Programmes
Why these programmes?
Foundational reading skills are best developed through methods that directly teach the alphabetic code. A traditional phonics approach works for a large percentage of students, but many others require instruction that makes language structure much clearer. With phonics, students learn 'letter sounds', but they may not grasp that sounds exist apart from letters, or be equipped to distinguish the sounds phonetically. The result is weak phonemic awareness, which is 'the most powerful determinant of the likelihood of failure to read' (Adams, 1990). Additionally, several phonics rules only partially explain the spelling system, generating far too many 'exception words', which students are expected to memorize.
To illustrate, when students learn that letters have sounds (which they don't), for instance, that 'a' makes or says the short sound /a/, this can cause confusion when words such as raft and false are encountered. Further, typical phonics programmes attempt to teach the 40+ sounds of English based on the 26-letter alphabet. This means that some sounds may be overlooked or misclassified if they are not represented by a single letter of the alphabet. Included is the sound /aw/ in vault, which is given creative labels such as 'special vowel' or 'variant vowel' when, in reality, it is one of the English long vowel sounds. With regard to rules, common words such as give and have are often described as being irregular because they don't follow the much-taught rule that an 'e' at the end makes the preceding vowel 'say its name'. However, the 'e' in these words has nothing to do with the vowel sound; it is there simply because of a lesser-known rule that English words should not end with a 'v'. These features of traditional approaches can obscure the logic behind the code of English and make it seem unreliable.
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'...in terms of how we approach teaching letter sounds, it is very hard to learn "'A' says /a/" and have that cemented, and then be told, "But 'a' also says /ae/."'
- Stephanie C., teacher of students with dyslexia
In light of this, reading researchers recognize that effective intervention must go beyond phonics (e.g., Moats, 2019). These programmes have been specially designed to avoid the limitations of conventional methods and give students a deep understanding of how the sound, spelling and morphosyntatic (word and sentence grammar) systems of English work. For example, students learn that they (not letters) make speech sounds and that these sounds are systematically represented by different letters and letter combinations. Also in keeping with the nature of English, the alphabetic code is taught from sounds to spellings and not the other way around. Through such approaches, the content of the programmes is based solidly on language structure and is also combined with instructional strategies that have been shown to support learning, including both direct instruction and inquiry methods, as well as multi-sensory techniques. The programmes represent the kind of language-based instruction all students benefit from, but which is particularly important for students who have not experienced success with other approaches.
Who are the programmes for?
These programmes are most suitable for learners 6 years and older who have:​​
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a primary weakness in decoding, as opposed to reading comprehension*
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received extra reading support, but still struggle to read
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dyslexic-type reading difficulties (Read about programme alignment with the instructional needs of dyslexic learners.)
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a need for more individualized instruction than can be provided in a typical classroom setting
*Most learners with word-reading deficits experience improved reading comprehension as they gain the ability to decode written words and connect them to familiar oral words and mental concepts. Once decoding skills have been mastered, reading comprehension largely depends on factors such as oral language skills, verbal reasoning, and level of background knowledge (see here for more on reading comprehension factors).
All programmes address meaning-focused instructional strategies within the lessons, guiding students to make sense of what they read, but a pronounced deficit in reading comprehension, especially one that persists in the face of skilled decoding, may indicate that a learner requires an additional form of intervention. These include learners who have difficulties with receptive and expressive language processing or cognition.
In reading instruction, a one-size-fits-all approach is not ideal, so programmes have been differentiated to cater for learners with diverse needs. All programmes, however, adhere to the same essential instructional principles.
EARLY READERS
This programme provides intervention for students in Grade 1 who are showing signs of not acquiring early reading skills. It is also appropriate for adults who have had little or no prior reading instruction. Special attention is given to basic alphabet skills for learners who do not know most of the letters of the alphabet and/or have difficulty sequencing them.
Programme content includes:
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awareness of speech sounds through multi-sensory instruction
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phonological and phonemic awareness skills
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alphabet skills
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phoneme-grapheme correspondences, systematically covering the 40+ speech sounds in English
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common and tricky words such as who and once
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types of written syllables
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orthographic patterns and word study methods to strengthen orthographic memory
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spelling integrated with decoding instruction
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fluency practice with words, sentences and connected text
INTERMEDIATE READERS
The typical learner in this programme will be in Grade 2 or above, and will have learned the alphabet and acquired some knowledge of sound-symbol correspondences, but without having mastered grade-appropriate reading skills. The programme is comprehensive, covering all of the code-based skills needed for proficient decoding. It is suitable for adult learners who already have basic literacy skills.
