Fonix
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Fonix Fonix
Why phonics? • Helps with pronunciation • Helps with unfamiliar words • Helps with spelling
Misconceptions • Doesn't need much time • Must be frequent • Vocabulary is not necessary
Problems for Japanese learners • It's hard to hear and pronounce sounds that don't exist in Japanese
Sound inventory • Some sounds have no close counterpart • R/L • th • v • Others do, but exist between Japanese sounds • but/bat • on/or • shark/Sherk
Combinations of sounds • In Japanese, syllables must end with a vowel • racket → raketto • Some combinations in English don't exist in Japanese • too → tsu • see → shi
Problems for Japanese learners • It's hard to hear and pronounce sounds that don't exist in Japanese • Katakana is BAD BAD BAD!
Katakana • It's a syllabary, which means that it can only represent the combinations of sounds used in Japanese • It cannot represent many English sounds • woman → ウーマン • very → べり • told → トルド • adventure → アドベンチャー
I hate katakana • Teaching with katakana develops bad, hard-to-break pronunciation habits • If students understand phonics, they don't need katakana for use as a memory aid
Problems for Japanese learners • It's hard to hear and pronounce sounds that don't exist in Japanese • Katakana is BAD BAD BAD! • Form of some loanwords make distinguishing singular/plural difficult
English loanwords • To fit the Japanese sound system, some words exist only in the “plural form” • shirt(s) → シャツ • fruit(s) → フルーツ • sport(s) → スポーツ
Problems for Japanese learners • It's hard to hear and pronounce sounds that don't exist in Japanese • Katakana is BAD BAD BAD! • Form of some loanwords make distinguishing singular/plural difficult • Understanding romaji can be a first step
romaji • Since only certain combinations exist, you can type Japanese with weird “spellings” • sushi → susi • Kamiichi → kamiiti • Tsuji → tuzi
romaji • Show the students how these weird spellings are pronounced and how to spell correctly • They learn how to spell Japanese words in English • They can understand the connection between letter combinations and sounds
Starting Phonics in Elementary School • Pros • Develop good habits at an early age • Keep students interested and on track when interest in English is at its peak • Build a better understanding of the parts of English before grammar is introduced • Cons • Inability to read and write (if applicable) can make teaching phonics challenging
Starting Phonics in Junior High School • Pros • Students can read and write to some extent • This allows for more approaches to phonics • Cons • Students may have already developed bad habits • Learning phonics and grammar simultaneously could be a heavy load • Interest in English may have dwindled