Principle-based phonics instruction for grapheme-phoneme correspondences and long-term spelling retention in Grade 5 EFL classrooms

This article is based on an interview study which the author conducted to conceptualize Taiwanese EFL learners' L2 motivation through using the possible selves framework.Based on this interview study, the recently developed L2 Motivational Self System exerts its explanatory power in the Taiwanese EFL context; the ideal L2 self and the ought-to L2 self are helpful in informing the analysis of student motivation.The ideal L2 self illustrated with empirical evidence corresponds to its theoretical construct proposed by Dornyei (2005).Interestingly, however, the ought-to L2 self found amongst the student interviewees seems inconsistent with the original theoretical concept as it probably contains a mixture of prevention-and promotion-focused instrumentality in studying English.The shaping of the Taiwanese ought-to L2 self by the broader social context will be discussed in this article.Motivation is one of the most important variables of language learning, especially in second language (L2) acquisition.The extent of wanting to learn can make a difference in how willing and successful L2 learners can be.Discussions on L2 motivation theory were once dominated by goal-directed learning orientations in social psychological terms.Language learners would be classified as either integratively-or instrumentally-oriented (Gardner & Lambert, 1972) to achieve a needed proficiency in L2 use for identification with a specific ethnolinguistic group or for pragmatic gains.Over the past decade, this theoretical focus has shifted to a new realm of self and identity in explaining the internal identification process within learners' self-concept to stimulate motivation for L2 competence.Motivation to learn a particular language can be interpreted through inward aspirations towards certain kinds of linguistic, cultural, personal, or professional identities or possible future selves speaking the language fluently.The new L2 Motivational Self System proposed by Dörnyei (2005; 2009b) facilitates this conceptual shift through the concepts of the ideal and ought-to L2 selves.Mental images of possible future L2-related selves that learners aspire to can motivate them to learn the L2 well.Some L2 researchers began empirical testing of the L2 Motivational Self System at different levels of education in different countries (e.

The present study was designed to assess the development of the understanding of certain aspects of grapheme-phoneme correspondences in normally achieving and disabled readers. The correspondences rules were studied using both English words and pseudowords, the latter designed to contain the same features as the real words. The subjects were 76 normally achieving and 32 reading disabled children aged 6 to 14 years. The stimuli included words and pseudowords that tested the following: consonant blends, final e, r-influenced vowels, regular and irregular words, function words, and consistent and inconsistent vowels. When matched for chronological age, the reading disabled children performed significantly more poorly than normally achieving children on all of the tasks involving pseudowords. A similar pattern was found for the words with the exception of the highest frequency words (cvc, final e, consonant blends) at the oldest age level, 11–14 years. In this case, the performance of the oldest reading disabled children was similar to that of the normals on the words, but was still significantly poorer when the stimuli were pseudowords. Complexity and irregularity were significant determinants of difficulty. Comparisons were also made for groups of children matched on reading grade level. Even when the reading disabled and normally achieving children were matched on reading grade, the reading disabled children had significantly more difficulty, particularly with pseudowords. Reading disabled children had significant difficulty in abstracting the basic rules for grapheme-phoneme correspondences in English, and even when they have mastered these rules in connection with real words, they still had difficulty applying these rules to pseudowords. In normal development, the learning of these correspondences appears to be consolidated by approximately 9 years of age. However, reading disabled children appear to have a significant and persistent problem with the learning of basic grapheme-phoneme correspondence rules.

Learners' pronunciation errors when reading aloud in the L2 often suggest an inability to use the language's sound – symbol relationships, or grapheme – phoneme correspondences (GPCs). UK teaching methodology has failed to provide systematic instruction in L2 phonological decoding, and there is an absence of research on the effectiveness of teaching L2 GPCs. The present study evaluates a GPC training programme delivered to a mixed-ability Year 7 class of 28 beginner learners. The GPC training is based on the use of short poems in conjunction with a sequence of cognitive and metacognitive strategies which I have labelled ‘referring back’. Essentially, this encourages learners to derive the pronunciation of unknown words by making analogies with familiar ones. Pre- and post-test scores showed a small but significant improvement in pronunciation accuracy for the experimental group, but not the comparison group, when reading unknown L2 words aloud. Evaluation questionnaires, interviews and field-notes highlighted the popularity of the GPC training materials with pupils. However, there is also evidence that more time was needed in order for training in the ‘referring back’ strategy to be effective. Overall, the study suggests that the approach to GPC training evaluated here can be effective, but that a longer-term intervention study is desirable. The article includes a brief account of the teaching methods and a copy of the poems used, in the hope that others may wish to try them out in their own classrooms.

