school-based curriculum action research series the 21 century
TRANSCRIPT
School-based Curriculum Action Research Series The 21st century marks the development of an information or knowledge society with
fast-changing needs and environment. In order to prepare our younger generation for their future needs, schools, through constant endeavours in search of excellence, have to provide students with different learning opportunities and experiences. In this respect, the school curriculum should best be aligned with the social development as well as the students’ interest.
Since 1998, the School-based Curriculum Development (Primary) Section (SBCDP) has
been collaborating with school teachers in curriculum development in various Key Learning Areas. Building on the strengths and successful experiences accumulated over the years, the Section has initiated action researches jointly with teachers, aiming at empowering teachers to make informed decisions on curriculum research and development. Why Do We Promote School-based Curriculum Action Research? Collaborative school-based curriculum action research aims to:
enable teachers to enhance quality learning and teaching through knowledge generated and constructed in the process of critical and systematic inquiry into different learning and teaching issues;
develop teachers' competence in curriculum development and research literacy as well as their sense of curriculum ownership;
develop schools into learning organizations through collaborative team work within schools and professional sharing in school networks.
How Do We Conduct Collaborative School-based Curriculum Action Research? In the course of school-based curriculum development, teachers’ critical reflections will help them identify issues worth addressing in the form of an action research. The following steps illustrate the basic cycle in action research: 1. Examine critically learning- or teaching-related issues worth researching into 2. Define the research focus and review literature for current theories and practice 3. Develop action plans or intervention strategies 4. Implement action plans in contexts
5. Collect evidence and reflect on effectiveness of actions 6. Draw conclusions and use feedback to improve learning and teaching 7. Start a new cycle if necessary
As teachers progress through this spiral cycle, they improve their teaching through continual reflection and move closer to the solution of the identified problems. Taking the role as facilitator, Curriculum Development Officers from the SBCDP Section work as partners with teachers, rendering professional support throughout the research cycle, assisting them in reflecting and conceptualizing tacit knowledge embedded in their practice. How Can These Reports Be Used?
This series of action research reports portrays the participating teachers' educational beliefs and philosophy, and the developmental pathway undertaken to improve the school curriculum. The curriculum design, intervention strategies, action plans, research tools and instruments, as well as the findings and recommendations may be valuable references for teachers who intend to launch school-based curriculum development and/or collaborative action research in their schools. We sincerely hope that this series can serve as a platform to stimulate professional dialogue in curriculum research and development, and to spark off a research culture in primary schools in Hong Kong.
For comments and inquiries on the series, please contact Mr WUN Chi Wa, Ankey Senior Curriculum Development Officer School-based Curriculum Development (Primary) Section Phone : (852)27620174 Fax : (852)2877 7954 Email : [email protected]
3
CONTENT
Page
A. Background 1
B. Literature Review 4
C. The Developmental Process 9
D. The Research Process 21
E. Findings 23
F. Discussion 34
G. Conclusion 37
References
1
A. Background
I. Introduction
We are P1 English teachers of Tai Po Old Market Public School (PM). Having taught
English for some years, we found that our P1 students had great problems in reading, both in
pronouncing words and reading aloud. This had been the greatest obstacle for students to
learn English effectively. We wanted to explore this issue, and phonics teaching was our
starting point. To find more evidence on students’ learning and teacher development, we
conducted a collaborative action research with SBCD(P) during the school year 2000-2001.
This was an entirely new attempt to us and we kept learning, reflecting and improving
throughout the whole process. In the end, we have become more sensitive to our students’
needs and learnt that it is most important to equip students the essential phonics skills so that
they can learn on their own.
II. Students’ problems in learning English:
Students did not have the skills to read and decode sounds.
Many students had problems in dictation.
Students lacked confidence in reading and learning the language.
III. Students’ needs:
Students needed to master more effective ways of sounding out words and working
out the spelling.
They should have more exposure to sounds and more reading materials.
They needed to build upon what they knew in order to develop awareness of
2
letter-sound relationship.
They should develop more confidence in reading.
IV. Our planned actions:
To introduce the teaching of phonics to our P1 students and help them master
phonics skills as early as possible
To expose our students to rich reading materials and enhance their confidence in
reading
V. Our worries:
i. Student level
Most students had no prior knowledge of phonics.
Our students had very limited vocabulary and inadequate language environment.
Our students were very diversified in their needs and learning styles.
ii. Teacher level
Phonics teaching was still very new to us; we lacked the knowledge, training and
experience in teaching phonics.
We had limited resources available.
We were not clear about the role phonics should play in our existing curriculum.
We tended to confuse phonics and phonetics
VI. Our objectives
This research aims to find out:
3
Whether the learning of phonics can enhance students’ competence and
confidence in decoding sounds and reading
How teachers can develop effective strategies in planning and teaching phonics
Our expected outcomes:
Students’ increased competence and confidence in sounding out words and
reading
Teachers’ increased knowledge and experience in the teaching of phonics
** To address the above-mentioned needs and worries, we studied literature on phonics for a
more thorough understanding, including its advantages and different approaches. We were
clearer about the distinction between phonics and phonetics as well as the role of phonics in
our curriculum. Considering our students’ needs, we decided on our approach and designed
our school-based curriculum incorporating phonics as part of the whole curriculum.
