Unit 2 Phonology–The rule system in a language by which phonemes can be sequenced,

combined, and pronounced to make words.

Phonological Awareness
Conscious awareness of all levels of the speech sound system, including word boundaries, stress
patterns, syllables, onset-rime units, and phonemes.

Phonological Processing
Multiple functions of speech and language perception and production, such as perceiving,
interpreting, storing (remembering), recalling or retrieving, and generating the speech sound system
of a language.

Phoneme
In any language, the smallest unit of sound used to build words.

Phonetics
The study of the sounds of human speech; articulatory phonetics refers to the way the sounds are
physically produced in the human vocal tract.

Phonemic Awareness
Conscious awareness that words are made up of segments of our own speech that are represented
with letters in an alphabetic orthography.

Phonology
The rule system in a language by which phonemes can be sequenced, combined, and pronounced
to make words.

Phonological and Phonemic Awareness Instruction Skills (hourglass)

Bottom portion is orthography (how to write sounds).

Session 2–How Does Phonological Skill Develop?

Preschool-age children are capable of mastering skills at the early phonological awareness level.
Although not yet ready for phoneme segmentation or blending, they are aware of and can
manipulate larger units of speech sounds: syllables, onsets, and rimes. Teachers can strengthen this
early awareness by drawing attention to rhyme and alliteration during read-alouds of stories and
nursery rhymes.

By first grade, students are capable of developing basic phonemic awareness. Appropriate
instructional activities focus on developing students' understanding of phonemic awareness and their
ability to blend and segment three or more phonemes in a given word. In addition, their
understanding of larger speech sound units is strong enough for them to delete syllables or parts of
a compound word.

Students normally reach the level of advanced phonemic awareness by about age seven. At this
level, students are capable of complex manipulation of phonemes and can do so with words that are
longer and more challenging.
Appropriate activities at this level go beyond segmenting and blending to emphasize phoneme
deletion, substitution, and reversal.

Session 3–Why is Phonemic Awareness Important?

The alphabetic principle is the concept that a grapheme represents a phoneme.
When students understand the alphabetic principle, their spelling becomes more phonetic and their
decoding improves.

Phonics can refer to (1) the system that tells us which graphemes spell which phonemes, or (2) the
instruction or use of print patterns, syllable patterns, and meaningful word parts.
 ’
Mirrors are an integral part of this instruction.

1:1 is the alphabetic principle

Phonemic awareness is the foundation for all literacy skills, and is also at the heart of good reading
instruction in the primary grades. Along with broader phonological skills and indicators such as
phonological working memory (PWM), phonemic awareness has great value for predicting students'
ability to read, spell, and learn new vocabulary. Screening measures that assess phonemic
awareness are crucial for predicting which students will need extra help.

Each language has its own unique inventory of phonemes, so an EL student's native language will
not have the exact same phonemes as English. After about age five, learning the phonology of a
new language becomes more challenging for most people. ELs will likely need support mastering the
phonemes of English. Teachers who have mastered these phonemes themselves are better
prepared to support EL students.

Young children who are familiar with letters and have some phonemic awareness are primed to
understand the alphabetic principle: the concept that phonemes are represented by letters and
graphemes. This insight helps children progress in reading and spelling. Spelling becomes more
phonetically accurate, and decoding becomes more focused on blending sounds in words.

To come in Unit 2, Session 4:

● What are the consonant phonemes of English?
Understanding the consonant phonemes of English is important when helping your students learn
to read and spell. In Session 4, you’ll explore the organization of the consonant chart, and then
learn to articulate each phoneme and contrast the features of confusable consonant phonemes
(e.g., voicing, nasality, continuance, placement in the mouth).

Allophonic variations: distortions in sounds when spoken or coarticulated

25 consonant phonemes in English

Consonants are considered closed sounds because we close off the breath in some way

Stops are made with one burst of air. Hard to say without adding an /u/ sound at the end.
P, b, t, d, c as in cup, g as in goat.
Nasals are made by pushing air through the nose. Can’t be said with the nose plugged.
M, n, and ng as in sing

Fricatives are hissy sounds. Constrict air flow with tongue, lips, and teeth
F, v, th as in thumb, th as in feather, s, z, sh, zh as genre, h
Affricates are chopped fricatives because they have qualities of stops and fricatives.
Ch as in chin (unvoiced) and j as jam (voiced)

Glides are always followed by a vowel sound. Consonant glides into a vowel
Wh, w, y
Liquids are problematic for reading and spelling. They don’t stay still in a word and impact the
sounds around them and distorting the vowels.
L as in leaf and r as in rabbit.

