果冻影院

Arguments about the best way to teach children to read can be intense 鈥� they鈥檝e even been described as 鈥�the reading wars鈥�. In England, as in many other countries, much of the debate has been over the use of phonics, which helps children understand how sounds 鈥� 鈥減honemes鈥� 鈥� are represented by letters.

The government requires teachers to use a particular type of phonics teaching called 鈥�synthetic phonics鈥�, and the emphasis on this technique has become overwhelming in English primary schools.

Supporters of synthetic phonics teaching have argued that teaching of phonemes and letters should be first and foremost. On the other side have been supporters of whole language instruction, who think that reading whole texts 鈥� books for example 鈥� should come first and foremost.

翱耻谤听new research听shows that synthetic phonics alone is not the best way to teach children to read. We found that a more effective method is to combine phonics teaching with whole texts, meaning that children learn to read by using books as well as learning phonics.

Current synthetic phonics lessons typically have an exclusive focus on phonemes, and how these are represented by letters. For example in the word 鈥渄og鈥� each letter stands for a different phoneme: /d/ /o/ /g/. In the word 鈥渢each鈥� there are three phonemes: /t/ /ee/ /ch/. Phonemes can be represented by one letter or sometimes by more than one letter, like the /ee/ phoneme represented by the two letters 鈥渆a鈥� in 鈥渢each鈥�.

The teaching of synthetic phonics is done separately from other English teaching. Children read 鈥渄ecodable books鈥�: books with a limited vocabulary of words designed to emphasise use of the letters and sounds taught in phonics lessons.

Our research听included a survey of more than 2,000 primary school teachers. When asked a question about their approach to reading, 66% responded: 鈥淪ynthetic phonics is emphasised first and foremost in my phonics teaching.鈥�

The Department of Education听enforces the policy of teaching听synthetic phonics in various ways. It vets published teaching schemes, creating a list of approved synthetic phonics schemes. Ofsted, the government office responsible for educational standards, has a strong focus on synthetic phonics teaching in their inspections of schools.

Furthermore, children in year one (aged five to six) in England take a national statutory test, the听phonics screening check. This is used to emphasise phonics teaching and hold teachers to account. This test includes the requirement for children to learn to read nonsense words, called 鈥減seudo words鈥�. These could include, for example, 鈥渕eck鈥�, 鈥渟hig鈥�, 鈥渂lem鈥� and 鈥渟ut鈥�.

It is clear from our research that the phonics screening check is narrowing teaching. For example, 237 teachers in our survey said that they were giving extra phonics lessons to help children pass the test. The word 鈥減ressure鈥� appeared 97 times in teachers鈥� comments about the phonics screening check. One teacher felt that they had to 鈥渓ive and breathe phonics鈥�.

Our research also reviewed the best existing evidence on phonics teaching and reading.听Previous research听鈥� a systematic review, which analyses the findings of a number of research papers 鈥� not only questioned an emphasis on synthetic phonics but also on other systematic phonics teaching. It found that there is no evidence that synthetic phonics teaching is better than other methods of teaching phonics and reading.

Other main methods of teaching reading include the 鈥渨hole language鈥� approach. In this approach, teaching reading with whole texts is the priority. Encouraging children鈥檚 motivation for reading is another main aim of whole language teaching. In the whole-language approach phonics is not taught systematically.

Another main method of teaching reading is 鈥渂alanced instruction鈥�. With this approach the importance of comprehending the meaning of written language is carefully balanced with the acquisition of a range of skills and knowledge. Balanced instruction combines systematic teaching of whole texts and other linguistic aspects such as sentences and words.

础苍辞迟丑别谤听systematic review听found that integrating phonics teaching with comprehension teaching resulted in the best impact on children鈥檚 reading.

As part of our research we carried out a new analysis of all 55 research papers that were part of this systematic review. In summary, it was clear that in effective teaching approaches phonics teaching was connected with whole texts in every lesson.

One study, carried out in Canada, was particularly compelling because the tests of children鈥檚 reading comprehension showed that the approach had been effective four years after the intervention had ended. The effective approach was driven by helping children to make sense of reading using whole texts.

We found that England鈥檚 emphasis on synthetic phonics is different compared to high performing English language countries in the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) tests. None of these other countries mandate synthetic phonics.

Canada has consistently performed the best of English language dominant nations in the PISA tests. Canada鈥檚 approach at national and state level is very different from England鈥檚 because it emphasises whole texts, and phonics is not emphasised as much.

The approach to teaching reading in England means that children in England are unlikely to be learning to read as effectively as they should be. Teachers, children, and their parents need a more balanced approach to the teaching of reading.

This article first appeared in on 19^th January 2022.

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