Throughout the development process, we explored and tried out different teaching strategies
with the use of all available resources and made changes whenever necessary. To collect
evidence on students’ learning, we conducted tests, interviews and class observations. All
such evidence informed us of how far students increased their competence and confidence in
reading and how effective our teaching was.
4
B. Literature Review
I. Literature review
i. Definition of phonics
Phonics (graphophonics or graphonics) is the study of speech sounds that are
related to reading (Miller 2000). It is often identified with decoding, `break the
code’.
Phonics refers to instruction in the sound-letter relationship used in reading and
writing. (Miller 2000)
Phonics is not phonetics. While phonics aims at building students’ basic
letter-sound relationships and teaching them ways to pronounce words, phonetics is
used to help students acquire ways of writing down pronunciation and applying the
International Phonetic Alphabet in working out the correct pronunciation of words.
It is important to help students develop phonological awareness, which refers to
an awareness of the constituent sounds of written words in learning to read and
spell. It includes the knowledge of phonemes, onsets and rimes as well as syllables.
In the minds of many educators, phonics can be referred to `as a method or program
of teaching reading’ (Strickland 1998). Teachers can help children learn about the
relationships between letters and sounds in order to read well.
So, phonics is used to develop children’s familiarity with the spellings and
sound-letter relationship of frequent words and syllables. Many reading specialists
believe that some competency in phonics is necessary to ensure a child’s adequate
success in reading in early years.
5
ii. Advantages and disadvantages of certain phonics programs
Advantages
Phonics skills ‘help learners to gain confidence and competence’, particularly
in areas like pronunciation, spelling and reading. (CDC Syllabus for English
Language 1997:75)
Reading specialists have also stated that children who learn phonics are more
independent in decoding words and they may be better spellers (Miller
2000). They achieve higher reading test scores than those children who are not
exposed to such a program (Adams 1990).
Phonics programs are always helpful to children with learning disabilities
and other special needs (Miller 2000).
Disadvantages
Certain phonics programs focus on word pronunciation and not on
understanding. Children may be trained as `word-callers’ who can
pronounce words very effectively but has little comprehension of what he or
she reads (Miller 2000).
Learner differences also cause a lot of problems. For those children who do
not have good auditory discrimination, the ability to hear the likenesses and
differences in sounds, the phonics program may be very ineffective (Miller
6
2000).
Some systematic phonics programs are dull, repetitive and uninteresting for
children (Miller 2000). So, it really depends on how teachers use suitable
materials and approaches in order to cater for the needs of their students and
help students achieve effective learning.
iii. Different approaches to phonics teaching
Despite the recognition of the importance of teaching phonics, there is always
debate over the approaches of teaching phonics.
systematic phonics approach vs whole language approach
synthetic approach vs analytic approach
great emphasis is put on graphophonic analysis only
phonic elements and rules are taught only in the context of words, sentences, or passages as needed for effective decoding in whole language settings
individual phonemes (sounds) are blended to form a word such as `cuh-a-tuh’ being blended to form the word `cat’ (Miller 2000)
Children begin with a whole word and break it down into parts, such as the words `car/pet’ and `w/all’
phonic elements can be taught in portions of words such as onsets (consonants, consonant blends, or consonant digraphs) and rimes (word families)
7
part-to-whole phonics instruction vs whole-to-part phonics instruction
To Dombey & Moustafa (1999), the part-to-whole phonics instruction is ineffective.
Such simplistic approaches `present reading as essentially a decoding process, which
consists of learning a system of letter-sound relationships, translating symbols on the
page into sounds, and synthesizing or blending the sounds together into words’. Instead,
the whole-to-part phonics teaching is proposed: `children are more likely to begin with
a repertoire of known words and proceed from wholes to parts’. Phonics learning should
be related to other aspects of learning to read and must be a part of learning to read.
Adams (1990) further reinforces the point that `children need practice in seeing and
understanding decodable words in real reading situations and with connected text’ and
phonics instruction should be `part of a reading program that provides ample practice in
reading and writing’. Phonics instruction through this approach is still explicit,
systematic and extensive.
Since phonics learning is dependent on experience of reading, there are important
classroom implications. According to Stahl (1992), teachers should:
build on a child’s rich concepts about print functions;
build on a foundation of phonological awareness;
parts of the words are taught before the story is read by children
letter-phoneme correspondences are taught
parts of the words are taught after the story has been read to, with and by children
letter-onset, letter-rime and letter-syllable correspondences are taught
8
integrate phonics into a total reading program;
focus on reading words, not learning rules;
include onsets and rimes etc.
The most important thing is teachers must build on the solid foundations of what
children already know and give them space to see patterns and draw inferences. It
is hoped that this whole-to-part approach to phonics encourages children to become
more autonomous learners and be more confident.
In this sense, phonics is a means to an end, not an end in itself. So, in this project,
we:
adopted a whole-to-part approach and put phonics as a meaningful part in a total
reading program;
adopted the analytic approach with onset-rime concept in decoding a word;
considered our children’s previous knowledge, their reading experiences from
textbooks and big books or small readers as a whole integratively;
gave students ample opportunities to internalize phonics formation through using
the skills taught.
