南台科技大學
應用英文研究所
碩士學位論文
網路字母拼讀主導
國小英語補救教學之個案研究
An Elementary School EFL Remedial Program
Delivered via Web-Based Phonics Instruction: A
Case Study
研究生：許瑛霞
指導教授：傅玉慧博士
中華民國九十八年十一月
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Chapter 1: Introduction
Background…………………………………………..…………….......4
Motivation………………………….………………….……….…..…..5
Research Questions…………………….…………….……….………..6
Significance of the study…………….……………….……….………..7
Limitation of the study…………….……………….…..…….…….…..7
Definition of Terms…………………………………….…….……...…8
Chapter 2: Literature Review
Web-Based Instruction……………………….….………….………...10
History of CALL and web development………….…….….……11
Strengths of web-based instruction…….……..………….……...13
Limitations of web-based instruction……………..……..……...15
Relevant studies of web-based instruction……………….…...…16
Zone of Proximal Development and Its Implications………..……….17
Early Literacy Development……………………..……………….…..19
Phonics…………………………………..………………………20
Phonemic awareness…………...…………………………..……22
Relationship between phonics and phonemic awareness....…….24
Studies of phonics and phonemic awareness...…………....….…25
Remedial Instruction…………………….………………...….………28
The process of remedial instruction……………….………….…28
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Studies of remedial instruction in EFL………….……….…..….29
Chapter 3: Method
Research Design…………...…………………………………………33
Setting…………………..……………………...……………………..34
Participants……………..……………………………………………..35
The Role of the Researcher…………………………………..……….36
Schedule of Instruction and Program Content …………….…………36
Procedures of instruction…………...................................…...…37
English learning websites………………………..…………...…38
Features of web-based phonics instruction…...………..……..…41
Instruments………………..…………………………………………..42
Questionnaires…………..…………..…………………..………42
Pretest and posttest………………………………...……….……42
Interview……………………………………..……….…………44
Data Collection………..………..……………………………………..44
Data Analysis………..…..……..……………………………………..45
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Chapter 1
Introduction
This study is aimed at investigating the effectiveness of elementary school EFL
remedial instruction delivered using a web-based phonics program. This chapter gives the
background to and motivation for the study, the research questions, significance of the study,
limitation of the study, and definitions of terms used.
Background
English has been viewed as an important school subject in Taiwan for many decades.
Indeed, on his trip to Taiwan in 2003, Stephen Krashen called the demand for English
instruction in Taiwan “English fever”. As English fever flames in Taiwan, more students
attend extra English classes at supplementary educational institutions on top of the regular
English curriculum. In 2005, English compulsory education was extended to start in grade
three of elementary school, where previously it had started in junior high school. However,
this extension of state-provided English education has aggravated the English divide seen in
schools all across Taiwan (Ho & Lin, 2007), as those students who attend extra English
classes outperform those that do not.
According to Lin (2003), 76% of English teachers in elementary schools noticed a
dual-peak phenomenon in their classes, one of high-achieving students and one of
low-achieving students, and noted that this phenomenon made it extremely difficult to teach
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all students effectively. Those students who do not attend supplementary classes lag behind
their classmates and are also very likely to lose interest and confidence in learning English. It
is these students who form the peak of low achievers. They may simply give up trying to
learn English and be labeled as underachievers, disadvantaged students, or slow learners
(Chen & Hsu, 2005).
With the advancement of technology, Computer-Assisted Language Learning (CALL)
has attracted growing attention in recent years. According to Ozdener & Satar (2009), CALL
programs can facilitate foreign language learning and motivate EFL students in the learning
process. They found that CALL and the multimedia environments it provides were important
tools to help learners improve their vocabulary skills and, moreover, that the audio, video,
animation, graphics, and clips available on the Internet can arouse students’ attention. It is for
these reasons that web-based learning has become a widespread practice in education. Since
web-based learning consists of both asynchronous and synchronous communication features,
if used properly, it can enable students to be more involved in the process of learning and
teaching (Chen & Tsai, 2007). Given the positive findings related to CALL, applying
computer technology to EFL instruction may be a feasible way of improving the performance
and motivation of underachieving students.
Motivation
The initial idea for this study resulted from my observation of the learning gap between
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high- and low-achieving students in my classes, a gap in both English competency and the
pleasure taken in learning English. Some (low-achieving) students typically appear
absent-minded, finding difficulty for example even in mechanical repetition of words. Falling
further behind the class, these students hardly attend to the lecture and fail in almost every
quiz and monthly exam. Teaching students with such different ability and motivational levels
in the same class is not an easy task. As their English teacher, it is my duty to design and
implement suitable remedial instruction for the low-achieving group.
With the evolution of computer technology, colorful, meaningful, and authentic
learning materials are now available to English learners using CALL. Moreover, Su (2003)
stated that multimedia websites facilitate English teaching and learning. Kuo (2003) indicated
that E-phonics specifically can help EFL learners decode and encode unfamiliar printed
words through prediction. Despite the apparent utility of web-based instruction, integration of
website resources into EFL remedial instruction seems to be little documented. There is a
need, therefore, for investigation of the effectiveness of applying web-based phonics
instruction to help underachieving students in learning EFL.
Research Questions
This study aims to explore the effect of web-based phonics instruction on elementary
school sixth grade underachievers’ EFL performance and attitude toward learning. To this end,
the following research questions were addressed:
1. What is the effect of web-based phonics instruction on sixth grade EFL underachievers’
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decoding ability?
2. What is the effect of web-based phonics instruction on sixth grade EFL underachievers’
encoding ability?
3. What is the effect of web-based phonics instruction on sixth grade EFL underachievers’
attitude to English instruction?
Significance of the study
There is considerable research on the effects of phonics instruction, but little examines
the effect of web-based phonics instruction used with EFL remedial learners. It is critical that
teachers are aware of the opportunities offered by web-based phonics programs and the
potential difficulties that underachieving students might encounter when using them. With
this knowledge, teachers can design and implement suitable curricula for these learners. This
study is aimed at investigating the effectiveness of web-based phonics as remedial instruction
for elementary school EFL underachievers.
Limitations of the study
The applicability of this study is limited for two reasons. The first of these is the small
sample size. Only four EFL underachievers from a single elementary school in Tainan County
participated in this study and hence the overall outcomes are more easily altered by the
outcomes related to a particular learner. For this reason, the result cannot reliably be
generalized to all sixth graders in all elementary schools in Taiwan. Secondly, the study lasted
only three months. The effects of longer periods of web-based phonics instruction on
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decoding and encoding may be different to those in this remedial program.
