English Phonetics Diary (8)

source: https://learningattheprimarypond.com/blog/what-are-r-controlled-vowels-what-are-some-ideas-for-teaching-r-controlled-vowels/

 

This week, I’ve decided to dive deeper into the area of syllables. I’ve chosen to learn more about r-controlled vowels, which is one of the topics taken by Susan Jones in the video called ‘How to Teach r-controlled vowels // teaching bossy r words in first and second grade’. I realised listening and seeing how to approach different syllable groups is important both for me (so I get to check how well I understand it) and for the students (either native speakers or those in the ESL classroom would benefit from it).

R-controlled vowels are the ones in which r comes right after the vowel - e.x. ur, ar, ir. We don’t read those two sounds separately but hear the syllable as one sound. After giving a few examples in the context - showing specific words, Susan Jones moves on to structure the process of introducing the syllable:

1. Familiarising with the sound - reading the words, recognizing the syllable, comparing different sounds. It can be done with a group of words, both with and without the chosen sound.
2. Tapping the sounds - separating the phonemes. Only after recognizing specific sounds students get to use written form.
3. Introducing the graphemes - here students practise the new syllable. Teacher gets a chance to introduce the rule used for r-controlled vowels and explain how to differentiate it from similar syllables.
4. Decoding practice - reading the world and blending. Words should be used in separation as well as in sentences. There are possibilities to work in pairs or small groups and complete the worksheets connected to the topic.
5. Encoding practice - writing the graphemes in the boxes, as well as spelling and writing down the words with specific syllables.
   

I think it’s nothing new but still important to mention to introduce the syllables gradually. Students need to have time to practice the first syllables before moving on to even decoding the next ones. Thanks to most of those activities not being time-consuming, teachers can use most of them regularly to focus on further practice.

I cannot emphasise how crucial it was for me to understand that the written form comes after introducing the word orally. In the past, I started learning the word by looking at it, which can be useful while focusing on reading and writing skills. When it comes to speaking and listening, we don’t always need to see the words to understand the context. Also, new words need to be pre-taught if we don’t want children to mispronounce them and struggle with using them properly.