II Our considerations:
We hoped to make phonics a meaningful and integrated part in our English
Language curriculum, with ample opportunities for students to learn, apply and connect
with other areas of learning.
9
The teaching of phonics must build on what students already know. We did not want
to give students extra burden with many new words. We wanted to use familiar words
and give students ample space to help them see patterns and draw analogy.
We hoped phonics could help students solve learning problems. Students should be
able to learn individual sounds, decode & blend words, read aloud, spell and start
writing. They should be equipped with the skills to learn new words and read with
confidence and interest.
We hoped to make good use of all existing resources as input and provide as many
opportunities for students to apply phonics as possible.
C. The Development Process
I. Planning our curriculum
i. Why:
Integration -------- We planned to integrate phonics into our English Language
curriculum, connecting it with all the teaching resources and various skills so
that phonics is a meaningful tool for students to solve their learning problems.
Differences between our students and native speakers ------ Unlike the native
speakers, our students’ repertoire of words was not very big and their language
environment was limited. Most overseas phonics packages might not be suitable
10
for our students as they contain difficult words and exercises which generate
extra learning burden.
Application ----- We stressed the importance of helping students to use phonics
as a tool to learn. The teaching of phonics skills and providing opportunities for
students to apply them was most essential.
ii. How:
Connecting the resources ------ We examined the textbooks and tried to
include interesting storybooks and big books for enrichment and reinforcement
of what students had been learning. All resources were connected either in their
language focuses or themes. Skills were also integrated as far as possible.
Deciding on the sounds to be taught ---- We decided to start the teaching of
sounds based on the words from the textbook since these were the words
students knew. It was easier for them to make analogy when they knew them
already.
We started with simpler consonants and the sounds chosen were `g’, `b’, `m’, `n’,
`d’, `f’, `s’, `sh’, `t’ and `c’.
Designing our teaching materials ---- Since we did not adopt any package,
we made use of and adapted the existing resources available when designing our
own phonics worksheets for each sound. These worksheets were compiled into a
sound book. We asked students to contribute their own words with the same
sound in their sound books.
Using other resources ----- We added many other resources for enrichment,
11
reinforcement and application of phonics skills. They included songs, CD-Roms,
big books and small readers for the teaching and practice of different sounds.
Students had chances to see words and sounds in meaningful contexts; and they
could practise the sounds taught in the related units. Students were invited to
read stories together and individually.
Using multisensory approach ----- We made sure that students could hear, see,
write and say the sounds whenever the opportunities arose. We used some
gestures and actions to go with the sounds to help students remember them better.
Besides a lot of songs and actions / miming, we had activities like `name trees’,
making sound box to gather words of the same sounds etc to enlarge students’
repertoire of words and reinforce their ability of making analogy.
iii. What:
Resources used:
Textbook
We used New Welcome to English Bk1 as our course book. It was the core of
our curriculum. Since we agreed that students need practice in seeing and
understanding decodable words in real reading situations and with connected
text (Adams 1990), we chose active vocabulary from the textbook as the
starting point of phonics teaching.
Sound Books
After teaching each sound, students were asked to find more words with the
same sound and write them down in the sound book. Besides they were
12
encouraged to use the words to make sentences and share with the class. This
helped to cultivate self-learning habits and reinforce learning from each other.
Students were able to draw analogy between sounds and words they knew and
their confidence was boosted during the sharing session.
Songs
All students enjoyed singing very much. The songs helped to engage students
with the sounds they were learning. They could remember the sounds better
and they had the chance to practise the sounds they had learnt in a more lively
way.
CD-Roms
Students were attracted by the interesting animations. They were exposed to
authentic materials with interesting contexts. Students could take part in the
interactive games. There were also ample opportunities for students to join in
and read aloud together.
Teachers could also prepare the lessons and check the pronunciation with the
help of the CD-Roms conveniently. Both teachers and students were exposed
to the clear sounds and recitation on the CD-Roms and this resulted in
students’ better mastery of the sounds.
Big Book Shared reading
Big books with attractive pictures and enlarged prints could appeal to all
students. Students could have the chance to apply phonics skills to say the
13
words they did not know. Students were invited to read stories together and
individually. They had chances to see words and sounds in meaningful
contexts and they enjoyed reading very much. Besides, we taught basic
reading skills during the process of shared reading.
Small Readers
Students needed some real and interesting reading materials that they could
bring home for sharing with parents and consolidation. We chose a few readers
for each module to reinforce the learning of language items and stimulate
students’ ideas. Students’ attitude and affective development were also
considered. Students were expected to read the small readers more intensively
and fluently. They were also encouraged to use the language and ideas they
had learnt from the small readers in writing and project work.
In selecting big books and small readers, we considered the following
questions:
Were they interesting?
Did they match with the themes we were covering?
Did they help to reinforce students’ learning of the language items?
Did they provide chances for practicing phonics skills?
Were there any stimulating ideas?
Was it possible for students to transfer what they had learnt in writing or
project work?
14
Sound Box
To facilitate learning from each other, we gathered words of the same sounds
from students and put them in the sound box. Students were invited to share
their own words with the whole class. This enhanced their sense of ownership
and achievement. Students were also exposed to words they did not know and
they learned more words as a result.