Definition of Terms
1. Web-based instruction
Web-based instruction (WBI) refers to “a hypermedia-based instructional program that
utilizes the attributes and resources of the World Wide Web to create a meaningful learning
environment where learning is fostered and supported (Khan, 2000).” In this study, the
researcher developed a PowerPoint presentation and a set of tasks to be completed, and this
entire instruction package was delivered via the computer and Internet.
2. Phonics
Phonics is defined as an approach in which students are taught the relationship between
letters and sounds and how to use that information to read words (Beck, 2006).
3. Phonemic awareness
Phonemic awareness refers to the ability to recognize that words are made up of a set of
discrete sounds and to orally manipulate those sounds via segmentation and blending
(Cunningham et al., 2000).
4. Remedial program
A remedial program refers to teaching which is based on a diagnosis of underachievement
and aims to remediate that underachievement via a specifically designed program of study
(Chang, 2000). In this study, the terms ‘remedial program’ and ‘remedial instruction’ are
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used interchangeably. The remedial program implemented was designed to enhance
elementary school EFL underachievers’ decoding and encoding.
5. Underachievers
Underachievers are children experiencing difficulty in learning and whose academic
achievement is consequently below what is expected (Beach, Lau, & McCall, 2000). In
this study of sixth graders, underachievers were those students who scored under 60 in
their previous semester (final semester of fifth grade) English tests.
6. Decoding
Decoding refers to the segmentation of utterances into clauses, phrases or other linguistic
units (Richards, Platt, & Platt, 2003). In this study, decoding ability was assessed by oral
reading. The participants were required to read out pseudo-words using their phonics
knowledge. Their decoding abilities were evaluated in oral tests.
7. Encoding
Encoding refers to the processing of a linguistic message into linguistic symbols using
phonological, grammatical and semantic systems (Richards et al., 2003). In this study,
encoding ability was assessed by spelling. The participants were required to spell
pseudo-words using their phonics knowledge. Their encoding abilities were examined in
written dictation tests.
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Chapter 2
Literature Review
The chapter aims to review the literature related to web-based instruction, Zone of
Proximal Development, early literacy development, and remedial instruction. First, the
history, strengths and limitations, and relevant studies of web-based instruction are presented.
The implications of Zone of Proximal Development theory are then discussed, followed by a
presentation of the literature on phonics and phonemic awareness related to reading and
spelling. Finally, remedial instruction is reviewed.
Web-Based Instruction
Web-based instruction (WBI) is a hypermedia-based teaching approach that uses the
resources and attributes of the Internet (Khan, 2000). In such a web-based learning
environment, optimal learning outcomes can be motivated and facilitated. Thanks to the
increasing use of personal computing and the Internet, a new set of instructional possibilities
is available. WBI offers various innovative teaching modes that differ from conventional
ones.
Foreign language acquisition is a complicated process, and extensive exposure to the
target language is required. Learners can access valuable resources easily by using the
Internet and clicking on hyperlinks. However, once submerged in the cyber-world, they can
also tend to waste time looking for unrelated information instead of focusing on their learning
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tasks (Pino, 2008). Therefore, applying technologies and tools appropriately to teach and
enable learning in English as a foreign language has become critical.
History of CALL and web development
Dating back to the middle of the twentieth century, computer-assisted language learning
(CALL) has evolved with technological advancement. The application of CALL has become
wider than ever before as the technology related to computers and networks has developed at
a tremendous pace. According to Warschauer & Healey (1998), CALL development can be
divided into three phases: Behaviorist CALL, Communicative CALL, and Integrative CALL.
Accordingly, the pedagogical perspective of CALL has shifted from structural, to cognitive,
to socio-cognitive.
Behaviorist CALL was prevalent between the 1950s and 1970s. Based on the behaviorist
learning model, it favored the use of the drill-and-practice method. Hence, the computer was
viewed as a mechanical tutor that delivered instructional material and gave immediate
positive or negative feedback to the learner.
As a reaction to the behaviorist approach to language learning, Communicative CALL
emerged in the 1970s and 1980s. It put more emphasis on using forms (meaning-oriented)
than on forms themselves (structure-oriented). Corresponding to cognitive theories,
Communicative CALL is based on the idea that learning is a creative process of discovery,
expression, and development. Students were encouraged to generate original utterances and
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to construct knowledge with the help of computers. In this view, the computer acted not only
as tutor but also as stimulus for more communicative activities. The computer was also a tool
for implementing some language-based tasks.
Integrative CALL appeared in the late 1980s as some researchers realized that
communicative software did not work as well as they had thought (Kenning & Kenning, 1990;
Pusack & Otto, 1990). These researchers criticized Communicative CALL as making only a
minor contribution to teaching and learning. Thus, Integrative CALL puts much greater
emphasis on real language use in an authentic context and meaningful interaction in authentic
discourse communities. To this end, the integration of technology into language teaching via
integrative CALL emphasizes the four skills (speaking, listening, reading and writing). It has,
moreover, attracted the attention of many language educators and instructors.
Since the 1990s, pedagogical paradigms have shifted owing to the growing use and
usefulness of multimedia and the Internet, and through both of these, of hypermedia. The use
of CALL in English teaching may include multimedia-based CD ROMs, E-mail, and the
Internet. With advances in online technologies, more user-friendly authoring tools and lower
costs, the Web is increasingly becoming a key medium in the field of language learning and
teaching (Rogerson-Revell, 2007).
Phases of web development have gone hand-in-hand with the evolution of CALL.
Kuwamoto (2002) stated that the first phase was led by hobbyists who were webmasters and
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worked individually or in small groups. As commercialization occurred, web development
was then led by web design teams and technical coding specialists. The third and current
phase of web development is categorized by higher productivity and reduced cost of
production (Kuwamoto, 2002).
