Phonemic awareness is one of the predictors for future performance in reading and spelling (Gillon, 2003).

Phonemic awareness instruction implemented in language teaching in order to develop students’ knowledge of the spelling system in English.

To examine the effectiveness of phonemic awareness instruction on Taiwanese students’ spelling development.

Phonemic awareness is the ability to segment oral speech into its component speech sounds, or phonemes (Walpole & McKenna, 2004).

Learning to blend phonemes with letters helps children read words, and learning to segment sounds with letters helps them spell words(Armbruster, et al., 2003).

Phonemic awareness is one of the predictors for future performance in reading and spelling (Gillon, 2003).

Phonemic awareness instruction implemented in language teaching in order to develop students’ knowledge of the spelling system in English.

To examine the effectiveness of phonemic awareness instruction on Taiwanese students’ spelling development.

Phonemic awareness is the ability to segment oral speech into its component speech sounds, or phonemes (Walpole & McKenna, 2004).

Learning to blend phonemes with letters helps children read words, and learning to segment sounds with letters helps them spell words(Armbruster, et al., 2003).

Participants12 elementary school students in the third-grade classroomPhonemic awareness instructionThree weeks instruction on segmentation and blending tasksPhoneme segmentation tasks: game activities were used for practicing the segmentation of the words. Phoneme blending tasks: Children combine individual sounds to form words in blending tasks.

Assessing Phonemic AwarenessPhoneme segmentation task involves pronouncing individual phonemes in words (e.g., The word cat is said /c//a/t/)Phoneme blending skill was measured by the sound-blending task (e.g., The word /b//i//g/ is said big)Spelling testThe test was constructed using words presented in the lessons, including CVC words (e.g., dog, bed, lid), and words with digraphs (e.g., chick, lunch, fish).

To what extent does phonemic awareness instruction improve phoneme segmentation?To what extent does phonemic awareness instruction improve phoneme blending?To what extent does phonemic awareness instruction promote spelling development?

Participants12 elementary school students in the third-grade classroomPhonemic awareness instructionThree weeks instruction on segmentation and blending tasksPhoneme segmentation tasks: game activities were used for practicing the segmentation of the words. Phoneme blending tasks: Children combine individual sounds to form words in blending tasks.

Assessing Phonemic AwarenessPhoneme segmentation task involves pronouncing individual phonemes in words (e.g., The word cat is said /c//a/t/)Phoneme blending skill was measured by the sound-blending task (e.g., The word /b//i//g/ is said big)Spelling testThe test was constructed using words presented in the lessons, including CVC words (e.g., dog, bed, lid), and words with digraphs (e.g., chick, lunch, fish).

To what extent does phonemic awareness instruction improve phoneme segmentation?To what extent does phonemic awareness instruction improve phoneme blending?To what extent does phonemic awareness instruction promote spelling development?

Figure 4.1 pretest and posttest

The ability to segment words into phonemes was improved (M=15.75; M=19.58). The result of blending tasks between pretest and posttest was similar (M=28.08; M=27.92).With the progress in phoneme segmentation tasks (M=15.75; M= 19.58), the result showed growth in spelling development (M=5.33; M= 6.92). There was a strong possibility that students have developed explicit awareness of words’ phonological structure; hence, they were able to relate the sounds and letters when taking spelling test.

Figure 4.1 pretest and posttest

The ability to segment words into phonemes was improved (M=15.75; M=19.58). The result of blending tasks between pretest and posttest was similar (M=28.08; M=27.92).With the progress in phoneme segmentation tasks (M=15.75; M= 19.58), the result showed growth in spelling development (M=5.33; M= 6.92). There was a strong possibility that students have developed explicit awareness of words’ phonological structure; hence, they were able to relate the sounds and letters when taking spelling test.

Phonemic awareness instruction taught children to manipulate phonemes by using the letters of the alphabet. Children segment the phonemes of a word to invent spelling and they assign letters to represent its sounds.

Phonemic awareness instruction taught children to manipulate phonemes by using the letters of the alphabet. Children segment the phonemes of a word to invent spelling and they assign letters to represent its sounds.

The Impact of Phonemic Awareness Instruction on Taiwanese Learners’ Spelling Development

Yu-Cian Chen Department of English Language, Literature and Linguistics

Providence University, Taiwan

Introduction Method Results

ConclusionResearch questionsResearch questions

Purpose Purpose

This study This study Pretest and Posttest Pretest and Posttest

Rationale