Phonemic awareness - Where can I buy it?

As the first in our new series on educational buzzwords, Teresa Burns gives some helpful advice

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Have you got phonemic awareness? Or phoneme awareness? Or phonic awareness? Or phonological awareness? (I can't yet work out the difference.) Well, if you haven't, you should be ashamed of yourself! But then, maybe it's something you always had, but weren't especially aware of - like the ability to laugh. Anyway, it's very important in dyslexia, and, if you haven't got it, now's the time to put this right. Read on . . . The most important thing is to mention this key buzzword on all possible occasions. Practice saying it at home in front of the mirror. If you're a teacher going for an interview, you could practice a little sentence like: "Of course, phonemic awareness is a key issue here." The interviewing board probably don't know what it is either, so will not want to show their ignorance by asking. If you're a parent heading off to Parents' Evening, practice saying: "What do you think about Jimmy's phonemic awareness?", holding your chin as you look anxiously into the young teacher's eyes. Don't worry, teachers are highly trained in dealing with situations like this, and will happily reply that he's a lovely boy and making very good progress, but you will have made an important impression: young Jimmy will henceforth be seen in a far more favorable light by his teachers, as the son of knowledgeable parents, and will be given close attention every time he opens his mouth to speak. The important thing is to make an impression, and phonemic awareness is the way! If you're a psychologist, there's no need for additional practice - you're already quite used to throwing in a whole range of technical expressions whose meaning is quite impenetrable to the rest of the world, and phonemic awareness is just another weapon in your armory. But how do you write it? The phonemic awareness school of education has strict rules about this. Never write a letter on its own! If you want to write 'cat', for example, you must write: /c/ /a/ /t/ . Looks good, eh? And professional! A private code which appears sufficiently mysterious to make everyone else feel a complete idiot. Brilliant for polishing up the ego! Mind you, it gets a bit laborious when you come to write words like 'disingenuous' and 'extraordinarily-childish'. And how do you say it? How do you actually pronounce this handy little expression? Lengthy practice is required to achieve mastery of this key linguistic phonological tool, and you may ruin the effect you wish to create if you come unstuck here. There are three syllables to learn. The first is 'pho', which rhymes with 'row'. No, that's wrong, because 'row could be either 'row the boat' or 'mom and dad had a row'! Let's try again: 'pho' is like the beginning of 'photograph'. Get it? Now practice this first syllable, but be careful not to say 'photonemic', which is a common error in beginners. The final two syllables - I'm getting into the swing of this now - are 'nemic'. This is a little harder, but will come with nightly practice for a month or two. To get the pronunciation right, just think of 'anemic' - having weak blood - and make the rhyme: If you think your awareness is barely phonemic, Just remember: It could be worse - You could be anemic! Which must be the worst verse this side of the Milky Way galaxy! Two words (collection of phonemic items?) of warning here: firstly, whatever you do, don't get nervous and end up telling everyone that you are aware of your anemia. The last thing you want is to accidentally start up one of those last-time-I-was-in-hospital conversations where everyone starts telling you the intimate details of their last bowel telescoptemy. Secondly, never give the impression that dyslexia is like anemia, only with spelling words. That would be fatal. If you're really caught in a tight corner with your back to the wall and your defenses down, just explain in as calm a voice as possible, that dyslexic children have difficulty hearing the sounds in words - like 'c-a-t' as three separate sounds. They may not believe you, but that's all it is . . . Happy blending! Teresa Burns 2000

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