Alphabetic Principle - Role of The Alphabetic Principle in Beginning Reading

Role of The Alphabetic Principle in Beginning Reading

See also: Phonics and Whole Language

Decades of research has resulted in converging evidence that learning the connection between the sounds of speech and print is a critical prerequisite to effective word identification. Understanding that there is a direct relationship between letters and sounds enables a reader to retrieve the pronunciation of an unknown word and associate it with a spoken word. Printed words in a child's vocabulary can be identified by sounding them out. Understanding the relationship of letters and sounds is also the foundation of learning to spell.

Two contrasting beliefs for teaching this aspect of beginning reading exist. Proponents of phonics argue that this relationship needs to be taught explicitly and learned to automaticity facilitate rapid word recognition upon which comprehension depends. Proponents of whole language approaches argue that reading should be taught holistically, and that children naturally intuit the relationship between letters and sounds. Focus on individual letters and sounds should be taught to be used only as a last resort, and that any phonics instruction given should be embedded within a holistic approach, that is to say, through mini-lessons in the context of authentic reading and writing tasks.

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