ABSTRACT
The Phoenicians devised a system of mapping the sounds of speech to symbols which were called letters. There are two forms of the phonic method namely the analytic method and the synthetic method. After the First World War many changes took place in society as well as in education. Reading skills developed naturally by exposure to good literature and it was not necessary to teach sound-symbol relationships. The United States (US) Department of Education commissioned and to examine and report on teaching reading. The National Reading Panel phonics subgroup showed that 'systematic phonics instruction helped children learn to read better than all forms of control group instruction'. The programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) examined literacy levels which showed that the United Kingdom (UK) ranked seventh of the fifteen countries taking part. Royal Mail carried out research among a thousand consumers about business communications. Local Education Authorities (LEAs) are responsible for providing learning support teachers and teaching assistants.
