If you’ve been in education for even a short amount of time you’ve heard the term nonsense word, but you may or may not know how or even why we use nonsense words in the classroom. Using nonsense words in the classroom can be beneficial when they’re used correctly, so in today’s blog post we will be talking all about nonsense words.
What are They?
Nonsense words are oftentimes referred to as pseudowords or nonwords, but they actually aren’t one in the same. Nonsense words are words with letters that occur in any order, regardless of English spelling rules and patterns. Pseudowords/nonwords are words with letters that occur in an order that does not connect to meaning, but that follow English spelling rules and patterns. An example of a nonsense word would be wij because in English words j is not found at the end, yet it is in this word. An example of a pseudoword would be kem because the k follows the generalization that it precedes an e, i, or y rather than a, o, or u. Both can be used, though I personally prefer to use nonwords over nonsense words.
Why do we Use Them?
In order to read nonsense words, we must have mastered the alphabetic principle, or the understanding that our sounds are represented by letters and that we can use those letters together to form words. This means we can use nonsense words to determine how well our students understand the alphabetic principle, where we should begin instruction with those students, and to force students to rely on those foundational skills for word reading.
Assessments
Assessments are the most common use for nonsense words and rightfully so! We can learn a lot from a Nonsense Word Fluency (NWF) Assessment like the ones provided on the DIEBLS 8 or Acadience Reading assessments. On a NWF assessment students are asked to read words relying on their understanding of the alphabetic principle. A student would read the word “kem” by saying each sound (/k/ /e/ /m/) and blending those sounds together OR by reading the word as a whole.
By looking at a NWF assessment we can determine:
- The accuracy and automaticity of letter sound relationships
- The accuracy and automaticity of sound blending skills
- The automaticity of word reading skills
If a student is not accurate with the sounds within each word, they would need to begin instruction on letter sound relationships.
If a student is accurate but not automatic with their sounds you would include frequent practice with letter sound relationships to develop automaticity, or the rapid recognition of those two connections.
If a student is able to identify the sounds but cannot blend the sound together in the right order/drops sounds/adds sounds then instruction would start with blending skills.
If a student can identify the sounds with accuracy and automaticity, is able to blend with accuracy, but cannot read words as a whole then instruction would begin with fluency practice within vc and cvc words to promote sight word reading (the ability to read ANY word by sight).
ALL of this information can be found on a single NWF assessment. That is why assessing all students on NWF is so beneficial for educators.
Nonsense Words and Instruction
Now we know how beneficial nonsense words can be for assessing a student’s reading ability, but should we be using them during instruction? The answer to that question is more grey than black and white.
Using nonsense words during instructional time can be beneficial for some students, especially students who like to guess while reading words. Because there is no meaning attached to these words, students who like to guess will be unable to do so and will be forced to rely on their knowledge of letters and sounds.
We may use nonwords during instruction for students who have memorized many vc and cvc words but are lacking accuracy and automaticity in their alphabetic principles.
Nonword use during instruction can also be beneficial because many of these words show up in multisyllabic words. Using nonwords helps prepare students for reading these syllable parts (and why even our high flier students could benefit from reading nonwords).
For most students and in most instances, however, using real words during instruction is most beneficial. Being able to decode words is only one of the skills students need to be able to become fluent readers and orthographically map words for instantly reading of whole words. One of the other piece to being able to retrieve words instantly is connecting that specific sequence of letters and sounds to meaning. When we use nonsense words to teach decoding we are leaving out a key skill necessary to develop fluency.
It is also worth noting that students who are English language learners will need more instruction aimed toward building their English vocabularies. Though nonsense words can be used for the same reasons they are used with other students, it may benefit EL students more to read real words and get practice decoding while building their vocabularies.
Teaching students to decode real words will naturally increase a student’s ability to read nonsense words, and nonsense words will increase a student’s ability to read real words, but only one of those options will help to promote both decoding and language comprehension- and that’s reading real words!
Want to Read More?
The research on the effects of using nonsense words during instruction is fairly limited, meaning before we can decide how to use nonsense words during instruction we would need more evidence pushing us one way or another. Below I am going to link two articles that talk about the use of nonsense words as well as research supporting the use of nonsense words. This way, you can continue to grow in your knowledge and understanding while feeling confident to make the right instructional choices for your students.
The Use of Pseudowords: The Importance of Being Earnest about the Science of Reading by By Linda Diamond and Holly B. Lane:
Do We Stop Making Sense When We Assess With Nonsense Words? By Stephanie Stollar:
https://www.readingscienceacademy.com/blog/do-we-stop-making-sense-when-we-measure-with-non-words
Resources
Looking for some resources to help students develop solid decoding skills using both real and nonsense words? Check out my small group resource packs! These resources are chalked full of activities to promote the development of those foundational skills, like word to picture match, real and nonsense word sorting, find and cover activities, spelling, decode and draw, and so much more! Check them out here!
