scholarly journals THE INFLUENCE OF PHONEMIC AWARENESS INSTRUCTION ON EFL EMERGENT READERS’ WORD RECOGNITION

2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-14
Author(s):  
Mohammad Husam Mohammad Alhumsi
Keyword(s):  
Word Recognition ◽  
Phonemic Awareness ◽  
First Graders ◽  
Literacy Skills ◽  
Emergent Readers ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Reading Success ◽  
Efl Students ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Positive Support

Research has considered phonemic awareness skill as effective pillar in acquiring literacy skills. This skill has been identified as prerequisite for reading success However, little is known about the phonemic awarenessinstruction of Jordanian EFL emergent readers. This study therefore explored the impact of phonemic awareness instruction on word recognition among Jordanian EFL emergent readers.In this study, the research instrument was semi-structured interviews. Seven EFL students of emergent readers were interviewed. They were all first graders aged 7 years on average. Data were analyzed using content analysis. The findings indicated that there is a lack of knowledge or misunderstanding between the term of phonics and phonemic awareness as well. It has been also found that emergent readers’ views show positive support towards the use of phonemic awareness skill. At the end of the study, some pedagogical implications for curriculum designers as well as English teachers were provided accordingly.

scholarly journals From Instructed Writing to Free-Writing: A Study of EFL Learners

SAGE Open ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 215824402110071
Author(s):  
Saleh Alharthi
Keyword(s):  
Control Group ◽  
Writing Program ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Writing Assignments ◽  
Efl Learners ◽  
Free Writing ◽  
Efl Students ◽  
Structured Writing ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Experimental Group

Writing is an intricate process that encompasses various factors and is a key skill for English as a Foreign Language (EFL) students. Thus, writing assignments are vital for any curriculum. One of the essential aspects of effective writing includes good grammar knowledge. Advocates of process writing argue that a free-writing journal is a practical approach to teaching EFL students writing. This study is intended to examine the impact of the free-writing journal on EFL learners. This study was conducted on 80 students from a writing course at the University. Thirty-five students were randomly selected to join the free-writing program—the experimental group—and 45 students were kept in their regular structured writing program—the control group. The experimental group selected topics of interest to them and was encouraged to write in English freely without concern for errors, whereas the control group followed a regular structured writing program where the topics were selected for them and they wrote following a clear guideline. Five major areas were investigated to evaluate students’ progress: the number of words written, spelling, capitalization, subject-verb agreement, and punctuation. The researcher conducted semi-structured interviews with 10 students of the experimental group to elicit their perception of the free-writing program. According to the analysis, students in the free-writing program acquired better grammar acquisition than the control group. The researcher also observed students’ perception of free-writing at the end of the study and found that free-writing improved their writing skills.

Critique and the video production classroom: providing students the skills to navigate new media literacies

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jessie Nixon
Keyword(s):  
Young People ◽  
New Media ◽  
Digital Media ◽  
Media Literacy ◽  
Literacy Skills ◽  
Video Production ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Content Type ◽  
New Media Literacy ◽  
The Impact

Purpose This paper aims to demonstrate how teaching the discourse of critique, an integral part of the video production process, can be used to eliminate barriers for young people in gaining new media literacy skills helping more young people become producers rather than consumers of digital media. Design/methodology/approach This paper describes an instrumental qualitative case study (Stake, 2000) in two elective high school video production classrooms in the Midwestern region of the USA. The author conducted observations, video and audio recorded critique sessions, conducted semi-structured interviews and collected artifacts throughout production including storyboards, brainstorms and rough and final cuts of videos. Findings Throughout critique, young video producers used argumentation strategies to cocreate meaning, multiple methods of inquiry and questioning, critically evaluated feedback and synthesized their ideas and those of their peers to achieve their intended artistic vision. Young video producers used feedback in the following ways: incorporated feedback directly into their work, rejected and ignored feedback, or incorporated some element of the feedback in a way not originally intended. Originality/value This paper demonstrates how teaching the discourse of critique can be used to eliminate barriers for young people in gaining new media literacy skills. Educators can teach argumentation and inquiry strategies through using thinking guides that encourage active processing and through engaging near peer mentors. Classroom educators can integrate the arts-based practice of the pitch critique session to maximize the impact of peer-to-peer learning.

scholarly journals Early EFL Instruction and L1 Literacy

2018 ◽  
Vol 20 (2) ◽  
pp. 170-184 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kristen M Lindahl ◽  
Peter Sayer
Keyword(s):  
Public Schools ◽  
First Graders ◽  
Literacy Skills ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Literacy Assessment ◽  
Biliteracy Development ◽  
Spanish Literacy ◽  
Early English ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Experimental Group

This study investigates the relationship between early English as a foreign language (EFL) learning and L1 literacy development in Mexican public schools. Researchers sought confirmatory findings about whether and in which ways early EFL exposure may affect students’ L1 literacy skills via a study evaluating the L1 Spanish literacy of 61 first graders using an adapted literacy assessment. Experimental group participants received EFL instruction during grades K-1, and those in the control group did not. A one-way independent samples comparison of means on the literacy assessment revealed that participants from the experimental group who had received EFL instruction scored significantly higher on all sections of the assessment than those participants in the control group. Results may inform programmatic decision-making about simultaneous or sequential approaches on the impact of early EFL on biliteracy development, with broader implications that examine who has access to early EFL instruction, and whether it will ultimately lead to higher L2 proficiency.

