Teaching Reading Through Phonics: A Process Approach

Testing Reading Ability through Phonics

1.Develop a reading task based on either the product/process approach to reading. In developing the task, you may focus on any reading sub-skill/strategy of your choice.

2.Write a report on the task administration and outcomes.

Present world endorses English as the most widely learned language and the task of reading is regarded as one of the most significant skill in teaching language (Saville & Barto, 2016). In majority of cases, pupils in English classes showcase an inclination towards maturing proficiency, for the purpose of getting access to data and not for improving their social communication skills. Consequently teaching the discipline of reading has been successful in obtaining massive attention (Kucer, 2014). Regrettably, the teachers have not been completely successful in properly executing the task of enhancing the reading ability of their pupils; even after years of studying English, only a handful of pupils attain the capability of proficient reading (Bursuck & Damer, 2014). The fact must be noted, that it is absolutely necessary on the part of the teachers to guide pupils to overcome their poor reading habits and nurture improved ones (Machin, McNally & Viarengo, 2016). As a result of this, various experiments are conducted to discover methods of teaching, which might prove efficient and successfully empower the pupils with proper reading skills. A significant fact of process approach is that, it focuses on the process of reading rather than on the end product. A considerable amount of knowledge about reading skills, have always been the part of a curriculum followed by pupils interested in appearing for the global language examinations. The process approach to teach reading was embraced extensively in second language classroom, after the need for attention to individual pupil was highlighted (Urquhart & Weir, 2014). The following report aims at discovering various facets of a particular method of teaching the discipline of readin

1.Requirements Of The Activity:

The following activity aims at testing the reading ability of students at transitional level and assigning them restricted verbal exercise in a play. In other words, the following activity proposes to teach reading through phonics (Hill, 2016). The pupils are expected to properly arrange a jumbled conversation and thereafter perform the very act in pairs (Ziegler, Perry & Zorzi, 2014). Performing in pairs, is likely to elevate the co-operation level between them. In this report, a conversation in a travel agent’s office has been considered. The equipments required for this test are: a paper containing the muddled conversation and every speech of the conversation must be numbered so that they can be arranged conveniently, and there must also be a second sheet for taking note of marks of the students, which they secure after their performance. A copy of paper containing the muddled conversation must be with the students to aid their performance.

Incorporating Variations for Enhanced Reading Skills

Procedure Of The Activity:

The test can be incorporated into the course at any stage as holidays and travel are commonplace topics. A discussion must be initiated regarding arrangement of vacation – the resources that are accessible in the nation, the techniques that individuals from that particular course group (or their guardians) utilize, the destination which the pupils would prefer to visit for a short tenure; the discussion must take into consideration the act of referring to pertinent  vocabulary. Thereafter, the papers containing the muddled conversations must be distributed amongst the pupils. Clarification must be offered to students mentioning that the paper contains an interaction between a Travel Agent and a client, nonetheless the content has been jumbled up and their assignment is to organize the conversation in an appropriate manner. The pupils must locate connections between the fragments of the conversation (Spiro, Bruce & Brewer, 2017). It is at the disposal of the teacher to decide whether a pupil must note down all the oration in proper sequence or the pupil is supposed to note down the numbers, following proper sequence. After completion of arrangement of the speeches, the pupils must read their conversation aloud, in front of the whole class; this will help in detection and consequent rectification if there exists any imperfection in the assignment. The scores must be declared thereafter. Pronunciation exercise must also ensue after that. The pupils must be placed in pairs and continue to practice the dialogue amongst themselves; they must be encouraged to loudly read out their roles while looking into the eyes of their partners so that the play seems natural while it is executed (Bayat, 2014). Subsequently the pupils must be requested to enact the whole piece and carry out the conversation before the class.

