New Hampshire Foundations of Reading Practice Test

What approach characterizes implicit phonics instruction?

1. Breaking down words into phonemes

2. Teaching context over isolated sounds

3. Isolating known words only

4. Focusing only on vocabulary words

The correct answer is: Teaching context over isolated sounds

Implicit phonics instruction emphasizes teaching phonics in the context of reading and writing, rather than through explicit, systematic instruction of individual sounds. This approach allows learners to naturally discover the relationships between sounds and letters while engaging with meaningful texts. By focusing on context, implicit phonics encourages students to understand words as they encounter them in sentences, enhancing their comprehension and making connections between sounds and meanings intuitively. In contrast, the other approaches, such as breaking down words into phonemes or isolating known words, tend to lean towards more explicit phonics instruction, where the focus is primarily on segmented sounds and letter relationships in a scaffolded manner. These methods do not fully capture the essence of implicit phonics, which integrates phonics in a holistic reading experience.