Along the previous week we have been talking about the synthetic phonics method for teaching reading, spelling and writing in the English language. Searching for information on the internet I have become familiar with Debbie Hepplewhite.
This woman is a synthetic phonics expert who thinks that this method is the most effective one for teaching reading and writing. She has spoken in front of teachers and even parents advising them about the method and its benefits. You can find a huge amount of information and videos about her conferences which ended up being so interesting for me.
One thing that kept my attention was the difference between the alphabetic code and the alphabet and the importance of studying both while learning English. This is something I never thought about before. I remember me singing the alphabet song in English when I was a child but that is all. That is the reason why I decided to go deeper in this topic.
According to her, both are really important roles to play with our students. The English language has 26 symbols to write the sounds and these symbols make up the alphabet. However, there are more sounds than letter shapes. Now we are talking about the alphabetic code, in which one sound can be represented by several letters or vice versa, one letter or group of letters can have different pronunciations.
“Beginners need to associate letters with their sounds not their names when learning to read and spell.”
One remarkable thing she tells in one of her speeches made people think about this method and the current necessity of using it. She was in an infant class and her students were learning the “s” sound. Debbie Hepplewhite was giving them examples of the sounds “s” such as snake or soup when suddenly a 4 years-old girl raised up her hand and said: “My name is Alice and I hear the “s” sound in my name but when I write it down , I cannot see the letter s.” It was then when the expert in synthetic phonics, started teaching them that there are other groups of letters that sound equal to the “s” one. This event shows the importance of using resources, the alphabet and the alphabetic code at the same time.
At first sight all that given information may lead us to think only about the advantages and the effectiveness of the synthetic phonics method, but what is your point of view? Do you think that this method is the best one or maybe has some hidden disadvantages?
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Hi Susana!
As you, I didn’t know before about the alphabetic code, because I didn’t know that this code exists and has any difference with the “common” alphabet.
Also, I learnt the alphabet in English singing a song I remember yet today, and I think that was a good way to learn the name of the letters in English, but this is useful only to spell a word, because you didn’t learn all the sounds the letter can have.
One thing also surprised me was the case you told about the 4-years old girl named Alice who said that her name has an ‘s’ but when she wrote it down, she didn’t see it. I think this is one of the advantages of the synthetic phonics method, because you learn the sound of a letter (or a group of letters) instead of learning only the shape of the letter. Also, you start teaching the sound with the shape of this sound (I mean, you start teaching the sound ‘s’ with the shape of an ‘s’, then, you can use other combinations of letters).
Maybe the synthetic phonics method it wasn’t the best one to teach the sounds in English, but, about my experience, it is a great way to introduce children the world of the English sounds. One positive thing is that children like the method, but maybe we have to choose our tools taking into account if they work instead of if children likes it, because it can be fun for children but they didn’t learn anything, and, as you said, this method can have some hidden advantages that we only discover if we work deeply with it.
Good point, Susana. Your post is giving us food for thought, but is wonder what poor Alice will think when she knows how ice, which is in her name, is pronounced… What do you think?
I agree that this moment should be a bit shocked for the little girl. However, I think it was in that moment when Alice was discovering and building her own knowledge. Something changed in her mind suddenly and it would be the perfect moment for the teacher to help her to understand. Moreover it is completly significative for Alice, it is not a part of a list she has to remember, but it is something relevant for her and for the devolopment of her mind and knowledge.