La representación de la ciudad que se analiza en esta investigación

THRASS makes use of the phonographic method to develop literacy skills in learners by increasing their knowledge and understanding about the essential building blocks of literacy, namely the inter-relatedness between the 44 speech sounds (phonemes) of the English language and the way in which these phonemes are represented by graphemes (spelling choices), by using the 26 letters of the alphabet (graphs) either singly or in combinations (orthographic mapping). Essentially, a phonographic programme denotes that learners are taught that the reading process involves converting graphemes into phonemes by ‘blending’ the phonemes, whereas the spelling process involves converting phonemes to graphemes by ‘segmenting’ the phonemes (Davies & Ritchie 1998a:3; Davies & Ritchie 1998b:3,10; Davies & Ritchie 2006:10). Thus, the THRASS Whole-picture Keyword Phonics programme is predominantly concerned with Word Level Teaching or the Phonics feature of literacy as opposed to the other two levels involved in literacy education, namely Sentence Level Teaching and Text Level Teaching. The building blocks of Sentence Level Teaching are spoken and written words and the building blocks of Text Level Teaching are spoken and written sentences (Davies & Ritchie 2006:10). It should be noted that the discussion on THRASS as it appears in this chapter is grounded in the research of Davies and Ritchie, and this is the only research available on the structure of the THRASS programme at this time.

The core resource for the phonographic method is the THRASSCHART, specifically the GRAPHEMECHART comprising 44 phoneme boxes. The definitive aim is to scaffold learners to become very familiar and confident with both the layout and the contents of the Graphemechart in particular so that they are capable of analysing and synthesising any words they may come across in written form, and write down less familiar words with confidence by employing reasonable spelling choices – the Graphemechart is used as a frame of reference. The PICTURECHART and the WORDCHART, which incorporate the 120 keygraphemes (60 consonant graphemes and 60 vowel graphemes), are additional resources which may be used as memory aids and bridging tools to support picture/keyword/grapheme association where necessary. For example, at Picturechart level the consonant phonemes ‘j’, ‘g’, ‘ge’, and ‘dge’ appear in the same box below the keywords ‘jam’, ‘giant’, ‘cage’ and ‘bridge’ and the associated pictures because these words have the same sound or phoneme (phonology), but have different spelling choices or graphemes (orthography). The purpose of the Graphemechart is to develop in each learner comprehensive phonographic strategies for both reading and spelling. Each chart has letter-boxes at the top displaying the 26 lower-case and capital letters of the alphabet. The next 4 rows on each chart have 24 boxes to represent the 24 consonant phonemes, and the 20

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boxes below the bold vowel line represent the vowel phonemes. The Graphemechart is foundational to the Phoneme-Grapheme Principal and it is labelled as the ‘periodic table of phonics’ because it groups the sound elements of language in much the same scientific way as The Periodic Table groups the elements of matter which make up the universe. The periodic table is used to disambiguate phonics (Davies & Ritchie 1998a:3; Davies & Ritchie 1998b:40; Davies & Ritchie 2006:12).

These phonic elements or ‘building blocks’ of the THRASS programme are introduced and consolidated by linking the skills areas of handwriting, reading and spelling in a multi-sensory (visual, auditory and kinaesthetic) fashion. This involves learning through a combination of senses by listening to the sounds or phonemes(auditory modality), seeing the symbols or graphemes associated with the sounds (visual modality), writing the symbols, the words or even drawing the associated keyword pictures in, for example, jelly powder (tactile/kinaesthetic learning) and even physically moving around the enlarged shapes of the symbols (kinaesthetic learning). It is a ‘hear, see, do’ strategy used in teaching also known as the ‘VAK’ (visual, auditory, kinaesthetic) method, the purpose of which is to facilitate the development of meta- cognitive strategies (thinking skills) and thus cultivate life-long proficiency in word-solving skills. By utilising this multi-sensory approach THRASS focuses on alphabet knowledge; correctly identifying both lower and capital letters by their names; using the alphabet as a resource to build an awareness of the 44 phonemes of spoken English, as well as graphs, digraphs and trigraphs as spelling choices; and using the correct terminology at the onset of the programme. The THRASS programme includes audio tapes, CDs, song books, colouring in books, magnetic letters, cards, printed worksheets, books, charts, software and videos as multisensory resources to develop phonographic strategies (Davies & Ritchie 1998b:9; Davies & Ritchie 2006:14; THRASS. nd. Key facts).

An aspect that must be accorded due consideration in this particular study is that the research participant, Sally, was taught phonics using the traditional approach of ‘one-letter-makes-one- sound’ during her time spent in the Foundation Phase. Now that she is in the Intermediate Phase, she is going to be retaught phonics using the phonographic method which incorporates the 44 speech sounds or phonemes of the English language and the corresponding graphemes represented as graphs, digraphs, trigraphs or quadgraphs.

Reference must also be given to the speech banana illustrated in chapter two (see Figure 2.2) which shows that in order to distinguish the majority of speech sounds requires a hearing loss of approximately 60 dB or less. The research participant initially had a hearing loss of about 57- 70dB (moderately severe) in the left ear and around 71-90dB (severe) in the right ear post pneumococcal meningitis. However, her hearing has deteriorated to the point of profound

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(>90dB) bilateral hearing loss. Although Sally has been fitted with bilateral cochlear units and is able to speak, speech read and interact fairly successfully in the environment, it will be interesting to observe which phonemes (if any) she may or may not be able to discriminate consistently.

In order for the reader to gain insight into the THRASS programme and how the programme will be approached, a comprehensive discussion on the distinctive features, various phases and stages of the THRASS programme will follow. It must be highlighted that the THRASS programme is essentially targeted at Foundation Phase learners over a four-year period (Grade Reception to Grade Three inclusive). However, the programme may easily be adapted to suit the requirements of learners in any grade or phase or may even be used to support adult literacy development. This is an important feature in respect of this research endeavour.