Irregular Words: What Are They and Why Is It Important to Teach Them Explicitly?
As parents, you may have heard the term “irregular words” or “heart words” when helping your child with reading. These are words that don’t follow the usual spelling rules, so they can’t be easily sounded out. Traditionally, children were taught to memorise these words as a whole. But recent research shows that there’s a better way to help kids learn these tricky words.
What Are Irregular Words?
Irregular words are words that don’t match the usual sound-letter patterns your child is learning. For example, words like “one,” “laugh,” or “friend” don’t follow the typical rules of spelling and pronunciation. At first glance, these words seem like they need to be memorised by sight. However, this approach isn’t the most effective way to help your child understand and remember them.
Why Is It Important to Teach Irregular Words Explicitly?
When children learn to read, they start by decoding, or sounding out, words based on the rules they’ve been taught. But irregular words can throw them off because they don’t fit the patterns. If we simply tell children to memorise these words, we’re missing an opportunity to teach them strategies to handle these exceptions.
Research by experts like Louisa Moats emphasises the importance of explicitly teaching irregular words within a structured literacy framework. This approach not only helps children recognise these words but also deepens their understanding of how English spelling works, even when it seems irregular.
How to Teach Irregular Words Effectively
It is important to teach irregular words the same way you would teach a regular word, except explicitly identify the irregular parts.
Break It Down: Even though a word might be irregular, parts of it might still follow regular patterns. For example, in the word "friend," the "f" and "r" make their usual sounds. We can teach children to focus on the parts they know and then learn the tricky parts separately.
Make Connections: Many so-called irregular words share common spelling patterns with other words. For instance, the "ough" in "thought" can also be found in "bought," "fought," and "brought." Teaching these connections can help children recognise and remember these patterns.
Use Multi-Sensory Techniques: Engaging different senses can make learning more effective. For example, having your child write out the word while saying the letters aloud or using magnetic letters to build the word can reinforce their memory.
Practice in Context: Rather than just memorising words in isolation, encourage your child to read and use these words in sentences. This helps them understand how the word functions in everyday language, making it more meaningful and easier to remember.
The Benefits of Explicit Instruction
Explicitly teaching irregular words as part of a structured literacy program helps your child become a more confident and skilled reader. They learn not just to recognise words but to understand the underlying rules and patterns that make up the English language, even when those patterns are a little different.
By breaking down irregular words, making connections with other words, and using multi-sensory techniques, you can help your child navigate these tricky words more easily. The goal isn’t just to memorise them but to understand them, giving your child the tools they need to succeed in reading and beyond.
References
Moats, L. C. (2020). Speech to Print: Language Essentials for Teachers. Brookes Publishing.
Archer, A. L., & Hughes, C. A. (2011). Explicit Instruction: Effective and Efficient Teaching. Guilford Press.
