How can phonics address the four basic skills of language ie, listening, speaking, reading, writing at the primary stage of schooling

PHONICS?refers to a method for teaching English?to the first generation learners to read and write the language which is a second language to them. Phonics involves teaching how to connect the sounds of?spoken English?with certain alphabets or groups of alphabets (e.g., the sound?/k/?can be represented by?c,?k,?ck,?ch, or?q?spellings). It also teaches them to combine the sounds of different alphabets together to produce new sounds and new words.

Phonics is a widely used method of teaching to read, pronounce and decode words. Children begin learning to read using phonics usually around the age of 5, ie during the primary stages. Teaching English?reading?using phonics requires students to learn the connections between the alphabet patterns and the sounds they represent. Most importantly, it is required that the teacher provides phonics instruction in a proper manner, with the phonic rules, sounds and how to pronounce.

Today Phonics teaching for the first generation learners or for learners who learns English as a second language require capacity building through proper training as the teachers themselves are teaching English as a second language.

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Phonics address four skills of learning English as a second language: listening, speaking, reading, writing

LISTENING :

The method to be involved in improving listening skills in Phonics could be done through systematic explicit phonics instruction with specific emphasis on the specific sounds that some alphabets or groups of alphabets represent. It could be done with some materials like phonics activities, audiotapes, white boards and markers, and word walls. This could be done by the instruction the teacher provides through telling the specific sounds that the group of letters could make and the children hear them and try to repeat them after the teacher. Similarly more new combination of letters could be tried by the groups of children to produce different sounds through blending and mixing of alphabets. Oral activities for the purpose of hearing discrete sounds in words would be a great help to enable listening skills.

Sample activities

·???????Alphabet book for each child for identification of letters by name, sound, word

·???????Letter and blend books

·???????Short vowels (a, e, i, o, u )

·???????Consonants

·???????Final e (a_e, e_e, i_e, o_e, u_e -- CVCe pattern)

·???????Consonant blends (e.g., br, cr, dr, fr, fl, gl, sl)

·???????Long vowel digraphs (ai, ay, ea, ee, oa)

·???????Digraphs (e.g., sh, ch, th, wh)

·???????Diphthongs (oi, oy, ow, ou)

·???????Phonograms, word families or spelling patterns (e.g., ack, ake, ill, ame, ip, or, ug, ump)

·???????Vowels followed by r

·???????Identify parts that look the same and sound the same

·???????Structural analysis - plurals, contractions, homophones, compound words, verb endings (ed, ing), prefixes, suffixes

·???????Word building activities

·???????Pocket chart and letter cards to build words, word cards to build sentences

·???????Word wall activities

·???????Word solving strategies

READING?

In order to enhance reading skills to build fluency, model oral reading by reading aloud (fluent reader such as the teacher) should be emphasised. Provide oral support for reading through the use of choral reading, paired reading, the use of text on tape, shared reading, echo and buddy reading. Provide many practice opportunities through repeated reading, poetry reading, radio reading, and reader’s theatre. Other activities may be used that focus on fluency, phrased text lessons, and Quick Reads. Integrate oral reading into content areas.

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Sample activities:

• Reread familiar stories working on phrasing and making it sound like talking
• Use of Phonics Songs & Rhymes Flip Charts and audio tapes
• Choral Reading
• Tape-assisted reading
• Reader’s Theatre
• Reinforcement of reading

SPEAKING

This can be done through enhancement of vocabulary, ie knowledge of more words that could be used in a specific context-eg synonyms, antonyms, homophones, suffixes, pre-fixes etc. This could be done through connecting explicit vocabulary instruction with strategic reading instruction. Focus should be on vocabulary meaning within context. Increase vocabulary knowledge through such activities as small group exercises in cards, graphic organizers, word sorts, word walls, wide reading, and structural analysis of words, story impressions, and teacher read alouds.

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Sample activities:

• Use oral explanations, pictures, objects or videotapes to introduce vocabulary
• Semantic maps or webs to make relationships with known and new vocabulary
• Teach root words, prefixes and suffixes
• Choose read alouds that introduce children to rich language and vocabulary
• Introduce words in related pairs
• Specific teaching of content-related vocabulary
• Word study of spelling patterned words, multiple-meaning words, specific concept words
• Use of Background Building Audio Tapes prior to reading (Core Reading Program)
• Tested Vocabulary Charts (Core Reading Program)

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WRITING

In order to develop writing skills among the learners, it is important that they comprehend first before expressing anything in writing. It is important to increase comprehension by teaching children how to successfully employ the following

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Sample activities:

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·???????Make connections (text-to-self, text-to-text, text-to-world)

·???????Visualize to create pictures in the mind while reading

·???????Determine important ideas of the text (main ideas and author’s message)

·???????Synthesizing by combining known information with new information to understand the text

·???????Making inferences about the text based on questioning, predicting, and reflecting

·???????Identifying and using “fix-up” strategies to repair comprehension when it breaks down

·???????Retelling the told

• Infer
• Synthesize information
• Teacher guided questions to answer Who?, What?, Why?, Where?, When? after a story
• Follow-up project after reading a story/selection

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Instruction in reading, comprehension and writing is often intertwined. Since both are dependent upon students' abilities to work with written language, they tend to develop together and reinforce each other

Vineeta Sinha

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