Variations:                                                                                                                                        

A few variations might be incorporated in the task, to bring about better enhancement in the reading skills of the students The fact of memorizing the corrected piece and performing it in front of the class might be brought into consideration. The pupils can also be persuaded to hypothetically construct a similar type of conversation in a tourist agent’s office, referring to their previous assignment. A certain number of hindrances might be incorporated, such as: the suggested vacation might appear to be exceptionally expensive or the client might demand additional services; the chances of the client conveying over the phone or physically returning to propose certain amendments, might be considered. With the aid of these hindrances the students are likely to improvise and shape the conversation in accord with their own convenience. Introduction of a third person accompanying the client and his or her conformity or disparity regarding the tour plan, is likely to make the situation more complex and consequently more interesting. A film might also be recorded and uploaded on social networking sites the reactions are likely to encourage pupils to further refurbish their reading capabilities (Wagner, Vollmar & Wagner, 2014).

The Benefits of a Phonics Approach

Rationale For Selecting This Strategy:

Phonics helps pupils to read by distinguishing and articulating sounds (Warnick & Caldarella, 2016). Through an organized approach they are instructed about the method to perceive the sounds that every individual letter makes, they are made to blend those sounds together from left to construct a word. Children would then be able to utilize this information to unravel new words that they see or hear. This is the primary critical advance in figuring out how to read. Children who have been trained following the method of phonics, tend to read more precisely than those who have been trained utilizing different strategies.

The Task Enhances The Strategy:

The conducted activity, begins with the simplest sounds and advances towards the more difficult words, in this process the pupils will experience an urge to deal with new words (Shoaga, Akintola & Okpor, 2017). Thereafter they will be able to go ahead to comprehend any sort of content unhesitatingly, and might even read for pleasure. They are likely to utilize this information to spell new words they hear.

Challenges Of Conducting The Task:

The method of reading successfully begins by perceiving sounds and attaining the natural capacity to consequently interpret words. Nevertheless, for a few pupils of transitional level, the procedure may appear difficult (Steacy, 2016). This method demands continuous exercise so that the word deciphering process might be conducted instantly. Teachers, who are efficient readers, often fail to understand the extent of attention they must pay to enhance the reading skill of pupils (Pressley & Allington, 2014).

2.Reading is an ability that pupils must acquire, by following instructions in an organized and methodical manner, to be empowered to internalize the fundamental abilities to decipher the letters and words that are to be read in near future (Reutzel, 2014). Teaching pupils to read, utilizing the method of phonics, is comparatively a simple and compelling methodology (Kelly, 2015). Pupils belonging to transitional level are expected to be able to utilize this learning to pronounce new words that they see or hear (Hidajat, Susanto & Iskandar, 2017). This is the primary critical approach in figuring out the method of reading. Research demonstrates that it is significant on the part of children to learn and comprehend the sounds that the respective letters evoke, before he or she is acquainted with the names of the letters (Nicholson & Tse, 2014). Students of a renowned institute underwent the process of  learning to read, every day through an organized phonics program, this has brought about extraordinary progress since it had been applied for the first time, quite a long while back (Kent, 2016). The process approach ensures acquiring of abilities; it incorporates delight of reading in pupils as well (Massaro, 2014). The method of teaching using phonics, empowers the pupils with reading and comprehending capability.

Survey Results and Analysis

A group of transitional pupils was made to undertake the activity mentioned in ‘Part 1’ of this report; the task was carried out smoothly and a survey has been conducted thereafter. The following part aims at portraying various aspects and aftermath of the above-mentioned survey.

The advent of the activity evoked excitement amongst the pupils, specially when they came to know that the concerned topic is related to vacation. Acting in pairs actually helped in developing the communication abilities of the learners, they started exchanging thoughts and ideas, which further helped in enhancing their vocabulary. The activity witnessed high level of involvement on the part of the students. The involvement level further increased when the complexities of situation increased. The task of connecting fragmented speeches was successful in effectively capturing the attention of the concerned pupils. Reading aloud the assignment was very effective as it had pointed out the areas of strength and weakness of the reading aspects of a particular pupil and consequently provided him or her with a scope for bringing about improvements in the domain of reading practice. The task seemed to almost attain complete success, as most of the pupils were engrossed with the task of re-arranging the jumbled speeches and thereafter performing based on that piece.

