesare writtenonachartandthechildrenareaskedtocome forwardandpointtothewordsastheyreciteitfrom memory.Ifachildhassomeawarenessoforallanguage, heorshemightsegmentthefirstlineintofourrhythmic units:Sam/Sam/thebaker/man.Orachildmightsegment itintosixsyllabicunits:Sam/Sam/the/ba/ker/man.Since thelinehasfivewords,achildwillgetofftrackwitheither oneofthesestrategieswhenattemptingtomatchspoken unitstothewordsonthepage.Butifthechildhasalphabet knowledgeandtheabilitytosegmentatleastaninitial phoneme,thenheorshemayrealizethatwhensayingthe wordman,oneshouldhaveafingeronthegroupofletters thathasanminitandwhensayingbaker,theletterb shouldbetouched.Thisabilitytotrackalineofprintusing atleastpartialalphabeticcluesandtoself-correctwhenoff trackisknownasaconceptofword(Morris,1981,2003). Aconceptofwordenablesachildtoactuallyfindthewords onthepage,certainlyanindisputableskillifoneistolean toread.Withoutaconceptofwordnoamountofbook exposureorinterestinreadingororallanguageabilitywill helpachildidentifythewordsoutoftheseaoflettersona pageofprint.

TheAlphabet Itshouldcomeasnosurprisethatknowingthegraphic symbolsofthealphabetiscriticaltolearningtoread,and thisknowledgehasbeenlongidentifiedasthemosthighly correlatedfactorinnumerousstudies(seereviewsinChall, 1967,Adams,1990,Snow,Burns&Griffin,1998,NRP



Phonics,PhonologicalAwareness,andtheAlphabet?1

2000).Readingis,afterall,theprocessoftranslatingvisual symbolsontheprintedpageintomeaningfullanguage. Manychildrenlearntheirlettersbeforetheycometo kindergartenthroughplayfulinteractionswithpuzzles, magneticletters,videos,bingogames,software,television programs,etc.Theylearnthemfromsiblings,fromparents, andfromchildcareproviders.Ittakesseveralyearsformost childrentolearntorecitethelettersinordertorecognize andnamethedifferentformsofletters(uppercaseand lowercase),andtowritethelettersforthemselves.Lucky childrenfromliteracyrichhomeshaveboththetimeand adultattentionthatittakestomasterthealphabetpriorto kindergarten.

Ifchildrencometokindergartennotknowingmostoftheir letters,thenteachersneedtoplanintensiveinstructionin theearlypartoftheschoolyear.Childrenwithoutalphabet knowledgeintoday'skindergartensmaybeatriskinthe currentenvironmentofhighexpectations.Twentyyearsago childrenwereexpectedtolearntoreadinfirstgrade.Now childrenarebeingretainedinkindergarteniftheyarenot abletoreadatproscribedlevels.A"letteraweek"willnot cutit--27weeksismorethantwothirdsintotheschool year.

Whatshouldinstructioninalphabetlooklike?Alongwith systematiccoverageoftheletters,teachersshouldbesure thatstudentsareshownwhyletterknowledgeisimportant. Activitiessuchas"nameoftheday"(Cunningham,1995) andinteractivewriting(Button,Johnson&Furgeson, 1996)notonlyshowstudentshowlettersareusedtorecord importantinformationbutteachavarietyofconcepts relatedtoprint.Askingstudentstowrite,spellingasbest theycan,tolabeldrawings,andtomakejournalentriesis anotherimpetusforlearningletters.Childrencantakepart insharedreading(Holdaway,1979)eveniftheiralphabet knowledgeislimited.Indeed,sharedreading,inwhich childrenusetheirmemoryandknowledgeoflanguageto supporttheirinitialattemptstoread,isonemorewayto demonstratethevalueoflearningthoseletters.Teachers shoulddirectchildren'sattentiontolettersoncharts,in bigbooks,inlittlebooks,onposters,onT-shirts,and everywhereprintoccurs.Childrenaremostlikelytomaster lettersquicklywhentheyareseeingthemandusingthemall daylongforavarietyofpurposes.

Alphabetknowledgeincludesnotonlyvisualrecognition butknowledgeoftheletternames,andletternamesgive

childreninsightintothesoundstheyrepresent(Adams, 1990,Bearetal,2004).TheletternameforBis"bee" anditstartswith/b/.TheletternameforMis"em"and itendswith/m/.Therearesomelettersthatoffernoclue suchasHorWandsomeofferlessusefulcluessuchas thesoftsoundsofCandGbutifstudentsareexposedto alphabetbooksandactivitiesthatpairlettersandsounds thentheywillbegintouseletternamesasacluetosound correspondences.

