[SENco-forum] do letters have sounds?

It's not just the kids who are confused, Aly!

Most letters represent a single phoneme; the exception is 'x' which represents 2 phonemes /k/, /s/. Some letters can represent different phonemes according to the word in which they are used; e.g 'a' in 'cat' and 'a' in 'baby.  

There's no such thing as a 'letter sound'; you pointed out yourself that letters don't make sounds.  

A phoneme is the smallest unit of sound.  It IS a sound; there's nothing visual about it at all.  

Maggie

Alyson Mountjoy <saylon_uk at yahoo.co.uk> wrote: "Ah, letters have shapes but do they have sounds?
Stuart"

Letters are just visual representations of sounds,
they are merely visual, just as a picture of a dog
doesn't go woof! 

Letter sounds are of course different from phonemes
and don't always represent the same sounds when mixed
with other letters.

Phonemes are also just visual representations of
sounds.

No wonder kids are confused!

Best wishes,
Aly

Chair Auditory Processing Disorder in the UK/APDUK
www.lacewingmultimedia.com/APD.htm 
www.apduk.org

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