I have been a bit puzzled the last few weeks as the British Dyslexia Association (BDA) recently started a petition asking the government to acknowledge that the sole use of a systematic, synthetic phonics teaching programme does not meet the needs of all students, especially those with dyslexia. As I have studied with the BDA, I am fully aware that their training teaches dyslexic tutors to use systematic, synthetic phonics programmes as part of their specialist teaching interventions. Unfortunately, the BDA’s statement was not clear and has been misunderstood by many, as it appeared at first that they were stating this way of teaching phonics was no longer a good idea, despite all their approved phonics programmes being based on Orton Gillingham, which is a synthetic, systematic approach! However, I have now looked into their statements further and have discovered that the important, but very easily overlooked words here are ‘sole use’. The British Dyslexia Association have not been impressed with the latest government Reading document and wanted to emphasise that not all children will be able to learn to read with just a systematic, synthetic, phonics teaching programme on its own, but many learners will also need to use other methods alongside phonics, such as teaching of phonological awareness, syllable work, morphology, orthography and etymology. Learners with specific learning difficulties may also need an extra individualised, explicit, multisensory dyslexic intervention to enable them to flourish .
This statement from the British Dyslexia Association has also made parents and educators in many other countries confused. It is unfortunate that their statement was not very clear at first and has therefore been misunderstood by many, because those involved in education, especially dyslexic tutors in countries such as America have been working very hard to prove that a synthetic, systematic phonics programme based on scientific research is the best way forward to teach children to read and these are the very programmes that are used in dyslexic interventions, approved by the BDA. Many states in America are still teaching reading to pupils by asking them to memorise words, use context to guess words and skip words they do not know. This method of reading is not in line with the Science of Reading methods and is resulting in a higher than expected number of students in America continuing to have difficulty in reading.
The best ‘cue’ to a word is the word itself.
Mark Seidenburg
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In a world where you can be anything………
Be kind.
PJ 🙂
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