Chapter 1 Structure of English Teaching Reading Sourcebook

Chapter 1: Structure of English Teaching Reading Sourcebook 2 nd edition

Phonemes l The English alphabet has 26 letters used singularly or in combination to represent 4244 sounds or phonemes. (Linguists disagree on the actual number of phonemes. ) l A phoneme is the smallest unit of spoken language that makes a difference in a word’s meaning. (For example, the phonemes /p/ and /s/ are different. Changing the /p/ in pit to the /s/ in sit changes the meaning of the word. )

Consonant Phonemes l There about 25 consonant phonemes. l l l Of the total, 18 are represented by a single letter. Seven phonemes such as /sh/ /ch/ are represented by two letters. C, Q, and X do not have a unique phoneme assigned to them. The sounds they represent are more commonly represented by other letters and spellings such as the sounds /k/ or /s/ for the letter c, the sounds /kw/ for the letters qu, and the sounds /ks/ for the letter x.

Consonant Phonemes l l To produce a consonant sound, vocal airflow is partially or completely obstructed as it moves through the mouth. Phonemes produced for several seconds without distortion are continuous sounds. Phonemes that can be produced for only an instant are stop sounds. Phonemes are classified by the place of articulation (lips, teeth, throat, etc. ), manner of articulation (stops: /b/, /d/, etc. nasals: /m/, /n/, etc. ), and whether they are voiced or unvoiced (this, think). See the Consonant Phoneme Articulation chart on page 25.

Vowel Phonemes l l American English has 15 vowel phonemes plus at least three r-controlled vowel combinations. The five vowel letters a, e, i, o, u are used singularly or in combinations to represent different sounds. Vowels are classified according to the place of articulation (tongue position and lip position). Pronunciation of vowels may vary according to regional and dialect differences. See the Vowel Phonemes chart on page 27.

Sound/Spellings l l Letters or graphemes are written representations of sounds or phonemes. Phoneme/grapheme pairings are referred to as sound/spellings. In English, phonics elements and generalizations can be used to categorize the common sound/spellings which are used to form words. It is the multiple spelling representations for the same sound that students find challenging. (e. g. the long-e sound: be, sea, see, baby). See the Phonic Elements (Sound/Spelling Categories) chart on page 29.

Syllables l l l A syllable is a word or part of a word pronounced as a unit; each syllable contains only one vowel sound. There are six common types of syllables found within English words. There are four useful principles of syllable division. See the Syllable Division, Syllable Type, and Most Common Syllables charts on pages 36 & 37.

Onset-Rime l A syllable has two parts: onset and rime. l l The onset is the part of the syllable that comes before the vowel; it may be a consonant, consonant blend, or digraph. The rime is the vowel and everything after it. In the one syllable words sing, bring, and thing, the rime is ing; the onsets are s, br, and th. Not all syllables have onsets: it, out, eat.

Morphemes l l Morphemes are meaningful parts of words. A morpheme may be one syllable (pig) or more than one syllable (elephant). The majority of English morphemes come from Greek, Latin, or Anglo Saxon. The two basic types of morphemes are free and bound.