Spelling and reading errors and the words they mix up can provide a window into the sounds they’re
mixing up.
Counting phonemes and distinguishing among them is difficult. We don’t do this naturally when we
speak, but we do need to do it to learn to read and write. For this reason, phonemic awareness
should be directly addressed in instruction.

The 25 consonant phonemes in English can be described according to the place and manner of
articulation—that is, where we form them in the mouth and how we make the sound. These subtle
differences give us ways to classify phonemes as voiced or unvoiced, or in categories such as stops,
nasals, fricatives, affricates, glides, and liquids.

Syllabic consonants—those that can stand for whole syllables in multisyllabic words—are a
particular source of confusion. These include /l/, /r/, /m/, and /n/. In this case, when students use a
single consonant to represent a whole syllable (e.g., "butn" for button), their spelling is phonetically
accurate.

Young students’ spelling errors often result from confusion about specific phonemes. For example,
children may confuse unvoiced sounds with their voiced counterparts, confuse sounds articulated in
the same place within the mouth, or confuse phonemes that are otherwise similar.
Session 5: What are the vowel phonemes of English?
What are vowels?
● Vowels are sounds or phonemes. There are 15 vowel sounds, 3 r controlled vowels, 2
diphthongs (oi and ou) and one indistinct vowel, the schwa. The schwa empties out the
vowel sounds in multisyllabic words.
● All vowels are voiced.
● Vowels have unobstructed air flow. They’re called open sounds.
● They’re similar in the place in the mouth.

Top is mouth closed and smiling to open wide at the short o to the long u and yu sounds.

Diphthongs glide in the middle giving the feeling of two mouth movements in one sound.
R controlled vowels are tricky because they are liquid sounds.

Children mishear and mispronounce long i and short o. As well as r and er. Subtle differences in
mouth movements are hard to see and feel. To build children’s awareness, draw attention to the way
we physically articulate each sound.

Long and short vowel sounds depend on the consonants that follow them. Tense (long) vowels and
lax (short) vowels which depend on the tension in the mouth.
Vowels are voiced, open phonemes produced with no obstruction of the airflow through the mouth.
Every syllable includes a spoken vowel sound. English has 15 vowel phonemes, plus the schwa
sound and three r-controlled vowels.

Diphthongs (/oi/ and /ou/) require that the mouth shift position during production of the vowel sound.
In r-controlled combinations (/er/, /ar/, and /or/), the /r/ sound affects the pronunciation of the vowel
sound preceding it.

Vowels can be organized in a sequence and distinguished according to mouth movements during
articulation:
● Tongue position (front, mid, back)
● Tongue height (high to low)
● Lip shape (rounded or unrounded)
The schwa, diphthongs, and r-controlled combinations fall outside of this main sequence.

Linguists classify vowels not as “long” or “short,” but instead according to tension in the jaw during
production:
● Tense vowels (/ē/, /ā/, /ō/, /ū/, /yū/, sometimes /ī/)
● Lax vowels (/ĭ/, /ĕ/, /ă/, /ŏ/, /ŭ/, /ŏŏ/, /aw/)
● Diphthongs (/oi/, /ou/, sometimes /ī/)

To come in Unit 2, Session 6:

● What about dialects, language differences, and allophonic variation?
Many teachers have English Learners (ELs) and students who have a regional dialect. In Session 6,
you'll learn to recognize and respond constructively to errors of ELs and dialect speakers. You'll also
explore how allophonic variation in speech affects students' spelling.
Unit 2, Session 6: Dialects, Language Difference, and Allophonic Variations
Because the United States benefits from a rich blend of diverse cultures, it also is rich in dialects or
language variations across regions and among different groups of people.
● Dialogue impacts syntax, sentence formation, and pronunciation.
● We all need to read, write and spell English words the same way for efficient communication.

People who come from different regions or countries often use different language variations when
they speak English. Language variations among English speakers can result in very different
pronunciations.

