Show the Code with MyWordz®!

We develop teachers’ understanding of the DfE’s expectations around the mathematics of bidirectional word mapping, using a shared standard without prescribing how they teach.

Making word mapping mathematical and aligning it with a defined standard shifts the conversation away from opinions, teaching philosophies and phonics programme loyalties.

MyWordz® technology shows how letters and sounds connect, so teachers can check words whenever they’re unsure of the graphemes and phonemes in words throughout the day.

Show the Code with MyWordz® Word Mapping Technology

MyWordz® technology uniquely shows which letters are graphemes AND their sound values, using International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) symbols for adults and Phonemies® for children.

Phonetic symbols can look like letters, which can make it difficult for children to distinguish between the sounds in spoken words and the graphemes that represent them. Phonemies® provide visual representations of those sounds without relying on letter-like symbols.

Both IPA symbols and Phonemies® represent the sounds of British English, with the potential to adapt the mapping to the user's accent.

Although we'll demonstrate the technology on this page, we have a dedicated Show the Code website showing how to use MyWordz® for bidirectional word mapping:

Speech to print: Mapping spoken words for spelling.
Print to speech: Mapping written words for reading.

What is the Word Mapping Formula website for?

This website explains how to map words, including how to do so without technology, and why word mapping matters.

It's also heavily focused on teachers' orthographic knowledge, rather than teaching teachers how to teach word mapping.

We use a unique approach to assessing what teachers already know about phonological–orthographic mapping, so we can identify gaps in their previous training and understand what knowledge and support they need next.

The purpose isn't to judge teachers or tell them how to teach. It's to empower them with the knowledge and tools to Know the Code and Show the Code.

Why does this matter?

Bidirectional word mapping is at the heart of reading and spelling.

Think of it like building a house. Solid foundations aren't the whole house, but they make building everything else possible.

Orthographic mapping is the cognitive process through which connections between the phonemes in spoken words and the graphemes in written words become established in long-term memory, supporting automatic word recognition.

It's not the whole of reading and spelling, but it's fundamental to becoming an independent reader and speller.

When teachers understand how spoken words map to written words, and written words map back to speech, they're better equipped to support children as they encounter words containing correspondences they haven't been explicitly taught.

That's why teachers need to Know the Code, and have the tools to SHOW the Code at the point of need.

A friend recently posted that she's an opacarophile. Naturally, as a Word Mapping Nerd, I wanted to know which letters are the graphemes and what their sound values are! 🤭

But that led me down an interesting rabbit hole!

Opacarophile is a relatively recent, informal word meaning someone who loves sunsets. It appears to have spread through social media and online articles rather than originating in an established English dictionary.

The word combines elements from two languages:

Latin opacare, meaning to darken or put into shade, rather than literally meaning sunset.
Greek-derived -phile, meaning someone who loves or is fond of something.

In October 2024, the Bibliothèque municipale de Lyon's Guichet du Savoir investigated the word and concluded that it's a neologism with questionable etymology, absent from the major French dictionaries it consulted.

A Spanish linguistic reference had discussed the related word opacarófilo in September 2020, also questioning its formation. I also found an English-language blog using opacarophile in July 2020.

So what does this mean for word mapping?

I checked Cambridge, Oxford Learner's Dictionaries and Collins, but couldn't find an established British English IPA transcription for opacarophile.

Google suggests:

/ˌɒp.əˈkær.ə.faɪl/

But there's a question about the initial ‹o›. Could it represent /əʊ/ rather than /ɒ/?

Without an established pronunciation, we can't confidently determine the phoneme–grapheme correspondences for every part of the word. Listen to pronunications as the speakers all use plausible pronunciations, but they are all different!
And that's what makes this interesting!

Before we can map a word from speech to print, we need to establish which phonemes we're mapping. MyWordz® technology can SHOW the Code, but the phoneme values need to reflect the pronunciation being used.

Who knew loving sunsets could lead to so much phonological investigation? 🌅

Miss Emma, The Word Mapping Nerd!

A plausible pronunciation is one that fits the sound patterns of a language and could reasonably be how a word is spoken. But plausible doesn't mean established.

As adults, when we encounter an unfamiliar word, we often look it up. We expect a dictionary to give us a standard pronunciation, often represented using IPA phonetic symbols.

We rely on that information, often without even thinking about it!

But what happens when a word like opacarophile doesn't have an established British English pronunciation?

This word below highlights just how much we rely on knowing the spoken form of a word when mapping it bidirectionally.

It's also why word mapping technology matters for adults, not just children.

MyWordz® shows which letters form the graphemes and the phoneme value of each, using IPA symbols for adults and Phonemies® for children.

Instead of expecting adults, including teachers, to work out every phoneme–grapheme correspondence themselves, the technology can SHOW the Code at the point of need.

But it also relies on having a defined pronunciation standard. We expect adults to look up unfamiliar words. Why wouldn't we also give them the technology to look up how those words are mapped?

Why explain which grapheme is used? Just SHOW the word and MAP the Code!

If you're unsure which graphemes represent the phonemes, MyWordz® shows you the Code.

Teaching children why one grapheme is used instead of another isn't necessarily helping them become independent readers and spellers. We can't explain every word or explicitly teach every grapheme–phoneme correspondence.

Phonics is supposed to kick-start self-teaching.

By explicitly teaching a limited set of correspondences, we give children enough knowledge to begin decoding unfamiliar words. Because the spelling is there in print, their brains can start figuring out correspondences they haven't been explicitly taught.

That's how children begin to navigate the wider alphabetic code without needing every correspondence explained to them.

But spelling is different. The word isn't there in print!

Take gallimaufry, for example.

If I ask a teacher to spell it, they might use perfectly plausible correspondences and write gallimorfry, gallimauphry or gallimaughfry.

Without already having the spelling stored in their orthographic lexicon, how would they know which graphemes to choose?

They need to SEE the word!

And children are no different.

Rather than spending time explaining WHY a particular grapheme is used instead of another, SHOW them the word, with its phonemes mapped to the graphemes.

Then use Duck Hands, Lines and Numbers to support mapping from speech to print. Discuss morphology where it's relevant.

Finally, use the 60-Second Spelling Routine to strengthen the connections between speech, spelling and meaning, supporting storage in the orthographic lexicon.

The aim isn't to teach children an explanation for every spelling choice. It's to give them the knowledge and tools to become independent readers and spellers.

As much explicit instruction as they need, and no more.

SHOW the Code with the MyWordz technology. Support self-teaching. Move on.

1/3