PhonologicalAwareness Phonologicalawarenessreferstotheabilitytoconsciously attendtosoundsegmentsofourspokenlanguage:to syllables,onsets,andrimes,andtothesmallestunits knownasphonemes.Phonemetasksinvolvesegmenting soundsinwords(cat=/c/a/t/)aswellasblendingsounds, deletingsounds,andsubstitutingsounds.Instudyafter study,variousmeasuresofphonologicalawarenesshave consistentlybeenhighlycorrelatedwithsuccessinbeginning reading(Juel1983,Adams1990,NRP2000,etc.).For example,Maclean,Bradley,andBryant(1987)foundthat childrenwhoknewnurseryrhymesandwereabletoidentify rhymingwordsweremoresuccessfulatlearningtoreadthan childrenwithoutthiskindofknowledge.Curiously,therole ofphonologicalawarenessreceivedwidespreadattention inonlythelastfifteenyearsorso.Priortothat,reading teacherstalkedofauditorydiscriminationasafactor.but wenowunderstandthatmuchmoreisinvolvedthanis suggestedbythatterm.Itshouldcomeasnosurprise thereforethatparentsandevenmanyteachersarenotfully awareoftherolethatitplaysandareoftenconfusedabout howitdiffersfromphonics.

Phonologicalawarenessisnotsomethingparentsunderstand wellenoughtodirectlyteachtheirchildrenbeforeschool becauseitisanoralskillandmuchmoreabstractthan theveryconcreteandwell-definedtaskofnamingor writingletters.Still,parentswhosharealphabetbooks, readrhymingbooks,suchasthosebyDr.Suess,andhelp theirchildrenmemorizesongsandjinglesarehelpingtheir childrendevelopsomeaspectsofphonologicalawareness indirectly.Itisarareparentwhomodelsphoneme segmentationorblending,sochildrenaremuchmorelikely toenterkindergartenwithlimitedphonologicalawareness thanwithlimitedalphabetknowledge.

Fortunatelyresearchshowsthatmostchildrencanbe taughtphonologicalawarenessasameanstoenhance

2?Phonics,PhonologicalAwareness,andtheAlphabet



earlyreadingachievement(i.e.,Bradley&Bryant,1983: Ball&Blachman,1988).Suchinstructionneednottake alotoftime(NRP,2000),butsomeinstructionaltimeis critical.Teachersinkindergartenandfirstgradeshouldplan activitiesthataddressphonologicalawarenessandmany resourcesareavailableincludinggamesandsoftware.While childrenarelearningaboutlettersintheactivitieslisted earlier,theycanalsolearnaboutsounds.Nurseryrhymes areanaturalresourcefornotonlylisteningpleasureand memorizingbutalsosharedreading.Duringinteractive writingteachersmodelwritinglettersandsegmentingwords intosounds.Itturnsoutthatphonologicalawareness, althoughitneednotinvolveprintsinceitisanoral languageskill,ismostreadilylearnedinconnectionwith print(BradleyandBryant1983).Aschildrenareaskedto matchthesoundstheycanheartotheletterstheyknow, phonologicalawarenessandalphabetknowledgearecoming togetherandthisiswhatweknowasphonics.

Phonics Phonicsknowledgedependsuponthosetwoimportant factorsnotedearlier.Nophonicsprogramwillbesuccessful unlesschildrenhavealphabetknowledgeandsomedegreeof phonologicalawareness.Itseemsnecessarytosaysomething aboutwhatphonicsisnotbeforewetalkaboutwhatitis. Phonicsisnotamethodforteachingchildrentoread.Itis atool,aknowledgesetthatenableschildrentounderstand thealphabeticnatureofourwritingsystemandassuch itfacilitatesyoungreaders'effortstobothreadandspell. Allreputablereadingprogramsincludesomeattentionto phonicsandthishasbeenthecaseformanyyears,especially sincethepublicationofJeanChall'sbook,LearningtoRead: TheGreatDebatein1967.Herfindingshelpedputanend topurely"look-say"programs.However,inallthoseyears nophonics-basedreadingprogramhassurfacedthatmakes learningtoreadespeciallyeasy.Phonicsisnoquickfixas someproponentswouldhaveusbelieve.Literature-based programshavebeencriticizedforthelackofsystematic instructionbutevenphonics-intensiveprogramsthatteach isolatedsoundsandhowtoblendthemtogetherbefore childrenreadevenonewordofcarefullyconstructed decodabletexthavenotbeendramaticallymoreeffective whencarefullyresearched.Nobestmethodofteaching phonicshaseverbeenestablishedeventhoughresearch doesconsistentlyshowthatstudentswhohavephonics knowledgegetofftoabetterstartinreading(Stahl,DuffyHester,&Stahl,1998).

