Phonetic Decoding is the learned ability to “sound out” words and is a key skill for learning to read. It requires both the knowledge of letter-sound relationships, as well as an ability to apply that knowledge to successfully identify written words and make meaning. An example of this would be when the letter c is followed by the vowels e, i, or y, it usually makes its soft sound, as in cell, city, and cypress. With other vowels, the letter c makes a hard sound, as in cap, code, and cut.

The ability to phonetically decode is the foundation upon which all other reading instructions, such as fluency, vocabulary, and reading comprehension are built.

Opportunities to develop phonetic decoding fluency:

In order to assess Phonetic Decoding Fluency (PDF), the student is required to read pseudowords to assess their decoding skills within an unfamiliar word. Dystech combines how many words are read accurately with the reading rate to measure the PDF. PDF is automatically measured during a word reading assessment on Dystech.