Syllable patterns include the defining elements of a syllable (single vowel sound), syllable types, and rules for syllable division.

Stress patterns include the emphasis placed on  the syllables in a word. When a word has two or more syllables, one is pronounced with more emphasis.

Awareness of the predictable structure of English orthography supports generalizing known patterns to decode unknown words accurately. This knowledge helps early readers accurately decode a larger bank of single-syllable words by visually identifying the position of vowels and consonants within a word to inform pronunciation.

• As students encounter more complex, multisyllabic words, instruction on common syllable division patterns allows them to split them into syllables and apply knowledge of syllable types to decode them accurately (Knight-McKenna, 2019).
• More than 43% of English words are Closed syllables. Closed and Open syllable types comprise nearly 75% of all English words (Stanback, 1992, p. 208). 
• Analysis of the 10,000 most common words (Horn) shows that 82% of the top 1,000 are single-syllable. The second set of 1,000 only contains 22% single-syllable words, showing the increasingly complex structure of words needed for accurate decoding (Stanback, 1992, p. 208). 

Once students have developed the alphabet principle, instruction in the structure of English should follow. This knowledge supports the generalization of known patterns to unknown words. This understanding is foundational for supporting students to decode multisyllabic words.

Six Syllable Types: A Strategy for Reading Multisyllabic Words

Dr. Maria Murray provides an overview of the six syllable types in English.

Dr. Suzanne Carreker introduces syllable types, syllable division patterns, and tips for using them in reading and spelling.