Of course, these factors can co-occur in consonant sounds. The consonant sounds that have more than one of these factors are particularly detachable. For example, “m” can be prolonged, it is released by moving the lips apart, and it is loud. It is no accident that two of the case studies in Chapter 3 use key words that begin with “m”.

Following, there is a chart which shows which consonant sounds have which factors. By counting the number of factors that each consonant sound has, we can score the consonant sounds for detachability.

In general, we can say that the consonant sounds with the highest scores are the easiest to detach from the flow of speech, and so the easiest consonant sounds to use for phonics work. But, of course, different factors will be more or less useful to different students. A student who is good at using sound information may find it easier to hear consonants being released. Another student may learn best from prolong consonant sounds themselves, hissing “s”, humming “m”, growling “r”, etc. If you are working with a group that includes learners with different learning styles, the scores can help you focus on sounds that are detachable in several different ways, and so more likely to be of use to any one particular learner. But if you are working with a single student whose strengths and weaknesses you know well, you may want to ignore the scores, and start with the kind of detachability which that student can work with most readily.

Factors Affecting the Detachability of a Consonant at the Beginning of a Word

Sound	Prolonged?	See Release?	Hear Release?	Loud?	Score
m					3
f					3
s (c in cell)					3
sh					3
n					2
v					2
th (thistle)					2
ch (church)					2
p					2
r					2
th (this)					1
z					1
b					1
t					1
k (c in cat)					1
w					1
l					1
h					0
j (g in gist)					0
d					0
g (get)					0
y					0