Phonemic Awareness #2
Analyzing
and combining the smallest units of discernible sound (phonemes) in varieties of
ways, in order to connect these sound units with the symbols (letters) which
represent them.
Many outstanding researchers are indicating the crucial relationship of
phonological awareness to the reading process. Although many children can intuit phonological awareness,
there is a large population of children who cannot. Without direct and explicit instruction in phonemic awareness,
these children experience chronic reading, writing and spelling failure. This
severely erodes self esteem which further impairs learning.
Early identification of these children is of utmost importance as a meaningful
intervention to reduce reading and learning failure in our state's schools.
Research also indicates that few teachers in the United States know how to
address the role of phonemic awareness in reading. (Only 10% of the teachers assessed were, themselves,
phonemically aware). Currently, few
college courses offer teacher training in phonemic awareness.
The scientific and educational research on reading is so compelling that the
question is not, should we teach phonological awareness, but how can we best
incorporate it into the particular approaches currently being used to teaching
reading. Phonemic awareness must be
included in all reading programs if all children are to learn to read and spell.
Therefore, the development of teacher training based upon formally researched
methods of reading instruction is an essential intervention toward reducing
school failure.
Examples of Phonological Awareness Tasks
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Rhyming: Tell me as many words that you know that rhyme with the word eat.
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Phoneme Deletion: What word would be left if the /k/ sound were taken away from cat.
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Word to Word Matching: Do Pen and Pipe begin with the same sound?
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Blending: What word would we have if you put these sounds together, /s/, /a/, /t/.
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Phoneme Segmentation: What sounds do you hear in the word hot?
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Phoneme Counting: How many sounds do you hear in the word cake?
· Taken
from Stanovich, Keith E. "Romance and Reality."
The
Reading Teacher Vol. 47, No. 4. December 1993/ January 1994.
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