The investigation reported in this article aims to point out how the lexical and sub- lexical route are employed in normal beginning reading in Bahasa Indonesia (Indonesian) and to identify reading performance that may suggest the occurrence of impaired reading in Bahasa Indonesia which is possibly displayed by the children with the lowest reading performance. Ten typical developing third-grade students participated in the study. Error pattems of those ten students are analysed for the error analysis and for the analysis on the relationship between psycholinguistic variables and reading perforrnance. Five of those students were recorded during the reading part and the data were used in the latency analysis. The prelirninary findings reported here seem to show that beginning reading in Bahasa Indonesia is characterised by the utilization of the sub-lexical route and more skilled reading by lexical route. The development of the lexical route depends on the development of the sublexical route which is influenced by the complexity of the Grapheme Phoneme Correspondence. The lexical route for words with simple graphemes is developed first, the lexical route for words with consonant clusters are developed later. The last to be developed is the lexical route for words with digraphi. Furthermore, Late AoA, imageability, syllable number, and resemblance to words influence the lexical processing of the stimuli in the test. Impaired reading seems to be characterised by less developed sub-lexical route as evidenced by difliculties with words containing consonant clusters and digraphs and longer latencies for reading aloud words and pseudowords. Keywords : psycholinguistics, r eading p erformanc e

The importance of being able to read for children’s future is beyond doubt. In Indonesia, on the one hand, a standardized linguistically-based test is needed to identify reading milestones and the Tes Membaca Satu Menit (TMSM) is a pioneer in that respect. In other countries, such tests have existed for a long time, such as the Een Minuut Lesetest in the Netherlands. On the other hand, the Early Grade Reading Assessment had existed and been used before by education authorities and practitioners, although it needs to be informed by results of a standardized linguistically-based test. Therefore, this research asks the question whether the Reading Meaningful Words (RMW) subtest of the EGRA is sufficient to evaluate children’s decoding skills. The current investigation builds on previous research looking into the effects of orthographic depth, syllabic complexity, word length, and use of sub-lexical clusters in Bahasa Indonesia beginning reading. In the first month of the school year, third grade children’s (n = 15) reading performance is recorded on the TMSM and EGRA. Results show that the RMW subtest (n = 50 words) was read 99% correctly in less than 60 s by the third-grade participants. However, in the same time duration, the children are able to read on average 30 words correctly in the TMSM with some mistakes, namely producing words with at least 50% of the sounds in the target words (visual miscues), and regularizations of diphthongs, digraphs and consonant clusters. If the results of EGRA are used to inform educators and authorities in charge of curriculum development to map the stages of reading in Indonesian and devise methods of intervention for the children lagging behind in reading development, it is suggested that the EGRA is not sufficient. Item analysis shows that 40 of the words in the RMW subtest are disyllabic, 9 are trisyllabic, and only 6 of the words contain digraphs, 1 contain diphthongs, and none contains consonant clusters. Yet, three- or four-syllable words are also common in the children’s reading materials, and diphthongs, digraphs, and consonant clusters are common Grapheme Phoneme Correspondence (GPC) in the Indonesian orthography. The design of this subtest, hence, does not facilitate the children to show what they have and have not mastered. The key finding shows children’s reading milestones are influenced by word length and easiness of mapping between phonemes and graphemes and the EGRA needs to incorporate linguistically-based manipulations.

Sociolinguists have long suggested that females are more cooperative, considerate and facilitative conversationalists, while males are generally considered less supportive and more competitive (Coates 1989, 1993, 1995; Holmes 1984, 1986, 1989, 1991, 1995). Studies on second language acquisition have also arrived at some interesting findings regarding gender differences. For instance, it was found that females are generally better and quicker second language (L2) learners than males (Boyle 1987; Ekstrand 1980; Farhady 1982; Larsen-Freeman & Long 1991). Others claimed that females are more likely to use prestige forms (Gussenhoven 1979; Leather & James 1996). However, this growing body of research into gender differences seems to have attracted the attention of few specialists in pronominal acquisition, especially in the field of L studies. Thus, the aim of this study is to examine the role of gender in determining the English pronominal use of Taiwanese EFL learners. Three experiments- namely, question-and-answer (Q&A), picture-description, and storytelling-were conducted in order to elicit the use of English pronouns by both male and female Taiwanese EFL learners. Results showed that female learners used fewer pronouns and committed fewer pronominal errors than their male counterparts. In addition, linguistic sexism occurred more often among the males, who replaced she and her with he and his with a significantly greater frequency. Moreover, results from the Q-&-A task showed that females were more likely to provide explanations, rather than merely answering the questions in simple sentences. This confirms the growing belief that females are more considerate and supportive conversationalists. All the differences stated above were statistically significant (p＜.05). It is hoped that the results of our study will have pedagogical implications for EFL instructors teaching English pronominal systems to male and female learners.

