Invitation to Explore SynPhony: A Literacy Support Program by Norbert Rennert

[Debbie_Hepplewhite]

I have received a wonderful message from Norbert Rennert as below - and passed on this message to a UK Reading Reform Foundation committee member to provide an RRF response (I have resigned from the RRF committee). What the 'SynPhony' program provides sounds extraordinary and well worth exploring in international context :

Hello Ms. Hepplewhite,

I hope this message finds you well. My name is Norbert Rennert, and I was on the RRF bulletin board about 15 or 20 years ago for a while. I had and still have a deep interest in literacy and also synthetic phonics.

I have a background as a linguist for 29 years, having worked in a minority language in South America for 10 of those years. Currently, I am a web developer specializing in promoting literacy. I’ve developed a program called SynPhony, which is designed to support literacy in virtually any language. SynPhony is a search engine for literacy that can dynamically match the words and texts of any language to the reading ability of any student.

I originally developed SynPhony to support a language with a complex orthography, like English, but didn't promote it for English much. I developed it to process any language (and for any script, except logograms) and give each one the same functionality, essentially being language agnostic. Then I had the opportunity to support literacy efforts in several third world countries and taught workshops on how to use my program to develop the scope and sequence for minority languages. Some of these literacy efforts were supported at the national level and were funded by USAID. I also provided the program to other linguists working in minority languages as a resource for promoting literacy in languages they worked in. So it has been instrumental in developing first-grade literacy curricula in many countries and many languages, benefiting millions of children.

In addition to its core literacy support features, SynPhony can also create AI-generated sentences tailored to any level, making it an innovative tool for developing and enhancing reading skills. This capability is especially useful for creating customized materials that match the unique needs of students at different levels.

After retiring I am now turning my attention back to English and trying to see how I can support literacy efforts for those who have to learn to read this vexing orthography. The program has particular potential for Educational Assistants supporting Tier 2 and Tier 3 students with literacy challenges.

SynPhony is freely available and offers versions tailored for both desktop/laptop and mobile devices.

Thank you for considering this opportunity. I look forward to hearing from you.

Warm regards,

Norbert Rennert

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Website: SynPhony
Mobiles: SynPhony (English) for mobile phones
Desktop/Laptops: SynPhony (English) for bigger screens

[Debbie_Hepplewhite]

This is the link to the SynPhony site:

http://www.synphony.org