I barely recall how I was taught to read. But as I grew up in Britain in the 1970s, it is likely to have been by what is called the 'whole-language' approach. An image that sticks is the teacher holding up cards with letters on as we repeated, 'A for apple, B for boy', working through the alphabet.
The whole-language approach uses thematic texts and stories and some traditional phonics, known as analytical phonics, to teach children to read and write. The aim is to learn the context of the sentences and stories to help master the nuts and bolts of literacy.
For decades, it was the preferred method for teaching children to read in Britain. But in 2005, research was carried out there on impressive results from a trial in Scotland of a new method for teaching children to read. The Scottish children, who were doing far better than counterparts in England, had learned to read through 'synthetic phonics', which involved learning 'the English code' of 44 phonemes, before mastering the alphabet. The findings were so positive that within two years Britain had introduced mandatory synthetic phonics across all state primary schools.
In Hong Kong, the whole-language approach is still used across the majority of government and aided schools, along with learning vocabulary through reading, listening to dictation, and memorisation. There is a smattering of phonics involved, but it is not a systematic approach.
But six primaries in the English Schools Foundation have switched to synthetic phonics, after getting their teachers trained in the method by global consultancy Get Reading Right.
Anne Ross, literacy trainer at the company, which was co-founded by a former vice-principal of the ESF's Clearwater Bay School, says the whole-language approach was responsible for a generation of people around the world with poor spelling ability.