Strengths of web-based instruction
WBI has its own distinctive power in language teaching and learning. Its strengths have
been widely discussed by many researchers. The most significant strength of WBI is the
facilitation of self-directed learning (Aharony, 2006; Du, 2002; Hsu et al, 2008; Lin, 2002;
Ma, 2005; Pino, 2008). Learners can choose their own path and their own strategies in the
learning process, according to their personal preferences and abilities, and can work at their
own pace in the Internet environment. On a specific point, Seferoglu (2005) pointed out that
online language instruction could offer a sheltered learning environment conducive to
improvements in learners’ pronunciation. The Web allows learners to enjoy privacy and
minimize anxiety while practicing foreign sounds and words. Web-based language instruction
can therefore promote learner autonomy and improve learning outcomes (Pino, 2008).
Moreover, WBI contributes to interactivity (Chen, 2007; Dekaney, 2003; Khan, 2000;
Lee, 2004; Tsai, 2002; Uzunboylu & Ozcinar, 2009). According to Jung et al. (2002), WBI
provides a media-rich environment for people to communicate with others synchronously or
asynchronously. Synchronous communication is real-time interaction and is facilitated by
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chat rooms, audio and video conferencing, and instant messaging. It allows teachers and
students to communicate concurrently. Asynchronous communication allows time-and
place-independent interaction, such as e-mails, listservs, computer conferencing, bulletin
boards and threaded discussion groups. Al-Jarf (2004) noted that electronic discussion boards
can be used to provide a natural language learning environment as they are able to promote
social interaction among learners and instructors and create an authentic discourse
community.
In addition, WBI gives language learners the flexibility to select their own learning
material according to ability and interests (Khalifa & Lam, 2002; Khan 2000; McDonough,
2001). The Web offers significant opportunities for the delivery of non-linear courses.
Learners need not read page by page; instead, they can click on hyperlinks at their will. Since
WBI can support diverse instructional techniques and distinctive learning styles, it is also
easier for students to construct individual knowledge structures (McDonald et al., 2002) and
to develop higher levels of thinking, learning, and creativity.
The final merit of WBI lies in the multiple-format methodologies that online programs
offer (McDonough, 2001; Pino, 2008). To acquire a foreign language, a language-rich
environment in which learners are constantly exposed to the language is required. On the
Internet, there are all kinds of humorous clips, colorful graphics, motion pictures, video, and
sound files which are integrated into real-life settings. Electronic modes of instruction that are
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used to deliver global courses generally adopt English as the common language. Within this
context, the Web can be an excellent medium for learners to obtain English language
proficiency. Computer-mediated interactions break geographic boundaries and provide an
array of possibilities for academic advancement (Wang & Sutton, 2002).
However, these advantages may come with a price. Despite the prevalence of
web-based language instruction in educational settings, it has been subject to extensive
criticism.
Limitations of web-based instruction
In the first place, the freedom offered by web-based instructional programs may result in
a problem: flexibility increases complexity (Abrams, 2003; Ellis & Kurniawan, 2000; Essex
& Branon, 2001). Learners are forced to determine their own learning strategy in online
learning. However, for those who lack the skills of independent learning, high anxiety may
frustrate and prevent learning. While some learners benefit from the time and space flexibility
of WBI, Ma (2002) stated that others may feel isolated and confused and lack motivation.
Another limitation is linked to the demise of appropriate written forms. Instructors
have noticed that students’ blogs contain a great deal of slang and graphics, as well as fewer
capitalizations and prepositions (Mcpherson, 2006), and E-mailing has promoted a lack of
formal writing usage (Burns, 2006). This inattention to grammar has become acceptable to
many bloggers and E-mailers, but is problematic if mistaken by students as correct usage.
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Still another and the biggest drawback of WBI is the difficulty of assessment
(Birnbaum, 2001; Rover, 2001). Factors such as unfamiliarity with computers, typing speed,
server failure, browser incompatibilities, or complexity of the pages may affect students
while taking tests. Additionally, it is challenging for instructors to ensure that students finish
assignments on their own.
Relevant studies of web-based instruction
Foreign language learning and teaching via the Internet can provide learners with
authentic materials, mutual communication, and opportunities to explore as well as to
discover. In Taiwan, recent studies of web-based instruction in EFL teaching and learning
have focused on literacy development and phonics instruction.
Regarding literacy development, Huang (2002) investigated the effect of web-based
English reading tasks on 18 intermediate level university students and found that these
activities facilitated the teaching and learning of English culture. Moreover, Huang indicated
that web-based reading and online chat rooms could enhance learners’ communicative skills
and deepen their understanding of the target culture. Shiu (2002) examined the influence of
internet-assisted instruction on sixth graders in an elementary school. After 12 weeks of
instruction, students in the experimental group demonstrated their improvement on
vocabulary recognition and listening comprehension and showed positive attitudes toward
internet-assisted instruction. Hsu (2004) evaluated the effect of Internet task-based activities
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on the reading and writing development of 64 elementary school students and found that
e-learning enlarged students’ word banks in reading and minimized grammatical errors in
writing.
In phonics instruction, Kuo et al. (2002) explored whether web learning could enhance
the spelling skills of 75 English majors and 88 non-English majors. They investigated the
relationship between phonemic awareness and spelling proficiency through web-based
phonics instruction (Phonics 2 u). The results showed that the multimedia-based web learning
environment improved the spelling performance of all 163 Chinese EFL learners. Similarly,
Su (2003) compared the effect of traditional phonics instruction with web-based phonics
instruction (Phonics 2 u) on the spelling of 68 junior high schools students and found that
students in the experimental group showed a significant improvement on phonemic
awareness as well as spelling skills.
In summary, the research shows that web-based phonics instruction is effective in
improving EFL learners’ phonics knowledge and phonemic awareness and hence their
reading and spelling ability.
Zone of Proximal Development and Its Implications
Constructivism cannot be discussed without referring to socio-cultural learning theory
(social development theory). Vygotsky (1978) stated that social learning takes place not only
inter-psychologically but also intra-psychologically. When children develop cognition, social
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levels appear first and then individual level functions. Social constructivists put more
emphasis on collaboration than individual construction (Su, 2002). That is, they believe that
human learning occurs through interactions between people and then inside the individuals.
Further, Vygotsky emphasized the importance of cultural tools to the socio-cultural approach.
He stressed the importance of social interactions, such as the influence of culture, peers, and
adults, on the developing child. Teachers, computers, books, videos, and classroom setting all
assist students’ learning when they interact with these cultural components.
