Editing Phonics (section)

==Overview==

Reading by using phonics is often referred to as ''decoding words'', ''sounding-out words'' or using ''print-to-sound relationships''. Since phonics focuses on the sounds and letters within words (i.e. [[Dual-route hypothesis to reading aloud#Nonlexical or Sublexical|sublexical]]),<ref>{{cite journal|title= Cues to stress assignment in reading aloud|year=2018|pmc=5765884|last1=Ktori|first1=M.|last2=Mousikou|first2=P.|last3=Rastle|first3=K.|journal=Journal of Experimental Psychology: General|volume=147|issue=1|pages=36–61|doi=10.1037/xge0000380|pmid=29309196}}</ref> it is often contrasted with [[whole language]] (a word-level-up philosophy for teaching reading) and a compromise approach called [[balanced literacy]] (the attempt to combine whole language and phonics).

Some phonics critics suggest that learning phonics prevents children from reading "real books". However, the [[Department for Education]] in England says children should practise phonics by reading books consistent with their developing phonic knowledge and skill; and, at the same time they should hear, share and discuss "a wide range of high-quality books to develop a love of reading and broaden their vocabulary".<ref name="gov.uk">{{cite web|url=https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/national-curriculum-in-england-english-programmes-of-study/national-curriculum-in-england-english-programmes-of-study#key-stage-1---year-2|title=Statutory guidance - National curriculum in England: English programmes of study|date=2014-07-16}}</ref> In addition, researchers say that "the phonological pathway is an essential component of skilled reading" and "for most children it requires instruction, hence phonics".<ref>{{cite book |author=Seidenberg, Mark |title=Language at the speed of sight, p. 126|publisher=Basic Books|location=New York, NY|year=2017|isbn=978-1-5416-1715-5}}</ref> Some recommend 20–30 minutes of daily phonics instruction in grades K–2, about 200 hours.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.readingrockets.org/blogs/shanahan-literacy/what-science-reading|title=Dr. Timothy Shanahan, Reading Rockets|date=29 May 2019}}</ref>

The [[National Reading Panel]] in the United States concluded that systematic phonics instruction is more effective than unsystematic phonics or non-phonics instruction.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nichd.nih.gov/sites/default/files/publications/pubs/nrp/Documents/report.pdf|title=National Reading Panel, NICHD, p. 2-92}}</ref> Some critics suggest that systematic phonics is "skill and drill" with little attention to meaning. However, researchers point out that this impression is false. Teachers can use engaging games or materials to teach letter-sound connections, and it can also be incorporated with the reading of meaningful text.<ref name="Ehri-Linnea C. 2020">{{cite journal|last1= Ehri|first1= Linnea C.|title= The science of learning to read words: A case for systematic phonics instruction|journal=Reading Research Quarterly|volume=55S1 |issue=334|year=2020|pages=S57| doi=10.1037/0022-0663.83.4.451}}</ref>

===History===
The term ''[[:wikt:phonics|phonics]]'' during the 19th century and into the 1970s was used as a synonym of [[phonetics]]. The use of the term in reference to the method of teaching is dated to 1901 by the [[Oxford English Dictionary]]. The relationship between sounds and letters is the backbone of traditional phonics.

This principle was first presented by [[John Hart (spelling reformer)|John Hart]] in 1570. Prior to that children learned to read through the ABC method, by which they recited the letters used in each word, from a familiar piece of text such as Genesis.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=Hart|first=John|date=1570|title=A method or comfortable beginning for all unlearned, whereby they may be taught to read English in a very short time, with pleasure: so profitable as strange, put in light, by I.H. Chester Heralt|url=https://lib.ugent.be/en/catalog/rug01:001517217}}</ref> It was John Hart who first suggested that the focus should be on the relationship between what is now referred to as [[grapheme]]s and [[phoneme]]s.

For more information see [[#Practices by country or region|Practices by country or region]] (below); and [[Learning to read#History of learning to read|History of learning to read]].

