3 ms·

> But it is a benefit when it comes to technical papers, chemical names, and foreign loan words. Realistically, if I read technical papers and see a word I don

> But it is a benefit when it comes to technical papers, chemical names, and foreign loan words. Realistically, if I read technical papers and see a word I don't need to pronounce, I just refer to it in my mind as whatever it's written as. I learned phonics as a kid, yet have no trouble simply ignoring the pronunciation. Yet... since I do know phonics, I could pronounce the word, which is a strict superset of abilities compared to the whole word method. Which is my point... Phonics is strictly superior. There is nothing a whole word approach can do that a phonics student cannot, but there are things a phonics user can do a whole worder cannot.

camgunz 4y ago
It's strictly superior from a "can you pronounce words" standpoint, but not necessarily in terms of a "long-term reader" standpoint. As another "whole words" person who pronounced the 'b' in 'subtle' until he was in like 5th/6th grade, I can tell you I was reading and comprehending things that my peers in the "gifted" program were not and could not, and that continued... probably to the present day but definitely through my school age years. And there's evidence that the focus on phonics essentially kills a love of reading and has a deleterious effect on long-term reading skills [0]. [0]: https://bera-journals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/rev3.3314 https://bera-journals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.10...