Printer Icon Print this page.

Alphabetic Principle

Concepts and Research

Horizontal Line

Horizontal Line

What is the Alphabetic Principle?

The alphabetic principle is composed of two parts:

Horizontal Line

Regular Word Reading

A regular word is a word in which all the letters represent their most common sounds. Regular words are words that can be decoded (phonologically recoded).

Because our language is alphabetic, decoding is an essential and primary means of recognizing words. There are simply too many words in the English language to rely on memorization as a primary word identification strategy (Bay Area Reading Task Force, 1997, see References).

Beginning decoding ("phonological recoding") is the ability to:

Beginning spelling is the ability to:


Progression of Regular Word Reading

Sounding Out
(saying each individual sound out loud)
Right Arrow Saying the Whole Word
(saying each individual sound and pronouncing the whole word)
Right Arrow Sight Word Reading
(sounding out the word in your head, if necessary, and saying the whole word)
Right Arrow Automatic Word Reading
(reading the word without sounding it out)

Simple Regular Words - Listed According to Difficulty


Word Type Reason for Relative Ease/Difficulty Examples
VC and CVC words that begin with continuous sounds Words begin with a continuous sound it, fan
VCC and CVCC words that begin with a continuous sound Words are longer and end with a consonant blend lamp, ask
CVC words that begin with a stop sound Words begin with a stop sound cup, tin
CVCC words that begin with a stop sound Words begin with a stop sound and end with a consonant blend dust, hand
CCVC Words begin with a consonant blend crib, blend, snap, flat
CCVCC, CCCVC, and CCCVCC Words are longer clamp, spent, scrap, scrimp

Horizontal Line

Irregular Word Reading

Although decoding is a highly reliable strategy for a majority of words, some irregular words in the English language do not conform to word-analysis instruction (e.g., the, was, night). Those words are referred to as irregular words.

Irregular Word: A word that cannot be decoded because either (a) the sounds of the letters are unique to that word or a few words, or (b) the student has not yet learned the letter-sound correspondences in the word (Carnine, Silbert & Kame'enui, 1997; see References).

Texas Center for Reading and Language Arts, 1998; see References


Horizontal Line

Advanced Word Analysis

Advanced word analysis involves being skilled at phonological processing (recognizing and producing the speech sounds in words) and having an awareness of letter-sound correspondences in words.

Advanced word analysis skills include:

Knowledge of advanced word analysis skills is essential if students are to progress in their knowledge of the alphabetic writing system and gain the ability to read fluently and broadly.

Texas Center for Reading and Language Arts, 1998; see References

Go to top of page

Horizontal Line

Definitions of key Alphabetic Principle terminology:

Go to top of page

Horizontal Line

Alphabetic Principle Skills

To develop the alphabetic principle across grades K-3, students need to learn two essential skills:


Kindergarten Skills


First Grade Skills


2nd and 3rd Grade Skills




What Teachers Should Know What Teachers Should Be Able to Do
  • Components and definition of alphabetic principle.
  • The relation of phonemic awareness & decoding.
  • The critical stages in learning to decode words.
  • Features that influence the difficulty of word recognition.
  • Critical differences between regular and irregular words.
  • Terminology (alphabetic principle, orthography, grapheme, phonological recoding)
  • Sequence letter-sound correspondences to enhance word recognition.
  • Assess & diagnose decoding skills.
  • Select examples according to complexity of word type and letter sounds.
  • Explicitly teach letter sounds, blending, sight word, and connected text reading.
  • Give corrective feedback.
  • Evaluate design of materials.
(modified from Moats, 1999; see References)


What Does the Lack of Alphabetic Understanding Look Like?

Children who lack alphabetic understanding cannot:

Go to top of page

Horizontal Line

Alphabetic Principle Research Says:

Letter-sound knowledge is prerequisite to effective word identification. A primary difference between good and poor readers is the ability to use letter-sound correspondence to identify words (Juel, 1991; see References).


Students who acquire and apply the alphabetic principle early in their reading careers reap long-term benefits (Stanovich, 1986; see References).


Teaching students to phonologically recode words is a difficult, demanding, yet achievable goal with long-lasting effects (Liberman & Liberman, 1990; see References).


The combination of instruction in phonological awareness and letter-sounds appears to be the most favorable for successful early reading (Haskell, Foorman, & Swank, 1992; see References).


Good readers must have a strategy to phonologically recode words (Ehri, 1991; NRP, 2000; see References).


During the alphabetic phase, reading must have lots of practice phonologically recoding the same words to become familiar with spelling patterns (Ehri, 1991; see References).


Awareness of the relation between sounds and the alphabet can be taught (Liberman & Liberman, 1990; see References).


Because our language is alphabetic, decoding is an essential and primary means of recognizing words. There are simply too many words in the English language to rely on memorization as a primary word identification strategy (Bay Area Reading Task Force, 1996; see References).


The table below illustrates the important correlation between the ability to decode words and reading comprehension.

(Foorman, et. al., 1997; see References)

Go to top of page