The Beneficial and Detrimental Effects of Phonology Essay

For years, phonology has been incorporated into language education. Young children are introduced to phonics as educators take them through visual flash cards, teaching them the sounds of the alphabet. Children learn to connect sounds into words, using what they learned from the alphabet to apply a system of sounds into a word. Controversy regarding this reading education method has additionally been popular. Although researchers have found negative effects in learning to read phonologically, teachers can still strategically incorporate it into the classroom as long as they are aware of its potential negative effects. According to Bentin S. (1991), phonological awareness is the ability to recognize the internal phonetic structure†¦show more content†¦This is partially because the English language is sometimes difficult to phonetically learn since some rules do not apply and it becomes confusing for the learner and difficult for the educator. Although semantics appear to be a beneficial method, there are many scholars who argue otherwise. Dewhurst, S. and Robinson, C. (2004) discuss some of the negative effects among children whose education focuses more on semantics than phonetics. The study was conducted on 5,8, and 11-year old children and children from each age group falsely recalled nonpresented items related to the study lists (782). Although the study varied depending on the age group, it was clear that the focus of semantics has caused children to have memory illusions as they read (782). Many scholars argue that phonetics is the most effective way to teach reading skills because it makes the individual a better reader in the long run. Once a child can phonetically read, they have the capability to pick any book up and sound out its contents. Children who learn semantically are unable to do this because they learn to memorize certain words as they go. A positive element to learning semantically, however, is the childs ability to read quickly. Once a child has established a memorization and recognition to words, they are able to read very quickly. Children who learn phonetically are often slower since they are sometimes required to stop and sound it out. HoweverShow MoreRelatedThe Lexical Decision Task Shows Evidence Towards Readiness1619 Words   |  7 Pagesothers, learn valuable survival and intellectual skills, or even retain that eating and drinking water is how humans stay alive. Memories can be both beneficial and detrimental to humans and animals alike. Most memories, like remembering that brick walls hurt to run into or that brushing one’s teeth twice a day will keep them white and healthy, are beneficial to our daily living. However, some memories, like walking through a smoking area outside of an event while trying to quit smoking, can lead us to