One important concept in Vygotsky’s theory is the Zone of Proximal Development
(ZPD), which suggests that the potential for cognitive development is limited to a certain
distance beyond what is already known; a zone. This zone is the difference between what a
child can do without help and what the child can do with another’s assistance. Imagine that a
child is having difficulty with writing letters. With the help of an adult who writes out sample
letters or helps the child trace over letters, he/she is able to make progress. The help from the
adult is called scaffolding, which is viewed as the other critical concept in Vygotsky’s theory.
Just as the scaffolding of a building helps to support its construction, assistance from adults
and peers helps support the child's development. Learners can receive scaffolding from more
capable ones when participating in collaborative activities. In this way, children construct
knowledge and develop skills through apprenticeship and advance themselves by interacting
with teachers or peers.
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Social development theory suggests that when CALL is applied to learning and
teaching learners will have more opportunities to incorporate their peers’ linguistic chunks
and refine their own linguistic skills (Waechauer, 2005). Knowledge is constructed by
learners in situated learning and authentic tasks. In the process of language acquisition,
learners receive linguistic input, engage in interactions, and then produce linguistic output.
With the help of computer technology and networks, linguistic input can be more
comprehensible and thus learners can more easily access comprehensible input (Beatty, 2003).
Accordingly, the teacher
is a facilitator rather than a source of knowledge. Learners take the
responsibility of knowledge management and scaffold their abilities to the intended goals
(Good & Brophy, 1995).
Applying Vygotsky’s theory to web-based phonics instruction in this study, the
instructor designed well-structured phonics lessons for the underachieving students, hoping to
provide them with sufficient practice and immediate feedback. Through scaffolding and
interaction with the computer and instructor, learners were expected to acquire basic (5 short
vowels) and advanced (5 long vowels) knowledge of phonics. Furthermore, they were
assessed on the construction of more complex knowledge and problem-solving using their
schematic patterns of phonics knowledge.
Early Literacy Development
English is an alphabetic language in which there are predictable sound-symbol
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associations. Children who are able to identify words accurately and quickly will become
skilled readers. In order to read effectively, students need to apply graphophonic, syntactic,
and semantic cues to better understand what they are reading (Blevins, 2006; Fox, 2008).
Knowing letter-sound relationships, recognizing word order of the text, and understanding
the meaning of language can assist readers in the process of reading. By applying sound-letter
correspondence rules to decipher unknown words in print, students can become good readers
and writers. Moreover, research has shown that children with good phonemic awareness are
better word learners, readers and spellers (Fox, 2008). When children learn to read and write,
phonics and phonemic awareness develop reciprocally. They are discussed in the following
sections.
Phonics
Phonics refers to the correspondences which associate speech sounds to printed letters
(Yopp & Yopp, 2000). Phonics knowledge facilitates the mapping of sounds onto spellings.
The National Reading Panel (2000) further stated that phonics instruction teaches children the
relationships between the individual phonemes of spoken language and the graphemes of
written language. Namely, phonics instruction is decoding unknown words in print by
relating them to known speech sounds with acquired letter-sound correspondence knowledge.
Since about 75% to 80% of English vocabulary contains regular sound-symbol associations,
students can apply phonics knowledge to decode and encode words. The purpose of phonics
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instruction is to teach children to read with accuracy, fluency, comprehension and pleasure.
Therefore, it is a key element in early reading instruction. Phonics instruction can help all
children learn to read and become independent readers.
Phonics instruction is closely related to the early reading success of children (Blevins,
2006; Fox, 2008). However, a dispute about approaches and effects of phonics instruction on
early literacy acquisition still rages. According to Blevins (2006), phonics approaches may be
distilled into two main categories, the synthetic and the analytic approach.
The synthetic approach, also known as the explicit approach, is part-to-whole
instruction. Children are taught letter-sound relationships and then how to sound out new
words by blending the sounds together (Stahl, 2002). Words are decoded in isolation and both
vowels and consonants are pronounced individually. The synthetic approach therefore
explicitly teaches phoneme-letter correspondences and how to blend these phonemes to form
recognizable words. Gunning (1996) argued that some consonants were distorted because
these sounds could not be pronounced without a schwa. However, much research has shown
that the explicit and systematic teaching of the synthetic approach can contribute significantly
to the reading success of children at risk of reading difficulties (Adams, 1990; Blevins, 2006;
Chall, 1996; Joseph, 2002; National Reading Panel, 2000).
By contrast, the analytic approach is an implicit, whole-to-part-to-whole instruction,
which encourages children to discover clues about sound-symbol associations by themselves
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(Blevins, 2006). Children are first provided with a list of words sharing the same or similar
patterns. After analyzing the words into sounds, they perceive the target sound(s) in word
context. This approach can avoid children pronouncing sounds in isolation because sounds
are only presented within the context of a whole word. Nevertheless, the implicit approach
appears less effective for children who cannot orally segment words because they fail to
induce discrete phonemes within the words (Beck & Juel, 1995).
In this study, the synthetic phonics approach was adopted because the participants were
underachievers who did not perform well in English reading and spelling. Providing students
with decodable stories which focus on letter-sound relationships and blending and
segmenting practice, this approach was considered the most suitable for promoting students’
decoding and encoding abilities.
Phonemic awareness
Phonemic awareness refers to the ability to orally recognize, segment, and blend word
sounds (Blevins, 2006). Phonemic awareness develops through a sequence of stages.
Children are first aware that language can be analyzed into individual words, that words can
be divided into syllables, and that syllables can be segmented into phonemes. Yopp & Yopp
(2000) also defined it as the awareness that phonemes, the smallest unit of sound, constitute
the speech stream. Specifically, phonemic awareness is a sensitivity to and control over the
distinctive phonemes within a word of an oral language. Children with phonemic awareness
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are aware that spoken language is made up of distinctive sounds, can blend those sounds
together when reading, and can segment sounds in order to spell.
Phonemic awareness is essential for learning to read. Stanovich (1994) claimed that
phonemic awareness could better predict early reading acquisition than IQ, vocabulary
knowledge or listening comprehension. According to Nicholson (2005), learning to read is
highly correlated with knowing that spoken words are made up of discrete sounds. In order to
read the simplest word, it is necessary for children to learn which sound corresponds to which
letter. Moreover, much research has shown that the development of phonemic awareness is
associated with early reading success (Adam, 1990; Connelly, 2002; Cunningham et al., 2000;
National Reading Panel, 2000).
