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Letter names and sounds: their implications for the phonetisation process

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Abstract

Our aim was to analyse the impact of the characteristics of words used in spelling programmes and the nature of instructional guidelines on the evolution from grapho-perceptive writing to phonetic writing in preschool children. The participants were 50 5-year-old children, divided in five equivalent groups in intelligence, phonological skills and spelling. All the children knew the vowels and the consonants B, D, P, R, T, V, F, M and C, but didn’t use them on spelling. Their spelling was evaluated in a pre and post-test with 36 words beginning with the consonants known. In-between they underwent a writing programme designed to lead them to use the letters P and T to represent the initial phonemes of words. The groups differed on the kind of words used on training (words whose initial syllable matches the name of the initial letter—Exp. G1 and Exp. G2—versus words whose initial syllable is similar to the sound of the initial letter—Exp. G3 and Exp. G4). They also differed on the instruction used in order to lead them to think about the relations between the initial phoneme of words and the initial consonant (instructions designed to make the children think about letter names—Exp. G1 and Exp. G3—versus instructions designed to make the children think about letter sounds—Exp. G2 and Exp. G4). The 5th was a control group. All the children evolved to syllabic phonetisations spellings. There are no differences between groups at the number of total phonetisations but we found some differences between groups at the quality of the phonetisations.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Instituto Superior de Psicologia Aplicada (Higher Institute of Applied Psychology—I.S.P.A.), UIPCDE, Rua Jardim do Tabaco, 34, 1149-041, Lisbon, Portugal

    Cristina Silva, Tiago Almeida & Margarida Alves Martins

Authors
  1. Cristina Silva
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  2. Tiago Almeida
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  3. Margarida Alves Martins
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Tiago Almeida.

Appendices

Appendix A

  • Battery of phonemic awareness

  • Initial-syllable classification test

  • Cards with drawings representing:

Examples

  • bolo/nariz/navio/moinho (cake/nose/ship/windmill)

  • ilha/ouro/arroz/iogurte (island/gold/rice/yoghurt)

Items:

  • uva/asa/unha/ilha (grape/wing/nail/island)

  • enxada/ouriço/agulha/apito (hoe/hedgehog/needle/whistle)

  • rolo/sapo/figo/roupa (roll/frog/fig/clothes)

  • coelho/machado/piano/macaco (rabbit/axe/piano/monkey)

  • garrafa/galinha/pijama/moeda (bottle/chicken/pyjamas/coin)

  • tesoura/casaco/moinho/cavalo (scissors/coat/windmill/horse)

  • vaso/pipa/mesa/vaca (vase/barrel/table/cow)

  • chupa/fato/faca/bico (lollypop/suit/knife/beak)

  • janela/menina/tomate/torrada (window/girl/tomato/piece of toast)

  • girafa/panela/cenoura/palhaço (giraffe/pan/carrot/clown)

  • bota/jarro/ninho/bola (boot/jar/nest/ball)

  • saco/sapo/burro/mota (bag/frog/donkey/motorcycle)

  • laranja/medalha/lagarto/pinheiro (orange/medal/lizard/pine tree)

  • sino/data/dado (bell/date/die [as in dice])

  • Initial-phoneme classification test

Cards with drawings representing:

Examples:

  • colher/chave/chuva/bola (spoon/key/rain/ball)

  • jóia/nó/jipe/pá (jewel/knot/jeep/shovel)

Items:

  • alce/urso/arca/ovo (moose/bear/arch/egg)

  • orelha/alface/árvore/igreja (ear/lettuce/tree/church)

  • raposa/regador/viola/boneca (fox/watering-pot/guitar/doll)

  • mala/peixe/chucha/mota (bag/fish/[baby’s] dummy/motorcycle)

  • sumo/gola/leite/gato (juice/collar/milk/cat)

  • buzina/cegonha/vassoura/veado (horn/stork/broom/deer)

  • serra/copo/cama/lupa (saw/glass/bed/magnifying glass)

  • fivela/telhado/janela/fogueira (buckle/roof/window/bonfire)

  • boca/tigre/selo/tacho (mouth/tiger/stamp/saucepan)

  • pato/pêra/milho/chuva (duck/pear/corn/rain)

  • tijolo/bolacha/seringa/banana (brick/biscuit/syringe/banana)

  • cebola/toalha/gaveta/cigarro (onion/towel/drawer/cigarette)

  • lata/luva/roda/fita (can/glove/wheel/ribbon)

  • desenho/camisa/dominó/novelo (drawing/shirt/domino/ball of wool)

  • Phonemic segmentation test

Cards with drawings representing:

Examples:

  • chá (tea)

  • osso (bone)

Items:

  • asa (wing)

  • avô (grandfather)

  • rua (street)

  • mar (sea)

  • gorro (cap)

  • via (road)

  • carro (car)

  • figo (fig)

  • taça (cup)

  • pá (shovel)

  • bule (teapot)

  • sol (sun)

