Letter sound knowledge
The Alphabetic Principle | Reading Rockets
Not knowing letter names is related to children's difficulty in learning letter sounds and in recognizing words. Children cannot understand and apply the alphabetic principle (understanding that there are systematic and predictable relationships between written letters and spoken sounds) until they can recognize and name a number of letters.
Children whose alphabetic knowledge is not well developed when they start school need sensibly organized instruction that will help them identify, name, and write letters. Once children are able to identify and name letters with ease, they can begin to learn letter sounds and spellings.
Children appear to acquire alphabetic knowledge in a sequence that begins with letter names, then letter shapes, and finally letter sounds. Children learn letter names by singing songs such as the "Alphabet Song," and by reciting rhymes. They learn letter shapes as they play with blocks, plastic letters, and alphabetic books.
Informal but planned instruction in which children have many opportunities to see, play with, and compare letters leads to efficient letter learning. This instruction should include activities in which children learn to identify, name, and write both upper case and lower case versions of each letter.
What is the "alphabetic principle"?
Children's reading development is dependent on their understanding of the alphabetic principle – the idea that letters and letter patterns represent the sounds of spoken language. Learning that there are predictable relationships between sounds and letters allows children to apply these relationships to both familiar and unfamiliar words, and to begin to read with fluency.
The goal of phonics instruction is to help children to learn and be able to use the Alphabetic Principle. The alphabetic principle is the understanding that there are systematic and predictable relationships between written letters and spoken sounds. Phonics instruction helps children learn the relationships between the letters of written language and the sounds of spoken language.
Two issues of importance in instruction in the alphabetic principle are the plan of instruction and the rate of instruction.
The alphabetic principle plan of instruction
- Teach letter-sound relationships explicitly and in isolation.
- Provide opportunities for children to practice letter-sound relationships in daily lessons.
- Provide practice opportunities that include new sound-letter relationships, as well as cumulatively reviewing previously taught relationships.
- Give children opportunities early and often to apply their expanding knowledge of sound-letter relationships to the reading of phonetically spelled words that are familiar in meaning.
Rate and sequence of instruction
No set rule governs how fast or how slow to introduce letter-sound relationships. One obvious and important factor to consider in determining the rate of introduction is the performance of the group of students with whom the instruction is to be used.
Furthermore, there is no agreed upon order in which to introduce the letter-sound relationships. It is generally agreed, however, that the earliest relationships introduced should be those that enable children to begin reading words as soon as possible. That is, the relationships chosen should have high utility. For example, the spellings m, a, t, s, p, and h are high utility, but the spellings x as in box, gh, as in through, ey as in they, and a as in want are of lower utility.
It is also a good idea to begin instruction in sound-letter relationships by choosing consonants such as f, m, n, r, and s, whose sounds can be pronounced in isolation with the least distortion. Stop sounds at the beginning or middle of words are harder for children to blend than are continuous sounds.
Instruction should also separate the introduction of sounds for letters that are auditorily confusing, such as /b/ and /v/ or /i/ and /e/, or visually confusing, such as b and d or p and g.
Instruction might start by introducing two or more single consonants and one or two short vowel sounds. It can then add more single consonants and more short vowel sounds, with perhaps one long vowel sound. It might next add consonant blends, followed by digraphs (for example, th, sh, ch), which permits children to read common words such as this, she, and chair. Introducing single consonants and consonant blends or clusters should be introduced in separate lessons to avoid confusion.
The point is that the order of introduction should be logical and consistent with the rate at which children can learn. Furthermore, the sound-letter relationships chosen for early introduction should permit children to work with words as soon as possible.
Many teachers use a combination of instructional methods rather than just one. Research suggests that explicit, teacher-directed instruction is more effective in teaching the alphabetic principle than is less-explicit and less-direct instruction.
Guidelines for rate and sequence of instruction
- Recognize that children learn sound-letter relationships at different rates.
- Introduce sound-letter relationships at a reasonable pace, in a range from two to four letter-sound relationships a week.
- Teach high-utility letter-sound relationships early.
- Introduce consonants and vowels in a sequence that permits the children to read words quickly.