The polysemous adverb just is frequently used by efl learners, but many learners are still unaware of how just should be used. The aim of this study is to examine how frequently different meanings of the adverb just are employed by native speakers and Taiwanese efl learners in their essays and to identify the differences in the lexico-grammatical patterns. Drawing data from one native-speaker corpus and two Taiwanese efl learner corpora, we investigated ( i) the overall frequencies of just, ( ii) the frequencies of just by meaning categories, and ( iii) the lexico-grammatical patterns of the different meanings of just, as well as their semantic and syntactic features. Results showed that the overall frequencies of just were similar in the native speaker and learner corpora, but there was a smaller variety of the use of adverbial just in the learner corpora. By examining the lexico-grammatical patterns, we found that the meanings of the adverbial just were induced in the following patterns: first, when it modified different syntactic structures; secondly, when it co-occurred with specific contextual clues; and, thirdly, when it interacted with particular tense/aspect of a verb. In addition, semantic features and lexical choices had a pivotal role in determining whether the use of a particular sense of just was acceptable in a sentence. By providing corpus-based teaching material for the uses of adverbial just, it is hoped that our study will shed light on the perplexing issue of adverb acquisition.

This study assessed pupils’ phonological awareness (PA) skills in reading English language among Primary Schools in Bunda, Tanzania. The study was guided by the Interactive Theory developed by Rumelhart (1980) that views reading as a process which employs both the top –down and the bottom –up processes. Collection of data was done by using interviews, focus group discussions and tests. Data collection was also done through classroom observations, interviews, focus group discussions and tests. The major findings revealed that majority pupils in public primary schools and some in English medium schools had low phonological awareness skills. The pupils faced difficulties in pronouncing words with consonant clusters and in decoding digraphs; they also faced difficulties in recognizing silent sounds and in o decoding words with irregular Grapheme Phoneme Correspondences (GPC). Pupils inserted phonemes within consonant blends and in word finals as a result of Kiswahili and mother tongue influences. The study concluded that pupils will excel in learning phonological skills if teachers strictly employ phonics strategies such as segmentation, blending, substitution, deletion and rhyming games. Moreover, teachers in English medium primary schools and their colleagues in public schools should work closely together in addressing the strategies and techniques of imparting phonological awareness skills to pupils.

Two experiments explored rates for introducing grapheme-phoneme correspondences (GPCs) and the types of correspondences taught for optimal alphabet and early literacy skills learning. In both studies, children entered with minimal alphabet knowledge and were randomly assigned within classrooms to one of two treatments delivered individually over 5 weeks. In Study 1, children grades K-1 were assigned to instruction in a set of either 10 (Slow rate, n = 33) or 15 (Fast rate, n = 32) single- and two-letter GPCs. Study 1 findings indicated that children who learned five added GPCs did not reduce learning of the common set of 10 learned GPCs for any measure (including letter names, sounds, letter sound writing, word reading, and spelling), and learning favored Fast items over Slow for letter sounds, letter sound writing, and word reading (median d = 0.30). In Study 2, kindergarteners were assigned to instruction in either single letters only (Single, n = 30) or mixed-size GPCs (Mixed, n = 31). Instruction included application of GPCs to decoding and spelling. Results showed that kindergarteners in the Mixed condition made significantly greater gains learning the four two-letter GPCs across measures (median d = 0.86), and no significant differences between groups on measures of the 11 one-letter GPCs common to both conditions. Findings add precision to understanding how rate and order of introducing GPCs influence children’s initial alphabet learning. Further study of empirically validated methods of alphabet instruction may benefit in particular those children most at risk for acquiring this foundational knowledge.

The statutory ‘phonics screening check’ was introduced in 2012 and reflects the current emphasis in England on teaching early reading through systematic synthetic phonics. The check is intended to assess children's phonic abilities and their knowledge of 85 grapheme–phoneme correspondences ( GPC s) through decoding 20 real words and 20 pseudo words. Since the national rollout, little attention has been devoted to the content of the checks. The current paper, therefore, reviews the first three years of the check between 2012 and 2014 to examine how the 85 specified GPC s have been assessed and whether children are only using decoding skills to read the words. The analysis found that out of the 85 GPC s considered testable by the check, just 15 GPC s accounted for 67% of all GPC occurrences, with 27 of the 85 specified GPC s (31.8%) not appearing at all. Where a grapheme represented more than one phoneme, the most frequently occurring pronunciation was assessed in 72.2% of cases, with vocabulary knowledge being required to determine the correct pronunciation within real words where multiple pronunciations were possible. The GPC s assessed, therefore, do not reflect the full range of GPC s that it is expected will be taught within a systematic synthetic phonics approach. Furthermore, children's ability to decode real words is dependent on their vocabulary knowledge, not just their phonic skills. These results question the purpose and validity of the phonics screening check and the role of synthetic phonics for teaching early reading.

