Maria’s kindergarten teacher noticed something puzzling. The bright five-year-old could identify every letter in the alphabet and knew most of their sounds. Yet when reading simple words, she consistently read “ship” as “sheep” and “dip” as “deep.” Her teacher wondered if Maria needed extra phonics help or perhaps had a hearing problem.

The real issue? Maria’s first language, Spanish, doesn’t distinguish between short and long vowel sounds the way English does. In Spanish, vowels have consistent, pure sounds. There’s no difference like the one between “ship” and “sheep” that carries meaning. Maria wasn’t struggling with phonics instruction. She was trying to apply her existing sound system to a language with different rules.

This scenario plays out daily in classrooms across America, where one in four students is an English language learner. These children bring rich linguistic knowledge from their home languages, knowledge that sometimes helps and sometimes creates confusion when learning English phonics. Understanding how sound systems differ across languages helps teachers provide more effective, culturally responsive phonics instruction.

The Sounds That Trip Up ELL Students

English contains approximately 44 distinct sounds, but not all languages share these phonemes. When a sound doesn’t exist in a child’s first language, their brain hasn’t developed the neural pathways to easily distinguish or produce it. This isn’t a deficit. It’s simply that different languages train our ears and mouths differently from birth.

Spanish speakers often struggle with consonant sounds that don’t exist in Spanish. The /v/ sound, for instance, doesn’t appear in Spanish, where the letter “v” is pronounced like /b/. A Spanish-speaking child might read “van” as “ban” because their ear doesn’t yet catch the difference. Similarly, the /z/ sound doesn’t exist in many Spanish dialects, making words like “zoo” and “zipper” particularly challenging.

The /th/ sounds in English, both voiced as in “this” and unvoiced as in “think,” don’t exist in most world languages. Children whose first language is Spanish, Mandarin, Vietnamese, or Arabic often substitute /d/ for the voiced “th” and /t/ or /s/ for the unvoiced “th.” When a student reads “the” as “dee” or “think” as “sink,” they’re applying the closest sounds available in their existing phonological system.

Asian languages present different challenges. Mandarin Chinese has far fewer consonant sounds than English and completely different rules for how consonants can cluster. A Mandarin speaker learning English might struggle with words that begin with consonant blends, such as “street” or “splash,” because Chinese syllables don’t begin with multiple consonants. These students might insert vowel sounds between consonants, reading “blue” as “bu-lu” because that pattern feels more natural.

Japanese lacks the distinction between /l/ and /r/ sounds, which creates persistent confusion with English words. Vietnamese has tones that change word meanings, but English uses different vowel sounds for that purpose, creating a mismatch in what linguistic features matter. Arabic uses sounds produced deep in the throat that don’t exist in English, while English has vowel distinctions that Arabic lacks.

Why This Matters for Phonics Instruction

Understanding these language differences doesn’t mean lowering expectations or avoiding systematic phonics instruction. Research shows that explicit, systematic phonics benefits English language learners just as much as native English speakers, sometimes even more. The structured, predictable approach of systematic phonics provides exactly the clear framework ELL students need.

However, effective phonics instruction for multilingual students requires additional considerations. First, teachers must recognize that some phonics concepts will be harder for certain students, not because of learning difficulties but because of linguistic differences. A child struggling to hear the difference between “ship” and “sheep” isn’t failing at phonics.  They’re working to train their brain to distinguish sounds their first language treats as identical.

This recognition changes how teachers respond to errors. Instead of simply correcting mistakes or providing more of the same practice, effective teachers explicitly teach the new sound distinctions. This means spending extra time on specific phonemes that don’t exist in students’ home languages, using exaggerated pronunciation, mirrors to show mouth position, and lots of listening discrimination practice before expecting production.

Teachers should also understand that pronunciation differences don’t necessarily indicate reading comprehension problems. A student who reads “think” as “tink” might fully understand the word’s meaning despite the pronunciation difference. Focusing too heavily on perfect pronunciation can create anxiety and discourage students from reading aloud, while accepting intelligible approximations supports confidence and continued practice.

Practical Strategies That Help

Effective phonics instruction for English language learners starts with the same systematic, explicit approach that works for all students, teaching letter-sound relationships in a logical sequence with plenty of practice and review. But several adaptations make this instruction more accessible for multilingual learners.

• Spending extra time on phonemic awareness activities helps ELL students develop their ears for English sounds. Before introducing the written form of challenging phonemes, provide extensive listening practice. Play games where students identify whether two words sound the same or different. Use minimal pairs, words that differ by only one sound, like “ship” and “sheep,” to practice hearing distinctions that don’t exist in their first language.
• Visual support becomes crucial for students learning to read in a language they’re still acquiring orally. Picture cards paired with written words help students connect English vocabulary with phonics patterns. However, be cautious about over-relying on pictures for word identification. Students still need to practice decoding rather than guessing from images.
• Explicit vocabulary instruction must accompany phonics lessons. Native English speakers learning to decode “cat” already know what a cat is and what the word means in conversation. ELL students might successfully decode the word without understanding its meaning. Brief vocabulary explanations before phonics practice help students connect sounds and letters to their meanings.

Pre-teaching can be particularly powerful for English language learners. Introducing sounds and vocabulary before whole-class lessons gives ELL students a preview time to process new information. When they encounter the same content later in class, they experience it as review rather than brand new learning, which builds confidence and allows fuller participation.

Your Role in Supporting Multilingual Readers

Whether teaching one ELL student or a classroom full of multilingual learners, your awareness of sound system differences makes phonics instruction more effective and less frustrating for everyone. Systematic phonics instruction works for English language learners; it just requires patience, explicit teaching of challenging sounds, and recognition that some phonics patterns will take longer to master.

For more strategies on effective phonics instruction and supporting diverse learners in developing strong reading skills, visit Phonics.org. Every student deserves instruction that honors their linguistic background while building the skills they need for reading success in English.