The Science of Reading–that large body of research, practice and evidence in favour of direct and explicit teaching of the components of reading that should now be accepted as settled–identifies phonemic awareness as an indispensable component of early reading skills.

That phonemic awareness needs to be explicitly taught is especially crucial for English as a Second Language (ESL) learners. 

I am a speaker of my mother’s and father’s ancestral languages of Cape York Peninsula: Kuku Yalanji to the south and Guugu Yimithirr to the north of Cooktown.  I learned these languages as mother tongues: my command of the phonemes of these Australian indigenous languages comes from my immersion in the speech communities of my family and my people.  Linguists say that immersion in languages before age two enables people to acquire these phonemes easily, whereas trying to acquire them later in life is much more difficult.

I was reminded of phonemic awareness recently when my Uber driver, a student from the Kingdom of Bhutan, started querying me about my mother tongues.  I soon established that his language shared many of the crucial phonemes of Guugu Yimithirr–because he learned words instantaneously, and his pronunciation was perfect.  His facility in my language far exceeded that of so many white Australians I know, who still struggle even though they have been practising and learning Guugu Yimithirr for many years.  My friend from Bhutan was far superior in his command because of our shared phonemic awareness.

Most Australians are unfamiliar with many important phonemes of Australian indigenous languages, rendering them incompetent when they try to copy even simple words.  This unfamiliarity and incompetence applies to many languages from around the world–the vast variety of phonemes in human languages across the planet is what makes human societies and cultures so wonderful.

Some gifted individuals seem to have an innate ability to assimilate the phonemes of other languages, while many others succeed through explicit learning and hard practice.  A linguist friend fluent in Wik Mungkan, a language from western Cape York Peninsula, once quipped: ‘There’s no Wik for the rested.’

In Guugu Yimithirr the phoneme ‘rr’–what linguists call a trilled r–is common to Australian indigenous languages and other world languages (not least Latin), but is unknown in English.  English speakers need to be explicitly taught the trilled r of Guugu Yimithirr if they are to become phonemically aware.

Another phoneme unknown to English is ‘nh’, which is formed by placing the tip of the tongue at the back of your front teeth.  The grouper fish in Guugu Yimithirr is called ‘nhinhinhi’.

Grouper fish called ‘nhinhinhi’ in Guugu Yimithirr

‘Ng’ is another phoneme, common to Australian indigenous languages, that is difficult for English speakers (but not to Vietnamese speakers).  English speakers are familiar with ‘ng’ in the middle or end of words like ‘singing’ and ‘bring’, but not at the beginning of words like ‘ngayu’ (meaning I) and ‘ngulgnguulgu’ (in the evening).

A student with an English-speaking background learning to read Guugu Yimithirr will be at a disadvantage if she is not taught explicitly the phonemes of Guugu Yimithirr.

The vice versa is also true.  Australian indigenous students from ESL backgrounds may be at a disadvantage in classrooms with English first language speakers unless they are taught explicitly the phonemes of English.  There are many phonemes in English that are unknown to Guugu Yimithirr and all other Australian indigenous languages.

The same point applies to ESL students from the South Pacific, Asia and Africa. Classrooms need to ensure there is explicit teaching of the phonemes of English.  Complete phonemic awareness should not be assumed just because students seem to have basic English language command.

To resist explicit instruction in the component skills of reading is to disadvantage ESL learners from the get-go.

Before learners can learn phonics, they need explicit instruction to ensure phonemic awareness.

Noel Pearson is the founder and director of Good to Great Schools Australia.