Programme content includes:
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awareness of speech sounds through multi-sensory instruction
-
phonological and phonemic awareness skills
-
phoneme-grapheme correspondences, systematically covering the 40+ speech sounds in English
-
common and tricky words such as who and once
-
types of written syllables
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rules for decoding multi-syllable words
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the most common affixes in English; word roots of Anglo-Saxon, Latin and Greek origin; and morpheme analysis
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orthographic patterns and word study methods to strengthen orthographic memory
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spelling integrated with decoding instruction
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fluency practice with words, sentences and connected text
EXPERIENCED READERS
Learners in this programme, who include accomplished adults with dyslexic-type reading difficulties, will already be able to recognize numerous words on sight, but will also have gaps in their code knowledge that impact their ability to quickly decode unfamiliar and/or longer words.​ This accelerated programme targets specific knowledge and skills to efficiently boost their reading ability. For these learners, instruction focused on how to decode words such as cat and happy would be inappropriate. What they need is an understanding of the rules that govern English words so that they can confidently decode new words, especially unfamiliar multi-syllable ones. A key instructional strategy is the use of novel words, which require learners to slow down and think about the rules that determine how a word should be read.
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Programme content includes:
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all speech sounds in English
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phonological and phonemic awareness skills
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less common phoneme-grapheme correspondences
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tricky words such as separate and liaison
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types of written syllables
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rules for decoding multi-syllable words
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the most common affixes in English; word roots of Anglo-Saxon, Latin and Greek origin; and morpheme analysis
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orthographic patterns and word study methods to strengthen orthographic memory
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spelling integrated with decoding instruction
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fluency practice with words, sentences and connected text
BILINGUAL READERS
This supplemental programme equips learners who speak Jamaican Creole (JC), but are learning to read in Jamaican English (JE), with the skills needed to detect the differences between the two languages using contrastive analysis (CA). Because JE and JC are closely related, without explicit instruction, learners may not notice, for example, the difference between JC dat vs JE that, or JC av vs JE of. Additionally, they may find it hard to understand grammatical structures in JE that are expressed differently in JC. A lack of awareness of such differences will interfere with both accurate decoding and comprehension.
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Programme content includes:
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In addition to the content of one of the reading programmes, learners will be taught to contrast JC and JE at the level of:
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speech sounds
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morphemes
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vocabulary
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grammar
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pragmatics (social language use)
LANGUAGE COMPREHENSION BOOSTERS
Skilled reading depends not just on decoding (the ability to fluently translate print into speech), but also on language comprehension. This involves readers using their broader language knowledge to make sense of what they read. Although the ability to understand language develops in natural contexts of language use, such as conversations and independent reading, each programme is designed to boost language comprehension by addressing key features of 'book language' that can impede comprehension for some readers.
These include:
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complex syntax (grammar), which is used more often in print than in speech
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sophisticated vocabulary, words with multiple meanings and figures of speech
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text structures, including expository and narrative texts
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INSTRUCTION IN ALL PROGRAMMES IS...
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LINGUISTICS-BASED. Research shows that effective reading instruction is grounded in what linguistics has revealed about the structure of language.
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EXPLICIT & DIRECT​. At least 25% of learners will not 'crack the code' without help, and instruction that isn't clear and straightforward leads to unnecessary difficulty learning to read.
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SYSTEMATIC. Language is comprised of systems (e.g., phonology/sounds and morphology/word structure) that provide a basis for a methodical progression in instruction.
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DIAGNOSTIC. Ongoing assessment in the form of progress monitoring ensures that instruction is individualized, targeted and appropriate at each stage of learning.
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CUMULATIVE. The logical nature of English allows instruction to be planned in such a way that simpler concepts can be taught first and provide a foundation for more complex ones.
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MULTI-SENSORY. The brain learns best when multiple pathways (e.g., visual, auditory, kinaesthetic) are simultaneously utilized to process new information.