Learning to read : phonological awareness and the development of reading? : a study of at-risk beginner readers with culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds in an English-speaking school

More and more, schools all over the world are meeting the culturally and linguistically diverse classroom. Whilst this growing phenomenon offers an abundance of new experiences and learning opportunities to students and teachers alike, it can also present some challenges. For example, children learning English as a second language (L2 Learners) and who are entering into an English-speaking school can sometimes experience difficulties in becoming familiar with the phonological system of the English language. This, coupled with the irregularities in the English writing system (orthography) can impact their ability to learn to read in the beginning stages. Several studies conducted among English monolingual beginner readers have linked phonological awareness to reading ability, with the studies conducted by Hatcher, Hulme and Ellis (1994) and Muter and Diethelm (2001) forming the foundations on which this thesis has been based. This study assesses the impact of a phonological awareness intervention programme in developing the phonological skills of six L2 at-risk beginner readers aged 6-7, with the aim of preventing reading and spelling failure. L2 at-risk beginner readers were identified using the school’s teacher-generated basic literacy assessments as well as through ongoing in-class observations made by the class teachers. The study design was an adapted single-case time-series experiment (A-B-A-A) conducted over a period of ten weeks. The phonological awareness programme instruction took place from week one to week eight consecutively. At week eight, the intervention was withdrawn for a period of two weeks as a means to measure any change in the children’s skill level following programme withdrawal. Time-series data measuring the development of different phonological manipulation skills was collected at the pre-test (T1), post-test (T2), and the follow-up post-test (T3) stages using the phonological awareness test battery – PhAB, (Frederickson, Frith and Reason, 1997). A running log was also kept for each child and used to record additional qualitative data regarding individual progress in phonological skill development during the intervention. Group-level results signify that good progress was made in the phonological skill areas measured between T1 and T2. Following the withdrawal of the programme at T3, results generally either plateaued or regressed slightly. Whilst the group was not able to improve upon the results gained in T2 following the programme withdrawal, scores indicated that despite some regression, they were mostly able to retain the skill levels reached. Analysis of individual profiles indicates however, that there is a wide variation in scores gained between individuals within the group. Whilst each individual child seemingly made progress in the development of their phonological skills, they did so at varying rates. The phonological programme was seemingly viewed positively by each of the six children taking part with one enthused child stating “I can read a bit now – look I can do all of these words!