If you ask 10 people to define the word “phonics,” you will get several different answers. The most common answer is basically: “Phonics is the study of the sounds of the alphabet letters that must be learned by children who are learning to read.”
Oh! How we wish this were 100% true!
Most phonics programs teach the sounds of the consonant letters and the sounds of the long and short vowels, but they fail to teach the child WHEN a vowel is supposed to be read with a long vowel sound, a short vowel sound, or some other vowel sound. In short, Phonics fails to teach ALL the necessary rules for vowel pronunciation.
Every word has at least one vowel letter. So, even though 6 year-olds can “read” all the consonant letters with ease, they are going to encounter at least one vowel letter in every word that they try to read. If the letter “a” can be read 16 different ways, beginning readers are going to get confused every time they encounter the letter “a” in a word that they have not memorized.
It is no wonder that bewildered 6 year-olds fall into the downward spiral of guessing and memorizing in order to compensate for not knowing the vowel pronunciation rules…or how to read the vowel letters. Going from phonics to fluent reading is a giant step for a beginning reader. We can’t expect 6 year-olds to bridge this gap automatically without receiving guided, structured instruction as to HOW TO READ the vowel letters.
We are not teaching students how to bridge this gap between phonics and fluent reading. We are teaching and over teaching Phonics (or how to read the easy consonant letters). Then we are expecting students to automatically figure out for themselves: HOW to read the complicated vowel letters.
We can’t keep over-teaching students “how to read the consonant letters” (phonics) and expect Phonics to teach them how to read the vowel letters. To para-phrase Albert Einstein: “We can’t keep doing the same thing and expect different results.”
Maybe we do this because we, ourselves, were not taught the system for reading vowel letters. Indeed, we didn’t know that a natural system existed…much less in every word!
THE “SOMETIMES BARRIER”
Sometimes a vowel is “long.”
Sometimes a vowel is ‘‘short.”
Sometimes a vowel is “silent.” …
Nobody can look at the letter “a“ in isolation and correctly predict its pronunciation. But the good news is: EVERY WORD has a spelling code that tells us how to read its vowel letter(s).
Phonics falls short in the teaching of beginning reading because phonics does not teach vowel pronunciation rules or “HOW to read the vowel letter.” It does not teach students WHEN a vowel should be read with a long sound, or a short sound, or a totally different vowel sound.
BEYOND THE “SOMETIMES BARRIER“
When we go beyond the realm of isolated letters…beyond the realm of Phonics…beyond the confusing “Sometimes Barrier” into the realm of Syllables…into the realm of Syllabics, we find definite spelling/pronunciation codes and relationships. Syllabics accurately predicts when a vowel is to be read with a ‘long” vowel sound, or with a ”short” vowel sound, or ”‘otherwise. ”
3 Examples of the 6 Syllabics Rules:
The VC spelling code in “at” tells us the “a” should be read with a “short” vowel sound: /a/ as in “apple”.
The VCe spelling code in “ate” tells us that the “a” should be read with a “long” vowel sound: /A/ as in “ape.” The final “e” should be silent.
The V V spelling code in “eat” tells us that the “e” should be read with a “long” vowel sound: /E/ as in “eagle”. The “a” should be silent.
These are 3 of the 6 spelling/pronunciation code “Rules” for reading vowel letters within words. These 6 spelling/pronunciation codes are visibly recognizable and easily understood and learned even by a 6 year- old. Exceptions to these rules are definitely spelled and predictably pronounced.
Theory: Vowel sounds are not coded phonetically, and therefore cannot be decoded (or read) phonetically (using Phonics). Vowel sounds are coded syllabically and therefore must be decoded syllabically (using Syllabics).
There are 6 spelling/pronunciation codes inherent in written English that accurately predict vowel pronunciation. These 6 spelling/pronunciation codes can be used to systematically guide beginning readers through the sequential steps necessary for learning how to read all the vowel letters. By learning to read the vowel letters accurately, the student can now take the giant step from “phonics” to “fluent reading” with competence, confidence, and ease.