Chen (2006) stated that solid phonemic awareness instruction could provide students
with the foundations of phonics and thus facilitate phonics instruction. Phonemic awareness
can be taught through various oral activities. Blevins (2006) and Schedule & Boudreau (2008)
both suggested two critical activities which could develop children’s phonemic awareness to
an extent to which phonics started to make sense to them. The first activity, oral blending,
helps students understand how to put sounds together to make words. It involves sounding
out words by sounding out the separate sounds of the word contiguously. Hence, oral
blending activities assist students in decoding words independently. The second activity, oral
segmentation, enables students to segment words into sounds. Oral segmentation activities
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require children to separate a word into syllables, onset/rime, and then discrete phonemes.
This prepares students for encoding because they are equipped with the ability to break words
apart in order to spell.
Relationship between phonics and phonemic awareness
Phonemic awareness, often confused with phonics, is not a synonym of phonics.
Phonemic awareness is the ability to recognize discrete phonemes and to manipulate sounds
in a spoken word whereas phonics refers to knowledge of letter-sound relationships. Whereas
phonics knowledge simply imparts an ability to recognize print symbol-sound relationships,
phonemic awareness allows analysis of the sound structure of oral language.
Phonemic awareness plays an essential part in learning alphabetic principles in phonics
instruction (Hu & Kai, 2000; Hsu, 2008). Schedule & Boudreau (2008) indicated that
decoding a printed script and acquiring mastery of phonics required phonemic awareness.
Children with phonemic awareness can identify distinctive phonemes they hear in a spoken
word and those with phonics knowledge can easily recognize letter-sound patterns in print.
The two knowledge areas can support one another in a virtuous circle of language acquisition:
Greater phonemic awareness can be built as children learn how letters correspond to sounds
and this greater phonemic awareness allows better understanding of how to use
grapheme-phoneme patterns to read unfamiliar words. According to Cunningham et al.
(2000), phonemic awareness can be developed sequentially through direct instruction in
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phonemic awareness, systematic instruction in phonics, and with activities to use letter-sound
knowledge when reading and spelling. Thus, phonemic awareness and phonics are supportive
of each other when learning to read and spell (Hsu, 2008).
Studies of phonics and phonemic awareness
Research has shown that phonics and phonemic awareness contribute to higher
achievement in early reading literacy (Adams, 1990; Fox, 2008). It has also been shown that
acquisition of either one of these two components of language knowledge can enhance
acquisition of the other.
Adams (1990) and Blevins (2006) both asserted that phonemic awareness could make
phonics instruction more effective. Before children can use knowledge of sound-spelling
relationships to decode words, they must understand that words are made up of a sequence of
phonemes. Hence, phonemic awareness plays a vital role in word recognition through
phonics and overall reading. Both phonemic awareness and phonics are prerequisite elements
in children’s reading tasks.
Dixon et al. (2002) investigated the development of orthographic representation in 46
five-year-old children with various phoneme segmentation tasks. The results indicated that
phonemic awareness was relevant to sound-to-letter correspondence knowledge and
alphabetic reading techniques. There was also evidence that children with segmentation
ability not only learned words faster but also internalized detailed orthographic
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representations which facilitated reading, proof-reading and eventually spelling.
Joseph (2002) conducted a study to examine the effectiveness of word boxes and word
sort phonics approaches on early literacy skills. The participants were three nine-to-ten
year-old children with mild mental retardation. The findings revealed that these two
contemporary phonics techniques were effective in promoting students’ phonemic awareness,
word reading and spelling skills. Moreover, the results confirmed the effect of word boxes on
students’ phoneme discrimination skills and the effect of word sort on students’ word
spelling.
Morris et al. (2003) examined letter-sound associations and phonemic awareness of
102 kindergarteners as a predictor of later success in first- and second-grade literacy. The
result indicated that explicit phonics instruction and phonemic spelling was strongly
correlated to later reading achievement. McCandliss et al. (2003) also showed that phonemic
awareness acts as a prominent component in reading development. They focused on decoding
skills of 38 elementary school students with poor reading ability and found significant
improvements in phonemic awareness, decoding, and reading comprehension.
Studies in Taiwan have produced similar results. Huang (2002) compared two groups
of first-year junior high school students. A control group of 34 students received K.K.
phonetic symbols instruction, whilst the experimental group of 33 students received phonics
instruction incorporated with various phonemic awareness tasks. The result showed that the
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experimental group outperformed the control group on rhyming, segmentation, and
pseudo-word reading. Huang also concluded that phonics instruction had significant effects
on the acquisition of phonemic awareness of the students.
Lai (2003) examined the effects of phonics instruction with phonemic awareness
activities on the spelling skills of remedial second-year junior high school students. It was
found that students’ spelling skills were enhanced and learners showed positive attitudes
toward learning spellings and pronunciation. Lai surmised that phonics instruction could be
usefully integrated into the teaching of English spelling, especially for remedial learners.
Chen (2004) investigated how 10 remedial second-grade EFL junior high school
students improved on decoding and oral reading after receiving phonemic awareness
instruction and phonics instruction and found that 80% of students made progress on word
reading and 90% benefited on word spelling. It was also suggested that teachers could
motivate remedial learners in learning English with phonics instruction and phonemic
awareness training
Hsu (2008) examined the effect of explicit phonics instruction on the phonemic
awareness of 34 second graders in an elementary school. Participants received approximately
200 minutes of intensive phonics instruction with phonemic awareness training. Pre and
posttest comparisons showed that students with the lowest phonemic awareness before
instruction made the most progress. It was evident that students’ phonemic awareness skills,
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28
vowel-consonant blending and phoneme segmentation were promoted via explicit phonics
instruction. In addition, a recommendation was made to use minimal pairs in teaching to
avoid students confusing sounds.
In summary, previous studies in Taiwan have shown that phonics instruction has
positive effects on the development of phonemic awareness. Explicit phonics instruction with
phonemic awareness training is regarded as a systematic and effective method to facilitate
decoding and encoding skills of EFL learners. Moreover, students with reading deficits can
take particular benefit from explicit phonics instruction.
Remedial Instruction
Remedial instruction is an intervention treatment which focuses on diagnosis of
underachievers’ learning difficulties and implementation of a suitable curriculum (Chang,
2000). The purpose of a remedial program is to promote disadvantaged students’ academic
achievement such that the identified learning deficit is lessened or removed. Of the teaching
strategies used in remedial instruction, McLaughlin & Vacha (1992) indicated that direct
instruction was one effective model for students with low academic achievement. The direct
instruction model helps students in memorizing facts, learning motor skills, and doing simple
reading and writing as well as arithmetic.