II. Changes in planning and practice:
Adjustment needed
As the teaching of phonics was a new teaching experience for all of us, we needed more
time for preparation and the actual activities. So, teaching was slowed down in the first term.
We could only finish teaching 7 sounds. We had to adjust our teaching plan and the last 3
sounds in our plan (t, sh, s) had to be taught in the second term.
Changes in teaching focus --- emphasis on phonics skills and application
After the first term and based on the data collected, we had discerned the following
development in our students:
Students had mastered a certain number of consonants (7 altogether) in the
first term and they had much exposure to sounds and words through shared
reading activities.
They were used to our teaching style and they enjoyed the learning of phonics
very much.
Students were eager to learn phonics and willing to read new words. Most of
them were progressing very well and the post-test results showed that their
15
confidence level was higher.
Students still had problem in blending sounds and sounding out new
words.
We thought that we could go faster and be more ambitious in the second term. We
also wanted to help students blend sounds. So, besides continuing with the teaching of
more consonants, we tried to include the teaching of onsets and rimes.
Together with the 3 sounds `t’, `s’ and `sh’ we did not cover in the first term, we
added some other sounds `h’, `p’, `l’, `r’, `j’, `k’, `w’ and `v’. Very common rimes
including `at’, `all’, `in’, `an’ and `et’ were taught. We also started introducing the
concept of syllables. We helped students divide the words into parts based on the sound
components and used clapping to help students identify the number of syllables for
simple words. Students were given even more chances in reading aloud. So, there was
more emphasis on the teaching of phonics skills and application, rather than just on
the sounds themselves. It was hoped that students could try to sound out words by
blending sounds and apply phonics in reading aloud.
First term Second term
Teaching focuses:
Start with easier consonants:
`g’, `b’, `m’, `n’, `d’, `f’ and `c’
More emphasis on phonics skills and application
*more consonants:
`s’, `sh’, `t’, `h’, `p’, `l’, `r’, `j’, `k’, `w’ and `v’
*add rimes:
`at’, `all’, `in’, `an’ and `et’
16
*syllabification
Mainly on reading
More reading aloud & writing
Resources used:
Textbook, sound books, songs, CD-Roms, big books, small readers, sound box
III. Putting our plans into practice:
We had three modules in the first term as well as the second term. For better
illustration, we took ‘Animals’ and ‘Me and My friends’ as an example. Students were
requested to do a project on ‘Myself’ as an end product.
When we taught these two modules, we planned to cover around 8 onsets and 3 rimes.
Besides integrating the teaching of phonics in the English lessons whenever the
opportunities arose, we also spent a whole lesson on phonics teaching occasionally,
particularly during the oral lessons. So, when we were teaching words from the
textbooks or big books and came across words with sounds we were teaching, we would
seize the chance and help students work out the sound using appropriate phonics skills.
We found it a challenging task as it depended on teachers’ awareness and the time
available. As for lessons on phonics, we tried to use stories related to the themes and
teach phonics in context.
i. How we planned a lesson
What to teach
We wanted to teach the rime “all” in the module `Me and my friends’. The
students had learnt some consonant sounds ( t, w, f, h, m, b, sm) and some had
17
acquired basic skill in blending sounds into words. But many students had
confusing concepts about onsets and rimes. We hoped we could reinforce our
students’ concepts with more examples and interesting activities.
Our preparation
We agreed that storytelling was one of the effective ways to attract our
students. Through the use of stories, we could make phonics teaching more
contextualized. It was difficult to find a suitable story to match our teaching
targets. So we decided to create a new story.
In the story, we used words ending with the rime “all” e.g. t/all, w/all, f/all,
b/all and the rimes were all printed in red. We also prepared picture cards and
sentence strips for the games. We designed activities to involve our students in
storytelling.
The story:
The cat climbs up the tall wall.
Look out! Rat. Do not fall.
The cat climbs up the tall wall.
Look out! Cat. Do not fall.
The dog climbs up the tall wall.
Look out! Dog. Do not fall.
ii. What we did in class
There were some episodes of our lesson on
1. teaching and sharing during the process
2. students’ activities in which they had to sort out words
18
3. students’ activities in constructing words in groups and matching them with the
appropriate picture cards
Follow-up
After the group work, each student chose some words they had learnt and try to make
some funny/silly sentences. This was their assignment at home.
Evaluation
Students showed tremendous interest in the lesson and they were fond of the
characters. Their concept of onset-rime was reinforced. They showed better
understanding of onset-rime as revealed in the activity and the sentences they
made after the lesson.
Students were able to develop the story further and they liked to create the
ending of the story together with the teacher. The following was one example:
Here comes a little girl. She is playing with a ball.
The dog wants to catch the ball.
Look out! Dog. Do not fall.
Can the dog catch the ball?…… Yes. / No.
Students showed very good attempt in making the sentences. These were some
examples:
The tree is tall.
19
I have small eyes.
I like playing basketball.
The tall boy is in the park playing the ball.
(The tall boy is playing the ball in the park.)
The small ball is on the wall
The small cat all day play.
(The small cat plays all day.)
When we were preparing the lesson, we doubted whether it was worth
spending so much time making the picture cards. During the lesson, we found
the picture cards very useful in helping students understand the words. We
concluded that some teaching aids were necessary although preparing them
was very time-consuming.