- Avoid the simultaneous introduction of auditorily or visually similar sounds and letters.
- Introduce single consonant sounds and consonant blends/clusters in separate lessons.
- Provide blending instruction with words that contain the letter-sound relationships that children have learned.
Literacy Instruction for Individuals with Autism, Cerebral Palsy, Down Syndrome, and Other Disabilities
What are letter-sound correspondences?
Letter-sound correspondences involve knowledge of
- the sounds represented by the letters of the alphabet
- the letters used to represent the sounds
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Why is knowledge of letter-sound correspondences important?
Knowledge of letter-sound correspondences is essential in reading and writing
- In order to read a word:
- the learner must recognize the letters in the word and associate each letter with its sound
- In order to write or type a word:
- the learner must break the word into its component sounds and know the letters that represent these sounds.
- the learner must break the word into its component sounds and know the letters that represent these sounds.
Knowledge of letter-sound correspondences and phonological awareness skills are the basic building blocks of literacy learning.
These skills are strong predictors of how well students learn to read.
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What sequence should be used to teach letter-sound correspondence?
Letter-sound correspondences should be taught one at a time. As soon as the learner acquires one letter sound correspondence, introduce a new one.
We suggest teaching the letters and sounds in this sequence
- a, m, t, p, o, n, c, d, u, s, g, h, i, f, b, l, e, r, w, k, x, v, y, z, j, q
This sequence was designed to help learners start reading as soon as possible
- Letters that occur frequently in simple words (e.g., a, m, t) are taught first.
- Letters that look similar and have similar sounds (b and d) are separated in the instructional sequence to avoid confusion.
- Short vowels are taught before long vowels.
- Lower case letters are taught first since these occur more frequently than upper case letters.
The sequence is intended as a guideline. Modify the sequence as required to accommodate the learner’s
- prior knowledge
- interests
- hearing
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Is it appropriate to teach letter names as well as letter sounds?
Start by teaching the sounds of the letters, not their names. Knowing the names of letters is not necessary to read or write. Knowledge of letter names can interfere with successful decoding.
- For example, the learner looks at a word and thinks of the names of the letters instead of the sounds.
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Sample goal for instruction in letter-sound correspondences
The learner will
- listen to a target sound presented orally
- identify the letter that represents the sound
- select the appropriate letter from a group of letter cards, an alphabet board, or a keyboard with at least 80% accuracy
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Instructional Task
Here is an example of instruction to teach letter-sound correspondences
- The instructor
- introduces the new letter and its sound
- shows a card with the letter m and says the sound “mmmm”
After practice with this letter sound, the instructor provides review
- The instructor
- says a letter sound
- The learner
- listens to the sound
- looks at each of the letters provided as response options
- selects the correct letter
- from a group of letter cards,
- from an alphabet board, or
- from a keyboard.
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Instructional Materials
Various materials can be used to teach letter-sound correspondences
- cards with lower case letters
- an alphabet board that includes lower case letters
- a keyboard adapted to include lower case letters
Here is an example of an adapted keyboard that might be used for instruction once a student knows many of the letter-sound correspondences.
The learner must
- listen to the target sound – “mmmm”
- select the letter – m – from the keyboard
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Instructional Procedure
The instructor teaches letter-sound correspondences using these procedures:
- Model
- The instructor demonstrates the letter-sound correspondence for the learner.
- Guided practice
- The instructor provides scaffolding support or prompting to help the learner match the letter and sound correctly.
- The instructor gradually fades this support as the learner develops competence.
- The instructor provides scaffolding support or prompting to help the learner match the letter and sound correctly.
- Independent practice
- The learner listens to the target sound and selects the letter independently.
- The instructor monitors the learner’s responses and provides appropriate feedback.
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Student Example
Krista is 8 years old in this video
- Krista has multiple challenges, including a hearing impairment, a visual impairment, and a motor impairment. She also has a tracheostomy.
- We started to work with Krista when she was 8 years old. At that time, she was in a special education class at school and was not receiving literacy instruction.