Dialect is a version of a language spoken by a socially or geographically distinct group. Systematic

variations in phonology, usage, and grammar.

Dialect interference occurs when two speakers’ dialects are substantially different in phonology or
usage.

Pronunciations of specific words vary across different regions of the United States. In some regions,
certain words are easily confused because they are often pronounced the same way.

Young students whose language variations differ substantially from General American English
benefit from systematic comparisons between their oral home language and what is spoken in
school.

Code-switching is the conscious effort we make to speak or write in a certain way, depending on the
social context and the type of communication (spoken or written).

The United States includes people from many national origins. Because of this, General American
English encompasses many different dialects spoken within our borders. We will examine two of the
most common: English influenced by Spanish, and African American English (AAE).

Spanish vs. English

● Each language is unique in its phonology system. Your brain becomes hard wired for your
native language.
● Spanish (17 consonants and 5 vowel phonemes) is a more transparent language.
● Children who have not heard English in their home before the age of 1 are not hard wired for
English phonemes and need direct instruction in the look and feel of English phonemes. How
are the phonemes articulated in the mouth?
● Biggest difference is with the vowels. Spanish has 5 vowels that are pronounced and spelled
the same way and are taught first. Ma, me, mi, mo, mu; da, de, di, do, du.
● When vowels occur in sequence, they are both pronounced most of the time. Some glide
together like muy.

Missing consonant is Spanish:

***See picture below.
Also /w/ is spelled hu like in hueso or hueco
Also benefit from direction and systematic instruction in phoneme segmentation, phoneme blending,
and phoneme manipulation.

African American English Variations

When a text differs from a child’s spoken language, it makes it that much more difficult for a child to
read.

Common Features of AAE

● Reduce or omit a final consonant blend
● Omit inflected endings (walkin instead of walking or smile instead of smiled
Understanding dialectical norms can help educators interpret assessments and refine instruction.

Children may respond to instruction differently because they are doing extra work: seeing an
unknown word form and trying to match it to known meanings.

When children are first learning to spell, their phonetic spelling ability is closely linked to their
phoneme awareness.

Judging whether a given spelling is phonetically accurate is not quite as straightforward as one might
think.

Phonetic accuracy in spelling can be hard to assess, because when we say whole words, we
coarticulate sounds and “smush” them together. The way phonemes are combined in words means
that their features can affect the speech sounds that come before or after them.

The highlighted words show what a student might get right or wrong in early phonetic spelling.
● The child represents the initial sounds correctly (/s/ and /b/).
● The child omits the /l/ sound when representing initial consonant blends (/sl/ and /bl/).
● For sled, the child has most likely heard the final sound, attempted to represent it, and simply
reversed the letter form (b for d).
● The child represents vowels correctly.
Allophonic variations
● Because of coarticulation, we smush sounds together to make them easier to say. These
allophonic variations often show up in students’ spelling.
● Aspiration–variation based on the airflow coming out of our mouth. P loses some of its
aspiration in the second place or at the end of the word. In the word spit, it almost feels like
the second sound is sbit.
● Nasalization–this affects vowels. Three sounds–m, n, and nk. The air has to go through the
nose, hence they are nasals. When a vowel sound precede a nasal sound, they are
nasalized as well.
● Tongue Flap–butter, letter, little, writer, water. The only difference between butter and
budder is voicing. Students often write the sound they hear rather than the sound they
should spell. The British pronunciation maintains the middle sound of t.
● Affrication–when pronouncing t or d before r or y, the mouth puckers up. This makes t and d
sound like ch and j. Students spell train like chran. Trick is spelled chrick. When we consider
drive and dress, they spell jrive and jrs.

A dialect is a version of a language spoken by a group of people who are socially or geographically
distinct. Understanding dialect is important so that teachers can anticipate ways a student's
phonology and usage may differ from Standard American English (SAE), and address these
instructionally.

Spanish has about half the number of phonemes that English has, and phonemic awareness and
sound-symbol correspondences are somewhat easier to learn. Spanish-speaking English Learners
benefit from direct, systematic instruction in the phonemes of each language; how to say them; and
how to segment, blend, and manipulate them.
African American English (AAE) is a rule-based dialect common in the United States, with
predictable variations in phonology, syntax, and other aspects of language. Students benefit when
teachers recognize that no dialect is inferior, draw attention to specific differences between Standard
American English and African American English, and help students develop the ability to switch
easily between dialects.

