The CAPIT Reading Pronunciation Guide

Why Pronunciation is Important

Learning to read demands that children differentiate between phonemes (sounds), which becomes challenging when they cannot correctly identify and pronounce each phoneme. Children who struggle to articulate sounds accurately often have difficulty "hearing" how sounds blend to form words (NRP 2000, 2-104). For example, pronouncing /kuh/ + /a/ + /tuh/ (3 sounds) does not accurately produce the word /cat/; instead, it sounds like /kuhatuh/ (5 sounds). Accurate pronunciation helps children avoid this hurdle and more easily understand word formation.

The Trouble Makers

Children should learn to pronounce each sound carefully and deliberately. Ensure they do not inadvertently voice "unvoiced consonants" when pronouncing sounds such as /f/ in flower, /h/ in horse, /k/ in karate, /p/ in paddle, /s/ in saxophone, /t/ in t-shirt, /x/ in ax, /ch/ chick, /sh/ ship, and /th/ bath.

Ensure that children do not inadvertently add an extra vowel or schwa sound when pronouncing consonants such as /b/ in boot, /d/ in duck, /g/ in ghost, /j/ in jump, /w/ as in wings, /qu/ as in quiet, and /y/ as in yay.

Allow these to fade away: /l/ in line, /m/ in mustache, /n/ in nail, /r/ in rake, /v/ in valley, /z/ in zigzag, /zh/ as in treasure.

Lastly, never confuse the stressed /r/ as in rake with the relaxed /er/ as in hammer; or the light /l/ as in line with the dark /le/ as in table.

Practice Makes Perfect

Our Pronunciation Guide includes sound files and short video clips demonstrating how to pronounce each sound correctly, courtesy of Rachel's English. Please share this resource with your students' parents to help them learn the correct pronunciation of each phoneme.

We encourage teachers to practice the sounds with a partner using our Practice Guide, allowing an objective listener to provide constructive feedback when necessary.

Regional Differences

Teachers and parents across the country often pronounce words and phonemes differently, leading to potential confusion among students. To ensure clarity and consistency, we recommend that reading instructors within the same institution adopt a uniform pronunciation of phonemes. This approach helps prevent mixed messages about the sounds that children are learning.