Success Of The Task

It must be noted that in the phonics method of reading, pupils contemplate the shapes and sounds of letters in order to recognize them when reading. This expertise enables the learners to construct new words with the help of shorter sounds; these can be mixed together to shape words. The activity discussed in ‘Part 1’ of this report makes use of phonetic technique which empowers the learners with an apparatus to utilize when confronting troublesome and new words. Before the pupils acquire the expertise of perceiving words immediately, they can utilize this method of gradually constructing and perceiving words. The phonetic approach proved to be particularly useful in the above-mentioned activity, when many a pupil faced contents that were somewhat further developed than their reading level. Longer and relatively complicated words did not appear as startling to the participants when they could efficiently divide the words into letters or letter bunches.

Phonetic approach is capable of encouraging a pupil to state a word or many words, loudly, by breaking it into parts, tuning in for the sounds and afterwards reconstructing the related letters. While it may not lead pupils to the right spelling of a word, it initiates a beginning stage. The concerned pupils nurtured high chances of spelling the word precisely - or if nothing else, the spelling was sufficiently close so that the teacher could comprehend the expected word. The phonetic method of learning to read and deal with spellings enabled the learners to perform composing assignments that may somehow feel excessively difficult.

The activity helped the selected pupils to bring about enhancement in their reading aptitudes and productivity. Learning reading utilizing the method of phonics enabled the pupils to attain familiarity with perusing. The activity ensured a precise reading of the content. The Variations In The Afore-Mentioned Activity Aided The Pupils In Procuring More Vocabulary.

Limitations Of The Task

Despite being an overall success, the activity mentioned in ‘Part 1’ of this report possessed certain limitations, which surfaced through the pupils who turned out to be unsuccessful in executing the task in a proper manner and consequently in attaining proper reading skills. Each and every words cannot be spelled phonetically. It must be brought into consideration that there exists numerous such English words which are not spelled the way they sound; this fact has proved to be disappointing for a few learners and has brought about confusion among the pupils who solely relied upon the phonetic approach while reading. Utilizing the phonetic approach to decipher every single word, is likely to lead pupils in the wrong direction. For instance, making use of the phonetic approach, "said" would be read as "sayed". Instead of going letter by letter, learners must figure out to promptly remember certain selected words. Learners who are dependent exclusively on the phonetic approach would fail to read such words accurately.

The phonetic approach enabled pupils to read words on a page, however the method did not nurture any particular inclination towards concentrating on meaning of those words. By the utilization of just the phonetic approach, a pupil is likely to read a whole sentence without understanding it. The fact must be considered that the entire phonetic process to deal with reading is a method of an alternate strategy that lays stress on pronunciation instead of comprehending abilities. The pupils may encounter a higher chance of deciphering the words Swiftly, Provided They Comprehend The Matter In Which The Words Appear.

Improvement Of The Task

In light of the conducted activity, the following three methodologies might be incorporated to enable the pupils to acquire reading skills, in a better manner. One of the most significant aspect is locating the means by which the attention of the pupils can be drawn towards the discipline of learning to read; it will be futile to force the uninterested pupils to learn the process of reading. Therefore the teachers must successfully evoke a positive attitude towards reading, among pupils. Moreover, pupils must be motivated to discover, how fascinating a book can be. This might be achieved by reading out stories and rendering accessible many a story books with fascinating pictures and several factual details regarding the things, learners would normally be keen on. The pupils must also be encouraged to learn about new things.

Conclusion

Thus, from the above discussion it may be concluded that instructing learners to read, using the strategy for phonics, is nearly straightforward and convincing. Pupils of transitional level mostly possess the capacity to utilize this method of learning; after going through a process of phonic training, they are rendered capable of reproducing new words that they see or hear. Phonic method is considered to be the essential basic approach, in making sense of the framework for initiating reading. The process approach guarantees obtaining of skills; it also infuses the joy of reading, in the learners. The strategy of schooling, utilizing phonics, enables the students to acquire exceptionally strong reading capacities. Phonics guides pupils to master the art of reading by recognizing and articulating sounds; through a controlled approach the learners gather knowledge about the technique to perceive the sounds that each individual letter creates, the learners are made to allign those sounds together from left, to develop a word.  Those pupils who have been trained following the strategy of phonics, tend to read more exactly than the individuals who have been prepared using distinctive methodologies. The learners are likely to utilize this data to spell new words they hear. The technique for reading effectively starts by perceiving sounds and results in deciphering new words. The method of phonics is a vital component required to empower a teacher to aid a pupil in acquiring proper reading capability.