The process of remedial instruction
Chang (2000) identified three stages in the process of remedial instruction: assessment,
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29
teaching, and re-assessment. A particular program was described in greater detail: the teacher
assessed students’ current knowledge, presented new teaching material, students practiced in
groups while the teacher gave immediate feedback and help, then students practiced
independently. Finally, lessons were reviewed weekly and monthly by the teacher.
Tu (2001) also divided remedial instruction into three stages but divided the process into
those stages somewhat differently. Firstly, in what is termed the transfer stage, the teacher
makes a preliminary diagnosis. Then, in the assessment stage, assessment is administered and
a suitable instructional program designed. Finally, in the teaching stage, remedial curriculum
is implemented and the efficacy of teaching and learning is evaluated.
Chen (2006) studied 19 EFL underachievers in sixth grade, and divided the process of
remedial instruction into four stages: identification of underachievers (transfer + assessment);
multimedia
into
English
remedial
instruction
(MIERI)
program
design;
MIERI
implementation (teaching); assessment of learning outcome (re-assessment). It was found that
MIERI facilitated the underachievers’ alphabet recognition, phonemic awareness, and sight
word reading as well as learning attitudes.
In this study, the process of remedial instruction was divided into four stages.
Administration of a pretest (1) was followed by preparation of a web-based phonics
instruction program (2). This was implemented (3) and then a posttest (4) was administered.
Studies of remedial instruction in EFL
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30
For struggling students, being incapable of encoding and decoding may have a severe
impact on ability to read. The negative reading experiences of many young remedial learners
make them read less than other students (Gale, 2004). The inability to read thus widens the
gap between the incapable and more capable. Chard & Osborn (1999) referred to this as the
Matthew Effect, a phenomenon in which the rich get rich and the poor get poorer.
However, there is much research showing that early reading intervention with explicit
instruction in decoding and phonemic skills can improve the reading of those students with
reading difficulties (Chard & Osborn, 1999; O’Shaughnessy & Swanson, 2000; Torgesen et
al., 2001). Besides, Wanzek, Bursuck & Dickson (2003) indicated that at-risk students who
were engaged in remedial instruction with phonemic awareness training were able to achieve
greater success than those who had no additional instruction.
Chard & Osborn (1999) advocate explicit phonics instruction and phonemic activities
including segmenting and blending as prerequisites in helping children read, and suggested
that letter-sound knowledge, regular and irregular word reading, story reading and advanced
word analysis were also critical techniques in reading tasks.
O’Shaughnessy & Swanson (2000) investigated the effect of an intense program of
explicit instruction in phonics and phonemic awareness on students with reading deficits in a
large public school. The results showed that the reading gap between the experimental group
and their peers was greatly reduced.
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31
Torgesen et al. (2001) examined the effect of explicit instruction in phonemic awareness
in a remedial reading program. In their study, the instruction involved sight word recognition
skills and phonemic decoding techniques. During the period of remedial instruction
approximately 40 % of the participants were able to overturn their reading deficits, and after
one-year of intervention one half to two thirds of the at-risk students returned to the normal
curriculum.
Studies of phonics instruction and phonemic skills in Taiwan have yielded similar
results to those in the studies above. Chen (2003) explored the effects of phonological
decoding training on English word recognition skills. Twenty-two fifth graders with low
decoding ability were divided into two groups and received phonological instruction and
reviewing lessons respectively. After four-weeks of instruction, students in the phonological
instruction group showed significant improvement in word recognition. The findings also
demonstrated that phonics knowledge, segmentation and blending could assist EFL slow
learners in reading and build their confidence in learning English.
Lai (2003) investigated how remedial phonics instruction improved the spelling skills of
29 junior high school underachievers. The results showed that phonics instruction integrated
with phonological activities promoted students’ spelling performance. Moreover, the students
were motivated toward learning spelling and confident in learning English.
Chen (2004) examined the effect of phonics and phonemic awareness instruction on the
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32
decoding and oral reading of 10 remedial second-grade EFL junior high school students.
Most students’ word reading and word spelling benefited and, as in the previous study, it was
also noted that the instruction increased students’ confidence in learning English.
To summarize, remedial EFL instruction has proven effective in multiple studies.
Moreover, phonics instruction in English remedial programs has been shown to facilitate
phonemic awareness and thereby reading development and spelling skills. It has also been
shown to promote confidence, from which increased motivation to learn is a likely outcome.
In the present study, the direct instruction model was used to help EFL underachievers
overcome difficulties in decoding and encoding.
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33
Chapter 3
Method
The purpose of this chapter is to describe the research methodology of this study. In
this chapter, the research design, the setting, the participants, the role of the researcher, the
schedule of instruction, instruments, data collection, and data analysis are described.
Research Design
The study was a case study, which sought to understand a larger phenomenon through
the close examination of a specific case and therefore focused on the particular (Rossman &
Rallis, 2003), allowing thorough description and exploration. To obtain first-hand and
in-depth data, the researcher applied Chen’s (2003) qualitative techniques involving
ethnographic observation and interview.
The process of remedial instruction was in four stages. First, selected students took a
pretest and additionally completed a questionnaire (Questionnaire I). Second, the researcher
designed a suitable web-based phonics remedial program according to the pretest and
Questionnaire I. Third, the program was implemented. During instruction, data including
video transcripts, field notes, and the participants’ worksheets were collected for later
analysis. Finally, the researcher administered a posttest, Questionnaire II and engaged each
student in an oral interview.
The following research questions were addressed via analysis of the qualitative data
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34
and pre- and posttests already referred to.
1. What is the effect of web-based phonics instruction on sixth grade EFL
underachievers’ decoding ability?
2. What is the effect of web-based phonics instruction on sixth grade EFL
underachievers’ encoding ability?
3. What is the effect of web-based phonics instruction on sixth grade EFL
underachievers’ attitude to English instruction?
Setting
Students in this study were from an elementary school in a rural area of Tainan County.
This school had only six classes, one class in each grade. The total enrollment at the school
was 85 students. Some students were under the poverty line, from single parent,
grand-parenting, or dysfunctional families. Since this primary school was established in 1910,
most buildings were of a traditional and older style. There was one science lab, one student
center, one computer lab, one audio-visual classroom, six standard classrooms and one
teachers’ office on campus.
