ABOUT the Editors

 

Dearest Reader(s),

We are a group of students currently studying Bachelor of Education (Special Education) with Flinders University. This blog is created to aid our learning process in gaining a better understanding on phonological awareness. Wherever possible, please leave a comment or remark for us to reflect on our learning.

 

Best Wishes to ALL (^o^ )/

 

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Matthew (the BLOG Writer) :

  

Dear reader(s),

 

Hi, welcome in.

I worked some years in a center teaching adults with mild intellectual disabilities, helping adults learn to lead independent lives, get a job and get on with life. We also teach them living skills such as how to practice greeting their superiors, dress appropriately, behave appropriately at work, etc.  

Most of the time the trainees do not stay in classroom setting to learn reading skills relating to sounds, rhythms, rimes, although they communicate with one another using the English language medium. In the center, it is assumed that the trainees know how to communicate so there is no priority to advocate much of communication skills.

So when I first do this module 4008, I thought it is related to the very popular program in Singapore on phonics for pre-school children.  But in the process of learning about phonological awareness, I later found out that phonological awareness is about sound awareness, which can be made into words. These words can be broken up into syllables, and syllable can be also broken down into individual sound components. The most sophisticated level of phonological awareness being termed as phonemic awareness. Once children understand what sounds are within words, and letter patterns, it is all about sounds and matching letters that represent those sounds which are known as phonics. Research has pointed that phonological awareness has to be taught and it is important because it supports learning how words in our language are represented in print. Phonological awareness involves learning that words can be divided into segments of sound smaller than a syllable and also it is learning about individual sound being uttered (phonemes).

It did not occur to me that these skills are so important until now and communication is one of the most important tools for mankind. It is used in almost every aspect of a person’s learning and socializing. Communication development starts at infancy.   From infancy to preschool age, the child builds up early speech and language development.   At school age children form solid foundations on which to base later literacy and academic achievements. When people reach adulthood, they refine communication skills for personal well being, social satisfaction or career advancement. In society, people judge others or are being judged for any lack of competence in communication skills.

I feel that as an educator, I will try to learn the ropes of phonological awareness, and plan lesson to include some sessions to guide the adult trainees in creative ways such as reading an interesting article of their choice together, may be teach them how to email to one another, learn to perhaps pronounce to words as in the “han yu pin yin”, method and make learning fun and appropriate for adults.

Thank you very much for visiting us. It is a pleasure to have you.

 

 

References:

 

http://www.ldonline.org/article/6254

http://reach.ucf.edu/~CENTRAL/elementary/Phonological/research.html

Bhat, P., Griffin, C. C., & Sindelar, P. T. (2003). Phonological awareness instruction for middle school students with learning disabilities. Learning Disability Quarterly, 26, 73-87.

Barker, T., & Torgesen, J. (1995).  An evaluation of computer-assisted instruction in phonological awareness with below average readers.  J. Educational Computing Research, 13, 89-103.

Brady, S., Fowler, A., Stone, B., & Winbury, N. (1994).  Training phonological awareness: A study with inner-city kindergarten children.  Annals of Dyslexia, 44, 27-59.

Olson, R., & Wise, B. (1995). Computer-based phonological awareness and reading instruction.  Annals of Dyslexia. 45, 99-122.

 

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Siew Li (the BLOG Information Co-ordinator) :

 

Hi everyone!

I have been teaching in a mainstream kindergarten with inclusion programme for children with hearing impairment. I have not really come across what Phonological Awareness (PA) is and the importance of PA. What I did was just teaching Phonics (knowledge of letters and sounds) recognition at Nursery level. However, because of this assignment, I was required to read up on PA from books and internet, and this has given me in-depth knowledge of PA.  I also come to realize PA is like the foundation for literacy skills. “Children with a good understanding of PA have the underlying framework in place for reading (decoding) and writing (encoding) when letter-sound correspondences (phonics) are learned” (Adams et al., 1998).