References

Bayat, N. (2014). The Effect of the Process Writing Approach on Writing Success and Anxiety. Educational Sciences: Theory and Practice, 14(3), 1133-1141.

Bursuck, W. D., & Damer, M. (2014). Teaching reading to students who are at risk or have disabilities: A multi-tier, RTI approach. Pearson Higher Ed.

Hidajat, L., Susanto, Y., & Iskandar, A. (2017). The Effect of Synthetic Phonics on the Development of Reading Skills in L1 and L2. The Journal of AsiaTEFL, 14(3), 398-413.

Hill, D. R. (2016). Phonics based reading interventions for students with intellectual disability: A systematic literature review. Journal of Education and Training Studies, 4(5), 205-214.

Kelly, C. (2015). Reading intervention programs: A comparative chart. Reading Rockets.

Kent, K. (2016). Slither down the snake of success: The link between synthetic phonics and reading attainment. BG Research Online, 8.

Kucer, S. B. (2014). Dimensions of literacy: A conceptual base for teaching reading and writing in school settings. Routledge.

Machin, S., McNally, S., & Viarengo, M. (2016). in brief... Children's reading: evaluating a new teaching method (No. 472). Centre for Economic Performance, LSE.

Massaro, D. W. (Ed.). (2014). Understanding language: An information-processing analysis of speech perception, reading, and psycholinguistics. Academic Press.

Nicholson, T. W., & Tse, L. M. (2014). The effect of phonics-enhanced Big Book reading on the language and literacy skills of six-year-old pupils of different reading ability attending lower SES schools.

Pressley, M., & Allington, R. L. (2014). Reading instruction that works: The case for balanced teaching. Guilford Publications.

Reutzel, D. R., Brandt, L., Fawson, P. C., & Jones, C. D. (2014). Exploration of the Consortium on Reading Excellence Phonics Survey: An Instrument for Assessing Primary-Grade Students' Phonics Knowledge. The Elementary School Journal, 115(1), 49-72.

Saville-Troike, M., & Barto, K. (2016). Introducing second language acquisition. Cambridge University Press.

Shoaga, O., Akintola, O. A., & Okpor, C. I. (2017). Nurturing Reading Proficiency of Pupils through Phonics: Entrepreneurial Opportunities for Early Childhood Educators in Nigeria. Journal of Education and Practice, 8(11), 103-108.

Spiro, R. J., Bruce, B. C., & Brewer, W. F. (Eds.). (2017). Theoretical issues in reading comprehension: Perspectives from cognitive psychology, linguistics, artificial intelligence and education (Vol. 11). Routledge.

Steacy, L. M., Elleman, A. M., Lovett, M. W., & Compton, D. L. (2016). Exploring differential effects across two decoding treatments on item-level transfer in children with significant word reading difficulties: A new approach for testing intervention elements. Scientific Studies of Reading, 20(4), 283-295.

Urquhart, A. H., & Weir, C. J. (2014). Reading in a second language: Process, product and practice. Routledge.

Wagner, D., Vollmar, G., & Wagner, H. T. (2014). The impact of information technology on knowledge creation: An affordance approach to social media. Journal of Enterprise Information Management, 27(1), 31-44.

Warnick, K., & Caldarella, P. (2016). Using multisensory phonics to foster reading skills of adolescent delinquents. Reading & Writing Quarterly, 32(4), 317-335.

Ziegler, J. C., Perry, C., & Zorzi, M. (2014). Modelling reading development through phonological decoding and self-teaching: implications for dyslexia. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 369(1634), 20120397