Due to the necessity of having a computer facility, teaching sessions related to this study
were implemented in the computer lab. The participants were seated according to their
preferences. The instructor presented teaching material and monitored the computing
operations of the participants from the front of the classroom. The seating arrangement was
as shown in Fig. 1.
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35
T
Administrative Pc
S1
S4
S2
computers
computers
S3
Figure 1. Setting of computer lab
Participants
The participants in this study were two male and two female underachievers from the
Grade 6 class of 18 students. These students’ end-of-year Grade 5 English test scores were
under 60.
The participants had been taught all 26 letters of the English alphabet (uppercase and
lowercase) in Grade 3, letter-sound correspondences of the alphabet in Grade 4, and phonics
rules for the five short vowels (a, e, i, o, u) in Grade 5. In the first semester of Grade 6, they
had been taught the five long vowel sounds (a-e, e-e, i-e, o-e, u-e). Although taught the basic
letter-sound knowledge of the alphabet, the participants still could not apply phonics rules to
pronounce printed words or spell target vocabulary.
Two of the participants came from low socio-economic families and two from middle
class families. None had attended English classes in private language schools. The pretest and
Questionnaire I revealed all participants lacked confidence in learning English and had poor
phonemic awareness. The selected participants were given pseudonyms to protect their
privacy.
Willy, a 12-year-old boy, was naughty and talkative. He came from a low
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36
socioeconomic and single-parent family. His parents were divorced when he was a first
grader. With the dysfunction in the family, he did not behave well and his attention to studies
was poor. In class, he was easily distracted. He liked to show off and compete with others,
except in school subjects.
Leo, aged 12, was a quiet and shy boy. He was from a middle class family. Though he
had had regular English classes at school since Grade 3, he could not recognize the letters of
the alphabet. He had difficulty in pronouncing the sound /z/; instead, he often sounded it out
as /l/. He became nervous and uneasy easily when it was his turn to read out vocabulary.
Kelly, a 12-year-old girl, also came from a middle class family. She liked to surf on the
Internet and paid little attention to her school subjects. She disliked English and thought
learning English was really boring and troublesome.
Jessica, aged 12, was a girl with low academic achievement in school subjects. She was
from a low socioeconomic family. Although she did not do well in English, she still enjoyed
English classes and tried her best to present in class.
The Role of the Researcher
The researcher was instructor, observer, and interviewer. Before the study, the
researcher administered Questionnaire I, which sought information about the participants’
English learning experiences and attitudes, and implemented a pretest of decoding and
encoding abilities. The researcher videotaped instruction sessions so that participant activity
and interaction between the researcher and the participants could be studied minutely. In
addition, the worksheets that the participants completed in each session and mini story books
were collected as their learning portfolios. After the period of instruction was complete, the
researcher conducted a posttest, implemented Questionnaire II, and interviewed the
participants. All data were collected and analyzed by the researcher.
Schedule of Instruction and Program Content
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37
This instruction period of 10 weeks ran from March 17, 2009 to May 22, 2009. There
were two sessions of web-based phonics instruction per week, starting at 12:00 midday and
lasting 40 minutes. Short-vowel sounds were taught before long-vowel sounds, as suggested
by Blevin (2006). The program of phonics instruction is shown in Table 1.
Table 1.
The Schedule of Web-Based Phonics Instruction
Week
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
Session
Date
Content
1
March 17
Unit 1: Short a
2
March 20
Unit 1: Short a
3
March 24
4
March 27
Unit 2: Short e
Unit 2: Short e ＆ Review Unit 1~2
5
March 31
6
April 3
7
April 7
8
April 10
9
April 14
10
April 17
Unit 5: Short u
Unit 5: Short u ＆ Review Unit 1~5
11
April 21
Unit 6: ae, ai, ay
12
March 24
Unit 6: ae, ai, ay
13
April 28
14
May 1
Unit 7: ee, ea
Unit 7: ee, ea ＆ Review Unit 6~7
15
May 5
16
May 8
17
May 12
18
May 15
19
May 19
20
May 22
Unit 3: Short i
Unit 3: Short i ＆ Review Unit 1~3
Unit 4: Short o
Unit 4: Short o ＆ Review Unit 1~4
Unit 8: ie
Unit 8: ie ＆ Review Unit 6~8
Unit 9: oe, oa
Unit 9: oe, oa ＆ Review Unit 6~9
Unit 10: ue, ui
Unit 10: ue, ui ＆ Review Unit 6~10
Procedures of instruction
This study adopted the synthetic phonics method suggested by Gunning (1996). There
were just ten phonics rules (the five short vowel and five long vowel sounds) introduced in
this remedial phonics program. The participants received short-vowel instruction for five
weeks and then long-vowel instruction for five weeks.
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38
The program was divided into units. Each unit focused on one vowel and lasted one
week/80 minutes (two periods). In the first period of each unit, the instructor displayed
power-point slides which included three parts: the vowel rules, CVC/CVCV word practice,
and a story preview from the Starfall website. The participants then had to access the
computer to participate in three learning activities (Play, Book, and Skills) on Starfall. A
recording worksheet was distributed to each participant as a self-learning record. Whilst
participants were engaged in the learning activities, the instructor monitored their English
learning via the administrative computer or walked around the classroom to give individual
assistance. Lastly, each participant was requested to read the story from Starfall to the
researcher. Copies of a mini story book downloaded from Starfall were handed to the
participants as homework and review.
In the second period of each unit, the researcher reviewed the previous class by
showing slides. Then the participants had to finish six worksheets downloaded from Starfall.
When doing the worksheets, the participants had more opportunities to apply phonics rules to
decoding and encoding. There were further Book learning activities on Starfall and students
also had to access the Manythings website to do minimal pairs practice. As in period one, a
self-learning recording worksheet was distributed to each participant. Whenever a participant
finished self-practice, he or she would be asked to read their mini story book individually to
the researcher to check their learning progress. If the participant decoded the story
successfully, he/she could play online English learning games on E4kids and Game GOO as a
reward.
English learning websites
The four websites referred to above were chosen by the researcher as appropriate
teaching aids. A description of each is given below.
