TITLE: FUN WITH PHONICS - CONSONANT BLENDS
AUTHOR: GWEN GBEDEMAH
REVIEWED BY: MARVIA FAIRWEATHER
ORAL and written language share common features: the vocabulary, the grammar, the syntax and similar purposes. In order to construct meaning from the printed language (reading), however, and to use printed language to convey a message (writing), students must be able to recognise in print the language that they use orally. This ability is introduced to students with the teaching of phonics.
What is phonics? (fonicks)
Phonics is derived from the word phonetics, which is the art of representing vocal sounds with signs and written characters. The Websters Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1996) provides two definitions of phonics:
1) Teaching reading by training beginners to associate letters with their sound values.
2) The method of teaching elementary reading and spelling based on the phonetic interpretation of ordinary spelling.
Phonics works in harmony with other language-cueing systems to help children identify a printed word, and there have been research reports that conclude that phonics instruction improves beginning reading achievement and helps children to learn to write and spell correctly.
Although there are children who learn to read early, and in such a natural manner that they require little or no phonics instruction, research shows that early, direct instruction in phonics results in superior reading skills. Any instruction, therefore that focuses young children's attention on letters with sounds begins to build phonic awareness. Phonics skills therefore ought to be taught as part of a child's earliest school experience.
It is against this background that the book Fun With Phonics - Consonant Blends is a success. The book is aimed at children between six and nine years old who basically struggle between spoken Creole and written standard English. In providing an in-depth attempt to have its readers master the art of phonics, the writer successfully addresses phonetic problems which plague the Jamaican child and sadly many adults, for example:
1) The omission of the initial "h" sound. Eg: "and" instead of "hand"
2) The addition of the "h" sound to words that begin with a vowel. Eg: "hend" instead of "end".
3) The ignoring of the "t" and "d" sounds at the end of words. Eg: "pass" and "win" instead of "past" and wind".
4) The insertion of additional vowel or semi-vowel between consonants. Eg: "kyar" instead of "car".
5) The incorrect use of sounds. Eg: "Ooh" instead of "who" and "ze" instead of "the".
Getting familiar
As students look at the print that the teacher points to during the shared reading of this book, they will develop greater familiarity with the letters that form words. As they listen to the teacher recite the rhymes, they will become more familiar with the sounds of words and their appreciation of the pleasures and purposes of reading will increase. The book provides:
1) Teacher's guide that recommends the different stages that the teacher can take students through in learning phonics.
2) Colourful exercises in phonics that utilise words that are already familiar to Creole speaking students.
3) Review exercises to assist the teacher in evaluating the students' progress.
No teacher today should regard the teaching of phonics as the only method of teaching students to read and it is from the teacher's example that students will learn to hear and repeat the speech sounds of the language correctly.
Our teachers should therefore ensure that prior to teaching phonetic skills to impressionable six to nine-year-olds, they themselves are not lacking.
Maybe this book can help?
Published by: Carlong Publishers
