EMB Seminar on Phonological Awareness for Pre-primary Teachers
and Early Primary English Teachers
Phonological Awareness Pilot Project:
The Effectiveness of Phonological Awareness Training in English Reading among Hong Kong Children
Dr. Mei-lan AU, Dept. of Curriculum and Instruction, Hong Kong Institute of Education,
Abstract
Many research studies on English reading support that phonological awareness is crucial to reading success. This studyattempts to examine the effect of phonological awareness training in English reading among Hong Kongchildren who learn English as their second language. Participants were 5-year old children studying the last year of preschool education, the year before formal primary schooling. Children in the experimental group (184)received phonological awareness training for about 6 months while the children in the control group (166) were taught with their original English activities. Children in the experimental group performedsignificantly better in both reading–related tasks (picture naming and word reading) and reading-related skills (rhyme detection and phoneme identification). The findings indicate that phonological awareness training is beneficial to the development of English reading skills among Hong Kong children.
Rationale of Study
Many research studies on English reading support that phonological awareness is crucial to reading success. However, there are limited studies on the effect of phonological awareness in the development of English reading in Cantonese speakers. The current study attempted to contribute to this aspect of the literature by examining the effect of phonological awareness training in English reading among Hong Kongchildren (Cantonese speakers) who learn English as their second language.
As Ball & Blachman (1991) point out that many early reading difficulties are caused by a low level of phoneme awareness, it is hope that the training of phonological awareness at an early age could prevent reading difficulties in the long run. In order to investigate this, the development of English reading skills of the 5–year old children of the current study would be followed further when they proceed to primary schools. The findings of the project would provide data to facilitate the school curriculum planning and hopefully prevent difficulties in English reading among Hong Kong children.
Method
Participants
All the participants were 5-year old children studying the last year of preschool education.The 350 5-year old children was divided into experimental (training will be provided) and non-equivalent control group (no training provided). Children in both experimental group and control group were given the pretest and posttest around the same period of time (in the beginning and near the end of the academic year). The test was conducted on a one-to-one basis and the testing time for each child was about 30 min. The assessment results of both experimental and control group were analyzed using t-test and ANOVA to examine the effect of the intervention program on the performance in phonological awareness and English reading skills. Apart from the pretest and posttest, English activities sessions were recorded and teachers were interviewed for understanding the actual teaching taken place in both experimental and control classrooms. This could provide more information for understanding children’s performance in the phonological awareness test.
Children were classified At-Risk or Not-At-Risk based on their performance on the Rhyme Detection Task (Muter, Hulme & Snowling, 1997) and Word Reading Task. Children whose scores that were 1SD below the sample’s mean in either of the two tasks were classified At-Risk.
Intervention Program
The intervention program was based on the program Launch into Reading Success (Bennett & Ottley, 2000). The intervention program reinforced the sound structure of words. Phonological awareness training was mainly emphasized on auditory training with sounds of words being introduced and reinforced utilizing a variety of strategies such as tapping, clapping, games, songs, etc. In addition to the systematic and explicit phonological awareness instruction included in Launch into Reading Success, the training involved rhymes, the discrimination and categorization of speech sounds.
The 184 experimental children received Launch into Reading Successinterventionfor about 6 months while the 166 children in the control group were taught with the original English activities adopted by their own schools.
Test Materials
The test was adopted from the 2002/03 EMB study (EMB & UBC, 2004), which was originally adapted from Lesaux & Siegel’s (2003) Vancouver study. The content included picture naming, word reading, pseudo-word reading, rhyme detection, oral cloze, syllable identification, phoneme identification and deletion.
Procedure
All the children were assessed twice,in the beginning and at the end of the 6-month period. Trained university students conducted one-to-one basis assessments in the schools. Each child was assessed individually in a quiet classroom.
Results
A. Comparison between Pretest and Posttest
The results showed that there were significant difference between the pretest-posttest scores of the experimental group and control group in two reading-related tasks--word reading, picture naming; and two reading-related skills--rhyme detection, phoneme identification. The experimental group (M=.09, SD=.77) improved more than the control group (M=.02, SD=.17) in pseudo-word reading though the difference did not reach a significant level.
The significant results were as follows:
1. Picture Naming: experimental group (M=6.17, SD=2.90); control group (M=2.61,SD=2.31);
t(342.88)=12.75, p.0005
2. Word Reading: experimental group (M=1.11, SD=2.02); control group (M=.31, SD=1.46);t(332.54)=4.31,
p<.0005
3. Rhyme Detection: experimental group (M=.51, SD=2.25); control group (M=-.24, SD=2.58);t(348)=2.91,
p<.0005
4. Phoneme Identification: experimental group (M=1.47, SD=2.10); control group (M=.93, SD=2.18);
t(348)=2.33, p<.05
B. Changes of at-risk cases
Experimental Group
Control Group
Conclusion:
Children who have received phonological awareness training performedsignificantly better in both reading–related tasks (picture naming and word reading) and reading-related skills (rhyme detection and phoneme identification). In comparing with two similar studies using the same ‘Launch into Reading Success’ programme by Bennett and Ottley (2000), the results fall in line with the study of P.1 students in 9 primary schools conducted by the Hong Kong Education and Manpower Bureau (EMB & UBC, 2004) and Lesaux & Siegel’s (2003) 5-year longitudinal study in Vancouver. The study findings indicate that phonological awareness training is beneficial to the development of English reading skills among Hong Kong children.
References:
Ball, E. & Blachman, B. (1991) Does phoneme awareness training in kindergarten make a
difference in early word recognition and developmental spelling? Reading Research Quarterly, 26, 49-66
Bennett, L. & Ottley, P. (2000) Launch into Reading Success through Phonological Awareness
Training. Austin, TX: Pro-Ed
Education and Manpower Bureau & University of British Columbia (2004) Phonological
Awareness Training Project for Primary One pupils (02/03): Final Report(draft). HK: EMB
Lesaux, N.K. & Siegel, L.S. (2003) The development of reading in children who speak English as a
second language. Developmental Psychology, 39(6), 1005-1019.
Muter, V., Hulme, C. & Snowling, M. (1997) The Phonological Abilities Test. London:
Psychological Corporation
Acknowledgements:
This project was supported by a research grant from the Hong Kong Institute of Education. The author would like to thank Prof. Linda Siegel, University of British Columbia; Ms Lee Suk Han, Hong Kong Education and Empower Bureau and Ms Fanny Cheung, a Curriculum Development Officer of a local primary school in Hong Kong for their continuous advice and support; Ms Josephine Yu and Ms Carol Wong, The Chinese Rhenish Church Hong Kong Synod; Ms Jane Leung and Ms Wendy Wong for their administrative assistance;and all the children, teachers and schools who took apart in this research.