Dear colleagues,

Many of our students have dyslexia. They find reading difficult because of a lack of familiarity with important pronunciation rules.

Our VE colleagues conducted an engaging programme for Year 1 students during Orientation last week. As the Literacy Support I/C, I picked up some words from each specialisation:

I thought that these words provide a great opportunity to introduce students to the soft and hard C rule.

The soft C’s are highlighted in yellow, while the hard C’s are indicated in blue.

Soft and Hard C Rule

Allow me to explain the rule with the following image:

The English department aims to make the teaching of the soft and hard C rule explicit for our learners. When students understand that they can apply this rule to tackle the reading of high frequency words in your discipline, they gain confidence in their reading abilities. We hope that raising awareness of this rule will contribute to our students’ smoother integration into your classes.