Understanding the Sound-Letter Relationship Method

The question asks to identify the teaching method based on the principle of the sound-letter relationship. This relationship is fundamental in learning to read and write, as it connects the spoken sounds of language (phonemes) to the written symbols (graphemes or letters).

Analyzing the Teaching Methods

Let's look at the different methods mentioned:

• The Phonic Method: This approach directly teaches the relationship between letters (graphemes) and the sounds (phonemes) they represent. For example, teaching that the letter 'S' makes the /s/ sound.
• The Word Method: This method focuses on recognizing whole words by sight. Learners memorize the visual appearance of words rather than analyzing their sound components.
• The Sentence Method: This method emphasizes understanding the meaning of sentences as a whole. It focuses on context and comprehension rather than the relationship between individual sounds and letters.
• The Story Method: This approach often uses engaging narratives to teach reading, sometimes integrating various techniques, but its primary focus isn't solely the systematic teaching of sound-letter correspondences.

Identifying the Correct Method

Based on the definitions, the method specifically designed around the sound-letter relationship is the phonic method. It forms the foundation for decoding words by understanding how sounds map to letters.

Key Principle of the Phonic Method

The core idea is systematic instruction in:

• Recognizing individual letter sounds (e.g., 'a' sounds like /æ/).
• Blending these sounds together to read words (e.g., /c/ /a/ /t/ blends to "cat").
• Segmenting words into their individual sounds for spelling.

Therefore, the method based on the sound-letter relationship is the phonic method.