===Phonemic awareness===
Not to be confused with phonics, [[phonemic awareness]] (PA) is the ability to hear, identify, and manipulate the individual spoken sounds of language, independent of writing. Phonemic awareness is part of oral language ability and is critical for learning to read.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nichd.nih.gov/sites/default/files/publications/pubs/nrp/Documents/report.pdf|title=National Reading Panel, USA}}</ref> To assess phonemic awareness, or teach it explicitly, learners are given a variety of exercises, such as adding a sound (e.g., ''Add the '''th''' sound to the beginning of the word '''ink'''''), changing a sound (e.g., ''In the word '''sing''', change the '''ng''' sound to the '''t''' sound)'', or removing a sound (e.g., ''In the word '''park''', remove the '''p''' sound)''. Phonemic awareness and the resulting knowledge of spoken language is the most important determinant of a child's early reading success.<ref>{{cite book |author=Seidenberg, Mark |title=Language at the speed of sight |pages=16, 106 |publisher=Basic Books|location=New York, NY|year=2017|isbn=978-1-5416-1715-5}}</ref> Phonemic awareness is sometimes taught separately from phonics and at other times it is the result of phonics instruction (i.e. segmenting or blending phonemes with letters).<ref>{{cite web|url=https://schools.essex.gov.uk/pupils/sen/Documents/The_Ultimate_Guide_.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/https://schools.essex.gov.uk/pupils/sen/Documents/The_Ultimate_Guide_.pdf |archive-date=2022-10-09 |url-status=live|title=The ultimate guide to phonological awareness, Essex County Council, UK}}</ref><ref name="education.vic.gov.au">{{cite web|url=https://www.education.vic.gov.au/school/teachers/teachingresources/discipline/english/literacy/readingviewing/Pages/litfocusphonological.aspx|title=Phonological awareness, Victoria State Government, Australia}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www1.nichd.nih.gov/publications/pubs/nrp/Documents/report.pdf|title=National Reading Panel, USA, Page 2-2}}</ref>
It is that part of [[phonological awareness]] that is concerned with phonemes.

===The alphabetic principle (also: The alphabetic code)===
[[English orthography|English spelling]] is based on the [[alphabetic principle]]. In the education field it is also referred to as ''the alphabetic code''.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.readingrockets.org/article/teaching-alphabetic-code-phonics-and-decoding|title=Teaching the alphabetic code, Reading rockets.|date=24 April 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://phonicsinternational.com/unit1_pdfs/The%20English%20Alphabetic%20Code%20-%20complete%20picture%20chart.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/https://phonicsinternational.com/unit1_pdfs/The%20English%20Alphabetic%20Code%20-%20complete%20picture%20chart.pdf |archive-date=2022-10-09 |url-status=live|title=The English Alphabetic Code, Phonics international}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nichd.nih.gov/sites/default/files/publications/pubs/nrp/Documents/report.pdf|title=National reading panel, pg. 2-89, nichd.nih.gov (USA)}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://publications.teachernet.gov.uk/eOrderingDownload/0201-2006PDF-EN-01.pdf|archive-url=http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20100512233640/http://publications.teachernet.gov.uk/eOrderingDownload/0201-2006PDF-EN-01.pdf|url-status=dead|archive-date=2010-05-12|title=INDEPENDENT REVIEW OF THE TEACHING OF EARLY READING: FINAL REPORT, EDUCATION AND SKILLS, UK|access-date=2020-05-25}}</ref> In an alphabetic writing system, [[grapheme|letters]] are used to represent speech sounds, or [[phoneme]]s. For example, the word ''cat'' is spelled with three letters, ''c'', ''a'', and ''t'', each representing a phoneme, respectively, {{IPAc-en|k}}, {{IPAc-en|æ}}, and {{IPAc-en|t}}.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://reading.uoregon.edu/big_ideas/au/au_what.php|title=Alphabetc principle, University of Oregon, USA}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last1=Cox|first1=Robyn|last2=Feez|first2=Susan|last3=Beveridge|first3=Lorraine|title=The Alphabetic Principle and Beyond: Surveying the Landscape|publisher=Primary English Teaching Association|location=Australia|year=2019|isbn=9781925132472}}</ref>