On hindsight, the children that I have taught in Nursery were already displaying signs of PA e.g. they were remembering the rhyming words in Nursery rhyme more than any other words. The children were already beating to the beat of syllables, thus, shown awareness for words.

Although I have been advised to avoid using phonics with children with hearing impairment as they may not be able to hear certain sound, I feel they should still be given equal opportunity and be exposed to PA as they may be able to pick up some skills. The children with hearing impairment were able to follow the rhythm activity and clapping of syllables which I felt enhanced their listening. I hope to continue teaching PA to them to further enhance their learning.

As a teacher, I hope to further establish relationship between sounds and words in future. This should be done in non-threatening way e.g. word game, rhyming game, sound instrument game. I have also understood that PA skills are built upon each other (word, sound, rhyme, syllable) from simple to complex e.g. single sound to blends.

I feel early childhood teacher should be trained in teaching PA to children in order to teach at a more confident and comfortable level. Although I am untrained in this area, I do try my best to teach the children simple PA skills. However, I felt that I was unable to teach them more complex skills. I may have attended a general course in literacy touching on PA but the course was not taught systematically and thoroughly, thus was not conducting PA in full awareness. With more contact to PA through this module and assignment, I am determined to put more focus on teaching PA to children.

“Teachers’ attitudes and beliefs are very difficult to modify or change” (Westwood, Knight & Redden, 2005). I have an open attitude towards PA but felt I am not skillful enough to teach to children. I did try exploring teaching the concept to the children. I had them explore clapping the syllable, beating rhythm to enhance their listening. However, I did not bring the children’s learning further.

I believed that both direct teaching and allowing the child to have the exposure and opportunity to discover and construct meaning to acquire skills and strategies for themselves are both equally important. Direct teaching equips children with knowledge and skills and provides some directions for the child. Whereas, exposure and opportunity given will make the child an active learner who will take responsibility for his/her own learning.

 I am truly thankful that this module has opened my mind. I do hope you have a better understanding of PA through our blogs and we will take our learning into our classrooms. 

Cheers : D

 

 

Reference:

Adams, M. J., Foorman, B.R., Lundberg, I., and Beeler, T. (1998). Phonemic Awareness in Young Children: A Classroom Curriculum. Paul Brookes Publishing Co.

 Westwood, P.S., Knight, B.A. & Redden, E. (2005). Assessing teachers’ beliefs about literacy acquisition: The development of the teachers’ beliefs about literacy acquisition questionnaire (TBALQ). Australian journal of learning disabilities, 10, 3 & 4, 77-85.

 

 

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Anna  (the BLOG Researcher) :

 

Hi to All!

 

Learning language personally has never been an enjoyable journey. I never had like to read books, know about phonics and what more having phonological awareness. Even over the few years teaching children with autism and multiple disabilities, it has also did not come across for me to see the importance of teaching my students phonological awareness. There are several reasons why this is so. Firstly, as mentioned above, I am not skilled with the topic. Thus, a teacher cannot give what he or she does not have. Secondly, majority of the students that I taught are with behavioural issues and they are low functioning. Thus, there are other skills which became the priorities to teach them. Such skills are for example toileting skills. Thirdly, I am also not equipped with the resources to teach my students.

 

I am really glad and thankful for the opportunity that through this module and this blog creation, I can learn so much more about phonological awareness. Let me share some of my learnings with you. From reading Part 3, 6.1 (Westwood, P. S., Knight, B.A. & Redden, E. (2005), I learnt that generally there are 3 different models of literacy acquisition. They are firstly. The bottom up model. This model talks about the process of reading which involves a series of transformations, moving from lower level (print) to higher levels (meaning). It is a structured way that teachers facilitate the learning processing designed reading materials. The second model, which is the top down model. This is a whole language approach which is based on the belief that reading is a ‘top down’ process, where the reader uses semantic cues (meaning), rather than paying very close attention to the print, to unlock the message contained in the text. (Goodman, 1989a; Smith, 1992, Weaver, 1990). This approach is a child- centred one. The third model is the interactionist model. It is a combination of both top down and bottom up strategies. My personal belief is based on the third model. To me, there must not be an extreme belief about literacy learning as each child is so different. Teacher needs to be well prepared for the reading materials and be sensitive to the child’s learning style and level.

