The Relationship between English Phonological Awareness of Chinese English Learners and Their English Skills

This study investigated the relationship between English phonological awareness (PA) of Chinese English learners and their three English skills (reading, spelling, and listening). Four-hundred college students participated in the study. The results of correlation and regression analyses demonstrated that: 1) overall PA correlated significantly with the three skills and predicted spelling strongly, listening intermediately, and reading weakly; 2) the three levels of PA had differential effects on English skills: reading was only significantly predicted by syllable awareness, spelling by onset-rhyme and phoneme awareness, and listening by all levels of PA; and 3) the predictive effects of tasks corresponded to the difficulty of the processing skill required by a task. This study has borne out a vital role of English PA in improving adult Chinese English learners’ English skills