How syllables can help kids read and spell exceptionally well

What's a syllable?

A syllable is a word segment (or a complete word) with one vowel sound or a combination of vowel and consonant sounds. Each syllable can have only one vowel sound (which may be represented by a combination of vowel letters) but up to three consonant sounds that combine with the vowel. We open our mouths once to start a syllable and close our mouths to end the syllable; therefore, each syllable is formed by one opening and one closing of the mouth. Since each syllable can have only one vowel sound, the number of vowel sounds determines the number of syllables in a word.

For example, the word "open" has two vowel sounds:/o/ and /e/. "O" is the first syllable because it contains the vowel sound /o/, and "pen" is the next syllable because it contains the short vowel sound /e/.

Syllables create units of spelling and pronunciation. They help us spell and pronounce words correctly. Syllables help us separate words into rhythmic parts for pronunciation, and they help us spell words by segmenting them into logical phonetic sections. Syllables are the finest way to teach children how to read by sound instead of sight. They are the natural habitats of all speech sounds.

What is a simple syllable?

A simple syllable consists of one vowel-consonant combination. The vowel can precede the consonant, as in "ac." Or, the vowel can follow the consonant, as in "ba." (When the vowel is last, the sound is long, so "ba" would be pronounced "bay.”)

 Why should we teach simple syllable sounds?

The best way to understand anything is to study it in its natural habitat. (That's why it's preferable to study lions on the Serengeti instead of at zoos.) The same holds for the distinct, individual speech sounds we call phonemes. Phonemes (except for vowel sounds) always occur within streams or segments of blended or coarticulated speech sounds. Though we isolate phonemes (or tease them apart from sound segments), they occur naturally as part of syllables. Syllables are blended phonemes. Though phonemes represent the individualized particles of all spoken words, we don't speak in individual phonemes. Instead, individual phonemes are coarticulated or spoken as syllabic units, which may be one entire word, such as "cat," or a two-syllable word, such as "baby."

We speak and spell in syllables, which are speech bubbles or speech packets for phonemes. Consequently, when students learn all the possible variations in simple syllable units, they possess the key to spelling, pronouncing, and reading words because all words are organized in syllables, and all syllables are organized as either vowels or combinations of vowel and consonant sounds.

We speak and spell syllabically. That's why it's easier for kids to say, sing, spell—and remember—simple rhythmic syllables and why it's easier to introduce alphabetic and phonemic awareness through syllables or syllabic awareness. It's also why the only part of Jack and the Beanstalk we remember verbatim is the stream of angry syllables that the giant utters: "Fe, fi, fo, fum…"

Conclusions

Syllables are the natural habitat for phonemes. By teaching students to study simple syllables, educators help them understand phonemes in a way that aligns with the natural structure of language.

Finally, simple syllables help students develop phonemic and alphabetic awareness, making it much easier for kids to segment, spell, and match speech sounds to their corresponding letters. Moreover, it's easier for kids to hear and learn to pronounce vowel and consonant sounds by saying, spelling, and segmenting them within syllabic units.

Students learn chunks of sounds when we teach simple syllables as units or strings of sounds. They learn to see each simple syllable as a spelling for a specific syllable sound, just as they see each letter as a spelling for a specific phonemic sound.

Thus, simple syllables comprise a syllabic alphabet of sound-symbol relationships. Each nucleic combination of vowels and consonants represents a specific chunk or unit of sound. And since every word in English consists of one or more of these syllabic chunks, spelling, pronunciation, and decoding become easier when students hear and see simple syllabic units in spoken and written words.

Teaching simple syllables is a straightforward and effective way to build each student's phonological library of letter-sound relationships, which they can reference to spell or pronounce every spoken or written word accurately and automatically.

Mastering spelling and pronunciation is made easier with the practicality of syllabic units.