New teachers are often told that phonics is not for English Language Learners. "That's only for native speakers," we're told. I disagree, and I'm not alone. There is serious research that suggests the benefits of phonics for teaching pronunciation to students. I'm not going to go into the research here. In this first post, I want to go over some general thoughts that I think teachers might take into account when working with their students.
First, phonics is useful for students who know how to read as well as those who don't. For those who do not know how to read, phonics will help them do precisely that! It is a tool to teach reading. In the process, they learn pronunciation. For those students who are already literate, phonics will help them identify sounds and patterns more readily as they navigate texts.
Second,for literate students, teaching them the basic IPA phonology is super helpful. When they can identify a spelling pattern with a sound pattern, that is going to make a big difference. I have created cards for my students that they can use as they read and practice pronouncing words.
Take a look at the card I made for "Long A".
I think it is important for students to make these associations in their mind. English pronunciation is not easy for many students. If they can come to associate certain sounds with spelling patters, this will aid in their ability to become independent learners.
Third, it is good to teach students the mechanics of vowel pronunciation. For example, it can be helpful for students to know that the long A sound (/ei/) is produced near the front of the mouth while the mouth is in a more closed position. This vowel is a closed, middle vowel and is close to the long and short i sounds. Again, the importance of this kind of information is to give students tools that will give them confidence as self-learners.
Fourth, students need to learn the rules for syllabification. There are nine fundamental rules for syllabification in English. The importance of these rules is to help students identify short and long sounds. In turn, this will give the student confidence when he or she encounters a new word that they have never seen or heard before. Providing that word does not derive from a foreign language, the student should have little trouble in identifying the correct sounds.
This leads me to my fifth and final reflection. Contrary to popular belief, English is a very stable and predictable language. Often teachers are unaware of the consistency of English orthography. They confuse the graphic and the phonological systems, believing them to be one and the same, while in reality, they are separate systems. The oral system of pronunciation is primary while the written system came into use as literacy among English speakers developed. The spoken system is given to change and adaptation while the written system tends to be more fixed, frozen in time. As educators, we need to educate ourselves in the nature of English orthography. Once we have a grasp on how the language works, we will no longer repeat tired clichés about how English is such a mess or how the spelling system doesn't make any sense. Not only is this not true but it does a terrible disservice to our students.
It is on these topics that I plan to write in this blog. I hope that the resources here will be of service to educators and students of the English language everywhere.
