An approach to teaching reading that starts with basic elements like letters…

Concept

Reading instruction is described using two contrasting processing models. The bottom-up approach treats reading as a process of synthesis: it starts with the smallest linguistic units — letters and phonemes — teaches how these units combine into words, and only then moves to reading connected text as a whole. The top-down approach works in the opposite direction, starting from meaning, context, and prior knowledge and moving down toward individual words and sounds.

Application

The sequence in the question matches the synthesis direction exactly: it begins with basic elements — letters and phonemes — explains that phonemes combine into words, and then proceeds to reading as a whole. This letters-to-phonemes-to-words-to-whole-text progression is the defining feature of the bottom-up approach, also called the synthetic or parts-to-whole approach, to teaching reading.

Contrast with the other approaches

• Structural approach: centres on analysing the grammatical and structural patterns of language — word forms, phrase structure, and syntax — rather than on a phoneme-to-word building sequence.

• Top-down approach: begins with the whole text, context, and the reader's prior knowledge to construct meaning, and works down toward individual words and sounds — the reverse of a letters-first sequence.

• Whole language approach: introduces reading through complete, meaningful texts from the start, treating meaning-construction as primary rather than building up from isolated phonemes and words.

Because the process moves from the smallest units (letters and phonemes) up to words and then to connected, whole-text reading, the approach described is the bottom-up approach.