Whyistherenotamoredramaticdifference?Thatmay bebecausechildrenlearnphonicsinatleasttwodifferent ways.Tobeginwith,childrenteachthemselvesphonics whentheyinducelettersoundrelationshipsintheprocess ofreading(Thompson,1999).Theyconstructtheirown understandingofthephonicsystemastheymatchtheir orallanguagetoprint(Stahl,Duffey-Hester&Stahl, 1998).Initiallythisprintmayhavebeenmemorized infamiliarpredictablebooksorfromchartssuchasour exampleofSam,Sam.Studentswithalphabetknowledge andphonemicawarenesshaveadistinctadvantageinsuch self-teachingsincetheyaremorelikelytonoticehowthe soundstheysaymatchtothelettersonthepage.Because somechildrenarecapableofteachingthemselvesphonics weshouldneverwithholdengagingwholetextatthesame timeweareinstitutingasystematicphonicsprogram.To dosolimitsthephonicsknowledgemanychildrenare capableoflearningforthemselves.Childreninliteraturebasedprogramsthatde-emphasizethesystematicteaching ofphonicsmustrelyonself-teachingtolearnphonics. Thechildrenwhobecomeskilledreadersinduceitfor themselvesthroughlotsofreadingpracticejustaschildren musthavedoneduringthe"look-say"eraofDickandJane. Unfortunatelywecannotbesurethatallchildrenareable todothiseffectivelyenoughtomakethekindofprogress neededforsuccessinschool.

Childrenalsolearnphonicsfromtheinstructionprovided byteachers.Suchinstructionmightbesystematicanddirect oritmightbeincidentalandrandombutitdoesinvolve providingchildrenwithinformationabouthowletters matchtophonemes.Undoubtedlymostchildrenlearn phonicsthroughacombinationofinductionandinstruction butsincephonicsisnecessarytobecomeaskilledreaderit onlymakesgoodsensetoaddressitearlyandindepth.

Giventheimportanceofphonics,theissueofhowtoteach phonicsiscritical.Sincenoparticularprogramhasbeen showntobemoreeffectivethanothers/theanswerdoesnot lieinpromotinganyparticularapproach.Insteadthereare generalprincipalsthatmustbeheeded.

1.Phonicsinstructionshouldbeearly,systematic,and explicit(NRP2000,Stahl,Duffy-Hester&Stahl,1998)). Thisdoesnotmeanthatitmustbeskillanddrillwith endlessworksheetstocomplete,butitdoesmeanthat teachersshouldhaveagoodunderstandingofthephonics featuresappropriateforthelevelandneedsofstudents.



Phonics,PhonologicalAwareness,andtheAlphabet?3

Instructionshouldbefastpacedandcarefullyplanned,not simplylefttochanceoraddressedonlyintheimmediate contextofsomethingchildrenmaybereading.

2.Phonicsisonlyonepartofatotalreadingprogram andmustnotsupplanttheopportunityforchildrentodo lotsofreadinginengagingtext(NRP2000,Stahl,1992). Lotsofreadingoffersstudentstheopportunitytoapply phonicunderstandingstheyhavebeentaughtand,asnoted above,offersstudentstheopportunitytoinducephonic relationships.Atthesametimestudentswillreaptheother benefitsassociatedwithengagedreadingsuchasvocabulary growthandthedevelopmentofcomprehensionskills.

3.Phonicsshouldhelpstudentsdevelopautomaticword recognitionsothatthefocusofreadinginstructionis uponcomprehension(Stahl1992).Theabilitytorecite rulesorsoundoutwordsisnotthegoalofphonics instruction.Instead,readersneedtobeabletorecognize wordseffortlesslyandautomatically(Adams,1990). Notalleffectivephonicsprogramswillrequirestudents tosoundoutwordsasameasureofsuccessfullearning. Analyticapproachestophonicsbeginwithwordsstudents canalreadyread.Thesewordsarethenanalyzedand

comparedtootherwordsinanefforttodiscoverphonic generalizationsandspellingpatterns(i.e.,Bearetal,2004).

