Children learning to read and spell in English are expected to understand how the letters in each word connect with speech.

Can you map the speech you actually use and hear?
 

Can you map the standardised pronunciation you need to use for phonics instruction?

Together, the two parts distinguish personal accent variation from the shared reference knowledge teachers need for instruction.

The Department for Education (DfE) expects phonics knowledge to be applied when children decode and spell words throughout the curriculum.

Primary teachers therefore need to be able to identify which letters form graphemes and their corresponding phoneme values in words.

National guidance defines early word reading and spelling in terms of the relationship between spoken sounds and written letters.

The Reading Framework states:

“Understanding that the letters on the page represent the sounds in spoken words underpins successful word reading. Pupils’ knowledge of the English alphabetic code, how letters or groups of letters represent the sounds of the language, supports their reading and spelling.”

(Department for Education, England, 2023)

The same document further states:

“This guidance explains why teachers themselves also need to understand the alphabetic code: evidence supports the key role of phonic knowledge and skills in early reading and spelling.”

(Department for Education, England, 2023)
 

Emma Hartnell-Baker is known for training teachers to map words from speech to print and from print to speech, so that they are able to support ANY child, at ANY time, to read and spell, She now uses MyWordz® technology and Phonemies® (Speech Sound Monsters®) to ‘Show the Code’, with ‘the code’ referring to The Alphabetic Code.