We had peer observation for this lesson. The other teachers and our
headmistress joined the class as observers. They helped in observing students’
reactions and learning. They also made comments and suggestions on
improving the teaching. It was a very useful exercise.
The teacher’s own evaluation on the lesson:
Students’ learning:
It was a very enjoyable lesson for all of us. The students were
very attentive and they participated actively, particularly in
constructing the story. Some of them were eager to read the
20
story in front of the class. They could read the sentences
clearly but I still felt that they read too softly. Maybe I should
provide them with more reading opportunities in class so that
they would become more confident.
Teaching:
I still had too much control over the activities and all the input.
Judging from the students’ performance, I thought their own
contribution should be encouraged more. It would be much
better if I elicited words from them throughout the process and
made use of their contribution in the activity as well. This
would add challenge and a sense of ownership on the students’
part.
Collaboration:
I was very grateful to my headmistress, colleagues and the
CDO for their positive comments. They all confirmed what I
have done was on the right track. Their suggestions for
improvement also helped me see more possibilities and switch
to see students’ needs more. However, sharing was still
inadequate. I thought we could learn more if we watched the
recording of the lesson together and discussed in greater detail
students’ learning and how teaching could further enhance it.
Students’ work
21
Reading was integrated with writing. We provided students with the opportunities to
apply what they had learnt from the textbook and other resources like big books and
small readers in their projects. The students showed great interest and effort in writing.
Their work was very impressive, full of interesting ideas and creative presentations.
Although the work did not reflect students’ learning in phonics, we found it an
unintended outcome of our new curriculum. We teachers had a great sense of
achievement as well.
D. The Research Process
I. Data collection methods
This is a qualitative research aiming at developing insights and implications from
data concerning students’ change in competence and confidence in reading. We also
explored ways of designing systematic, contextual and meaningful phonics instruction
and tried out different teaching methods to enhance students’ reading competence and
confidence. Views from the teachers, the students and the parents were collected for
better triangulation. For this research, all four classes in Primary 1 consisting of 130
students were involved.
II. Instruments used:
i. Pre-test and post-test (first term)
This was on students’ mastery of sounds and their confidence in sounding out words.
The pre-test was conducted at the beginning of the first term to find out how much
students knew and their confidence level. This method was supplemented by
22
qualitative data from teacher observation during the test. The test was adapted and
simplified from the EI Paso Phonics Survey (Ekwall, 1986) which was an informal
device for assessing phonics. The same test was conducted again towards the end of
the term to measure students’ change in performance and confidence level.
ii. Pre-test and post-test (second term)
The design was the same as the tests in phase 1, with the sounds changed to those
taught in the second term.
iii. Interview + phonics skills test
This was conducted with a focus group (3 students of different standards from each
class) towards the end of the second term to gather more details about students’
learning of sounds, their learning experience in English and their confidence in
reading. The objective of the interviews was to find out how different groups of
students learnt, why and how well they were learning. Students’ metacognitive
knowledge of how they worked out the sounds and the reasons behind was explored
as well.
iv. Class observations
All along, we conducted observations during the teaching process to check and note
down students’ progress and their problems. We also evaluated our instructional
strategies. A checklist was used to highlight the observation focuses and facilitate
recording in class.
23
E. Findings
I. Students’ competence and confidence in sounding out words and reading
i. Pre-tests / post-tests
Major findings(1st term):
Students improved their knowledge of sounds tremendously in the post-test.
Students performed better in sounds like `b+up’ and `g+up’ but they were poor
in sounding out `n+up’ and `c+am’.
Most students were nervous when taking the pre-test. They were unwilling to
try and make guesses. There was great improvement students’ confidence in
the post-test.
Class differences were very big, with two classes much better than the other
two.
One class made very good progress in the post-test.
Major findings (2nd term):
Students’ performance in both the pre-test and post-test was greatly improved
when compared with those in the first term.
Students’ learning of sounds and confidence level were much enhanced. Most
of the students were eager to try in the last post-test.
Class differences were not as big as before.
One class had made very good progress, particularly when compared with the
first term post-test.
24
Reflection on the tests
The teaching of phonics was really effective in helping students learn the
sounds and develop confidence in sounding out words.
Students in general were able to apply the skills to read new words better and
they were more willing to make guesses.
We had no time to probe into the class differences and the reasons behind. In
our sharing, we came up with the following views:
Teachers’ attitude in teaching phonics might have some impact on
students’ risk-taking and confidence. When we were more positive and
encouraging, always letting students try and learn from mistakes, the
students were more willing to try.
Since the tests were conducted by four teachers altogether, it was difficult
to ensure objectivity and consistency in assessment. Different teachers
might conduct the tests with a different attitude and different
expectations.
ii. Interview with the focus group
Students’ performance in phonics
Some findings from the interview:
All students had very good performance in print awareness. In general,
students had no problem in reading the letter names and saying the sounds.
Students performed well in recognizing the rhyming pairs.
Students were weaker in analytic phonics related to the `word families’
25
concept (matching).
Students were particularly weak in applying skills and sounding out words
(transfer) with different onset variation. Only the brighter students were able
to transfer their knowledge and phonics skills to sound out words.
