Welcome to World Literacy International (WLI) founded and operated in Perth, Western Australia since 1990
Bringing together the components of The Solomon Method literacy model.
LEADING LITERACY with READING for SURE™ established 1990
FROM TODDLERS TO TERTIARY
ENGLISH IS A LANGUAGE THAT MOST PEOPLE WANT TO READ
BUT MANY FIND DIFFICULT.
The Solomon Method featuring Reading for Sure™ shows that it can be simple and easy with CODED PHONICS! This means that the reader is given a code for the correct pronunciation of every word. It makes phonologic (sound by sound) reading accurate and guessing unnecessary.
| Reading without pronouncing is the major cause of reading delay. | English is a difficult language to pronounce... Children learn to guess or memorise instead of pronouncing new words. |
'Reading for Sure' focuses on the printed word and on how a sequence of letters makes the word: the word is not determined by the picture. Until a reader can separate the sounds and then blend them in the correct sequence to pronounce the word in print, reading accurately and independently will be delayed.
| After a while guessing and memory fail with unfamiliar words. The pupil has no strategy for working out the accurate pronunciation of a word... |  | ...which may have a combination of vowels that can be pronounced in innumerable ways. Another major obstacle in reading English is the unpredictable 'silent' letter. |  |
| Without correct pronunciation there is no way of gaining meaning from the printed word. Reading then becomes a useless exercise and the pupil gives up. |  |
 | Reading for Sure provides a simple, logical answer. It overprints existing English text with diacritical (pronunciation) marks. |
In Reading for Sure these marks are adapted from universal dictionary pronunciation signs. |  |
How the Reading for Sure™ pronunciation system differs from other systems
- There is one sign for each of the eighteen vowel sounds in English speech.
- There is no ambiguity. One sign has only one sound.
- A unique mark denotes the silent letter(s).
- The pronunciation code is taught systematically by beginning with the six short vowels and their pronunciation signs.
- Reading for Sure begins for each individual where reading success is a sure outcome.
- Success is not dependent on memory.
- It focuses on the process of reading which relies on blending separate speech sounds to make words - not on repetitive 'look and say'.
- A sight word vocabulary is built up after continuous practice in the process of sound blending.
- In sound blending irregular words (words where the letters differ from the pronunciation) the problems are overcome by the pupils themselves, without the use of a dictionary or another person giving the pronunciation.
- There is no repetitive drill on word families or rules.
- In Reading for Sure, reading skills are achieved through reading.