Comments on an article by International Literacy Association

Meeting the Challenges of Early Literacy Phonics Instruction

The following are some extracts from the article above. Let us see if International Literacy Association will discuss this.

‘The question of whether to include phonics instruction has been resolved. The answer is yes. The discussion now should be how to include phonics instruction as part of an overall literacy plan that is efficient, effective, and timely for all students.

What does that instruction look like? And how do we overcome the common obstacles teachers often face in delivering that instruction?

Although phonics can be taught in different ways, research supports instruction that is explicit and systematic. Explicit means that the initial introduction of a letter–sound relationship, or phonics skill, is directly stated to students. For example, we tell students that the /s/ sound is represented by the letter s. This is more effective than the discovery method because it does not rely on prerequisite skills that some students might not have’. (Highlight is done by me)

The question that begs an answer is as to why despite phonics being taught in many schools’ we still have about 20% of kids leaving school as illiterates.

‘Explicit means that the initial introduction of a letter–sound relationship, or phonics skill, is directly stated to students.'

This is what I have been harping on since 2010. If this is done correctly than a majority of the kids classified as dyslexic will not end up being called dyslexic.

Listen to the sounds in the video clip by Baby TV. Can ILA say if the sounds of the letters are taught correctly? 

Most of the sounds of the letters are wrong and this causes many kids to disengage from learning to read. 

‘Being systematic means that we follow a continuum from easy to more complex skills, slowly introducing each new skill.

Systematic instruction includes a review and repetition cycle to achieve mastery and goes from the known to the new in a way that makes the new learning more obvious and easier for students to grasp. For example, after students learn to read simple short-vowel CVC words like run, cat, and hop, they are often introduced to the skill final-e as in the words hate and hope. This is a conceptual leap for young students where, often for the first time, they learn that two letters can work together to make a sound and these letters are not even beside each other in the word. Not easy!’

How does repetition and review help to achieve mastery when the kids predisposed to shutting down are still groping in the dark as to how ruh-un-nuh amounts to run; cuh-ah-tuh amounts to cat; and ha -oh-puh amounts to hop.

A strong scope and sequence builds from the simple to the complex in a way that takes advantage of previous learning.

Exactly! Initial learning is paramount. How does a kid predisposed to shutting down when things taught to him is illogical, go from simple to complex? He has already shut down and no amount of motivation is going to help him if you do not clear his original block.

What is it that is explained or taught during intervention that get these children from being non-readers to become fluent readers? What is it that is taught during intervention that clears the block created by faulty teaching of sounds of the letters of the alphabet.

The  following  are  the  10  most  common  phonics  instructional  obstacles or pitfalls, all of which teachers have some degree of control over.

Not one of the 10 obstacles stated that sounds of letters are taught wrongly in most schools throughout the world. Does ILA know that sounds of letters are taught wrongly in most classes around the world?