The Beneficial and Detrimental Effects of Phonology

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For years, phonology has been incorporated into language education. Young children are introduced to phonics as educators take them through visual flash cards, teaching them the sounds of the alphabet. Children learn to connect sounds into words, using what they learned from the alphabet to apply a system of sounds into a word. Controversy regarding this reading education method has additionally been popular. Although researchers have found negative effects in learning to read phonologically, teachers can still strategically incorporate it into the classroom as long as they are aware of its potential negative effects.

According to Bentin S. (1991), phonological awareness is "the ability to recognize the internal phonetic structure of spoken words" (271). This is measured, he explains, by the individual's ability to "isolate and manipulate individual phonetic segments in words" (271). When young children begin to read, their educator utilizes phonology by encouraging them to "sound it out". Here the children take a word, such as "cat" for example, and read it by breaking it into phonetic sounds: "cu"-"aa"-"tuh"..."cat". This method of language learning is useful for children because it allows them to read larger or unfamiliar words simply by sounding them out. Millions of education materials which focus on phonetics have been developed, including the "Hooked on Phonics" materials which were commercially sold.

Despite the popularity and positive outcomes of phonetics, its method is controversial. Many scholars argue that different approaches, such as the semantic (Dick and Jane) approach, are much more effective for learning how to read. Horrace Mann, an education reformer in the 1800s argued that the study o...

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...o be aware that phonetics can be discouraging since it requires a slow and careful start. In addition to this, teachers should understand that there are many false illusions about the benefits of phonetics and that it is acceptable to include additional methods, such as the semantics method into the classroom.

Works Cited

Bentin, S., Hammer, R., and Cahan, S. (1991) "The Effects of Aging and First Grade Schooling on the Development of Phonological Awareness". Psychology Science. 2.4.

Burke, D.M., and Shafto, M.A. (2004) "Aging and Language Production". Current Directions in Psychology Science. 13.1.

Dewhurst, S.A., and Robinson, C.A. (2004) "False Memories in Children: Evidence for a Shift from Phonological to Semantic Associations". Psychological Science. 15.11.

Horn, E. "Phonetics and Spelling". (1957) The Elementary School Journal. 57.8

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