- Phonemic Awareness Phonemic awareness is one of the areas in which school districts must document student growth in order to qualify for Title I monies. Phonemic awareness is defined as a student’s awareness “that speech is composed of identifiable units, such as spoken words, syllable, and sounds (International Reading Association & National Association for the Education of Young Children, 1998, p. 4). It should not be confused with phonics, which is the understanding of letter–sound relationships. Phonemic awareness has seven dimensions: (1) ability to hear syllables within words, (2) ability to hear initial sounds of words, (3) ability to hear rhyming words, (4) ability to distinguish oddity, (5) ability to orally blend words, (6) ability to orally segment words, and (7) ability to manipulate sounds orally to create new words.
It is important that teachers who work with English learners understand that their students’ native languages may not have all the phonemes of English and these language may have phonemes that are not found in English. It is prudent for teachers to be familiar with phonemes that are unique to English so they can understand why some English learners struggle with some English words.
One of the best ways to have children become aware of the sounds within words is through language play. Listening to the sounds of words in nursery rhymes, poems, songs, jingles, and stories, as well as manipulating sounds, helps children become aware of sounds and syllables within words.
Much controversy surrounds phonemic awareness. Proponents believe that it is a necessary skill in order for students to become successful readers and writers. Those who oppose intense instruction of phonemic awareness contend that it is a confusing concept. For young children, listening to individual sounds within words is impossible because such sounds are inextricably combined.
A number of ways exist to assess phonemic awareness, and a number of different interventions can increase a student’s awareness of the sounds within words. A teacher should assess students who seem to be struggling with phonemic awareness and decide what each student needs in order to become proficient in literacy.
- Phonics Most researchers and educators agree that phonics should be taught; the debate arises in how it should be taught. Some believe it should be taught as a separate subject, while others believe it should be taught in the context of reading and writing authentic passages. Since it should be taught, teachers need to learn as much about phonics as possible in order to meet the needs of young readers and in order to document student growth in this area of literacy. Teachers also need to understand strategies to teach phonics to English learners. Phonics relates to understanding the relationship between graphemes (letters) and phonemes (sound). If the English language had one sound for every letter of the alphabet, learning phonics would be easy. However, all the vowels and many consonants have more than one sound, and many phonemes can be represented in a number of ways (e.g., the long /a/ can be written ey as in they, ay as in say, or ei as in eight). Diphthongs, blends, and diagraphs also make learning English complicated.
In addition to the graphophonic language system, the syntax system is used during reading and writing events. For example, a reader uses the syntax system to pronounce wind correctly in a sentence. Readers and writers also need to understand that words have more than one meaning (the semantic system). Consider the meaning of yard in these two sentences: I need a yard of ribbon to make this bow. I enjoy sitting in my back yard.
It is important that teachers understand phonics and word patterns so that they can help young students understand how the English language works. It is not prudent to ask students to memorize phonics rules with all the exceptions. Instead, it is more beneficial for teachers to engage students in the study of word patterns as they encounter words in reading and writing.
Four key principles underlie most phonics instruction:
(1) phonics instruction should be based on what students know;
(2) phonics instruction should be systematic, explicit, and extensive;
(3) phonics instruction should include appropriate text; and
(4) phonics instruction should occur in meaningful context.
These four principles should guide teachers as they provide instruction.
- Phonemic Awareness Inventory Pair up and administer to one another the phonemic awareness inventory found in Appendix C. Discuss any difficulties you have while taking the inventory.
- Ch. 4 & 5 PPTs