  • lã (wool)

  • dia (day)

Appendix B

List of words used in the pre- and post-test dictation test

B

D

P

R

T

V

F

M

C

BALA

[babα]

DADO

[dadu]

PATA

[patα]

RATO

[Ratu]

TACHO

[taʃu]

VACA

[vakα]

FACA

[fakα]

MATA

[matα]

CAPA

[kapα]

BICO

[biku]

DITA

[ditα]

PIPA

[pipα]

RICA

[Rikα]

TINA

[tinα]

VILA

[vilα]

FITA

[fitα]

MILHO

[miλu]

QUILO

[kilu]

BOLO

[bobu]

DONO

[donu]

POÇO

[posu]

RODA

[Rodα]

TODA

[todα]

VOTA

[votα]

FOCA

[fokα]

MOTA

[motα]

COLA

[kolα]

BURRO

[buRu]

DUNA

[dunα]

PUMA

[pumα]

RUGA

[Rugα]

TUBO

[tubu]

VUDU

[vudu]

FUMO

[fumu]

MULA

[mulα]

CUME

[kumə]

Appendix C

List of words used in the training sessions

Experimental groups 1 and 2

Session 1

Pena

[penα]

Papo

[papu]

Povo

[povu]

Pico

[piku]

Pulo

[pulu]

Pêssego

[pesəgu]

Página

[pajinα]

Pousada

[pozadα]

Picada

[pikadα]

Pomada

[pumadα]

Session 2

Peso

[pezu]

Parra

[paRa]

Podre

[podrə]

Pinha

[piɲα]

Puxa

[puʃα]

Pelado

[peladu]

Pálido

[palidu]

Poupado

[popadu]

Pimenta

[pimẽtα]

Poema

[puemα]

Session 3

Tema

[temα]

Taça

[tasα]

Tolo

[tolu]

Tipo

[tipu]

Tufo

[tufu]

Têismo

[teiʃmu]

Tábua

[tabuα]

Toutiço

[totisu]

Tigela

[tijelα]

Tucano

[tukαnu]

Session 4

Teta

[tetα]

Taco

[taku

Torre

[toRə]

Tio

[tiu]

Tule

[tulə]

Têbano

[tebαnu]

Tafetá

[tafəta]

Toupeira

[topαjrα]

Tiago

[tiagu]

Tubara

[tubαrα]

Session 5

Perro

[peRu]

Palha

[paλα]

Ponha

[poɲα]

Pica

[pikα]

Pura

[purα]

Teso

[tezu]

Talho

[taλu]

Toda

[todα]

Tia

[tiα]

Tuta

[tutα]

Pêsame

[pezmə]

Pátio

[patiu]

Pousio

[poziu]

Piano

[piαnu]

Puxado

[puʃadu]

Têtado

[tetαdu]

Tamanca

[tamᾶkα]

Toucinho

[tosiɲu]

Tijolo

[tijolu]

Tulipa

[tulipα]

Experimental groups 3 and 4

Session 1

Peru

[pəru]

Papo

[papu]

Povo

[povu]

Pico

[piku]

Pulo

[pulu]

Pesado

[pəzadu]

Página

[pajinα]

Pousada

[pozadα]

Picada

[pikadα]

Pomada

[pumadα]

Session 2

Petiz

[pətiʃ]

Parra

[paRa]

Podre

[podrə]

Pinha

[piɲα]

Puxa

[puʃα]

Pepita

[pəpitα]

Pálido

[palidu]

Poupado

[popadu]

Pimenta

[pimẽtα]

Poema

[puemα]

Session 3

Temer

[temər]

Taça

[tasα]

Tolo

[tolu]

Tipo

[tipu]

Tufo

[tufu]

Telhado

[teλadu]

Tábua

[tabuα]

Toutiço

[totisu]

Tigela

[tijelα]

Tucano

[tukαnu]

Session 4

Temor

[temor]

Taco

[taku]

Torre

[toRə]

Tio

[tiu]

Tule

[tulə]

Tecido

[tesidu]

Tafetá

[tafəta]

Toupeira

[topαjrα]

Tiago

[tiagu]

Tubara

[tubαrα]

Session 5

Pedir

[pədir]

Palha

[paλα]

Ponha

[poɲα]

Pica

[pikα]

Pura

[purα]

Tenaz

[tenaʃ]

Talho

[taλu]

Toda

[todα]

Tia

[tiα]

Tuta

[tutα]

Pepino

[pəpinu]

Pátio

[patiu]

Pousio

[poziu]

Piano

[piαnu]

Puxado

[puʃadu]

Tesoura

[tezorα]

Tamanca

[tamᾶkα]

Toucinho

[tosiɲu]

Tijolo

[tijolu]

Tulipa

[tulipα]

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Silva, C., Almeida, T. & Alves Martins, M. Letter names and sounds: their implications for the phonetisation process. Read Writ 23, 147–172 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11145-008-9157-3

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