A strategy for teaching people to read and write an alphabetic language is called phonics. It is accomplished by showing how the written language’s letters or groupings of letters or syllables relate to the sounds of the spoken language. Language training that uses phonics entails separating words into their component elements. Children benefit from learning how to encode and decode written language.
Since English uses the letters of the alphabet to represent sounds, it is crucial that kids learn the links between letters and sounds. In order to assist kids to learn how to read, phonics teaches them this ability. Children learn the sounds that each letter makes as well as how the sequence of the letters affects the meaning of a word. Phonics can further be divided into two different types – Synthetic and Analytic.
Synthetic phonics emphasizes the explicit teaching of phonemes and their mixing to form words. It is a simple and organized system for teaching phonics. Thus, synthetic phonics is frequently referred to as the “blending and building” method. On the other hand, Analytic phonics focuses on breaking down words to find phonemes. It begins with well-known words and dissects them into their constituent pieces.
Check out how these two methods have various differences in the teaching approach.
Synthetic phonics vs analytic phonics: Diverging through definitions
1. Synthetic Phonics
Synthetic phonics is a method that teaches reading and spelling through systematic decoding and encoding. It depends on systematically teaching each of the 44 phonemes in the English language, along with the letters that go with them. Once students have a basic understanding of some sounds, they may utilize that understanding to form and decode words to read them aloud or to write them down.
2. Analytic Phonics
The Analytical Phonics method is frequently described as a “whole word” method. It depends on kids being able to recognize words instantly without having to “sound them out” or “decode” them. This method, sometimes known as “sight reading,” includes memorizing words from flashcards. Analytical Phonics enables students to efficiently read words by sight through an analytical conversion process, which is attained through consistent practice in both text- and word-level reading.
Synthetic phonics vs analytic phonics approach: Differentiating through examples
1. Examples of Synthetic Phonics
Students learn to recognize three distinct phonemes in the word bat using the synthetic phonics approach: /b/ /a/ /t/ that may be combined back into a word. The “synthetic” aspect of this specific phonics lesson refers to the act of combining or synthesizing sounds to produce words.
Take the term “crisp” to understand synthetic phonics in a better way. This word has two adjacent consonants, which occur when two or more consonants are close to one another yet may be distinguished from one another. students can split the word into its five individual sounds – /k/, /r/, /i/, /s’, and /p/ – in order to comprehend it. The finished word “crisp” can then be produced by kids by combining these sounds.
2. Examples of Analytic Phonics
The concept behind Analytic Phonics is by comparing a word with a word that contains the same or similar sounds. In this manner, students can learn to spell or pronounce a word that they are confused with. For example, the word wake can be recognized by the sound “ake.” Hence, students can understand the other words – cake, bake, make, or take.
Similarly, when students are exposed to words that have similar sounds, they are encouraged to guess other words as well. If the child knows the word race, they may try to guess the words including trace, face, pace, or lace.
Other differences
These two types of phonics are different in various other ways. When using a synthetic phonics technique, students are first taught the 44 English sounds before moving on to how these sounds might be expressed in numerous ways. While in the Analytic Phonics method, students start with the letters and work their way out. Specifically, analytic phonics focuses on the 26 letters of the alphabet and their most frequently related sounds.
The spelling component of an Analytical Phonics curriculum is handled individually. On the other hand, students in a Synthetic Phonics curriculum simultaneously learn to read and spell. As they decode words, keep in mind that they examine every phoneme, giving each sound the same weight as they would while reading.
In an Analytic Phonics program, the first sound and the word as a whole are the only things being examined. Spelling is generally addressed independently. In an analytical phonics curriculum, rhymes and the word “families” are given much attention. Consider the family of words that finish in -at, which includes words like cat, pat, rat, mat, fat, and bat.
A quicker version of phonics is synthetic phonics. Before learning to read and even before being presented with books, kids are taught phonemic awareness when they first enter school. Analytical phonics teaches kids to recognize complete words at first sight before dividing them up into smaller sound units. After the reading is introduced, letter sounds are explained.
How do these approaches to Phonics help students with special needs?
- One of the primary advantages of studying phonics is that it tells special students how to decode words independently, meaning they might probably require less assistance with reading.
- Phonics can also result in whole-word recognition, which helps special kids read more quickly as they practice.
- Students learn to recognize patterns in words and between words through phonics, which also helps them acquire fundamental language abilities.
- Because they are still learning which letters or combinations of letters produce sounds in words, students with special needs also tend to develop their spelling abilities considerably more quickly.
- Phonics training helps pupils involve in critical as well as creative thinking processes.
Synthetic Phonics Vs Analytic Phonics: Table of Comparison
| Synthetic Phonics | Analytic Phonics | |
| Method | Synthetic phonics is a method that teaches reading and spelling through systematic decoding and encoding. | The Analytical Phonics method is frequently described as a “whole word” method. |
| Teaching Approach | It depends on systematically teaching each of the 44 phonemes in the English language, along with the letters that go with them. | It depends on kids being able to recognize words instantly without having to “sound them out” or “decode” them. |
| Spelling Component | Students in a Synthetic Phonics curriculum simultaneously learn to read and spell. | The spelling component of an Analytical Phonics curriculum is handled individually. |
Conclusion
While teaching Phonics is an important part of the English language, there are various phonics websites for teachers that offer valuable information in terms of teaching methodologies, examples, and different ways of understanding the concept. Certain websites are also useful for students to understand phonics in a better way. Teachers and parents can browse through various phonics activities to involve students in a fun learning environment. As there are two approaches to this concept, teachers should consider the one that best fits the learning capabilities of students.
An engineer, Maths expert, Online Tutor and animal rights activist. In more than 5+ years of my online teaching experience, I closely worked with many students struggling with dyscalculia and dyslexia. With the years passing, I learned that not much effort being put into the awareness of this learning disorder. Students with dyscalculia often misunderstood for having just a simple math fear. This is still an underresearched and understudied subject. I am also the founder of Smartynote -‘The notepad app for dyslexia’,