6. A first-grade student who is an English learner enjoys creating labels for objects around the classroom. Most of the labels contain only a single letter to represent the beginning sound of the object, and a few also include a letter representing the last sound. According to Ehri, the student is demonstrating which of the following stages of grapheme-phoneme connections?
Answer: C
The student is demonstrating the partial alphabetic phase.
In the partial alphabetic phase, learners begin to connect sounds with letters, particularly the initial sounds of words. The first-grade student’s use of single letters to represent the beginning sounds of objects indicates that they are starting to understand the relationship between graphemes and phonemes.
A) Consolidated alphabetic phase
This phase occurs when learners can group letters and sounds into larger units or chunks, using them efficiently to read words. Since the student is only using single letters to represent sounds, they have not yet reached the consolidated alphabetic phase.
B) Full alphabetic phase
In the full alphabetic phase, learners are able to connect all phonemes in a word to their corresponding graphemes and can read and spell words with greater accuracy. The student's use of only single letters indicates they have not yet developed this comprehensive understanding, thus making this option incorrect.
C) Partial alphabetic phase
This option accurately describes the student’s current stage, as they are recognizing and using initial sounds and occasionally final sounds to label objects. Their ability to represent sounds with letters, albeit in a limited form, is characteristic of the partial alphabetic phase.
D) Pre-alphabetic phase
In the pre-alphabetic phase, learners do not have a connection between letters and sounds and may rely on visual cues rather than phonemic awareness. Since the student is already identifying letters that correspond to sounds, they have progressed beyond this initial phase.
Conclusion
The correct answer, the partial alphabetic phase, is confirmed by the student's ability to use letters to represent beginning and some ending sounds of words, indicating a developing understanding of phoneme-grapheme connections. Other options, such as the consolidated and full alphabetic phases, are incorrect due to the student’s limited representation of sounds, while the pre-alphabetic phase does not apply as they are actively engaging with letters.