EFL Teachers' Phonological Awareness Beliefs and Practices: Help or Prevent EFL Children Developing Reading

"Families, schools and stakeholders long for developing good readers (Ponitz & Rimm-Kaufman, 2011) and would do all it takes to save young children from becoming illiterate or low achievers (Anthony & Farncis, 2005; Share & Stanovich, 1995; Snowling, 1998). Since The landmark study of Moats (1994), a flow of research has targeted teacher education advocating for teachers being competent in PA (Carlisle, Kelcey, Rowan, & Phelps, 2011; Kennedy, 2013; Washburn et al., 2017). EFL teachers' proficiency seems to contribute to the reading difficulties that early graders encounter. This paper investigates the knowledge, beliefs, practices and awareness in phonological awareness (PA) of twohundred and ten ramdonly selected EFL in-service teachers and then examines the impact of teachers' experiences, qualifications, and gender on shaping teachers' instruction. The researchers used a four-section survey to collect teachers' demographic information, perceived and actual knowledge of phonological awareness and classroom practices related to PA, phonics, and syllabication. The results reported teachers as moderate level in the beliefs, practice and awareness of PA. In terms of teachers' knowledge in PA, however, results showed teachers lacking the basics in teaching reading. This study adds to the body of literature and sheds light on the status quo of EFL in-service teachers' competency and brings to the attention of every stakeholder the critical role EFL teachers play in helping EFL children become readers. Although the results point towards teachers as possible cause behind children's low-literacy level, this study raises important questions for further investigations, and implications for EFL teacher education and preparation are highlighted.