Julie Prince, Formerly Languages Adviser, Hampshire LA

I became especially interested in using phonics in language teaching after reading an article by Lynn Erler from Oxford University in the ALL journal Francophonie (pdf). Lynn had conducted some research which found that, while teachers expected pupils to learn the sound system of French mainly by listening and repeating words and phrases in French, the pupils had not learned the phoneme-grapheme correspondence rules (the sound-spelling links) after one year of French, possibly undermining their pleasure and progress in learning the language.

At the same time, I could see how phonics were helping my 4-year old daughter learn to read in her first language. I started to devise my own phonic-based activities and tried them out with some of my Year 6 (beginner) classes. I also contacted Lynn and trialled some of her activities with my classes. The children loved the games and the phonics work seemed to have a significant impact on their French writing.

Since then there has been a significant increase in emphasis on phonic work in language learning. The Key Stage 2 Framework for languages includes specific phonic-related objectives such as:

• L3.2 Make links between some phonemes, rhymes and spellings, and read aloud familiar words
• KAL Year 3 Recognise how sounds are represented in written form.
• O4.3 Listen for sounds, rhyme and rhythm
• KAL Year 4 Apply phonic knowledge of the language to support reading and writing.
• Gradually, more and more resources and schemes are incorporating phonic work. The new QCA schemes of work for languages, for example, include a phonic focus in every unit.

I would suggest a progression in phonic skills as follows: -

• Identifying a particular sound
• Distinguishing between 2 sounds
• Phoneme-grapheme correspondence (linking the sounds to letters and letter strings)
• Synthesising and decoding words (i.e. building words up from the sounds they contain in order to write them and breaking down words into their constituent sounds to help read them)

Have a look at the work being done in English in KS1 to find ideas for activities.

There are lots of ways to help the children practise listening for a particular sound such as listening to a song and performing an action (taking a multilink cube, waving or passing a cuddly toy round the group) when they hear the key sound.

When helping the children distinguish between 2 sounds (such as ou and u in French or e and i in Spanish) there are lots of sorting games that can be played. Here’s one that might help reinforce some of their maths work, too: -

Physical phoneme venn diagrams

Place 2 large hoops on the floor, overlapping them so they represent a Venn diagram. Label the hoops with letters / letter strings corresponding to two key phonemes you’ve been practising e.g. oi and eau in French or e and i in Spanish. Ask for about six volunteers and ask them to stand at the front, giving each an object to hold. The words for the objects should contain one or both of the key phonemes to be practised. In turn each volunteer holds up their object and, with your help, says what it is. The rest of the class decide which hoop it belongs in. If the word contains both sounds then the object is placed in the centre section where the hoops overlap.

The children can then play this game themselves in pairs with a couple of hoops per pair and a set of objects for them to sort. The playground or hall would be ideal for this activity but it could be adapted, using small circles, for work in the classroom.

I have found the following activity is everyone’s favourite and really helps the children establish the sound-spelling links in the language they are learning.

The phoneme-grapheme running game

This activity is ideal as a PE warm-up in the hall but can be adapted to suit smaller spaces. Place large text cards of letters and letter strings on the walls around the hall. The letters should correspond to key phonemes you have been practising. The children jog around the hall and, when you call out a sound, they run to the corresponding card.

This can be played as an elimination game if you wish. If the children become so good that you can’t get them out (and they will!) you could have the rule that the last few to arrive are eliminated. You can progress from calling out sounds to calling out words containing those sounds. The words may contain more than one key phoneme (e.g. oiseau contains the phonemes oi and eau; cochon contains the phonemes ch and on). This makes the game even more exciting as the children will have a choice of cards. Eventually, you could invite some of the more confident children to take over your role as caller. 

Finally, it is worth noting the concerns of some Year 3 teachers that these activities might confuse some children and interfere with their literacy work. My suggestion would be to make any differences between English and the foreign language as explicit as possible. Why not make two masks of famous footballers, one French and one English. Two children could then wear the masks and act out an argument. For example, when you hold up a card with oi on it, the child in the Thierry Henry mask shouts oi (“wa”) while the child in the Wayne Rooney mask shouts oi (“oy”).

I am convinced that these phonic-based activities can help children’s reading and writing in the language they are learning whilst providing plenty of phonics fun!