4.Agoodphonicsprogramshouldincludeopportunities forstudentstowrite,spellingasbesttheycan(Stahl,1992). Ironicallyproponentsofphonicsaresometimesopposedto allowingstudentstoinventspellings.However,therecan hardlybeamoremeaningfulexerciseofphonicsknowledge thanintheactofwriting.Thisisparticularlytruein kindergartenandfirstgradewherechildrenarelearning themostbasicletter-soundrelationshipsandpatterns.Ina studyoffirstgradersClarke(1989)foundthatchildrenwho wereencouragedtoinventspellingsratherthantowaitto begivencorrectspellingsduringwritingtime,didbetteron readingandspellingmeasuresattheendoftheyear.

Phonologicalawarenessandalphabetknowledgeunderpin anyphonicsinstruction.Theyneednotprecedeinstruction inletter-soundrelationshipsbutshouldberegardedaskey piecesintheliteracypuzzle.Phonicsunderstandingsmay developaschildrenlearntoreadbutshouldnotbeleftto chance.Aneffectiveearlyliteracyprogrammustattend toallthreeoftheseaspectstoassurethatallchildrenare successfulatlearningtoread.

References

Adams,M.J.(1990).Beginningtoread.Cambridge,MA:Harvard UniversityPress.

Ball,E.W.,andBlachman,B.A.(1983)Phonemesegmentationtraining: Effectsonreadingreadiness.AnnalsofDyslexia,38,208-225.

Bear,D.,Invernizzi,M.,Templeton,S.,andJohnston,F.(2004). WordsTheirWay:WordStudyforPhonics,Vocabulary,andSpelling Instruction,3rdEdition,Columbus,OH:Pearson/MerrillPrenticeHall.

Bradley,L&Bryant,P.(1983).Categorizingsoundsandlearningto read:Acausalconnection.Nature,301,419-421.

Button,K,&Johnson,M.J.&Furgeson,P.(1996)Interactivewriting inaprimaryclassroom.TheReadingTeacher,49.446-454.

Chall,J.S.(1967)Learningtoread:Thegreatdebate.NewYork: McGrawHill.

Cunningham,P(1995).Phonicstheyuse:Wordsforreadingand writing.Boston:Allyn&Bacon.

Holdaway,D.(1979).Thefoundationsofliteracy.NY:AshtonEd.

Juel,C.(1983)Learningtoreadandwrite:Alongitudinalstudyoffiftyfourchildrenfromfirstthroughfourthgrade.JournalofEducational Psychology,80,437-447.

Maclean,M,Bryant,P&Bradley,L(1987).Rhymes,nurseryrhymes, andreadinginearlychildhood.Merrill-PalmerQuarterly,33,255-281.

Morris,D(1981).Conceptofword:Adevelopmentalphenomenonin thebeginningreadingandwritingprocess.LanguageArts,58,659-668.

Morris,D.,Bloodgood,J.W.,Lomax,R.G.,&Perney,J.(2003). Developmentalstepsinlearningtoread:Alongitudinalstudyin kindergartenandfirstgrade.ReadingResearchQuarterly,38,302-328.

NationalReadingPanel(2000).Teachingchildrentoread:Anevidencebasedassessmentofthescientificresearchliteratureonreadingand itsimplicationforreadinginstruction.Washington,D.C.:National InstituteofChildHealthandHumanDevelopment.

Share,D.L.,Jorm,A.F.,Maclean,R,&Matthews,R.(1984).Sources ofindividualdifferencesinreadingacquisition.JournalofEducational Psychology,76,1309-1324.

Snow,C.E.,Burns,M.S.&Griffin,P.(Eds.),(1998).Preventingreading difficultiesinyoungchildren.Washington,DC:NationalAcademyPress.

Stahl,S.A.(1992).Sayingthe"P"word:Nineexemplaryguidelinesfor exemplaryphonicsinstruction.TheReadingTeacher,45.618-625.

Stahl,S.A.Duffy-HesterA.M.&Stahl,K.A.D.(1998)Everything youwantedtoknowaboutphonics(butwereafraidtoask).Reading ResearchQuarterly,33,338-335.

Thompson,G.B.(1999)Theprocessoflearningtoidentifywords inLearningtoRead:Beyondphonicsandwholelanguage.G.B. ThompsonandT.Nicholson(Eds.)NY:TeachersCollegePress.

4?Phonics,PhonologicalAwareness,andtheAlphabet

ThisarticleoriginallyappearedintheApril2004issueofEPSUpdate,theelectronic newsletterfromEducatorsPublishingService.Formoreinformation,visit orcall1.800.225.5750.

?2004EducatorsPublishingService,adivisionofDeltaEducation,LLC.Permissionis grantedtoreproducethisarticle.



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