Controversy: Analytical Vs. Synthetic Approaches
Phonics has become an acceptable practice and approach to teaching children to read. However, there are different methods in which it is used, and disagreement over which approach is best.
There are two primary approaches to teaching phonics: analytic phonics and synthetic phonics. Both approaches require the learner to have some phonological awareness (the ability to hear and discriminate sounds in spoken words). Both approaches can also contribute to furthering children's phonological development. Phonological awareness is an essential skill for reading, writing, listening and talking.
Synthetic phonics involves the development of phonemic awareness from the outset. As part of the decoding process, the reader learns up to 44 phonemes (the smallest units of sound) and their related graphemes (the written symbols for the phoneme). In contrast, Analytical Phonics, also known as the Whole Word approach, involves analysis of whole words to detect phonetic or orthographic (spelling) patterns, then splitting them into smaller parts to help with decoding.
Supporters of Synthetic phonics argue that if the systematic teaching of phonics doesn't take place, analytic learners can fall behind and fail to develop the tools they need for decoding words.
Read more about this topic: Analytical Phonics
Famous quotes containing the words analytical, synthetic and/or approaches:
“I have seen too much not to know that the impression of a woman may be more valuable than the conclusion of an analytical reasoner.”
—Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (1859–1930)
“In every philosophical school, three thinkers succeed one another in the following way: the first produces out of himself the sap and seed, the second draws it out into threads and spins a synthetic web, and the third waits in this web for the sacrificial victims that are caught in it—and tries to live off philosophy.”
—Friedrich Nietzsche (1844–1900)
“No one ever approaches perfection except by stealth, and unknown to themselves.”
—William Hazlitt (1778–1830)