- She uses sign approximations to communicate with others. She also uses a computer with speech output (a Mercury with Speaking Dynamically Pro software). Because of her hearing impairment, she does best when she receives augmented input (sign and speech).
- This video was taken after 3 weeks of instruction.
- Krista is learning letter-sound correspondences. So far she has been introduced to the letter sounds for m and b
- Janice is providing instruction; Marissa, a graduate student at Penn State, is learning about literacy instruction and helping to collect data; and Krista’s parents and nurse are watching the session, excited about her progress.
- Janice
- provides an array of letter cards as response options
- says one of the target letter sounds
- Krista
- listens to the sound
- points to the letter that makes the target sound
- After 3 weeks (approximately 3 hours) of instruction, Krista has successfully learned the letter sounds – m and b.
- Over the next months, we introduced the other letter sounds gradually. We also worked on recognition of high interest sight words, decoding skills, and shared reading activities.
- Krista made excellent progress in all activities. Click to learn more about Krista’s success learning literacy skills despite the many challenges she faced.
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Pointers
There are a wide range of fonts. These fonts use different forms of letters, especially the letter a.
- Initially use a consistent font in all instructional materials
- Later, as the learner develops competence, introduce variations in font.
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Last Updated: February 19, 2019
Steel marking, how to understand it
Analogues of the most popular steel grades
Chemical composition, %
Marking of steel grades
The presence of a wide range of manufactured steels and alloys manufactured in different countries necessitated their identification, however, there is still no single system for marking steels and alloys, which creates certain difficulties for the metal trade.
In this regard, there are discrepancies that lead to errors in orders and, as a result, a violation of the quality of products.
In Russia and the CIS countries, an alphanumeric system has been adopted, according to which the content of steel elements is indicated by numbers, and the names of the elements are indicated by letters. Letter designations are also used to indicate the method of steel deoxidation: "KP - boiling steel, PS - semi-calm steel, SP - calm steel."
There are certain designation features for different groups of structural, construction, tool, stainless steel, etc. Common designations for all are the letter designations of alloying elements: H - nickel, X - chromium, K - cobalt, M - molybdenum, B - tungsten, T - titanium, D - copper, G - manganese, C - silicon.
Structural steels of ordinary quality, unalloyed (GOST 380-94) are designated by the letters ST., for example, ST. 3. The number after the letters conventionally indicates the percentage of carbon steel.
Structural unalloyed high-quality steels (GOST 1050-88) are designated by a two-digit number indicating the average carbon content (for example, ST. 10).
High-quality steels for the production of boilers and pressure vessels according to (GOST 5520-79) are designated as structural non-alloyed steels, but with the addition of the letter K (for example, 20K).
Structural alloy steels, according to GOST 4543-71, are designated by letters and numbers. The numbers after each letter indicate the approximate content of the corresponding element, however, when the content of the alloying element is less than 1.5%, the number after the corresponding letter is not put. Qualitative additional indicators of reduced content of impurities such as sulfur and phosphate are indicated by the letter - A or W, at the end of the designation, for example (12 X NZA, 18KhG-Sh), etc.
Cast structural steels, according to GOST 977-88, are designated as high-quality and alloyed, but the letter L is put at the end of the name.
Additionally, the designations are used: T - heat-strengthened rolled products, K - increased corrosion resistance, (for example, C 345 T, C 390 K, etc.). Similarly, the letter D denotes an increased content of copper.
Bearing steels, according to GOST 801-78, are designated in the same way as alloy steels, but with the letter Ш at the end of the name. It should be noted that for steels of electroslag remelting, the letter Ш is denoted by a dash, (for example, ШХ 15, ШХ4-Ш).
Unalloyed tool steels, according to GOST 1435-90, are divided into high-quality, denoted by the letter Y and a number indicating the average carbon content (for example, U7, U8, U10) and high-quality, denoted by an additional letter A at the end of the name (for example, U8A) or an additional letter G, indicating an additional increase in the content of manganese (for example, U8GA).
Alloyed tool steels, according to GOST 5950-73, are also designated as alloyed structural steels (for example, 4X2V5MF, etc.
