Students learn to determine vowel sounds through syllabication instruction. Vowels sound differently, depending on whether they function as a long or short vowel. To identify if a vowel functions as a long or short vowel, readers have to examine the syllable in which the vowel rests. Typically, vowels that end a syllable are long, while vowels in the middle of a syllable are short. For instance, the “a” in the word “making” (which is divided into the syllables “ma” and “king”) is long, while the “a” in the word “marry” (which is divided into the syllables “mar” and “ry”) is short.
Circularly, syllabication instruction teaches children how to correctly divide words at the end of a line, when a hyphen is used. To break apart a word properly, a writer must properly identify the syllables in the word. For instance, using the examples in the previous step, a writer should property identify the syllables in the word “marry” (“mar” and “ry”) in order to punctuate the word at the end of a line.
Syllabication helps students to decode new words, since it teaches them to fragment longer words and read them in parts (syllables). Many students learn words by sight, memorizing the sounds and meanings that correspond with certain arrangements of letters. For instance, the word “dog” is easy to learn by sight and commit to memory. However, this method of literacy fails when it comes to longer, more complex and unfamiliar words. To pronounce words such as “cacophonous,” with which young students are likely unfamiliar, it is necessary to rely on syllabication. A reader breaks the word into syllables, based on common vowel and consonant patterns learned from syllabication instruction.
Syllabication instruction improves spelling. Syllabication teaches students to see words in terms of parts, and, in so doing, it focuses attention on the common structures and patterns (consonant and vowel) that word parts (syllables) tend to use. Rather than see the word as a whole, the reader learns to see letters and associations of letters, developing a keener sense of correct spellings.