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Literacy Professional Learning Resource – Key Concepts

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Key concepts: VELS 1 & 2 | VELS 3 | VELS 4 | VELS 5 & 6

VELS level 1 & 2 – Systematic teaching of phonics (Wray)

Through the act of the teaching of phonics, phonological and phonemic awareness, teachers become aware of the significance of young students hearing sounds in language.

Wray et al 2000

The National Inquiry into the Teaching of Literacy (2005) recommends that teachers provide a systematic, direct and explicit phonics instruction so that children master the essential alphabetic code-breaking skills required for foundational reading proficiency.

Equally, that teachers provide an integrated approach to reading that supports the development of oral language, vocabulary, grammar, reading fluency, comprehension and the literacies of new technologies.

Reference: Teaching Reading, Report and Recommendations, Recommendation 2, National Inquiry into the Teaching of Literacy, Australian Government Department of Education, Science and Training, P.14, December 2005)

Research suggests that the explicit and systematic teaching of phonics is central to effective literacy teaching. David Wray (2000) and his colleagues argue that through the act of teaching of phonics, phonological and phonemic awareness, that teachers become aware of the significance of students hearing sounds in language.

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Professional learning activity and resource

An understanding of phonological knowledge (which includes the teaching of phonemic awareness and phonics) supports the planning and implementation of a balanced and integrated approach to literacy teaching, integrating the development of oral language, reading and writing.

Read and consider the following questions, in response to research findings that describe the impact of phonological and phonemic awareness as key influences on literacy acquisition:

  • What is the distinction between phonological knowledge and phonemic knowledge?
  • What are the implications for the teaching of these areas of knowledge in your learning and teaching programs?
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Reference

Phonological and phonemic awareness: Their impact on learning to read prose and to spell. (Munro, J., 1998).
(www.edfac.unimelb.edu.au/eldi/selage/documents/LLDT-PhonolPhonaware.pdf) - This article, published in the Australian Journal of Learning Disabilities, 3, 2, 15-21. reviews research on phonological and phonemic awareness.

Related materials

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