Perspectives on the teaching and learning of phonics in early years in Nigeria

Abstract

Arguments about the modalities to teach reading effectively in the early years have been a subject of discourse among literacy teachers. Phonics has been adjudged as a significant approach in teaching how to read and write. Two perspectives of teaching phonics, synthetic and analytic, have been found to dominate the argument on best practice. This paper explored the different outcomes of these approaches in the reading and writing to children. Evidence of research and practice showed that synthetic phonics approach is best for teaching beginning readers to whom English is a second language. As such the paper suggested six practical classroom practices to facilitate effective use of synthetic phonics to teach reading in the Nigerian context.