Six students were able to explain their choices and verbalize the reasons for
their choice.
Four students demonstrated a clear concept of `onset-rime’ and made the right
application.
There was great variation among students in their concept of rhymes and most
students failed to show good understanding.
There was variation among students in their confidence level. While four of
the students made all correct attempts in sounding out words with onset
variation (transfer), some did not try to sound out words at all and they
showed no confidence in making attempts. Most students had to be
encouraged from time to time.
There was a big gap among the students in syllabification. Teachers had not
started teaching this part and so most students failed to manage this part well.
Students’ voice:
`I like English because of the activities, games and the fun I can get from
them.’
`I enjoy the learning of phonics and I like the activities related to it.’
`I do not like English because I have to tackle too many words/vocabulary.’
`I do not find learning phonics difficult and I think this can help me in
26
dictation.’
Reflection
Students were all aware of the difference between letter names and sounds. It
showed that the teaching of letter names and sounds was very successful and
the great majority of the students had no problems in these parts.
It was further confirmed that more emphasis should be put on the application
of phonics skills. Most students had great problems in applying phonics skills
in reading new words. We should help students to sound out words and
verbalize their thinking process, rather than just teach individual sounds.
Students’ confidence and risk-taking attitude were major factors affecting their
attempt in sounding out words. We had to think of different ways to help them,
particularly the average or weaker ones. Students needed encouragement all
the time.
The performance of students in syllables showed that teaching was essential to
build up students’ concept and confidence. When students were asked
something they had not learnt before, they did have great problems in making
any attempts.
iii. Class observations
Findings:
All students enjoyed the activities in phonics and shared reading sessions.
A few bright students could learn phonics skills and apply them very quickly.
However, most students had problems in sounding out words. Many were
27
unwilling to take risks.
After a term’s teaching and encouragement, students showed some
improvement in their confidence. It was important to have an encouraging
class atmosphere.
Reflection:
We did not have time to do the observations and we did not know how to write
down useful information.
The observation checklist was not too useful for making meaningful records of
our teaching and students’ learning. We seldom used it. We needed to work out
a better way for the observations and recording.
The focuses of class observations were not clear enough.
II. Teachers’ reflection on the development process
i. Complexity of phonics learning
Students’ contribution of words provided us with information of how well they
understood and applied the learning of sounds. They could start drawing analogy
between the sounds taught and the words they had learnt before. For instance, for
the sound `g’, many students gave familiar words like `pig’, `dog’, `gun’, `goat’,
demonstrating that they could start associating the sounds with the words they knew.
However, some students gave words like `sing’ and mixed up `g’ with `ng’. Other
students gave words like `orange’ or `Gigi’ (the soft sound). So, their contribution
of words helped us understand the complexity of phonics teaching and we began to
see learning more from the students’ perspective. To address students’ problems, we
28
tried to clarify the sounds in class again, noting at the same time that complications
and exceptions could be dealt with later when students were more mature.
Otherwise, students would be confused.
ii. Students’ achievements and problems
As observed in the lessons and the post-test, students’ performance in phonics was
generally improved. Students began to know the relationship between letters and
sounds. They all knew that each letter had a name and a sound and they could well
remember the sounds. They showed improvement in sounding out words, reading
aloud and demonstrated greater confidence. They were all interested in learning
phonics and the related activities. As reflected from the sound books and students’
contributions, students could follow the teaching of phonics quite well. They
enjoyed the work and some even drew pictures to illustrate the words. We used
sound games for assessment and students demonstrated their ability in listening and
discriminating the sounds.
At the same time, we found that knowing the sounds was not enough. From the
interviews, we observed that many students still lacked the skills in blending
sounds. We needed to think of better ways to help our students.
iii. Complexity of teaching strategies
Recalling the various strategies that we have adopted, we failed to identify a
particular strategy that was most useful. Instead, we have learnt the following
points on teaching strategies:
29
Attraction
We have to use activities and materials which appeal to our students. The
multisensory approach with the use of gestures, songs, games and other
activities involving students is proved to be very attractive. Storybooks
are also things that all children enjoy.
Variation
We see that every method has its attractions but we cannot stick to one
method all the time. Most students like singing songs and shared reading
and we can have these activities very often. However, different students
have different responses; one method may appeal to one group of
students but not to the other. Besides, no matter how attractive one
method is, we cannot keep using it. For instance, our students were very
excited when they first read the sound stories. But after a few lessons, the
students had got used to the presentation and they lost interest in them. So,
it is more important to have a variety of activities and adjust to our
students’ needs from time to time.
Ownership
It is very effective if we use our students’ own work and contributions in
our teaching. This helps our students to have a sense of ownership in
learning and they are proud of themselves.
30
Application
Providing students ample opportunities to apply what they have learnt is
very important to help students put what they have learnt in practice.
Their learning is reinforced and their confidence is boosted when they see
how things actually work in reality.
III. Teachers’ learning and evaluation of the research methodology
i. Pre-tests / post-tests
Functions
The tests were useful as we got information on our students’ problems, their learning and
feedback on our teaching.
We could understand our students’ standard better and knew where to start.
The post-test results helped to confirm students’ learning and effectiveness of our teaching.
We had a sense of achievement when we saw students’ progress in the post-tests.
