Teaching letters-to-syllable connections enhances phonemic awareness in French preschoolers

The acquisition of literacy is a complex process, and understanding the optimal methods for teaching reading remains a topic of ongoing research. A strong predictor of literacy success is phonemic awareness—the ability to recognize and manipulate the individual sounds (phonemes) in spoken words. While the relationship between phonemic awareness and reading acquisition is bidirectional, with improvements in one leading to improvements in the other, the precise nature of phonics instruction that best enhances phonemic awareness is debated. The dominant hypothesis posits that teaching grapheme-phoneme correspondences (mapping letters to individual sounds) is the most effective method. However, the effectiveness of this approach has shown inconsistencies. This study explores an alternative hypothesis—the syllabic bridge hypothesis—which proposes that teaching letter-to-syllable connections is more efficient in boosting phonemic awareness and subsequent alphabetic code acquisition. This hypothesis is rooted in the fact that syllables are readily perceptible units of speech, present in children's language well before they encounter written language, making them a potentially more accessible starting point for phonics instruction. The syllabic bridge hypothesis is derived from the Developmental Interactive Activation Model with Syllables (DIAMS), which suggests that building connections between phonological syllables and letters allows children to later access and manipulate phonemes. Previous research on this topic has yielded mixed results, with some studies showing better outcomes with phoneme-based training and others supporting the syllabic approach. This study aims to clarify these conflicting findings by conducting a carefully controlled experiment that isolates the effect of the type of grapho-phonological correspondence taught.

Extensive research supports the strong correlation between phonological awareness, particularly phonemic awareness, and reading acquisition. Studies have shown that training phonological awareness before formal reading instruction leads to gains in reading abilities, and conversely, learning to read enhances phonological awareness. This bidirectional relationship is evident across various populations, including beginning readers, illiterate adults, adults with disabilities, and poor adult readers. The prevailing view emphasizes the crucial role of grapheme-phoneme correspondences in developing phonemic awareness, suggesting that learning to associate letters with their corresponding sounds is the key to mastering the alphabetic code. Numerous studies have demonstrated that phonics instruction based on these correspondences improves phonemic awareness. However, the consistency of these findings is not uniform, and other studies have questioned the superiority of grapheme-phoneme mapping compared to alternative approaches. The syllabic bridge hypothesis offers a different perspective. It posits that because syllables are naturally occurring units of speech, readily accessible even before exposure to written language, teaching letter-to-syllable correspondences might be a more efficient pathway to phonemic awareness development. Existing evidence supporting the use of syllables in reading acquisition comes from studies showing that beginning readers activate phonological syllables during written word perception. Early reading interventions based on the syllabic bridge hypothesis have also shown promising results.

This study employed a controlled, longitudinal teaching program with French-speaking preschool children. A total of 415 children initially participated, but after exclusions (due to non-French speaking parents, prior reading ability, or absences), the final sample consisted of 222 children (136 girls), aged 5 years and 4 months on average. Participants were randomly assigned to one of two groups: a letter-to-syllable group and a letter-to-phoneme group. Both groups received an initial session introducing coding and decoding. The letter-to-syllable group received four 25-minute sessions focused on learning associations between letters and syllables (CV structure). The letter-to-phoneme group received similar instruction focusing on grapheme-phoneme correspondences. Each session included various interactive exercises: reading aloud, letter-phoneme matching (letter-to-phoneme group only), dice games, lotto, and relay games. The exercises involved repeated exposure to the target letter-syllable or letter-phoneme pairings. Phonemic awareness was assessed using a final phoneme elision task at three time points (T1, T2, T3). Letter name and sound knowledge and syllable reading were also assessed at T1 and T3. The groups were matched on initial letter-name knowledge, phonemic awareness, and syllable reading scores (T1). Statistical analysis used ANOVA with group as a between-subject variable and time and syllable type (learned, unlearned, novel) as within-subject variables for phonemic awareness data. Separate ANOVAs were conducted for letter knowledge and syllable reading scores.

The analysis revealed significant progress in syllable reading for all children between T1 and T3. However, the letters-to-syllable group showed significantly greater improvement than the letter-to-phoneme group. Importantly, the main effect of group on phonemic awareness was not significant, but a significant Time x Group interaction was observed. This indicated that the letters-to-syllable group demonstrated greater improvement in phonemic awareness scores than the letter-to-phoneme group, particularly between T1 and T2. Planned comparisons further confirmed this interaction between T1 and T2 but not between T2 and T3. Analysis of performance on different syllable types (learned, unlearned, new) showed that the letters-to-syllable group’s advantage extended to learned and new syllables. A further analysis stratified participants into four subgroups based on initial phonemic awareness and letter-name knowledge scores. The letters-to-syllable approach showed a greater advantage for children with high initial letter name knowledge, regardless of initial phonemic awareness level. In contrast, no significant differences between groups were observed in the subgroup with low initial letter name and phonemic awareness knowledge.

The findings strongly support the syllabic bridge hypothesis. The results demonstrate that teaching letter-to-syllable correspondences is more effective than teaching letter-to-phoneme correspondences in enhancing phonemic awareness in French preschoolers, especially among those with existing letter-name knowledge. This suggests that focusing attention on readily perceivable syllable units allows children to implicitly learn sound-letter relationships and extract regularities between letters and phonemes, facilitating the development of phoneme awareness. The initial coding/decoding session did not significantly influence the overall results, indicating that the observed effect was driven primarily by the type of grapho-phonological mapping taught and not by general decoding instruction. The observation that the advantage of the letters-to-syllable group was more pronounced in children with high letter-name knowledge supports the idea that new knowledge is built upon existing knowledge; letter names provide a crucial link between print and speech. The results challenge the widespread belief that direct letter-phoneme mapping is essential for phonemic awareness development, suggesting that leveraging the inherent structure of spoken language through syllable-based instruction might be a more effective pathway to early literacy acquisition. The findings emphasize the importance of considering the developmental stage and existing skills of the learner when designing phonics instruction.

This study provides compelling evidence in support of the syllabic bridge hypothesis, demonstrating that teaching letter-to-syllable connections enhances phonemic awareness in French preschoolers, particularly those with pre-existing letter-name knowledge. This approach contrasts with the more prevalent emphasis on direct letter-phoneme mapping. Future research could explore the generalizability of these findings across different orthographies and languages, investigate the optimal sequencing of syllable-based and phoneme-based instruction, and examine the long-term effects of this approach on reading acquisition.

The study's limitations include the focus on a single language (French) and the specific types of tasks used to assess phonemic awareness and literacy skills. The sample, though relatively large, might not be fully representative of all preschool populations. The relatively short duration of the intervention could also limit the generalizability of findings. The effect sizes, although statistically significant in several instances, were not extremely large; further research with larger sample sizes and longer interventions may help to clarify.