NIACE Phonics Seminar Thursday, April 9, 2009 - 15:10

A NIACE Phonics Seminar - held on Tuesday 31 March 2009 - found that there is almost no existing research in the UK & USA on the use of phonics with adults. Recent research from NRDC indicates that phonics is used very little, and unsystematically within adult literacy classrooms. However while this research was small scale, it did indicate that the use of phonics to develop reading and spelling skills was worthy of more extensive and detailed investigation.

Speaking at the seminar were Professor Greg Brooks, who looked at the theoretical background and existing research on the use of phonics with adults, and Dr Maxine Burton who focused on her recent research project with NRDC.

Despite the lack of research and indication of the use of phonics in teaching adults, the seminar provided examples of practitioners' and learners' positive experiences.

Practitioners from the Baytree Centre in Brixton - [PDF] and Leicester College shared their experiences of using 2 particular phonics teaching systems. They were very positive about the impact on learners' skills and confidence.

However, a number of challenges arose about the use of phonics in teaching adults:

1. Many phonics-based teaching systems recommend intensive 1:1 work with learners (and were developed for use with children in schools) and that can be difficult to transfer to a larger group setting, and where learners' attendance can be sporadic.
2. Some approaches recommend follow-up work between lessons with a "buddy" (in schools, often a parent) but adult literacy and language learners often have difficulty in finding someone with sufficient confidence and skills to provide that support at home.
3. It is difficult to see how these approaches could be used in wider literacy and language settings, for example where embedded approaches are used or in the workplace.

Participants were also asked to contribute to a "wish list" for future research and development. The suggestions were wide ranging but included:

1. Research into the effectiveness of phonics as an approach with adult literacy and language learners
2. Provision of more teacher training and CPD on the underpinning knowledge of phonics that teachers may lack confidence in
3. Advice for teachers on how to incorporate phonics into their teaching, in a wide range of contexts and settings