As we made the post-test part of the examination, we succeeded in matching assessment with
learning/teaching. In the past, we always failed to test what students had learnt. However, with
this post-test, we had built in the teaching-learning-assessment cycle. We could also get useful
feedback on our teaching through the results.
Problems
The tests were very long and conducting the tests was very time-consuming.
We were all nervous at the beginning and made our students nervous too in the first test. The
lack of experience in conducting the tests had affected the students’ performance.
Our learning
31
We learned from our experience. We became wiser in the process. We improved our attitude
and were more relaxed. We also made improvement in the procedure when we conducted the
tests the second time.
We had clearer objectives of using the instruments and could make a better judgement as to
what method should be used.
As we extended the research to P2, we changed our methodology. For P2, we evaluated
students’ learning through observations and did not conduct the pre-tests.
Comparing the tests and the interview: teachers’ involvement and collaboration
with Curriculum Development Officer (CDO)
Since we conducted the tests, we could get more information on the students’ learning and
problems, even individual student’s performance. Teachers’ interaction with students during
the tests was very important and we could have better understanding of the students’ learning.
The interview was conducted by the external agent (CDO & RO from SBCD(P)) and its
impact on us was not so great. We teachers did not have direct interaction with the students.
However, the data served as useful feedback on teaching and provided information on future
planning.
With an external agent conducting the interview, the data obtained could be complimentary to
other findings and a more objective view could be concluded. This was a useful way in
triangulating the different data.
We needed external assistance in data recording, data processing and analysis as we lacked
time and the techniques in doing these in detail. Collaboration with SBCD(P) was necessary
particularly in these areas.
32
ii. Class observations
Problems
We failed to have useful and adequate records of our observations.
We did not have clear targets and objectives in mind.
We did not have the culture and training in writing the teachers’ journals.
We focused too much on teaching but not on students’ learning in our observations. We also
failed to probe into students’ learning and the reasons behind in the process.
There were many practical problems: big class size, class discipline, lack of space and time
etc.
Suggestions
We should be more focused in our observations. Rather than observing the whole class like
what we have done, it is better to observe a few target students.
We need to change our perceptions of learning/teaching. It is important to shift our focus from
teaching to learning. We should learn to observe students’ learning, their response and the
reasons behind.
We have to change our culture and learn how to write down reflections in a more meaningful
way.
We should try to open up our class and invite other colleagues to observe our teaching. Peer
observations can be a useful way to widen our horizon and sharpen our reflection. Colleagues
can also help each other out in observing students and making records.
We can make use of meetings and discussion sessions to facilitate our sharing and recording
of our observations.
33
IV. Teachers’ reflection on collaboration among colleagues and with CDO
i. Among colleagues:
What we treasured:
`We enjoyed working together and all colleagues have been really supportive.
We shared our work very efficiently and we worked well as a team.’
How we felt:
`However, our sharing was not deep enough. There were the practical
problems of time and workload. We also had psychological burden. We rarely
had peer observation and watched each other teaching. It would have been
much better if we had visited each other’s class and shared our teaching as
well as observed students’ learning.’
ii. With CDO:
What we treasured:
`We felt both the pressure and pleasure working together, and pleasure was
definitely the more prominent part. With the ideas, resources and experiences
that she has brought to us, we have widened our horizon. At the beginning,
we all had doubts and worries. We have been using the same old teaching
method for so many years and we were happy with it. It was not easy
changing our old habits and shifting our paradigm. However, through her, we
could see how the big world outside was changing, what the others were
doing and what could be done. She also helped us to draw connections
34
between theory and practice, among different resources and activities. We
had clearer targets. We were willing to try and test new ways. In the end, we
have gained a lot and more importantly, our students are learning better.’
How we felt
- ` However, we felt that our relationship was not close enough. We still found it a
great pressure to invite her to our class. So, she seldom joined our lessons and
she failed to have interaction with our children. Looking back, we thought she
could be involved more in our teaching and our collaboration could be much
closer.’
V. The headmistress’s voice
Teachers are growing
Students are learning
F. Discussion
I. Importance of phonics teaching to young children
The research findings indicated that students were all aware of the difference
between letter names and sounds. The great majority of the students performed
very well in these parts. So, the teaching of letter names and sounds has been very
successful.
35
It is clear to see that we need to teach students to say the sounds and count the
syllables. The research findings have confirmed the importance of teaching. So,
phonics teaching helps the students to start seeing the relationship between letters
and sounds and provides a foundation for them to develop further.
II. Importance of developing students’ risk-taking attitude in language learning
The key to success in learning and applying phonics is the willingness to take risks.
Unlike the study of textbooks, students need to apply phonics skills and decode
new words in phonics learning. Whether students are willing to take risks and
learn by trial and error is a crucial factor in affecting their learning of phonics
skills.
We teachers have to think of different ways to help the students, particularly the
average and weaker ones, to develop the risk-taking attitude. It is really important
to use various ways to motivate and involve the students, for instance,
We have to be positive and create an encouraging class atmosphere for
students to take risks.
We always give students a sense of achievement and help students appreciate
each other’s attempts.
The class can learn by trial and error and students need not worry about
making mistakes.
