The Word Mapping Formula
Have you ever asked yourself how you would map a word when supporting a child who cannot yet read or spell it? Which letters are the graphemes? Which sounds do they represent? Is there a formula for calculating this? Yes!
The Bidirectional Word Mapping Formula
Word mapping connects the phonemes in a spoken word with the graphemes in its written form. The formula works in both directions.
Decoding: print to speech
Written word → identify the graphemes from left to right → say the phoneme represented by each grapheme → blend the phonemes → say the word
This reflects the Department for Education’s description of decoding:
“In reading, pupils are taught to decode by identifying graphemes in written words from left to right, saying the corresponding phonemes, and blending those phonemes to say the whole word” (Department for Education, England, 2023, p. 47).
The Standard will depend the relevant jurisdictional standard, for exmple:
-
US English.
Please refer to TheAlphabeticCode.com
Encoding: speech to print
Spoken word → identify and segment the phonemes in order → select a grapheme to represent each phoneme → write the word
This reflects the Department for Education’s description of spelling:
“In spelling, pupils are taught to say a word clearly, segment it into phonemes, and select graphemes to represent each phoneme in writing” (Department for Education, England, Writing Framework, 2025, p. 41).
The Standard will depend the relevant jurisdictional standard, for exmple:
-
US English.
Please refer to TheAlphabeticCode.com