) indicating the average content of tungsten, and then letters and numbers that determine the mass content of elements. The chromium content is not indicated, since it is consistently about 4% in all high-speed steels and carbon, since the latter is always proportional to the vanadium content. It should be noted that if the vanadium content exceeds 2.5%, the letter F and the number are indicated (for example, steel R6M5 and R6 M5F3).
Standard stainless steels, according to GOST 5632-72, are marked with letters and numbers according to the principle adopted for structural alloyed steels (for example, 08X18H10T or 16X18H12S4TYUL).
Stainless steel, non-standard pilot batches were designated by letters - indexes of the manufacturer's plant and serial numbers. The letters EI, EP, or EK are assigned to steels first smelted by the Elektrostal plant, ChS - to steels smelted by the Chelyabinsk Mechel plant, for example, EI-435, ChS-43, etc.
To indicate the method of smelting finishing, the names of a number of steels are supplemented with letters (for example, 13X18H10-VI), which means vacuum induction smelting.
The European steel designation system is regulated by the EN 100 27 standard. The first part of this standard determines the order in which steels are named, and the second part regulates the assignment of serial numbers to steels.
In Japan, the name of steel grades usually consists of several letters and numbers. The letter designation determines the group to which this steel belongs, and the numbers - its serial number in the group and property.
There are several systems for designating metals and their alloys in the USA. This is due to the presence of several standards organizations, these include AMS, ASME, ASTM, AWS, SAE, ACJ, ANSI, AJS. It is quite clear that such marking requires additional clarification and knowledge when trading in metal, placing orders, etc.
Elementary - First Steps ‹ Inglex
| A - Elementary | B - Independent | Intermediate | Upper-Intermediate | Advanced | Proficiency | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Do you want to know if your knowledge corresponds to the Elementary level? Take our author's test and get recommendations to help you improve your English.
We advise you to watch the webinar of our methodologist Svetlana on the topic "Levels of English proficiency".
The Elementary English level is the foundation on which your knowledge of English will rest
In the European Framework of Reference for Languages, A1 Elementary has the same letter designation as Beginner. However, it is the Elementary level of English that is considered the survival level. That is, the knowledge gained at this stage is enough to communicate in English at the everyday level. For example, if you are abroad, you can check the direction of travel with local residents, make purchases, book a hotel room, etc.
As a rule, students come to the Elementary level already with a small amount of knowledge gained on the Beginner course, at school or other educational institution. If you have previously studied English, it means that you already have at least some basic knowledge, even if it seems to you that you studied for a long time and do not remember anything.
In fact, you have already “get acquainted” with the English language, you know the letters and sounds, you can read, you can introduce yourself and say simple phrases about yourself, your friends, family, home. This is enough to start studying at the Elementary level.
We recommend that you start learning English from the Elementary level if you:
- have studied English a little or for a short time, have received elementary knowledge;
- hardly speak English, although you know elementary grammar and about 300-500 words;
- have a vague idea of English grammar and would like to understand all tenses and constructions;
- have basic knowledge, but do not understand English at all by ear;
- completed the Beginner level in an English course or with a personal tutor.
Material that a person at the Elementary level should know
If you think that your knowledge of English is slightly better than in the categories above, you may already know English at the Elementary level.
