Phonological awareness is vital to an individual’s overall language abilities. In particular, phonemic awareness is fundamental in reading development and speech production (Gillion, 2000). FONEMZ is an interactive intervention technique that teaches phonological awareness and literacy skills through the use of symbols. 40 symbols, of different colors and distinct shapes, represent the main phonemes in General American English (Kaul et. al, 2009). FONEMZ was created in 2009 by Sandy Kaul. This approach involves the use of different FONEMZ: felt FONEMZ, fun FONEMZ and FONEMZ plus (Kaul, 2009a).
Appropriate Populations FONEMZ can be used with all populations and is intended for individuals who need visual cues, such as the deaf and hard of hearing populations or children with autism. Individuals with speech and communication impairments and students at risk for literacy deficiencies also benefit from FONEMZ (Kaul, 2009b).
Rationale
Phonological awareness is necessary for language learning and development (Gillion, 2000). FONEMZ builds phonological awareness and auditory discrimination skills by using visual and tactile association in interactive and fun learning. Each phoneme is represented by a different color and shape. This combination promotes necessary skills for future reading and writing including sound-symbol associations, blending of sounds, and left to right progression. The different colors and shapes assist in memory (Kaul, 2009a). The FONEMZ shapes also mimic the orthography of the language symbol for that phoneme. Paivia (1986) describes how reaction times to instructions are faster with image association (as citied by Kaul (2009b).
Administration Procedures
FONEMZ is a ‘bottom up’ approach and no previous knowledge or skill is needed to work with this tool. Kaul recommends beginning with phonemes the client can produce, and the relationship between the shapes and sounds should be mastered before letters are introduced (S. Kaul, personal communication, 2010). Clinicians may use FONEMZ in a number of interactive activities to engage the child in treatment.
No official scoring is used with the FONEMZ system, but clinicians can score the number of phonemes mastered and correct productions (Kaul, 2009a). FONEMZ felt can be used to distinguish words, syllables or phonemes(Kaul, 2009a). FONEMZ fun can be used in breaking words and syllables into sounds. FONEMZ Plus is used in teaching phoneme-grapheme correspondence (Kaul, 2009a).
Critique
There are some challenges with this tool. Not much research has been done on the effectiveness of FONEMZ. Children may also have difficulty disassociating between FONEMZ and graphemes if they have previous alphabet knowledge (S. Kaul, personal communication, 2010). Despite its challenges, FONEMZ uses an interactive approach that uses play while the colorful shapes assist with the learning and memorizing of symbol and shape correspondence. FONEMZ is a multimodal approach (Kaul, 2009b) that maximizes auditory, visual, tactile and kinesthetic modes, and promotes autonomy and reflective learning.
Conclusion
FONEMZ is a fun and engaging way of working with phonemic awareness. It incorporates many ideas of how children learn and retain new skills. This tool uses bright colors and fun shapes to promote phonological skills that are vital to the development of language and reading skills.
Work Cited
Gillion, G. (2000). The efficacy of phonological awareness intervention for children with spoken language impairment. Language, Speech and Hearing Services in Schools, (31), 126-141. doi: 0161–1461/00/3102–0126
Kaul, S. (2009a). FONEMZ: an interactive tool for articulation, phonemic awareness, literacy skills, English language learners and much more. Retrieved from http://www.fonemz.com/
Kaul, S. (2009b). FONEMZ [Powerpoint slides]. Retrieved from http://www.eshow2000.com/asha/2009/handouts/1645_0405Kaul_Sandy_088925_Nov14_2009_Time_101729PM.pdf
Kaul, S., Pieretti, R. A., Zarchy, R., & O’Hanlon, L. (2009). Listen, speak, & read with FONEMZ: a treatment efficiency study [Powerpoint slides]. Retrieved from http://www.asha.org/Events/convention/handouts/2009/1371_Kaul_Sandy.htm
Cited: Gillion, G. (2000). The efficacy of phonological awareness intervention for children with spoken language impairment. Language, Speech and Hearing Services in Schools, (31), 126-141. doi: 0161–1461/00/3102–0126 Kaul, S. (2009a). FONEMZ: an interactive tool for articulation, phonemic awareness, literacy skills, English language learners and much more. Retrieved from http://www.fonemz.com/ Kaul, S. (2009b). FONEMZ [Powerpoint slides]. Retrieved from http://www.eshow2000.com/asha/2009/handouts/1645_0405Kaul_Sandy_088925_Nov14_2009_Time_101729PM.pdf Kaul, S., Pieretti, R. A., Zarchy, R., & O’Hanlon, L. (2009). Listen, speak, & read with FONEMZ: a treatment efficiency study [Powerpoint slides]. Retrieved from http://www.asha.org/Events/convention/handouts/2009/1371_Kaul_Sandy.htm
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