Three constrained constructs contribute to the body of evidence that is the science of reading: phonemic awareness (a part of phonological awareness), phonics and fluency. These skills are considered constrained because they are limited in extent and are quickly learned. By the time a student starts reading independently, these skills are largely mastered. Let’s learn what they are and how they are best taught, according to the science of reading.
Phonemic awareness involves blending the phonemes (sounds) together when speaking to make words and segmenting words into their separate phonemes to sound them out. It is a strong predictor of later reading ability. Phonemically aware students hear, identify and easily manipulate phonemes, the smallest units of 44 sounds in spoken English words. Teaching of phonemic awareness improves both reading and spelling.
English has 26 letters (graphemes) and each of the 44 phonemes can be mapped either to a single grapheme, or to a cluster of graphemes. Phonics involves taking this knowledge of English phonemes and combining it with knowledge of English graphemes to decode words. It develops through the establishment of the alphabetic principle, the understanding that letters represent sounds in English. When this principle is established, readers begin to read words at a pace that allows them to link ideas together fluently.
Reading fluency is accurate, expressive reading aloud with appropriate attention to phrasing and punctuation (prosody). As students develop reading fluency, their cognitive resources can be directed to comprehension, resulting in meaningful, enjoyable experiences of reading as they move from ‘learning to read’ to ‘reading to learn’. Accuracy and speed are elements of fluency that can be recorded in correct words read per minute (CWPM), or as Oral Reading Fluency Assessment (ORFA). Fluent reading also requires prosody, the use of appropriate expression and intonation coupled with phrasing to enhance and maintain meaning when reading.
How to teach the constrained skills
Each of these skills is best taught explicitly and systematically. Explicit teaching involves the direct teaching and modelling of key concepts. Systematic teaching involves deliberately ordering and structuring what is taught. Explicit teaching and systematic teaching benefit all students, particularly those with low language and literacy skills on school entry.
Short, sharp lessons in phonemic awareness are most effective, particularly when taught in conjunction with phonics. Teachers should also consolidate the underlying hierarchy of phonological awareness skills so students can break words into separate phonemes if they cannot break words into syllables. Isolating phonemes in simple and short words (for example, Consonant-Vowel-Consonant or CVC words) generally begins with students identifying initial phonemes, followed by final phonemes and then medial phonemes.
The greater the number of phonemes in a word, the more difficult it is to blend and segment, as the demand on working memory is increased. Consider the number of phonemes in words used for instruction (for example, using 2 or 3 phonemes words for early instruction), as well as the graphemes represented.
It is more difficult to segment phonemes in words containing consonant blends (such as clap or bent). Phoneme manipulation, the most complex phonemic awareness skill, can be taught by adding, deleting or substituting phonemes in any position of a word to make a new word.
Synthetic phonics is a widely recognised, explicit approach that involves synthesising or blending individual sounds together to convert graphemes into phonemes (for example, to pronounce each letter in ‘stop’, /s/-/t/-/o/-/p/) and then blend the phonemes into a recognisable word. The approach is also systematic in that it teaches selected letter-sound patterns that can be made into many different words. This allows students to start synthesising and applying their decoding skills to word reading as early as possible. Word reading can then be practised using decodable texts which support and consolidate students’ phonics knowledge and skills.
Generally, explicit, systematic instruction in synthetic phonics is an effective strategy, but some students require further support. Students with literacy learning difficulties and other at-risk students, for instance, benefit most from explicit instruction for the learning of all new processes, concepts, and content.
Whole-class and small group instruction in phonics, particularly in isolating phonemes and linking them to graphemes, can be helpful. Mastery learning, daily opportunities to consolidate the content, as well as instructional practices that connect related content, (such as connecting phonics and phonemic awareness to reading and writing) may also help.
Reading fluency and oral language instruction can also help students with reading comprehension difficulties develop reading comprehension skills. Repeated reading, multicomponent interventions, and assisted reading with audiobooks produce gains in reading fluency and comprehension.
Repeated reading of a passage at least 4 times increases reading fluency. Achieving fluency requires sustained practice in reading aloud, particularly through using decodable texts in the early stages of developing fluency. Once students move beyond the very early stages of reading, teachers should provide authentic, good-quality texts that include a wider range of vocabulary and more sophisticated content.
