What is a Structured Synthetic Phonics Approach?

A structured synthetic phonics (SSP) approach emphasises the relationship between sounds and their written symbols as being integral to developing reading and writing skills (Jonston & Watson, 2004; Ehri et al., 2001). Three national inquiries (NELP, 2008; Rose 2006; Rowe 2005) consistently support SSP, with a strong code emphasis as the most effective method of literacy instruction. SSP is as effective for students at risk of literacy failure as their typically developing peers (Torgerson et al., 2006). As a result students have superior word reading and writing skills leading to a lower incidence of reading failure (Johnston & Watson, 2005). PLD utilises SSP as its core reading and spelling instruction. An SSP approach requires programs to include the principles explained below.

Systematic and Explicit Phonic Instruction

Learning to read and spell is a cumulative and systematic process where students need to master foundational skills before moving onto more complex tasks (NRP, 2000). Therefore in an SSP approach phoneme-grapheme correspondences are taught systematically, ensuring a structured learning progression (Mesmer & Griffith, 2005; Torgerson et al., 2006). For example, in PLD students are first taught the /ay/ sound can be represented as ‘ay’ and ‘ai’ in Stage 1 before being taught other representations of the /ay/ sound such as ‘a-e’ in Stage 2 and then ‘a’, ‘ea’, ‘ey’, and ‘aigh’ in Stage 3. The gradual explicit phonics teaching supports cognitive load theory which dictates during any learning event, the limited capacity of working memory constrains the transfer of information to long-term memory (Smith et al., 2021; Sweller et al., 2019). SSP approaches recognise that explicit teaching is a highly effective teaching strategy that supports all students in the classroom to succeed (Fuchs et al., 2008; Hempenstall, 2016).

Synthesis of Each Phoneme

The word “synthetic” in SSP is related to the emphasis of blending sounds throughout a word or synthesising each phoneme. Unlike other methods such as traditional phonics which only emphasise the first sound within the word (Jonston & Watson, 2006). Therefore, strong phonemic awareness such as blending, segmenting, and phoneme manipulation skills are critical when learning to read and spell (Goswami, 2001; Kilpatrick, 2015).

Phonemes, Graphemes, and Letters: The word burger [Digital image]. (2015). Reading Doctor. https://www.readingdoctor.com.au/phonemes-graphemes-letters-word-burger

When to Commence SSP?

Early instruction in SSP provides students with the necessary skills to become fluent and competent readers and spellers at an earlier age than other approaches to literacy instruction (Bowey, 2005; Dooner, 2010; Chall 1989). SSP can and should be introduced from the first year of formal education, usually from when a student is approximately 5 years of age (Ehri et al., 2001). PLD provides Early Years programs to support the development of pre-literacy skills required for students to succeed in the Foundation Year. 

How to Start Using SSP?

PLD can support your students’ SSP learning from the Early Years to Year 6. Please reach out to the PLD office if you require any support in getting started via Live Chat on our website: https://pld-literacy.org/contact-us/

Reference List:

Bowey, J.A. (2005). ‘Predicting individual differences in learning to read’, in Snowling, M.J. and Hulme, C. (eds) The science of reading: A handbook, Blackwell, United Kingdom.

Ehri, L.C., Nunes, S., Willows, D.M., Schuster, B., Yaghoub-Zadeh, Z. and Shanahan, T. (2001). ‘Phonemic awareness instruction helps children learn to read: Evidence from the National Reading Panel’s meta-analysis’, Reading Research Quarterly, 36(3):250–287.

Fuchs, D., Compton, D.L., Fuchs, L.S., Bryant, J. and Davis, G.N. (2008). ‘Making “secondary intervention” work in a three-tier responsiveness-to-intervention model: Findings from the first-grade longitudinal reading study of the National Research Centre on Learning Disabilities’, Reading and Writing, 21(4):413–436.

Goswami, U. (2001). ‘Early phonological development and the acquisition of literacy’, in Dickinson, DK and Neuman SB (eds) Handbook of early literacy research, Guilford Press, New York, NY.

Hempenstall, K. (2016). Read about it: Scientific evidence for effective teaching of reading, The Centre for Independent Studies.

Johnston, R.S. and Watson, J.E. (2005). The effects of synthetic phonics teaching on reading and spelling attainment: A seven-year longitudinal study, Scottish Executive Education Department.

Kilpatrick, D.A. (2015). Essentials of Assessing, Preventing, and Overcoming Reading Difficulties, John Wiley and Sons, Hoboken, New Jersey.

National Early Literacy Panel (2008). Developing Early Literacy: Report of the National Early Literacy Panel: A scientific synthesis of early literacy development and implications for intervention, National Institute of Child Health and Human Development.

National Reading Panel (2000). Report of the National Reading Panel: Teaching children to read: An evidence-based assessment of the scientific research literature on reading and its implications for reading instruction. Reports of the subgroups, National Institute of Child Health and Human Development.

Rose, J. (2006). Independent review of the teaching of early reading: Final Report, Department for Education and Skills.

Rowe, K. (2005). Teaching reading report and recommendations: National Inquiry into the Teaching of Literacy, Department of Education, Science and Training, Australian Government.

Torgerson, C., Brooks, G., Gascoine, L. and Higgins, S. (2018). ‘Phonics: reading policy and the evidence of effectiveness from a systematic ‘tertiary’ review’, Research Papers in Education, 34: 1–31.