English as a foreign language spelling development: A longitudinal study

2011 ◽  
Vol 33 (2) ◽  
pp. 343-363 ◽  
Author(s):  
JANINA KAHN-HORWITZ ◽  
RICHARD L. SPARKS ◽  
ZAHAVA GOLDSTEIN
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Phonemic Awareness ◽  
Fourth Grade ◽  
English Word ◽  
Literacy Skills ◽  
First Year ◽  
Spelling Development ◽  
Word Attack ◽  
English Spelling ◽  
The Impact

ABSTRACTEnglish as a foreign language (EFL) spelling was examined longitudinally three times (4th, 9th, 12th grades) during 9 years of EFL study among Hebrew first language (L1) students. The study examined the impact of L1 literacy variables including phonemic awareness, word attack, and spelling on EFL spelling and the relationship between EFL literacy variables and EFL spelling. Results showed that English spelling measured at earlier points strongly predicted later English spelling. L1 literacy skills measured in fourth grade were more significant than English word recognition in explaining end of ninth grade EFL spelling. Beginning of first year EFL letter knowledge in fourth grade predicted end of first-year EFL spelling. These results show qualitatively different L1 and EFL literacy abilities impacting EFL spelling at 4th, 9th, and 12th grades.

Why Do More Boys Than Girls Have a Reading Disability? A Review of the Evidence

2011 ◽  
Vol 35 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-24 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lisa Limbrick ◽  
Kevin Wheldall ◽  
Alison Madelaine
Keyword(s):  
Gender Differences ◽  
Reading Disability ◽  
Phonemic Awareness ◽  
Auditory Processing ◽  
Reading Ability ◽  
Sample Selection ◽  
Sample Bias ◽  
Reading Success ◽  
Confounding Variables ◽  
The Impact

AbstractA number of explanations have been proposed in recent years to account for the observed preponderance of boys with a reading disability. The most notable explanations offered for gender differences in reading disability relate to differences in phonemic awareness, auditory processing, behaviour, neurology, variability in cognitive ability and reading motivation. The purpose of this article was to review the available evidence supporting each of these explanations. The impact of confounding variables, including sample selection, sample bias, intelligence, and socioeconomic status was also discussed. Although the different explanations have, to some degree, an impact on overall reading achievement, it does not appear that any single explanation wholly accounts for gender differences in reading ability, and that gender is not a strong or consistent predictor of reading success.

Audiovisual Speech Processing in Relationship to Phonological and Vocabulary Skills in First Graders

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-19
Author(s):  
Liesbeth Gijbels ◽  
Jason D. Yeatman ◽  
Kaylah Lalonde ◽  
Adrian K. C. Lee
Keyword(s):  
Individual Differences ◽  
Word Recognition ◽  
Phonological Awareness ◽  
Speech Intelligibility ◽  
Visual Cues ◽  
First Graders ◽  
First Grade ◽  
Vocabulary Knowledge ◽  
Visual Speech ◽  
The Impact

Purpose It is generally accepted that adults use visual cues to improve speech intelligibility in noisy environments, but findings regarding visual speech benefit in children are mixed. We explored factors that contribute to audiovisual (AV) gain in young children's speech understanding. We examined whether there is an AV benefit to speech-in-noise recognition in children in first grade and if visual salience of phonemes influences their AV benefit. We explored if individual differences in AV speech enhancement could be explained by vocabulary knowledge, phonological awareness, or general psychophysical testing performance. Method Thirty-seven first graders completed online psychophysical experiments. We used an online single-interval, four-alternative forced-choice picture-pointing task with age-appropriate consonant–vowel–consonant words to measure auditory-only, visual-only, and AV word recognition in noise at −2 and −8 dB SNR. We obtained standard measures of vocabulary and phonological awareness and included a general psychophysical test to examine correlations with AV benefits. Results We observed a significant overall AV gain among children in first grade. This effect was mainly attributed to the benefit at −8 dB SNR, for visually distinct targets. Individual differences were not explained by any of the child variables. Boys showed lower auditory-only performances, leading to significantly larger AV gains. Conclusions This study shows AV benefit, of distinctive visual cues, to word recognition in challenging noisy conditions in first graders. The cognitive and linguistic constraints of the task may have minimized the impact of individual differences of vocabulary and phonological awareness on AV benefit. The gender difference should be studied on a larger sample and age range.

