Syllabic method: characteristics of this literacy technique

The syllabic method of literacy It is one of the most popular methodologies when it comes to teaching reading and writing.

This method was developed by the German pedagogues Friedrich Gedike and Samiel Heinicke, and consists of teaching reading by combining vowels and consonants to form syllables. Progressively, more difficulty is incorporated, reaching as last levels the formation of words and phrases with sense. Let's see what its features are and how it is used.

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Features of the syllabic method

The syllabic method is a synthetic method, that is, it starts with small units and gradually addresses more complex units. Use syllables as the basic individual units, going beyond individual letter sounds.

When we speak, we do not pronounce the sounds of each letter in isolation. We do it by pronouncing syllabically, that is, emitting combinations of two or more sounds. That is why this method starts from the syllable as the literacy learning unit, since it is the smallest pronounceable unit.

While the other systems of teaching reading focus either in isolation or on spelling (as write the letter), or only in the phoneme (its pronunciation), the syllabic method allows you to combine these two aspects, teaching how to pronounce syllables and little by little teaching how to use them to form words and phrases.

How is it used to learn to read and write?

The syllabic method allows students to be taught to read by following a process in which complexity increases. First, children are familiarized with letters and their sounds.. Once they have learned how each of the letters sounds, they proceed to teach sound combinations.

It begins with the vowels, being able to incorporate images and words to facilitate their learning. Once this point is reached, they are taught syllables made up of combinations of a consonant followed by a vowel (eg, ma, me, mi, mo, and mu). Once they have learned these combinations, the difficulty is increased by teaching more difficult to pronounce syllables, with two consonants (eg, bra, bre, bri, bro and bru). When students have mastered these two types of syllables, those with an inverse structure are taught, that is, a vowel followed by a consonant (eg, ar, er, ir, or and ur).

Finally, the most difficult syllables are taught, those in which there are diphthongs (eg, gua, güe...), triphthongs (miau), four letters (eg, pres) and mixed syllables.

Teaching the syllabic method can be done using books with various types of syllables, which are called syllabaries.

Advantages of this educational method

The syllabic method presents a series of advantages that led it to be one of the most popular methods when it comes to teaching reading and writing:

1. Skips the spelling of each letter separately

It gives importance to the pronunciation of syllables.

2. Syllables are sound units

This allows the acquisition of reading and writing in an agile and fast way since they can be memorized more easily.

3. Can be taught in a logical and organized way

This is done by presenting exercises with increasingly complex syllables and following a pre-established hierarchy.

4. It is very useful in certain languages

The syllabic method It is very effective when teaching how to write and read languages ​​such as Spanish or Finnish, since they are very phonetic (transparent languages) and are written as they sound.

5. Promotes autonomy in boys and girls

Being a simple method of learning, it also allows it to be taught in an easy way, encouraging the students themselves to help others learn to read and write.

6. It is not very expensive

It does not require too many resources to apply, being a relatively cheap method to apply in the classroom.

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Disadvantages

Although it has been shown to be very effective when it comes to teaching reading and writing, the syllabic method presents a number of drawbacks, which may make other methods more suitable depending on the situation:

1. can generate impatience

Starting from the pronunciation of the simplest vowels and syllables, and little by little adding complexity, It may be the case that students do not see it necessary to go through so many steps to learn to read and write.

2. It is based on meaningless units

The syllable, as a unit, generally lacks meaning by itself.

3. can get monotonous

Some children do not like the syllabic method, since implies having to learn in a mechanical and repetitive way the syllables, which can become a boring process.

4. It can confuse with the goal to achieve

As it is mechanical learning, the child can focus solely on how to read and write the syllables correctly, being able to not understand the text as a whole and presenting difficulties in its comprehension.

5. The possibility of syllabication

Syllables can occur, which is the phenomenon in which children read each of the syllables that make up words separately instead of reading the word as a whole.

6. In some languages ​​it costs more

It is not the most appropriate method for learning languages ​​that are read differently from how they are written., such as English or French (opaque languages).

other methods

Although the syllabic method has been useful for transparent languages ​​such as Spanish, there are other methods that have been throughout the history of teaching in order to improve the skills of literacy.

1. literal method

The student begins to learn the vowels and then moves on to the consonants, one by one.. He learns to call each of the letters by name (“pe”, “ene”, “cu” ...). This is a problem, since it ignores how the letters in the word sound and the rules that govern their phonology.

2. phonic method

The sound of each letter is taught. Each sound is usually accompanied by an image that is recognizable to the child, allowing it to be assimilated more easily (eg, the sound /s/ with the image of a snake).

This method can be carried out gradually and makes it easier for the child to get used to any new sounds. However, since there are letters that are pronounced the same, confusion can occur (eg, "ce" with "zeta" and "ka").

3. global method

Unlike the syllabic method, in this method starts from the word or phrase and progressively goes towards its elements: syllables, letters and sounds. That is, it goes in the opposite direction.

First, children learn words as a whole, usually accompanied by images that represent them, and little by little they become aware of the phonemes and spellings that compose them.

Author: Nahum Montagud

Bibliographic references:

• Marchesi, A., Coll, C. and Palacios, J. (2004). Psychological development and education.: 3. Developmental disorders and special educational needs. Madrid: Publishing Alliance.
• Calderon G., G.; Carrillo P., M., and Rodríguez M., M. (2006). Phonological awareness and the level of syllabic writing: a study with preschool children. Limit, 1(13), 81-100.