The [[orthographies|spelling structures]] for some [[alphabet|alphabetic languages]], such as [[Spanish orthography|Spanish]], [[Russian phonology|Russian]] and [[German phonology|German]], are comparatively orthographically transparent, or [[Orthographic depth|orthographically shallow]], because there is nearly a one-to-one correspondence between sounds and the letter patterns that represent them. English spelling is more complex, a [[Orthographic depth|deep orthography]], partly because it attempts to represent the 40+ phonemes of the spoken language with an alphabet composed of only 26 letters (and no accent marks or [[diacritic]]s). As a result, two letters are often used together to represent distinct sounds, referred to as ''[[digraph (orthography)|digraphs]]''. For example, ''t'' and ''h'' placed side by side to represent either {{IPAc-en|θ}} as in ''math'' or {{IPAc-en|ð}} as in ''father''.

English has absorbed many words from other languages throughout its history, usually without changing the spelling of those words. As a result, the written form of English includes the spelling patterns of many languages ([[Old English]], [[Old Norse]], [[Norman language|Norman French]], [[Classical Latin]] and [[Ancient Greek|Greek]], as well as numerous modern languages) superimposed upon one another.<ref>{{cite book |author=McGuinness, Diane |title=Early reading instruction: what science really tells up about how to teach reading |publisher=MIT Press |location=Cambridge, Mass |year=2004 |isbn=978-0-262-13438-5}}</ref> These overlapping spelling patterns mean that in many cases the same sound can be spelled differently (e.g., tr''ay'' and br''ea''k) and the same spelling can represent different sounds (e.g., m''oo''n and b''oo''k). However, the spelling patterns usually follow certain conventions.<ref>Wren, Sebastian. "Exception Words", Southwest Educational Development Laboratory. Retrieved from {{cite web |url=http://www.sedl.org/reading/topics/exception.html |title=Regular and Exception Words - SEDL Reading Resources |access-date=2007-10-18 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071011183306/http://www.sedl.org/reading/topics/exception.html |archive-date=2007-10-11 }}, September 30, 2007.</ref> In addition, the [[Great Vowel Shift]], a historical linguistic process in which the quality of many vowels in English changed while the spelling remained as it was, greatly diminished the transparency of English spelling in relation to pronunciation.

The result is that English spelling patterns vary considerably in the degree to which they follow rules. For example, the letters ''ee'' almost always represent {{IPAc-en|iː}} (e.g., ''meet''), but the sound can also be represented by the letters ''e'', ''i'' and ''y'' and digraphs ''ie'', ''ei'', or ''ea'' (e.g., sh''e'', sard''i''ne, sunn''y'', ch''ie''f, s''ei''ze, ''ea''t). Similarly, the letter cluster ''ough'' represents {{IPAc-en|ʌ|f}} as in en''ough'', {{IPAc-en|oʊ}} as in th''ough'', {{IPAc-en|uː}} as in thr''ough'', {{IPAc-en|ɒ|f}} as in c''ough'', {{IPAc-en|aʊ}} as in b''ough'', {{IPAc-en|ɔː}} as in b''ough''t, and {{IPAc-en|ʌ|p}} as in hicc''ough'', while in sl''ough'' and l''ough'', the pronunciation varies.

Although the patterns are inconsistent, when English spelling rules take into account syllable structure, phonetics, etymology, and accents, there are dozens of rules that are 75% or more reliable.<ref>{{cite journal |title=Identifying reliable generalizations for spelling words: The importance of multilevel analysis |journal=The Elementary School Journal |volume=101 |issue=2 |pages=233–245 |jstor = 1002344|last1 = Abbott|first1 = Mary|year=2000 |doi=10.1086/499666 |s2cid=144630056 }}</ref> This level of reliability can only be achieved by extending the rules far outside the domain of phonics, which deals with letter-sound correspondences, and into the [[morphophonology|morphophonemic]] and [[morphology (linguistics)|morphological]] domains.