Reading strategies are beneficial to learners’ reading comprehension. The strategies can be divided into different categories, such as global reading strategies, problem solving strategies and support strategies. Most previous studies investigated the importance of reading strategies in the paper-based reading. However, relatively few studies examined online reading strategies and their effects on reading comprehension. Online reading materials are important sources for EFL students since an increasing number of learners read texts and learn through the Internet. EFL learners in Taiwan, unfortunately, are reported to be overwhelmed with English online materials on the Internet. Therefore, this study intends to examine EFL learners’ perceived use of online reading strategies and whether their perceived strategy uses are different in terms of proficiency levels and gender. There are 94 Taiwanese EFL learners (43% of them are males, n=40 and 57 % of them are females, n=54), who received the Online Survey of Reading Strategies (OSORS) adapted from Anderson (2003) in the study. The result showed that EFL online readers tend to use more global strategies, such as using contextual clues and observing tables, figures, and pictures in the on-line text to increase understanding. High level learners used more global and problem solving strategies than low level learners, which corresponds to previous studies. Additionally, there is no difference of strategy use between males and females. Several pedagogical implications, such as the need to raise students’ awareness of strategy use, are addressed in the present study.

Relative clause processing in Chinese is different from English. However, Chinese EFL learners face difficulty when they produce relative clauses. In order to help EFL learners be familiar with their writing skills and ease their anxiety, making a clear concept is necessary. Therefore, contrastive analysis (CA), a rule of a comparison between Chinese and English relative clauses is employed in this study. In the experiment, the treatment group had a positive evaluation of the contrastive analysis approach. Students felt that CA approach could really help them learn English clauses. They were willing to apply the method in the learning procedure. In addition, EFL learners also suggested that EFL teachers need to provide more illustrations and interpretations about the CA approach in the learning process.

This study mainly investigated the predictions of the Contrastive Analysis Hypothesis (CAH) on Taiwanese vocational high school EFL learners’ acquisition of two English fricative consonants (/s/ and /θ/) by examining the learners’ relative perceptual difficulty of the consonants. To achieve this purpose, two research questions were devised, and a self-designed listening identification test was carried out. A total of 43 students from a private vocational high school in northern Taiwan participated in this experiment. Their accuracy in perceiving the tested consonants was measured through the identification test. After all the participants’ test scores were gathered, an independent-samples t-test was used to analyze the data. The results of the study showed that the relative perceptual difficulty of the two fricatives for the students was /s/ = /θ/. The finding suggested that Lado’s (1957) CAH could not accurately predict the participants’ acquisition of the consonants in perception.

Although issues on intercultural competence and willingness to communicate have been largely studied, most studies focused on learners’ personality traits, motivation, or communication apprehension as affected factors. The significant relationship between intercultural competence, willingness to communicate, and learners’ English proficiency was less addressed. This study hereby examined the relationship of these three. It drew on quantitative research by employing a questionnaire to 409 Taiwanese college freshmen studying at one Taiwanese university (216 high- & 193 low-English-proficiency). A printed questionnaire of fifty-two items with the use of the five-point Likert-scale was adopted. The result showed significant differences between high- and low-proficiency students’ intercultural competence and willingness to communicate. Students of high English proficiency showed more intercultural competence and willingness to communicate. They demonstrated sophistication in operating their skills of intercultural competence and were more confident in communicating with people of different cultures in English. This study also found that learners’ growth of intercultural competence and willingness to communicate were interconnected per se; this interconnectedness was evident on both high- and low-proficiency groups. This study adds new threads to relevant studies and suggests that language teachers seek ways to enhance their students’ intercultural competence and willingness to communicate.

American preservice teachers and Taiwanese university students of English-as-a-foreign-language corresponded via e-mail and computer conferencing to prepare U.S. preservice teachers for online teaching and reaching diverse learners, and to provide English instruction to Taiwanese students. Taiwanese students practiced English and exchanged cultural information. Participants reported on their levels of success in the connection. The researcher identified types of learning achieved in the connection and summarized the online learning strategies applied by the Taiwanese. Then strategies were related to levels of success.