MFL teaching aids: Making phonics an indispensable tool in language learning (KS3)

Do I think phonics has a key place in the classroom?

Yes, in every classroom.

And there are so many different ways of bringing it in

to match the skill level of the students,

and to enhance where they’re going from.

In terms of where you would put phonics, in terms of priority in the lesson,

many would argue that we haven’t got time to do it.

In essence though it really is the fundamental building block of everything we do, do.

That’s why it’s so important that we make the most

of the precious time we do have,

and concentrate on getting some of these basics right

so that the students can then make much faster progress.

– 'Ist das Vielchen oder Veilchen?'

– 'Vielchen'… no 'Veilchen'!

– Veilchen! Why is it Veilchen not Vielchen?

– Who can explain? Sam, explain.

The children who might otherwise be…

less able to adapt to the curriculum

are really keen to get hold of the simple stepping stones.

And they are the ones whose motivation and whose achievement

has been massively boosted by having a constant focus,

not a huge amount of time but a constant regular focus

on phonics throughout the year.

I’ve learnt that using phonics

in a short, sharp but regular fashion,

the level of competence and confidence that’s built up is really really rewarding.

There’s no longer the fear of not saying a word because you’re afraid of getting it wrong.

In a typical lesson or a sequence of lessons,

we’d always start with the basic sound symbol correspondence

which could be a letter or a cluster of letters.

V oder W? Ff oder vf? Ok? You’re gonna get those sounds.

How do we pronounce those two options?

And we will use that letter to pronounce both the sound itself

and to show that sound in a series of words.

Ja gut, und mit ‘St’, mit ‘St’ Cesar?

– Stück – Stück - noch ein mit ‘St’?

There are so many ways in which

the students can then engage and practise it.

So, for example, with a listening exercise

we can read a series of sentences, or even individual words,

get the students to keep a tally chart about how many times that sound might appear.

You can go on more advanced from that and get them to recognise one,

a combination of sounds, or the difference between certain sounds.

You can then ask the students to think back

and recall words that have had that sound in.

You can also have them reading new words with that sound in.

Aber auf Deutsch schreibt man das mit ‘W’, ‘Wikinger’.

And you can then go on further, getting them to take down in writing

some of those things that you’ll be saying or for they themselves to practise reading

and writing what their partners are saying.

There are also flash card games you can get to,

where they pronounce different alphabet sounds or different diphthong sounds.

They really enjoy doing some detective work on that,

but it’s active, engaged, fun activities

which have a real purpose and the students understand.

Wer kann helfen? Ja?

Why is it Vater and not Vatter?

– Because it’s a long one. – It’s a long what? Well done, it’s a long…

– It’s a long vowel. – It’s a long vowel, it’s a long ‘a’.

Fantastisch, gut gemacht. Das ist perfect. Ok?

In the past I might have thought I‘d covered it correctly

by just introducing it in a few lessons at the beginning of Year Seven.

In practice, I’m finding that regular practice,

anything from five to ten minutes at the beginning of one lesson

and maybe even three to five minutes at a follow on lesson,

but doing it regularly really helps to drive home

and cement the sound-symbol correspondence.

And some of the basic phonic techniques are working wonders

with the accuracy and pronunciation in our Year Nine, Ten, and Eleven classes.

Not just for beginners, this works all the way through.

Practice makes perfect in every aspect, but this, like all the grammar learning,

all the vocabulary learning, cannot be overlooked,

and once the phonics is right the rest becomes easier.