Sound it Out
音から考えて書く
Bringing Phonics into the Classroom
Reading and Writing in
Native-Speaking Countries
• Usually starts in Grade 1 (日本の小学校 1 年）
• Taught for 2 to 3 full years (at least once a week)
• Helps students to connect English sounds to letters. (Basic
reading)
• Helps the students to fix/correct pronunciation
• Helps students with spelling and writing
Reading and Writing in Japan
• 6th grade elementary school students are taught the
alphabet by studying the names of the letters
– 英語ノートレッスン１
• JHS students are taught how to write the alphabet for
1-3 months during the 1st term of 1st year.
Reading And Writing in Japan 2
• Phonics work books are usually given to the
students as homework
• Sometimes the students receive 2 or 3 phonics
lessons
• New vocabulary is learned by repeating after the
ALT or JTE and memorizing the word as a whole
Reading and Writing in Japan 3
• Romaji taught to students in
Elementary school is different
from English pronunciation and
different from Junior High School
romaji
• Students try to spell English words using
incorrect, romaji, spelling
• Students sound out words using incorrect
katakana pronunciation
This creates a problem
• By the time JHS students reach 3rd year there are still many who
cannot recognize or read new words.
• Japanense students often cannot ‘sound out’ new words, or when
they do often use katakana as a guide.
• They often need someone (the ALT or JTE) or something (An
electronic dictionary or CD) to pronounce the word for them.
How this affects students’ learning
• Students are at a disadvantage (不利） if they cannot
‘sound out’ new words they come across.
• The students may already know the word if they hear it
(from years of English in elementary school). So if they can
‘sound it out’, they can (maybe) understand the word and
the sentence.
• Spelling is a big problem on tests and in essays:
– When a student understands the link between English sounds and
letters, they will be able to spell better and get better scores on
tests.
How it Helps
• Phonics helps with pronunciation too!
• Knowing that l, r, v, th and other sounds do not exist in the
Japanese language can give teachers the chance to focus on
those sounds.
• It will also let the students start to connect those special
sounds to the letters.
I don’t have time to teach phonics 
• Phonics should be taught as a full lesson at least once a
week, but with the English schedule now, we don’t have
time to teach phonics full time.
• We CAN introduce small 3-5 minute
activities/worksheets/games to the class and do them EVERY
English class
• We CAN continue phonics activities from year 1 through
to year 3
• Let’s work together!
How?
– ALTs and JTEs want their students to succeed in English, both on
tests and with communication.
– ALTs know their JTEs are busy and have demanding schedules.
– We know you must teach the students many things in a small
amount of time
– Let us help you! We can make short work sheets, or fun phonics
activities to help the students build their reading, writing and
speaking skills that won’t take time from regular study.
Where to Start
• Introducing New Sounds
(ALTs)
– The Pronunciation Track (JHS)
• The difference between Japanese and
English phonetics
– Super Slow Motion Sensei (ELM)
• The Talking Head
– Use diagrams or props to help the
students see what you are doing
Develop
• Identifying Problem Sounds
– Sounds which do not exist in the Japanese language
• TH, R, L, V, F
– Sounds which are similar to one another
• V&B
• TH & S
• R&L
– The physical difference of those sounds, What are you doing
to make that sound?
Phonics Work Sheets
Phonics Activity Ideas:
Let’s Work Together
• Short 5-10 Minute Activities
– Group Phonics Competitions (Phonics Scramble activities)
– The Phonetic White Board
• 3分前Activities
– Phonetic ‘Karuta’ (Junior High School Karuta)
– “Listen and Write” activities