The Benefits of Using Continuant Sounds for Teaching Reading
At The Reading Specialists we are very obsessed with the skill of blending and how necessary it is for a child who is learning to read. Often when developing the skill, teachers will say the speech sounds for cat – c – a – t, and most students will hear those sounds and put them together to say ‘cat’.
But what about the students who hear the sounds c – a – t and put them together to say ‘tap’? Or ‘tiger’. How can we as parents and teachers simplify blending even further for students who are struggling with it? The answer – Continuous Blending.
What is Continuous Blending?
Segmented phonation involves breaking the speech stream into separate phonemes before blending them together to form words. ( c – a – t – cat).
Connected phonation, on the other hand, involves pronouncing the phonemes without breaking the speech stream – sssssss-uuuuuuuu-nnnn – the s sound can blend seamlessly into the /u/ sound.
A study conducted in 2020 found that connected phonation training was more effective than segmented phonation training in teaching kindergarten students to decode nonwords.
The Role of Continuant Sounds in Continuous Blending
Continuant sounds are consonant sounds that allow for a smooth, continuous transition from one sound to the next. Examples of continuant sounds include /f/, /v/, /s/, /z/, /h/, /w/, and /j/ (as in “yes”). When used in continuous blending, continuant sounds can help young learners hear each sound blending into the next in order to say the word correctly.
The Benefits of Continuous Blending and Using Continuant Sounds for Teaching Reading
Continuous blending and the use of continuant sounds are effective techniques for teaching young learners how to read. By incorporating these strategies into phonetics lessons and reading activities, teachers can help children build a strong foundation in phonemic awareness, decoding skills, fluency, and reading comprehension, setting them up for reading success!
Gonzalez-Frey, S. M., & Ehri, L. C. (2020). Connected phonation is more effective than segmented phonation for teaching beginning readers to decode unfamiliar words. Scientific Studies of Reading, 24(4), 303-319