To verify this, check out the table below. It is considered that you know English at the Elementary level and can move to the Pre-Intermediate level if you have the following knowledge:
| Skill | Your knowledge |
|---|---|
| Grammar (Grammar) | You understand the use of the verb to be (I am a student, It is cold). You know the three simple tenses (Present, Future and Past Simple), present continuous tense (Present Continuous), have an idea of present perfect tense (Present Perfect). Do you understand the difference between sentences in the future tense: I'm going to bake a cake (to be going to construction), I'll bake a cake (Future Simple), I'm baking a cake (Present Continuous to indicate the future actions). You know three forms of irregular verbs (drive-drove-driven). You can ask questions to your interlocutor (Word order in questions). You understand the difference between a cat and the cat (the indefinite and definite articles). You are not surprised that you can say a cookie, but you can not say a toast (toast, toasted piece of bread) (Countable and uncountable nouns). You understand the meaning of lady's dress, James' house (Possessive Case). You know the degrees of comparison of adjectives (big-bigger-the biggest). You understand the difference between that cup, this cup, these cups, those cups (Demonstrative pronouns). You know the object pronouns (me, him, her, us, them) and how to use them. You know some adverbs of frequency (often, usually, always, sometimes) and mode of action (well, quickly, hard). You know the meaning of There is no snow on the ground (There is/are/was/were). You know what the sentences I can read, I can't swim, You should work (Modal verbs can/can't/should) mean. You understand I like reading, I hate shopping (like/love/hate + -ing). |
| Vocabulary (Vocabulary) | Your vocabulary is between 1000 and 1500 words and phrases. You know commonly used words and phrases in English. |
| Speaking (Speaking) | You can describe yourself, your family and home in a few simple sentences. You know how to talk about your preferences and hobbies. You can easily describe your working day and weekends. You can share your vacation plans with a friend. You can shop abroad or communicate with hotel staff within the vocabulary you know. You can talk about simple everyday topics. You can answer simple questions on topics that are familiar to you. |
| Reading (Reading) | You understand the adapted literature of your level. You can understand signs and announcements in public places or on the street. You can understand the essence of general news. |
| Listening (Listening) | You understand audio recordings adapted to your level. You understand what native speakers are saying to you if they speak slowly and use familiar vocabulary. |
| Letter (Writing) | You can write a simple personal letter to a friend. You can write a short text about yourself, your hobby, family, home. You can fill in simple personal data. |
If you are still unsure about which level to study, we recommend that you check your knowledge with our English Level Test.
The Elementary program includes the study of such topics in the curriculum
| Grammar topics | Conversational topics |
|---|---|
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How your speaking skills will develop in the Elementary course
In the Elementary course, as in other levels, you will work on four basic skills: Speaking , Listening , Reading , Writing .
You will get acquainted with simple grammatical constructions of the English language, replenish your vocabulary with the most necessary words and phrases, and develop the correct pronunciation and intonation.
Your main task at any level is to learn how to speak ( Speaking ). At the Elementary level, you will already be able to take part in a small dialogue, ask questions within the framework of the topics you have studied and understand the answers to them, especially if the interlocutor does not use words you do not know. You will be able to tell a monologue of 5-10 sentences about yourself, your family, hobbies.
At the A1 Elementary level you will learn to listen to ( Listening ) certain familiar words and simple phrases that sound rather slow and clear. Simple texts and dialogues are used as listening material, which will be completely clear to you after the second listening.
As for Reading ( Reading ), new texts in English will be present in almost every lesson.
Each of these texts is a source of new words and expressions that you will learn at this level. On the Elementary course, the basic vocabulary is studied: you learn the most necessary words and phrases in everyday life. Also at this stage, you will fix the reading rules in memory. You will learn to read correctly "on the machine" all the letter combinations you meet, without checking the dictionary. And you will do this in the process of reading an interesting text.
As for writing ( Writing ), the training will begin with the simplest actions. You will learn how to sign postcards, fill out small questionnaires, where you need to indicate your name, surname, nationality, and so on. By the end of the level, you will be able to write short essays and personal letters.
At the level of English Elementary vocabulary ( Vocabulary ) will expand to 1000-1500 words. Level A1 is saturated with the most useful words and phrases that are often used in all typical communication situations (shop, airport, on the street, etc.
). Most of the words at this level are universal and can be used in written and spoken language, regardless of style. However, the amount of material to study will be quite large, because even for simple dialogues we need to know a lot of words. But do not be afraid that you will be forced to learn lists of words by heart. The communicative technique is aimed at mastering the language in the process of communication, so you will memorize new words with the help of dialogues on the topic under study.
The term of study at the Elementary level
The term of studying English at the Elementary level depends on the individual characteristics of the student and his initial knowledge. The average duration of study on the Elementary course is 6-9 months. Although this is one of the first levels of language proficiency, it covers extensive material that will allow you to express yourself in the most typical situations of daily communication. At this stage of study, you get the basic knowledge, which is why it is important to lay a solid foundation that will allow you to subsequently achieve high levels of English proficiency.