Allophonic variations occur when coarticulation of phonemes in a word causes us to say phonemes
differently from how we would say them in isolation. These variations, often reflected in children's
phonetic spellings, include aspiration, nasalization, flapping, and affrication.

To come in Unit 2, Session 7:

● How should phonological skills be taught?
Some students may need basic preparatory listening, speaking, and word awareness skills. In
Session 7, you'll learn which students benefit from phonological and phonemic awareness
instruction. Then you'll learn a variety of appropriate multisensory phonemic awareness activities,
including blending, segmentation, substitution, deletion, and reversal.

Unit 2, Session 7: How Should Phonological Skills Be Taught?

The front area recognizes individual phonemes. The socio-parietal lobe matches phonemes with
graphemes. Phonological processor is the lynchpin for reading the alphabet.

All students need phonological and phonemic instruction, regardless of where they are
developmentally.
● Prealphabetic phase
● Early alphabetic phase
● Later alphabetic phase
● Consolidated alphabetic phase

For kindergarten and first-grade students in Ehri's prealphabetic phase, instruction should focus on
basic listening, speaking, and word awareness skills. These children typically:
 ● Score below benchmark on phonemic awareness screenings.
● Display little to no understanding of sound units in words or concepts of print.
● Have a disability, a medical issue affecting hearing, limited exposure to print, or limited
English proficiency.

Students in Ehri’s early alphabetic phase are ready for basic phonemic awareness instruction. These
children typically:
● Score below benchmark on the Acadience® Reading K–6 Phoneme Segmentation Fluency
(PSF) assessment.
● Cannot break words into phonemes and have trouble with a few specific sounds.
● Spell words based largely on guesswork; spelling is not phonetically accurate.

Poor readers in second grade and above need more advanced phonemic awareness instruction to
build word-recognition skills and fluency. These students typically:
● Lag behind peers in their ability to manipulate phonemes (e.g., deletion).
● May know letter sounds but struggle to sound out words and to break words into syllables, or
syllables into phonemes.
● Struggle with sight word recognition and spelling.

As students progress through early phonological awareness and basic and advanced levels of
phonemic awareness, the types of instructional activities used during effective instruction shifts.
Follow instruction outlined in LETRS Levels of Phonological Instruction Chart
● Focus on speech sounds before letters

Early Phonological Awareness Instruction Activities (Pre K and K)

● Read books with rhyme schemes and alliteration
● Rhyme matching tasks
○ Which words rhyme?
○ Which word does not rhyme?
● Work with alliteration through the construction of silly sentences
● Use tongue twisters like Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers
● Syllables
○ Teach students how to blend syllables to form words
○ Silly Cesar speaks super slowly sum….mer
○ Tap or clap syllables in a word
● Focus on larger segments of sounds like onset/rhyme
● Move toward syllables, then individual phonemes
● Move from initial sounds to medial sounds.

Basic Phonemic Awareness Instruction Activities (K and 1)

● Changes to identify phonemes
● Identify, segment, and blend phonemes
● Start without blends (stick to CVC words)
● Represent sounds with blocks or colored papers to build words
● Practice identifying words that end with the same sound
● Say individual sounds (tap them) and blend the sounds
● Start with beginning sound, then ending sounds, then the medial sound
● Sound chaining: track the sound changes in a word using colored blocks. Like word ladders
but orally with sounds rather than written with words. The first sound is the easiest to
change. The medial and final sounds are more difficult.

Advanced Phonemic Awareness Instruction Activities (Grade 2+)

● Overlooked because screening measures fade out after grade 1.
● This is important in grades 2 and 3.
● Support learning to read and spell beyond CVC words.
● Can handle the challenge of working with longer words (5 or more phonemes and two
syllable words)
 ● Can handle working with longer and more challenge sound chains
● Change slat to flat. Where did we feel the change happen? Change flat to flash. Where did
we feel the change?
● Work with minimal pairs where only one sound changes. We’ll start with a pair of words that
differs in beginning sounds beach and peach. Then move to the end sound lash and latch.
Can you think of other words that sound alike but have different endings? Pain and pine only
differ in their middle vowel sounds. Can you think of other words pairs where this is the only
difference?
● Students can also work on reversal. You switch the last and first sounds in the word. Must
identify the first and last phonemes and switch them.
● Deletion and substitution can be done with words parts like affixes. Can also do this with
word parts snowsuit to snowstorm. Over flow to over time.
● Pig Latin.
● More focus on sounds helps students make the connection between spoken language and
print.

