What are syllables, and why should we teach them?

A syllable is a part of a word that contains some of the sounds (phonemes) of that word, usually including at least one vowel. A syllable is also called a ‘beat’: teachers often teach children to identify syllables by clapping the ‘beats’ in words. Another way to describe a syllable is a ‘mouthful’ of a word.

You can often find the syllables in a word if you notice when you open and close your mouth as you pronounce the word. Touch your chin as you say the word ‘elephant’. How many times did your chin drop? You probably pronounced the syllables as ‘e-le-phant’, and your chin would have dropped three times. There are three syllables in the word.

More than 80% of words in English have more than one syllable. Here are some examples:

• ‘lake’: one syllable
• ‘spi-der’: two syllables
• ‘en-er-gy’: three syllables
• ‘cal-cu-la-tor’: four syllables
• ‘comm-u-ni-ca-tion’: five syllables
• ‘res-pon-si-bi-li-ty’: six syllables

The word in English with most syllables is the term for a lung disease caused by inhaling very fine ash and sand dust:

• pneu-mo-no-ul-tra-mi-cro-sco-pic-si-li-co-vol-ca-no-co-ni-o-sis (19 syllables)

So, why should we teach children how to split words into syllables?

It is much easier to read a new, unfamiliar word in chunks than to try to sound out all the letters in one long, continuous string. This is because, before we can recognise a word, we need to hold onto its sounds in short-term memory as we blend them together. It is easier and more accurate to spell a long word if you try to spell it in chunks of syllables, rather than trying to remember all the letters separately. This skill is especially important for children who struggle with reading and spelling.

As children progress through their education, many subject words (particularly in the sciences) are long and have Latin or Greek origins. All students then, including secondary and university students, benefit from learning how to read and spell using syllables.