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Phonics

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Quite honestly, the question, "Which is a better way to teach children to read: Whole language or phonics?" is quite easily figured out if you understand the basics of the reading process. The reading process IS quite difficult if you consider what has to occur in the brain, but without getting too deep we can break the ability to read into five important components: phonemic awareness, phonics, vocabulary, fluency, and comprehension.

Phonemic awareness can best be described as the ability to manipulate words: breaking them apart and putting them back together. This is an auditory skill, and according to research, is one of the most important predictors for early reading success. An example of phonemic awareness is asking a child to name the first sound in the word cat.(without seeing the letter or word) Phonemic awareness has approximately seven levels of difficulty. Keep in mind that phonemic awareness can be taught explicitly and holds an important place in the elementary classroom. Phonemic awareness leads into and overlaps phonics instruction.

Phonics is based on the alphabetic principle of associating sounds to letters. English is a difficult language, in that there are many different sounds and rules for letters and letter combinations. Research has shown that reading success is best achieved through explicit phonics instruction. This means that instruction should be systematic and each lesson builds on the last. This method will ensure that there are no gaps left in the "reading foundation". Knowledge of phonics gives the reader a method to "attack" an unknown word they have come across. Decodable readers are an important part of the beginning reading process.

Vocabulary instruction is another important component of reading. Vocabulary acquisition starts at birth and continues throughout life. Obviously, text is made up of words, and the more words a child understands, the better chance they will have at comprehending what they read. Understanding root words, prefixes, suffixes, antonyms, and synonyms will also greatly enhance reading comprehension. Sight words can also be worked on during vocabulary instruction.

The easiest way to understand and remember what fluency means is to think of the word, "APE". It stands for: accuracy, pace, and expression. The end result of reading is ALWAYS comprehension and if a reader reads fluently, there is a very good chance that comprehension will be high. Fluent readers have the right combination of word attack skills and sight word recognition to read smoothly and accurately.

As stated earlier, comprehension is the reason why we READ! A reader comprehends a text when they are able to retell what they have read, and are able to make connections between what they have read to past experiences, other books, other people, and world events etc.

As you can see, learning to read is a very complex process that happens over a long period of time. In addition to the five areas mentioned above, elementary school children need to have plenty of opportunities to hear what "good reading" sounds like. Read alouds(an accomplished reader reading to children) are perfect for this. Read alouds can highlight beautiful children's literature that will help teach author's purpose for writing, vocabulary, and comprehension skills.

I believe that phonics instruction holds a very important part in the process of learning to read. It gives the reader a "tool" to attack unknown words. Is the tool always 100% accurate? Absolutely not, but when beginning readers are given decodable text, the "tool" is almost perfect. As the reader becomes more accomplished, the text becomes more difficult....and the reading process has begun!

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