Phonemic awareness helps students connect sounds to letters and supports oral language, reading,
and spelling. Instruction should follow a progression of skills, focus on speech sounds, teach all
English phonemes, incorporate multisensory approaches, and use an I DO, WE DO, YOU DO
model.

Preschool and kindergarten students benefit from early phonological awareness activities focused
on rhyme, alliteration, and syllables. They can identify and generate rhymes, count syllables, and
blend syllables. Work with initial sounds and onset-rime prepares them to begin working with
phonemes.
Most students in grades K–1 are ready for basic phonemic awareness activities. They can segment
and blend individual phonemes and match words with the same initial or final sound. Later, these
students can change the first, final, or middle sound in a word, then move to beginning sound
chaining.

Advanced phonemic awareness activities begin at grades 2–3. Students can blend longer words;
work with more complex sound chains and minimal pairs; and delete first or final phonemes,
including in consonant blends. Complex phonemic manipulations (e.g., phoneme reversal, Pig Latin)
sharpen their skills.

To come in Unit 2, Session 8:

● What phonological skills should be assessed?
Session 8 will address the importance of regular and early screening for phonological skills as well
as providing in-depth exploration of one screening tool, the Phonological Awareness Screening Test
or PAST.

Unit 2, Session 8: What phonological skills should be assessed?

Multi-Tiered Approaches Include Early, Regular Screening

● Many schools use response to intervention (RTI) and a multi-tiered system of supports
(MTSS).
● Goals are to identify students at risk, intervene early, prevent serious reading problems, and
reduce need for special education referrals.
● These models call for universal screening and instructional choices that help at-risk students.
● Solid screening assessments for K–1 assess phonological awareness.

Why the Focus on Segmentation and Blending?

● Screening and diagnostic assessments often start with segmentation and blending tasks.
● Along with letter recognition, they are the most reliable, accurate predictors of K–1 reading
skills.
● Reliability and predictive validity of segmenting and blending tasks declines after the middle
of grade 1.
● Other assessments become more valuable once students start to read.

Why Do Segmentation and Blending Tasks Gradually Become Less Useful for Screening?
● Phonemic awareness is difficult to isolate or reliably measure and quantify.
● Assessing phonemic awareness skills may require multiple, varied measures.

Phonological Skills, Word Reading, and Spelling

● These three skill areas are closely linked once students learn to recognize graphemes and
words.
● Thus, word reading, spelling, and passage-reading fluency become better predictors of
overall reading skill after the middle of first grade.
Assessing Phonological Awareness Skills in Grade 2 and Beyond
● Phonological awareness assessments should give useful information about reading and
spelling.
● This requires measuring more advanced skills associated with rapid recognition of words and
with spelling.
● Advanced phonological awareness skills involve phoneme manipulation (deletion,
substitution, reversal).

Using Diagnostic Assessments of Phonological Awareness Skills

● Universal screening focuses less on phonological awareness after grade 1.
● However, diagnostic assessments of the full range of phonological skills can yield valuable
information about students of any age.
Multi-tiered approaches, such as MTSS and RTI, include universal screening intended to help
identify students at risk for reading failure, intervene early, prevent serious reading problems, and
reduce the need for special education referrals. Research-based assessments in K–1 measure
phonological awareness.

The PAST is particularly useful for phonological skills assessment. It uses increasingly difficult
phonological tasks, from early phonological awareness to basic and advanced phonemic awareness
skills. It requires the assessor to consider accuracy and automaticity of responses. The test also
requires the assessor to give the student corrective feedback.

Phonological skill assessments in grades K–1 usually start with phoneme segmentation and
blending tasks as the most reliable, accurate predictors of reading skills. After grade 1, tests of word
reading, spelling, and passage reading fluency become better predictors of overall reading skill.
However, phonological assessments are still valuable.