Coupling Articulatory Placement Strategies With Phonemic Awareness Instruction to Support Emergent Literacy Skills in Preschool Children: A Collaborative Approach

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-14
Author(s):  
Robyn Becker ◽  
Lesley Sylvan
Keyword(s):  
Preschool Children ◽  
Pilot Study ◽  
Emergent Literacy ◽  
Phonemic Awareness ◽  
Literacy Skills ◽  
Emergent Literacy Skills ◽  
Speech Language Pathologist ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Early Childhood Center

Purpose The merits of collaboration between teachers and speech-language pathologists have been extensively highlighted in literature on multitiered educational frameworks. Studies also illustrate the link between articulation, phonemic awareness, and, ultimately, reading skills. This article describes the impact of an intervention targeting articulation and phonemic awareness provided collaboratively to preschool children to enhance emergent literacy skills with the long-term goal of preventing later reading difficulties. Method This pilot study involved a bidirectional collaboration between a speech-language pathologist and a teacher by providing articulatory placement strategies to link accurate speech production with early phonemic awareness activities in the context of a private early childhood center. Seventeen children ( N = 17) participated in the study, with ages ranging from 55 to 65 months. Results The results indicated significant differences in phonemic segmentation as well as reading phonemically spelled words and nonwords when comparing the baseline to the collaboratively based articulatory placement plus phonemic awareness intervention. Significant differences were also seen when comparing the traditional literacy program to the collaboratively based articulatory placement plus phonemic awareness intervention. Conclusions The results suggest there may be a benefit to using articulatory placement strategies with phonemic awareness activities directly in the preschool classroom in collaboration with teachers. This pilot study adds to the literature by transferring principles demonstrated as effective for individual children in the research laboratory to application with a whole class in an authentic setting.

Examining the Impact of Immediate Family Members on Gulf Arab EFL Students’ Strategic Language Learning and Development

RELC Journal ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 50 (2) ◽  
pp. 285-299
Author(s):  
Anas Hajar
Keyword(s):  
Language Learning ◽  
Learning Strategies ◽  
English Language ◽  
Family Members ◽  
Qualitative Inquiry ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Ongoing Research ◽  
Efl Students ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Gulf Arab

This article provides a qualitative inquiry into the influences of immediate family members (i.e. parents and siblings) on a group of Gulf Arab EFL students regarding their language learning experiences and strategy use in their Arab homelands. The participants came from financially comfortable families, with different levels of education. The data collected from a written narrative and four subsequent semi-structured interviews suggest that the occupation and educational attainment of the participants’ family figures (mostly parents) affected the amount and kind of support these families offered to the participants while learning English. Less educated parents involved themselves indirectly in their children’s English language learning, and their involvement appeared at a late stage in the participants’ academic lives in the form of emotional and/or financial support. The language learning strategies (LLSs) used by these participants were mainly exam-oriented. Conversely, higher educated parents contributed to enabling their children to enact their desired future self-images confidently as English speakers from the beginning, for example by sending them to well-resourced private educational establishments throughout their education. From this qualitative study, pedagogical implications as well as areas for ongoing research are suggested.

scholarly journals Approaches mothers of first graders use to deal with perceived reading difficulties

2017 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 27-57
Author(s):  
Jana Sedláčková
Keyword(s):  
First Graders ◽  
Reading Difficulties ◽  
Self Determination Theory ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
School Year ◽  
Reading Errors ◽  
Leisure Reading ◽  
Primary Focus ◽  
Reading Activities ◽  
The Impact

Abstract This study aims to enhance our understanding of how mothers of first graders cope with the perceived reading difficulties of their children. Their different perceptions stem from the reading aspirations the mothers have for their children. The study uses data obtained from in-depth semi-structured interviews with 10 mothers, conducted at the end of the second half of the 2015/2016 school year. The data analysis revealed that the differences in the mothers’ perceptions of their children’s reading difficulties are reflected in a wide variety of micro-actions aimed at solving them. Three different approaches can be identified: a) inspector mothers, who are most concerned about their child’s reading errors and their primary focus is on operationally correcting these errors; b) promoter mothers, who are primarily worried about their child’s potential or existing lack of interest in reading and who manage all reading activities so as to motivate the child (or prevent demotivation), e.g., through turn-taking in reading or in ensuring a regular supply of books; c) educator mothers, who fear most that their child will not understand the text and who show willingness and enthusiasm in explaining and creating various opportunities for reading literacy development, both as part of homework activities and leisure reading. They also engage in holistic attempts to prevent reading failures, and motivate their children to read through the act of reading. The conclusions of the study are explained in the context of self-determination theory and a discussion of the impact of parents’ socioeconomic status on their involvement or engagement in their children’s education.

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