HOW VERY YOUNG LEARNERS LEARN TO CRACK THE CODE OF READING

Language learners are considered literate only when they learn to read and write along with their oral-aural competency. Phonics-based instruction has been the core of many first and second language classes for young learners throughout the last decades. However, the efficiency of phonics-based instruction has always been under question where time factor is an issue. Using typical phonics materials, young learners are taught that each letter represents a sound and to reinforce learning, child-appealing keywords are given as examples. However, in conventional phonics classes, young learners are continuously exposed with regularities that are violated by irregularities in the following lessons. This has made learning to read and write through phonics-based instruction very slow and even frustrating. As a result, both parents and teachers use the sight word (whole word) technique as an alternative solution where immediate results are desired. In this presentation, the presenter shares the very common mistakes that take place in phonics-based instruction and provides solutions for teaching very young learners to start reading very quickly. Through this presentation, participant teachers learn how, within five hours, learners learn to decode and blend and how fast they start reading their first words and their first sentences.