1. Recommendation of report
The needs of children, in terms of their education and academic progress, are the main factors
which require educators’ understanding in order for students in primary schools years (i.e. 5-11
years old) to attain confidence that is essential for future development. Hence, teaching quality
should be at a highly effective level as well as consistent with regularly engagements in a variety of
up-to-date trainings that would provide teachers with tips for improving the teaching-learning
process. Generally speaking, through primary school years, ability to read is the main factor which
contributes to a progression in the teaching-learning process. Moreover, ability to read is the base
forming any other learning areas. Therefore, children aged between 5 and 11 years must master
their reading proficiency levels for achieving a further progression. The main figures in this
progression are those of teachers who should enlarge their knowledge base by comprehending
different variations of specific teaching strategies, leading to both benefits for teaching-learning
process and more specifically tools for teaching children how to acquire reading.
The objective of this report is to introduce teachers to two different forms of reading strategies,
phonics and flashcards, and to make clear their useful application. Although the report considers
both phonics and flash cards strategies, it acknowledges phonics strategies as a more useful
method in teaching reading rather than the application of flash-cards among primary school
students.
2.Summary of supporting evidence
To begin, phonics, known as “a method of teaching people to read by correlating sounds with
symbols in an alphabetic writing system” (Oxford dictionary,2016, p.1359), represents the way of
how one writing system works. Goouch and Lambirth (2011) published research information in
relation to the teaching of reading and especially made a clear overview of the use of phonics and
their place in pedagogy (see source 1 in further information section). Also, the book highlighted
The Rose Review (2006), called Independent Review of Teaching of Early Reading, which focuses
its attention almost entirely on phonics and the best practices in teaching early reading, providing
the Primary National Strategy framework for teaching literacy in England.
Especially in the English language, the child who will learn to read, needs “to learn to get meaning
from the print”. In order to teach using phonics methods, teachers need to be aware of both
children’s phonological awareness and phonics knowledge, listed by National Curriculum for
England (1999) as the main reading strategies. Both strategies aim at teaching children a wide
range of reading skills related to comprehending the sound and name the letter of the
alphabet,understanding the correspondence between sound and letter pattern, reaching the ability
for blending and identification phonemes in words.
Phonological awareness, referring to the ability demonstrating the explicit attention to segments, is
considered as the critical part of discovering alphabetic principle (Perfetti and Marron, 1998). There
are several studies (e.g. Blachman, 1984; Fox and Routh, 1976) which have found a strong
relationship between phonological awareness and reaching reading abilities among primary school
children. Moreover, Ball and Blachman (1991) indicated the advantages of phonological awareness
training for classrooms education.
Perfetti, Beck, Bell and Hughes (1987) and their experiment, involving first-grade children, showed
that those children, who had a superficial level of phonological awareness, are able to progress in
the knowledge of reading, however in order to master reading abilities, children depend on
reaching higher levels of phonological awareness.
According to Chall’s theory of Reading Development, based on the idea that reading is learnt with
listening (Jeanne, 1983), children in primary schools acquire reading mainly through receiving
direct instructions in letter-sound relations (phonics) and practicing their use. Therefore, that is one
more evidence, proving phonic efficiency and its benefits in learning the basic phonograms
The needs of children, in terms of their education and academic progress, are the main factors
which require educators’ understanding in order for students in primary schools years (i.e. 5-11
years old) to attain confidence that is essential for future development. Hence, teaching quality
should be at a highly effective level as well as consistent with regularly engagements in a variety of
up-to-date trainings that would provide teachers with tips for improving the teaching-learning
process. Generally speaking, through primary school years, ability to read is the main factor which
contributes to a progression in the teaching-learning process. Moreover, ability to read is the base
forming any other learning areas. Therefore, children aged between 5 and 11 years must master
their reading proficiency levels for achieving a further progression. The main figures in this
progression are those of teachers who should enlarge their knowledge base by comprehending
different variations of specific teaching strategies, leading to both benefits for teaching-learning
process and more specifically tools for teaching children how to acquire reading.
The objective of this report is to introduce teachers to two different forms of reading strategies,
phonics and flashcards, and to make clear their useful application. Although the report considers
both phonics and flash cards strategies, it acknowledges phonics strategies as a more useful
method in teaching reading rather than the application of flash-cards among primary school
students.
2.Summary of supporting evidence
To begin, phonics, known as “a method of teaching people to read by correlating sounds with
symbols in an alphabetic writing system” (Oxford dictionary,2016, p.1359), represents the way of
how one writing system works. Goouch and Lambirth (2011) published research information in
relation to the teaching of reading and especially made a clear overview of the use of phonics and
their place in pedagogy (see source 1 in further information section). Also, the book highlighted
The Rose Review (2006), called Independent Review of Teaching of Early Reading, which focuses
its attention almost entirely on phonics and the best practices in teaching early reading, providing
the Primary National Strategy framework for teaching literacy in England.
Especially in the English language, the child who will learn to read, needs “to learn to get meaning
from the print”. In order to teach using phonics methods, teachers need to be aware of both
children’s phonological awareness and phonics knowledge, listed by National Curriculum for
England (1999) as the main reading strategies. Both strategies aim at teaching children a wide
range of reading skills related to comprehending the sound and name the letter of the
alphabet,understanding the correspondence between sound and letter pattern, reaching the ability
for blending and identification phonemes in words.
Phonological awareness, referring to the ability demonstrating the explicit attention to segments, is
considered as the critical part of discovering alphabetic principle (Perfetti and Marron, 1998). There
are several studies (e.g. Blachman, 1984; Fox and Routh, 1976) which have found a strong
relationship between phonological awareness and reaching reading abilities among primary school
children. Moreover, Ball and Blachman (1991) indicated the advantages of phonological awareness
training for classrooms education.
Perfetti, Beck, Bell and Hughes (1987) and their experiment, involving first-grade children, showed
that those children, who had a superficial level of phonological awareness, are able to progress in
the knowledge of reading, however in order to master reading abilities, children depend on
reaching higher levels of phonological awareness.
According to Chall’s theory of Reading Development, based on the idea that reading is learnt with
listening (Jeanne, 1983), children in primary schools acquire reading mainly through receiving
direct instructions in letter-sound relations (phonics) and practicing their use. Therefore, that is one
more evidence, proving phonic efficiency and its benefits in learning the basic phonograms
