Phonetic Method - Alli C

Phonetic Method to apply in English teaching

​by Allison Cruz

Have you ever listened something about the phonetic method?

Now, let's get into theory

The phonetic approach is a method of teaching and learning reading based on the letters of the alphabet and their associated sounds.

Open Ended

What do you think the phonetic method has to do with?

This method does not require a learner to wait weeks or months to write sentences and coherent texts. Without going through all the sounds of a given language sentence and story writing is initiated within the limits of the sounds learnt so far.

Every new day, thus, gives a sense of achievement. Making a resort to sounds minimizes the risk of wrong pronunciation and wrong spelling.

Multiple Choice

To apply this method, how much time do the students require to start writing sentences and coherent texts?

• Weeks

• It is not a requirement

• One day

• Months

It is a fast-track and time-effective method. In six months a solid foundation is laid for long-lasting literacy and language learning. The new method relieves the learners of memorizing mechanically without understanding.

Though having an understanding of the sounds is a prerequisite to teaching literacy but unlike many methods of teaching through phonics the teaching is not mechanical and boring. Teaching is contextualized and rooted in the learners’ experience. Instead of taking up individual sounds one by one a series of activities are initiated.

Each activity is based on the learners’ daily life experiences. They go through the experience and reach the conclusion themselves. The conclusions are not drawn for them. Instead, they are provoked to think.

Fill in the Blanks

In approximately how many months can a student build a solid foundation for lasting literacy and language learning?

Moreover, blending sounds together in an unknown word is a strategy often referred to as "sounding out." The phonetic approach to reading has advantages and disadvantages but still plays a key role in early literacy training in most classrooms.

Multiple Choice

Blending sounds together in an unknown word is strategy called?

• Sounding out

• Blending words out

• Spelling words out

• Blending out

Interesting fact:

The phonetic approach is used in most Montessori schools.

This is a gradual language exploration during which time the child explores many aspects of their language or languages.

Having all this theory in mind, to make it easier to get, an activity could be as simple as the following:

A child from the group is invited to come in front and say something to another but without making a sound. Let's call it "charades".
It becomes an intense and engrossing experience as a couple of children do insist that a conversation can take place without making a sound.

When it comes to words, they are dissected into sounds and the words are always from their daily usage.

Open Ended

What kind of didactic activities would you like to use when applying the phonetic method?