36
III. Importance of phonics skills and application
The interview findings demonstrated that students still had problem in applying the
phonics skills (like blending and sounding out new words) although they knew the
sounds well.
Students performed better in more passive skills like identifying rhyming pairs and
matching word families. However, they had the least confidence when they needed
to use the more active skills of transferring and working out the sounds of new
words.
During class observations, we found that the brighter students could derive the
rules quickly and work out the sounds or the number of syllables on their own.
However, the great majority of the students failed to do so. So, most students need
to be taught the actual sounds, the concept and the skills very explicitly.
To make the correct attempt, students need to have very clear concept of
`onset-rime’. That is, we should place more emphasis on application of phonics
skills, helping students to sound out words and their thinking process, rather than
on the teaching of individual sounds. Students need to have ample opportunities to
try blending words and sounding out new words. They should also be helped to
find their own methods in doing that and verbalizing them so that phonics is a
meaningful skill to them.
As we see that students’ application of phonics skills and reading aloud are still
37
inadequate and they cannot read effectively, we need to provide more reading
experiences to our students through the use of big books, electronic books and
small readers and help students apply phonics in reading.
It is not possible to teach all sounds in one year and students’ learning has to be
reinforced and developed from year to year. It is the awareness and skills which
matter, not the mastery of individual sounds. If students can acquire the basic skills
and apply them, they are able to learn on their own and teachers do not need to
teach everything. It is most important for us to teach students the skills to learn so
that they can learn on their own in the end.
G . Conclusion
Looking back, we have to admit that there are lots of limitations in this research. For
instance, it is difficult for us to compare the use of a package and our own designed
materials since we have not used any package before. We have failed to collect sufficient
evidence on our students’ learning since we lacked the time and experience in observing
and recording our students’ progress. But we did manage to develop our own
school-based curriculum to suit our students’ needs and find some positive impacts on
both teaching and learning.
We would like to conclude with reflection on our change:
`This collaborative action research has been a very challenging and illuminating
38
experience to all of us. We started off to explore the teaching of phonics. At the
beginning, we focused a lot on teaching and exploring different learning resources.
These were our major concerns. However, throughout the process, we began to
shift from our teaching to students’ learning. Rather than focusing on what we
teachers need, we have turned to see things more from our students’ perspective.
We keep asking what our students like more, what can stimulate their interest and
enhance their learning better. We also begin to see into their difficulties and needs.
We have therefore explored different strategies like shared reading, singings songs
and games to motivate our students. To make learning more coherent, we have
tried to integrate different things as far as possible and let students apply what
they have learnt. With these changes in our teaching, English lessons become
much more lively and meaningful. While seeing students enjoying the lessons
tremendously, we teachers also experience that teaching English can be so much
fun.
Teaching phonics is really a platform for us to reconsider students’ needs and our
professional growth. The research findings have informed us of our achievement,
the inadequacies and shed light on the development we need further in our
teaching. There is still so much to learn and so much to explore …….. ’
39
References Cheyney, W. and Cohen, E. J. (1999). Focus on Phonics: Assessment and Instruction. U.S.A.: Wright Group. The Curriculum Development Council (1997). Syllabuses for Primary Schools: English Language (Primary 1-6). Hong Kong: The Education Department. Dombey, H. et al. (1998). Whole to Part Phonics. London: Centre for Language in Primary Education. Harrison , C. (1996). "Methods of Teaching Reading: Key Issues in Research and Implications for Practice". Interchange, no. 39:1-11. Lloyd, S. (1994) (2nd ed.). The Phonics Handbook: a handbook for teaching reading, writing and spelling. Chigwell: Jolly Learning Ltd. Miller, W. (2000). Strategies for Developing Emergent literacy. Boston: Mcgraw Hill Higher Education. SchifferDanoff, V. (1997). Pocket Charts for Emergent Readers. New York: Scholastic Professional Books. Strickland, D. S. (1998). Teaching Phonics Today: A Primer for Educators. Newark: International Reading Association. Websites Curtis, J. (1997). "Phonics vs. Whole Language: Which is Better?" Retrieved from
<http://www.superkids.com/aweb/pages/features/reading/phonics.shtml> Lemann, N. (1997). "The Reading Wars". Atlantic Monthly, November 1997. Retrieved
from <http://www.theatlantic.com/issues/97nov/read.htm> Ruth, S. S. (2000). "Helping Your Child Learn to Read: Phonics and Words". Retrieved from
<http://www.mycinnamontoast.com/reading2.htm>
40
Sansing, L. "Phonics or Whole Language". Retrieved from <http://www2.tamucc.edu/~edtech/summer.5310.1998/lsansing/webpage.htm>
Weaver, C. (1997). "Phonics in Whole Language Classrooms". Retrieved from
<http://www.kidsource.com/kidsource/content2/phonics.html> (1997). "Just Say 'Know' to Whole Language". Retrieved from
<http://www.freedomparty.org/whole_07.htm> (1994). "The Language Pack Step-by-Step Plan: Checklist I". The Longman Book Project.
UK: Longman Group UK Ltd. Retrieved from <http://www.longman.co.uk/bkproject/> (1997). "Whole Language and Phonics: Can They Work Together?" Retrieved from
<http://www.education-world.com/a_curr/curr029.shtml>