Abstract
Letter name knowledge is regarded as being among the soundest indicators of later reading skill and an imperfectly established alphabetic knowledge is a well-known predictor of future reading challenges. Hence, the purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of a synthetic approach to phonics, specifically Jolly Phonics (JP), to determine its contribution to Omani third graders’ acquisition of uppercase (UC) and lowercase (LC) recognition. The study sample consisted of 117 Omani male and female third graders in two cycle one schools in Al-Dhahira Governorate in the Sultanate of Oman during the academic year 2019/2020. The study employed a quantitative descriptive research design, in which data was collected using an UC and LC letter recognition test. The findings revealed that the although the third graders in this study’s sample have on average achieved the JP programme’s objective in terms of UC and LC letter recognition skills, not all students have achieved the minimum required level in this literacy skill; whereby 43.6% of the students were below the minimum required level and the remaining 56.4% of students were at or above the minimum required level. Besides, there was a statistically significant difference between third graders’ scores in UC letter recognition and LC recognition in favour of UC letters. The study concluded with a set of recommendations for the MOE and English teachers, in order to develop the delivery of synthetic phonics teaching as a literacy-enhancing approach, namely JP, in the Omani context. To the best of the researchers’ knowledge, this study is important for being the first to evaluate the impact of the delivery of synthetic phonics teaching (i.e. JP programme) on the acquisition of upper and lowercase recognition skills among Omani EFL third graders since the programme’s implementation in 2014.
Highlights
Within the field of early literacy, alphabetic knowledge involves familiarising learners with letter names and forms, and their matching sounds, which is achieved via recognition, construction, and writing tasks
The study concluded with a set of recommendations for the Ministry of Education (MOE) and English teachers, in order to develop the delivery of synthetic phonics teaching as a literacyenhancing approach, namely Jolly Phonics (JP), in the Omani context
This study has been designed to answer the following question: To what extent does the synthetic approach to phonics, JP, impact Omani third graders’ uppercase (UC) and lowercase (LC) recognition when compared to the programme’s objectives?
Summary
Within the field of early literacy, alphabetic knowledge involves familiarising learners with letter names and forms, and their matching sounds, which is achieved via recognition, construction, and writing tasks. The effect of this lack of knowledge appears to continue, predicting reading accomplishment from the start of schooling to grade seven (Blatchford & Plewis, 1990) Such reading disabilities mean that these children fall behind their peers, resulting in gaps in other skills, including vocabulary, spelling, reading fluency, and comprehension skills (Stanovich, 2009). According to Trehearne (2011), fluency rather than accuracy in naming letters gives children an advantage when learning to read and write. This suggests that a learner with the ability to identify most letters has more time to learn about sounds and spellings, compared with a learner who still needs to exert effort to recall letters. An understanding of phonemically structured representations, together with letter-sound knowledge, is a precondition for learning to read and spell effectively (Andambi & Kariuki, 2013)
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callMore From: International Journal of Applied Linguistics and English Literature
Disclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
