ÃÛÌÒapp

Reading is a core life skill, and yet even today, reading comprehension among school students needs to be improved.

International reading scores in almost every European nation that took part in the PISA 2022 tests. Meanwhile, in the US, still cannot read at their grade level.

The impact of the pandemic plus greater awareness of neurodivergence, and other factors have contributed to the change in reading comprehension in schools. Debating howÌýto teach reading has been an ongoing conversation for years; so is the phonics-focused approach still the most effective strategy or is now the time to reconsider the traditional model and embrace alternative reading strategies?

We take a look at the pros and cons of phonics for reading, and other possible approaches that educators can experiment with.

What is phonics and why is it used for reading?

Phonics refers to a reading strategy where children learn the relationships between letters and the sounds they represent. Students ‘decode’ written language by sounding out words, which helps them read and spell more accurately.

Phonics teaches students that certain letters correspond to certain sounds, and that blending these sounds forms words. For example, the letter ‘b’ represents the /b/ sound, ‘a’ represents the /ă/ sound, and ‘t’ represents /t/ sound. Together, the sounds are formed to make the word ‘bat’.

Across Europe, phonics is widely used in schools; in England, it’s the government’s recommended strategy for teaching reading. Phonics is typically introduced in early education to support students’ foundational reading skills. It tends to start with sound-letter patterns that are easy to grasp, and advance to more complex rules and exceptions. Many schools adopt phonetics because it gives students the tools to independently decode unfamiliar words, which is necessary for reading fluency and reading comprehension.

Strengths of a phonics-based approach

that there are a number of advantages to using phonics for reading. The first is that it enables students to break down words into phonemes (distinct units of sound) and combine them to make full words. This ability allows students to spell and pronounce words more easily and accurately. It also gives them greater confidence to understand and pronounce new words.

Phonics additionally enhances reading speed by reinforcing automatic word recognition. Students can interpret (unfamiliar) words that have the same sound-letter patterns they’ve learned.

On top of that, phonics boosts comprehension by reducing the cognitive load (the mental processing) that students use for word recognition. As a result, they can focus more on the meaning of the word, which facilitates more diverse vocabulary.

The clear structure and development stages of phonics are also simple for educators to teach and track. There are that focus on specific phonic knowledge skills like consonant digraphs and one-syllable words, and multisyllabic and more complex words. These tests let educators measure students’ progress, and tailor teaching to the areas that students need to improve. In fact, found that 72% of teachers find phonics tests useful to identify students who are struggling with reading.

Limitations and challenges of phonics

Yet phonics has some failings. In England, there have even been for the government to drop its focus on phonics for reading in primary schools. Experts argue that being too phonics-oriented doesn’t give teachers enough flexibility to cater to individual student needs, and doesn’t sufficiently encourage pupils to enjoy reading.

Because phonics is rooted in processing language letter by letter, word by word, it doesn’t necessarily make reading fun, nor push children to read for pleasure. Considering that between eight and 18 say they enjoy reading, might a less methodical reading strategy be better to promote reading for leisure from a young age?

Language complexity is also an obstacle for some students using phonics. English is not a purely phonetic language, and many words don’t follow regular phonetic rules – for example, ‘said’, ‘knight’, and ‘one’ don’t follow phonics rules. These exceptions require additional instruction strategies like sight words or context clues.

Other criticisms of phonics are that it relies heavily on remembering word lists and sound rules, so can be disengaging or frustrating for some students with low memorisation skills. For neurodivergent students in particular, the rigid structure and repetition of phonics may be overwhelming.

Not to mention, found that phonics instruction can be effective for young students who have difficulty reading, but that the approach didn’t create significant effects for older children with reading problems.

Alternative and complementary reading strategies

Every student has unique needs to learn how to read well. While phonics is valuable, the best approach could be to use phonics as a base for teaching reading, and then apply different strategies on top, according to each student’s preferences.

These alternative strategies can ensure that learning to read is more impactful and more inclusive. Some strategies to experiment with are:

• Whole language – Students are encouraged to understand words in context rather than decode them by sound.
• Balanced literacy – Combines phonics with reading, writing, speaking, and listening, to create a more holistic approach to literacy.
• Sight word recognition – Focuses on memorising common words by sight, especially for words that don’t follow regular phonetic patterns.
• Language Experience Approach (LEA) – Connects reading and writing to students’ personal experiences. Students tell a story to the teacher, then read it back, helping bridge their spoken and written language.
• Shared reading – The teacher reads a text aloud while students follow along, having discussions and making predictions to build their understanding of words and storytelling.
• Vocabulary development strategies – Teachers give explicit instruction about morphology (roots, prefixes, suffixes), and context clues (hint words or phrases around an unknown word that can explain its meaning/pronunciation).
• Dialogic reading – Interactive reading where teachers ask students questions about the text as they read, to build active participation.
• Multisensory approaches – Uses sight, sound, touch, and movement to reinforce reading concepts. For example, tracing letters in the sand while saying the sounds aloud. (This approach is especially good for people with dyslexia.)

Bug Club from ÃÛÌÒapp International is another great way to diversify your reading strategy – and it’s been proven to boost children's reading progress by up to six months. The programme helps students learn to read with printed books and reading packs, alongside a digital platform with ebooks, phonics support, quizzes, games, and rewards. And, because Bug Club has a big range of fiction, non-fiction, and poetry, it nurtures a love of reading from a young age.

Finding the words

Phonics is a powerful reading strategy, but like many areas of education, it can be strengthened with a mixture of other tools. As teachers, pay attention to the materials and approaches that your students most deeply engage with, and progress most with, and personalise your instruction as much as possible.

After all, learning to read is not only an essential life skill, it’s also an opportunity to shape confident and curious young people in the world.

Further reading

Light up literacy in your classroom! Read How to get students into the rhythm of reading, Ten ways to create a reading culture in your school, and How reading helps students deal with stress and uncertainty.

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