Synthetic Phonics Essay

Phonics is the way that patterns of and relationships between letters are used to attribute oral meaning to the written word: equating the 26 graphemes of the alphabet with the approximately 44 phonemes, or sounds, of oral language (Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority [ACARA], 2016; Hill, 2012, p. 241). Understanding phonics is an essential component of emerging literacy, as alphabet knowledge and phonemic awareness (identification of letters and the sounds they make) are skills recognised as key predictors of ongoing literacy ability (Piasta & Wagner., 2010, p. 8; Kitson, 2014, p. 191); subsequently, many approaches have been developed to teach these skills. Fundamentally, these can be categorised as bottom-up and top-down

125). Similarly, workbooks commonly used in synthetic reading programs have been criticised as not providing genuine reading experiences. Dr Andrew Davis suggests that blending sounds, while helpful, does not constitute reading, positing that synthetic phonics approaches afford “an inappropriate plausibility” that blending and reading are one and the same (2014). Emmitt, Hornsby and Wilson concur, stating that “teaching that a letter has a sound is quite misleading; we cannot know the sound a letter has unless it is in meaningful context” (2013, p. 11); this meaningful context comes in the form of authentic reading experiences. Notwithstanding the detractors, uptake of synthetic phonics in Australian classrooms is high, and is supported by research espousing the effectiveness of such approaches when appropriately implemented (Savage, 2007, p. 125); educators therefore must ensure that their implementation is direct and systematic, contains elements other than seatwork (workbooks and readers), and provides opportunities for students to engage in meaningful interactions with