Is Phonics really useful to HK kids?

sweet_heart2011

Is Phonics really useful for kids learning English as a second language in a non-native environment?  (i.e. classmates all local, parents local, relatives local)  I see a lot of Phonics classes in HK and it seems everyone is talking Phonics.

Phonics allow one to read an English word with approximately correct pronunication, but it won't make one understand the meaning of the words and won't make one able to speak fluently or make one able to listen to what native (with different accents) speakers say.  English is such a irregular language with so so many exception in pronunciation that no rules can be applied consistently.

I think Phonics is more helpful to people in an native English environment because they already speak / listen to the language from parents, teachers, TV and friends but they may not know the words yet.  By learning Phonics they can link the words to meaning and learn the spelling too.

Just sharing my views on Phonics...

sweet_heart2011

回覆 HKTHK 的帖子

For me, I was not that lucky in my childhood.  Apart from what I was taught in schools, I didnt have any chance/money to learn any additional stuff, except a few revision courses for HKCEE/HKALE.
For my kids, if their pre-schools teach them Phonics, I cant help but I wouldnt spend extra efforts on it to train them on Phonics in their early ages.  I will read with them, read to them and talk to them normally.  While reading together, I will show them how to pronounce each word.  I wont care too much on spelling at this stage (their test scores may suffer).  To me, reading is a skills by recognizing words, phrases, sentence structures and at the end the meaning of the texts.  Visually and mentally breaking down words into syllables will affect their reading capability.  And also, I dont think English is a language that anyone can read correctly the first time they come across a new word because there are so so many exceptions (let alone all those borrowed words).  I dont have many examples on top of my head now. But look at, "good"' "food", and "blood", "glue", "blue" and "clue".  See the difference in "blood"?  If someone knows "food" and "good" and they first come across "blood", without applying any exceptional rules, they would have pronounced "blood" wrongly.  And exception means you have to remember one by one.  :)

Phonics should be learnt alongside the language, not ahead of it.

Of course, in my experience, I have noticed people who are naturally very good in spelling (like myself, heehee) and some who aren't that good.  So I will observe how my kids develop.  Phonics or any other tools to assist language learning may be used at a later stage in their education.  因材施教也！