Phase Four of THRASS

Phase Four of the programme, which features Stage Ten (T10), is the final Phase and Stage of the programme. As with all other stages this stage forms an integral part of the other stages and is not taught in isolation, but is generally introduced in year two of the programme if the programme is initiated from Grade O or Reception level. The raison d'être of this stage is to make certain that learners become skilled in reading and writing those High Frequency words in written English that do not completely obey the phoneme/grapheme correspondence rules, and which account for approximately 75% of those words we read and write. Only about ten per cent or fifty words listed in the THRASS 500 base words lend themselves to recoding by sound-symbol association. Non-Phonographic Spellings, which are spellings that are not graphemes per se because they either represent more than one phoneme or they are abbreviations, are include in the 500 base words (Dr, Mr, Ms, Mrs). Reading and spelling of the THRASS 500 Base Words is taught progressively and sequentially beginning with the 30 one- and two-letter words; then the 85 three-letter words; followed by the 100 ‘Hotwords’; moving on to 160 four-letter, 128 five-letter, 35 six-letter words, and, ultimately, the 52 seven- eight- and nine-letter words. Resources used to scaffold this stage include the THRASS 500 Big Books and Guided Readers together with the ECHO CDs, the Reading for Meaning Question & Answer Book, the 380 Big Book and 380 Book

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and the Phoneme Machine software. Cross-curricular and integrative outcomes include the ability to recognise, read, spell and analyse base words found in a variety of resources such as readers, magazines, newspapers, advertisements, signs, worksheets, notes and text books in all subjects. The stages order of the programme may be adapted to cater for the range of needs and abilities of older learners and all of the elements of the programme are cumulative (Davies & Ralphs 2006:1,5-6; Davies & Ritchie 2006:11,87-89).

Phases two, three and four of the programme will also be covered with the research participant in an integrated manner as none of the phases and stages are taught in isolation. However, the stage order will be adapted to cater for Sally’s (pseudonym) specific needs and abilities. For example, the reading and spelling of the THRASS 500 base words of phase four are taught progressively and sequentially in year two of the programme, starting with the 30 one-and-two letter words. Since the research participant is an Intermediate Phase learner, she may well know how to read and spell many of these ‘sight’ words. Therefore criterion-referenced pre-tests involving reading and spelling of the THRASS 500 base words will be administered as baseline assessments in order to indicate exactly what Sally can or cannot read and spell.

A most important aspect of the programme is the cross-curricular, environmental application. Generally speaking, learners who are deaf have limitations in respect of lexical knowledge because many key concepts and key vocabulary that they may come across during lessons in various subject areas, fall outside of their life-world experience. Therefore, it is paramount that Sally is introduced to key words and concepts proactively across the curriculum.

It will be pertinent to observe the manner in which the research participant articulates the consonant and vowel phonemes, to see if any patterns emerge which may indicate Sally’s ability or inability to discriminate and articulate certain sounds by speech reading and residual hearing alone. Repeating the lessons subsequently with the aid of the Phoneme Machine which uses human moving lips, Cued Speech hand shapes and mouth positions may indicate the extent to which this part of the THRASS programme may offer additional support with regard to helping Sally disambiguate certain speech sounds and increase her phonemic awareness.

In order to alleviate the problem of English not being a phonetic language – this means that letters of the alphabet can represent more than one speech sound (e.g. circle) – the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) is used to distinguish phonemes. Each speech sound is represented by a different symbol and these symbols are used in the Cued Speech option of the Phoneme Machine. IPA is used in dictionaries to give guidance on the pronunciation of words (Davies & Ritchie 1998b:74; Haynes et al 2006:53). The dictionary was used extensively by the research participant during the intervention programme.

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The raison d’être behind the above detailed discussion of the THRASS programme has been to afford the reader extensive information concerning the programme, so that the reader has knowledge of how the programme may be used to support the literacy levels of an Intermediate Phase learner who is deaf and who uses the spoken language approach. As has been previously indicated, the THRASS programme has been designed to teach reading at the Word Level through the vehicle of phonics. Thus, since the THRASS programme is underpinned by the concept of phonology – and THRASS advocates the simultaneous use of both analytical and synthetics phonics - a discussion of the concept of phonology and the various approaches to teaching phonics is applicable.