 

In Reading Part 2, 3.1( Konza, D.M (2006), I have a greater understanding of how the brain functions. The left hemisphere is responsible for the interpretation and production of symbolic information: for language, mathematics, abstraction and reasoning. In this hemisphere memory is stored in a verbal format, thus it is important for memory of words and names-critical skills in the development of fluent reading. The right hemisphere is responsible for wholistic functioning: for visual spatial skills, and functions that require high levels of coordination such as dancing and gymnastics. Memories are stored in visual and spatial formats and so the right hemisphere is important for memory of pictures and faces. This is no wonder that there are challenges to teach children with disabilities especially those with brain damage phonological awareness. However, the encouragement is that the brain is still developing with age. New neural pathways are formed as learning takes place, and this continues throughout life. I also realized the importance of having children master the essential skills of reading. This is because with this skill, they will decrease the chance of secondary problem of failure across other areas of curriculum and increased confidence in their life.

 

I hope that my short sharing of some of my learnings will interest you to read on our blog. We have interesting links that will help you educators or parents to know more how to help individuals with different disabilities learn phonological awareness. May you enjoy the learning journey just as how much I had.

 

 

 

References :

Goodman, K.S. (1989a). Whole language is whole. Educational leadership, 46, 6 69-70.

Konza, D.M (2006). Reading and the brain. In, Teaching children with reading difficulties. (2^nd Ed.) Thompson Social Science Press: South Melbourne, Aust.

Smith, F. (1992). Learning to read: the never-ending debate. Phi Delta Kappan, 74, 5, 432-441.

Weaver, C. (1990). Understanding whole language. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.

Westwood, P. S., Knight, B.A. & Redden, E. (2005). Assessing teacher’s beliefs about literacy acquisition: The development of the teacher’s beliefs about literacy acquisition questionaire (TBALQ). Australian journal of learning disabilities, 10, 3&4, 77-85.

 

 

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Ming Hui (the BLOG Publisher) :

  

HiLo ! (^o~ )/

 

While studying Flinders, I am working as a special education teacher in a local special school, in AWWA for almost 5 years. Time past fast as I had grew from a non-experience teacher assistant to a motivating teacher to explore potential in individual student that I have met!

However, it is a GREAT CHALLENGE for me moving into this module (EDSP4008 – Literacy Development) of the Bachelor studies. From young, I have phobia studying English as I had bad learning experience in all the English lessons that I attended! I was never understood by my teachers and I was told to score a pass for this subject in order to move on to the next level. I score well in other languages except English! Strange isn’t it?

 

I have a list of different languages expressing the same meaning below. Are you able to guess what the following lines are trying to say?  (Expect reading your native language)

Apa khabar?

你好吗？

तत्त्वमसि （tat twam asi） 

お元気ですか。

안녕하십니까?

O phele joang?

Ni ho bo?

 

Could you guess which are the languages are used here??

(Click to check it out! )

 

I remembered my lecturer, Kerry once mentioned during the lecture: “How would you feel when you are not being able to be understood or express yourself?” If someone like me felt sad and frustrated when I couldn’t get my message across, so how about those people who can’t talk or use other means to communicate with others efficiently? Now as a teacher, a crucial influencer on my learners, I have to challenge myself to overcome my phobia with English and develop a meaningful learning process in literacy together with group mates (listed above) and fellow readers.

Thank you!

 

加油！加油！加油！

\(^o^ )/

Phonological Awareness for Young Adults with mild Intellectual Disability »« Are you listening or just hearing?