Professional Development in English Speech Sounds, Phonetics, Phonology & Phonemic Awareness
Suitable for: Teachers, teacher assistants, literacy leads, educators, learning support staff and professionals supporting speech, language and literacy development.
This professional development workshop provides educators with a practical understanding of the 44 speech sounds in English and their role in speech, language and literacy development. Participants explore the sound system of English and develop knowledge of phonetics, phonology, articulation, phonemes and phonemic awareness through an Orton-Gillingham Language Approach-aligned framework.
Understanding speech sounds is an important foundation for effective literacy instruction. The workshop explores the relationship between speech sounds and written language, including how phonemic awareness and knowledge of sound–letter relationships support phonics, decoding, reading and spelling.
Participants learn to identify and describe English consonants and vowels, distinguish between individual speech sounds, and accurately model sounds for learners. The training also considers how clear and consistent sound instruction can support students as they develop their ability to segment, blend and manipulate phonemes when reading and spelling.
The workshop provides practical strategies that can be applied in classroom, literacy intervention and structured literacy settings, supporting educators to confidently incorporate speech sound knowledge into reading and spelling instruction.
Training can be tailored to your organisation and staff needs, including your students, year levels, literacy priorities and existing approach to phonics and literacy instruction.
Goals of the Training
- Develop a clear understanding of phonetics and phonology and the English sound system.
- Identify and describe the 44 speech sounds in English, including consonants and vowels.
- Understand the relationship between phonemes, speech sounds and written language.
- Develop practical knowledge of phonemic awareness, including segmenting, blending and phoneme manipulation.
- Accurately model and teach English speech sounds to support phonics, decoding and spelling.
- Apply sound-based knowledge within structured literacy and Orton-Gillingham Language Approach–aligned instruction.
- Build confidence supporting students with reading and spelling through explicit sound instruction.
- Participants will receive a Certificate of Completion.