Research Base for Newcomer Phonics(continued)
Research Base for Newcomer Phonics
Because Newcomer Phonics is a beginning reading program for (1) English as a Second Language students, and (2) students who have learned to decode in their first language, its research base comes from both current reading theory and linguistics.
I. Reading Research:
Phonemic Awareness: Exercises and games that stress listening, rhyming, and parsing of beginning / ending sounds are found throughout the student edition and teacher’s editions of Newcomer Phonics. Phonemic awareness emphasis like this has been shown to accelerate children’s subsequent reading and writing achievement significantly. (Jager Adams, Marilyn, Barbara R. Foorman, Ingvar Lundberg, & Terri Beeler. “The Elusive Phoneme.” American Educator, Spring/Summer 1998, pp. 18-22.)
Explicit, systematic phonics instruction: The ten units of Newcomer Phonics are organized explicitly in a progression from short vowels and consonant blends to long vowels, digraphs, r-controlled vowels and diphthongs. Since it is assumed ESL students using this program are in grades 3-8 and have already learned beginning consonants in their first language, instruction omits these and begins with vowels, which are different in English (both long and short) than in most other languages. Not only does such explicit phonics instruction give students significant advantage in learning to read, but also the continuation of explicit word study has been shown to be beneficial well beyond second grade. (Moats, Louisa C. “Teaching Decoding.” American Educator, Spring/Summer 1998, pp. 42-49.)
Decodable Text: Newcomer Phonics contains 10 small pullout books, which reinforce the phonetic sounds from previous units and provide connected, decodable text for new readers. Several studies have shown advantage for reading programs which include such decodable text. (Ibid. Moats, p. 47 -- citing Felton, 1993; Foorman et al., 1998; Iverson & Tunner, 1993.)
II. ESL /Linguistics Research: The following research in second language acquisition is also an important base for Newcomer Phonics because it is related to the content and presentation of the reading material.
Context and Meaning:Newcomer Phonics presents phonics instruction in the context of students prior experiences (family, school, animals, sports) integrating high-frequency words and simple syntax (Short, D.J. “Newcomers: Language and Academic Programs for Recent Immigrants.” Center for Applied Linguistics, printed in Talking Leaves, CREDE Newsletter, Winter 1998,
pp. 5-6, and online at <
Cognitive language: Many exercises in Newcomer Phonics include critical-thinking skills (opinion, reference, analysis, discussion, riddles) although their format is in simple sentence form. (Ice is hot. – yes/no – p. 41) (Chamot, A.U., & J.M. O’Malley. The CALLA Handbook: Implementing the Cognitive Academic Learning Approach. Addison-Wesley, 1994, pp. 21-39.)
Comprehensible Input:Clear, colorful illustrations for every word in Newcomer Phonics provide a “sheltered English” medium that increases comprehensibility for new readers, whose English vocabulary is limited. (Stevick, Earl W. “The Monitor Model of Stephen Krashen.” Chapter 21 in his Teaching Languages: A Way and Ways. Newbury House, 1980, pp. 267-279.)
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