Phonics
BEGINNER
Phonics means spoken sounds (think of the word 'phone'). Learning phonics means learning how letters make sounds and is key to learning a language! We write down and spell these sounds using the alphabet, also called the ABCs!
INTERMEDIATE
The alphabet is the system of spelling we use in the West, in England and America and other English-speaking countries. It is 26 letters long and it is how we read words.
ADVANCED
However, the alphabet is not really enough. At OXDA, we have counted 100+ phonemes (sounds) in English, and 300+ graphemes (ways to write those sounds) in English! For example, the letters t and h together make a th, which is a different sound from t and h separately. The TruphonicsTM course teachers ALL of these phonemes and graphemes!
Here is Oxford Owl with a nice video explanation of phonics!
N.B - Oxford Owl says there are 44 phonemes in the English language (rather less than in the TruphonicsTM system!). So who is right? Well, yes, the traditional view is that there are around 44 phonemes and 250 graphemes. When we were conducting our multi-year research into the English phonetic system, that was also where we started! However, here at OXDA, we like our TruphonicsTM system to be a bit more comprehensive, and we decided to include the full range of digraphs and trigraphs, sounds from loanwords, silent letter combinations and more, so that's how we arrived at our higher number! Both systems are 'right' - it just depends how wide you want to cast your net as to what to teach! We think that, especially for ADVANCED levels, these more difficult sounds and exceptions should be taught as well!