Research supports the use of systematic and explicit phonics instruction and schools are using it to teach foundational reading skills. If you are wondering what this means for your child, we break it down here into understandable terms. We’ll also explain why phonics is one of the foundational skills needed for learning to read.

What Does Systematic Mean?

You will have noticed the smaller word system in systematic. This is a good way to help you remember what systematic means. It involves a system or predetermined set of steps that are followed. In other words, it follows a plan that has been tested and proven to be effective. So what does this mean for teaching reading?

Systematic phonics involves a plan for introducing phonics skills in a predetermined order that moves from simple to complex and is appropriate for the learner. In other words, teachers begin by introducing sounds in a step by step sequence so that new learning builds on what has already been learned. 

With phonics, the first step is hearing individual sounds in words. This is called Phonemic Awareness or becoming aware of the sounds (phonemes) in words. Phonemic Awareness is challenging because sounds blend into words and words into sentences forming a cascading flow of spoken language.

The next step in phonics instruction is teaching letter shapes and letter sounds and learning how to blend the sounds together to form words. For example, the letters s a t represent the sounds /s/ /ă/ /t/. These sounds can be blended together to read the word sat. This process is called decoding and it is used for reading. It is a challenging skill that takes lots of practice. 

The third step in phonics instruction is teaching how to segment words to hear the individual sounds and spell the word. To spell the word sat, your child has to be able to pull out the sounds they represent, /s/ /ă/ /t/, and recall the letter shapes, s a t, that represent those sounds. Then they have to write the letter shapes. This process requires knowledge of letter-sound correspondences (grapheme-phoneme) and is called encoding. It is used for writing and spelling. 

Although the steps are introduced systematically, they also happen simultaneously. Once a few sounds are introduced, a child can begin to read CVC (consonant-vowel-consonant) words and decodable books that contain sounds they have learned. They will also begin to work on encoding by writing short words and sentences. The process continues with learning more sounds, then reading and writing longer words.

Quickly moving from sounds to reading words and decodable books helps your child put into practice what they know about sounds and letters. In addition, it helps them see there is value in learning the invented alphabetic code that is needed for recording and sharing thoughts and ideas. And finally, it provides practice in fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension, which all play a role in becoming a strong reader. 

Systematic phonics instruction follows a research supported plan that introduces letter shapes, letter sounds, phonemic awareness, blending, and segmenting. The system gives early learners the tools they need to understand the language code and apply it to reading. 

Once the code is learned and early readers map words into permanent storage in their brains, they begin to use that information to decode longer and more complex words. This is the exciting self teaching phase that actually continues throughout life and allows confident readers to build a mental dictionary of 20,000 to over 50,000 instantly identifiable words. 

What Does Explicit Mean?

Explicit means that the teaching of phonics is direct and transparent. Children are not left to guess sounds and words. They are specifically taught the letter sounds and how to blend and segment sounds to read and spell words. Explicit instruction gives children the skills they need and a clear plan for reading and writing words. 

Why is Systematic, Explicit Phonics Instruction Used by Teachers?

English is based on an alphabetic code that links letter shapes and letter sounds. There are ~44 of these sounds (phonemes) in English. Speaking comes naturally to children as they are surrounded by the sounds of language even before they are born. Reading and writing use an invented code which is not learned naturally from being surrounded by readers and writers.

To learn the alphabetic code, a child has to hear the individual phonemes in words and know which letter or groups of letters are used to represent the sounds. English is particularly challenging because the same letter or group of letters can represent several sounds. 

For example, g can have the hard sound /g/ as in get or the soft sound /j/ as in gym. And, c can say /k/ as in cat or /s/ as in celery.

Knowing which letter or letters represent the sounds a child hears makes reading and spelling really challenging. Introducing too many sounds at a time can be overwhelming, so a systematic, explicit approach follows a sequence that makes sense and goes at a pace that keeps the learning at the edge of challenging but not so hard that it becomes discouraging. This approach also includes built in practice and review that reinforces what has already been learned while new information is being introduced.

You might hear a teacher refer to a scope and sequence when they talk about systematic, explicit instruction. Simply put scope means what will be taught and sequence is the order for teaching it. For phonics instruction, the scope would include the ~44 phonemes and how they are represented by the 26 alphabet letter shapes. The sequence would be the order that the phonemes will be taught. For example, the sounds for s a t p i n are often the first to be taught because they can be used to form many VC (vowel-consonant) and CVC (consonant-vowel-consonant) words such as: at in pan pat pin sap sat sip sit tan tap tin. 

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Systematic, explicit phonics instruction moves the learner forward in a step by step sequence and at a just right pace. The systematic part explains what is going to be taught and the explicit part is how it is actually taught. Systematic, explicit phonics instruction helps the learner map words into long term memory so they can be instantaneously recalled. The instruction is clear and precise so the child knows exactly what they need to know and how to use it for learning.   

Summary

Learning becomes easier when it is based on a research backed plan that considers the needs of the learner and the specific challenges of what they are learning. A systematic plan builds from simple to complex at a pace that meets the learner’s needs. The explicit instruction tells the learner exactly what they need to know to become competent at the skill. For phonics instruction, this means that lessons are presented in a simple to complex order that teaches how to use the English alphabetic code. This invented code matches letter shapes and sounds and is essential for reading and writing. Systematic, explicit phonics instruction lays a strong foundation and builds confidence so early learners can become strong readers and writers. 

Sources

Buckingham, J., Wheldall, R., & Wheldall, K. (2019). Systematic and explicit phonics instruction: A scientific, evidence-based approach to teaching the alphabetic principle. The alphabetic principle and beyond, 49-67. Link

Castles, A., Rastle, K., & Nation, K. (2018). Ending the reading wars: Reading acquisition from novice to expert. Psychological science in the public interest, 19(1), 5-51. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/1529100618772271 

Ehri, L. C. (2020). The science of learning to read words: A case for systematic phonics instruction. Reading research quarterly, 55, S45-S60. https://www.goodteaching.ca/uploads/6/0/4/9/60496921/science_of_reading_words.pdf 

Walkey, J. (2024). The Impact of Explicit Phonics Instruction on Emergent Literacy. Canadian Journal for New Scholars in Education/Revue canadienne des jeunes chercheures et chercheurs en éducation, 15(2), 293-299. https://journalhosting.ucalgary.ca/index.php/cjnse/article/view/79325