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Starfall (www.starfall.com)
Starfall was used as the main teaching resource in this study. This phonics-based website
built by Dr. Schutz is composed of four parts: ‘ABCs’ (phonemic awareness), ‘Learn to Read’
(phonics), ‘It’s Fun to Read’ (vocabulary), and ‘I’m Reading’ (fluency). This study aimed to
explore the effects of web-based phonics instruction on decoding and encoding for EFL
primary school underachievers. Therefore, ‘Learn to Read’ was adopted as the lecture
resource. This provides a systematic phonics introduction, enabling participants to apply
phonics knowledge to decoding and encoding in predictable ways. It has 15 units: five for
short vowels, five for long vowels, and five for vowel teams and r-controlled vowels.
Because of limits on time and the beginning EFL level of the participants, only the first ten
units were used in this study. In each unit, there are three learning sections: ‘Play’, ‘Book’,
and ‘Skills.’ In the ‘Play’ section, there are spelling practice, matching, and finding the
corresponding pictures activities. In the ‘Book’ section, there are sounding out and flash
activities, while in the ‘Skills’ section, there are matching the corresponding letters activities
and movies, some of which are interactive. With one click, the participants can have self
-practice either in class or at home.
Manythings (http://www.manythings.org/pp/)
The Manythings website provides online American English Pronunciation Practice for
ESL or EFL learners. This website includes game-like minimal pair practice using flash or
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MP3 files. The minimal pairs listening exercises can reinforce the difference between short
vowels and long vowels. With online listening practice, the participants are able to
discriminate the differences in minimal pairs.
E4Kids (http://www.pts.org.tw/php/html/e4kids/game/game.htm).
E4Kids provides lots of online English learning games. Three of the games on this
website were used both to reinforce the taught material and as motivational tools. The first
game was ‘River Crossing’—short vowels practice. The participants had to choose correct
short vowels by listening to the target words. The second game was ‘Traveling Around the
world’—minimal pairs practice, in which participants had to click on corresponding letters
according to the sounds they heard. The third game was ‘Car Racing’—beginning sound
practice. Participants were required to find the letter corresponding to a sound. When
participants had finished the exercises assigned by the instructor and read the mini story to
the instructor, they were allowed to play these interesting games as rewards.
Game Goo (http://www.earobics.com/gamegoo/gooey.html).
Game Goo was developed by Earobicks, a leading provider of language and literacy
software, internet services and training. The website has fun, educational games that help
learners develop early reading and language skills. By playing the GameGoo games, the
learners can practice skills they are learning in class. The games are also based solidly on
education and literacy research, and are full of rich stories and characters to engage students
in learning adventures.
Four games from GameGoo were used during instruction. In ‘Sassy Seal’ participants
needed to understand the beginning or ending sounds in spoken words and match them to the
corresponding fish with letters on it. In the game ‘Letter Bugs’ participants had to identify
letters to compose words according to what was heard. The game ‘Space Trash’ reinforced
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the knowledge of letter-sound correspondences, while ‘Rainforest Run-Around’ required
learners to brave many dangers in the rainforest to put words in sentence order.
Features of web-based phonics instruction
The features of web-based phonics instruction and the reasons why the researcher
chose this method of teaching are discussed below.
The first feature of web-based phonics instruction is the audio-visual stimulus that
computers provide. English learning websites provide a better audio-visual learning
environment compared to traditional English education settings. With audio stimulation, the
participants had more opportunities to listen to target words and stories so that they could
perceive and discriminate sounds easily. The participants could click on target words and
listen to the correct pronunciation again and again until they were familiar with the sounds. In
addition, visual stimulation could motivate the participants to decode the stories and to
practice encoding. The audio-visual nature of the computer can therefore motivate learners
and foster effective learning.
The second feature of web-based phonics instruction is the interactive interface that
computers present. English learning websites utilized in this study are designed with many
interactive activities. In this study, participants were required to follow directions and make
responses, and received immediate feedback from the computer. In the matching activity
(Unit One: at/an) in the ‘Play’ section on Starfall for example, the participants had to choose
a letter according to the target word they heard. The interactive matching activity made the
participants react to the sounds and words quickly and naturally. Once they had finished the
matching correctly, a big star would show on the screen as positive feedback.
The third feature of web-based phonics instruction is the individual practice offered by
computers. The participants were able to use the computer to do self practice individually in
this English remedial program. With online English learning website resources, the
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participants were also able to monitor their own learning pace in order to meet their needs. In
the ‘Book’ section on Starfall for example, if participants were unfamiliar with the decoding
process of a certain word, they could click on the target word and listen to the demonstration
of how to blend each phoneme into a word.
Instruments
The instruments employed in this study included questionnaires, pretest, posttest, and
interview.
Questionnaires
There were two questionnaires in this study. Before the study, the participants had to
finish Questionnaire I (Appendix A). This was aimed at determining the participants’
background information and English learning experiences. After completion of the program
of instruction, Questionnaire II (Appendix B) was distributed to the participants to determine
their opinions and attitudes toward the program.
Pretest and posttest
There was a pretest and a posttest developed by the researcher in this study (Adapted
from Blevins, 2006 and Nicholson, 2005). Adams (1990) stated that alphabet recognition and
phonemic awareness were the two best predictors of early reading success. The pretest and
posttest were therefore aimed at assessing students’ decoding and encoding abilities, and
included letter name and letter sound assessment, phonemic awareness assessment, decoding
assessment, and encoding assessment. The pretest was administered prior to instruction and
the posttest after completion of the instruction program.
Letter name and sound assessment
Since word reading and spelling both involve knowledge of letters, letter knowledge is
associated with reading achievement (Adams, 1990). In this study, the letter name and sound
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assessment was intended to examine the participants’ alphabet recognition and sound-symbol
knowledge by adapting Nicholson’s Alphabet Assessment (2005) (See Appendix C). The
researcher administered the test by interviewing the participants one by one; they were
required to give the name and sound of the 26 uppercase and 26 lowercase letters printed in a
random order.
Phonemic awareness assessment
Phonemic awareness activities help children distinguish discrete sounds, or phonemes,
within words. With phonemic awareness, children can associate sounds with letters and
manipulate sounds to blend words (during reading) or segment words (during spelling). The
phonemic awareness (PA) assessment (Appendix D) adapted from Blevins’ Phonemic
Awareness Assessment (2006) was an oral test conducted by the researcher with individuals.
The PA assessment was composed of five tasks: rhyme and onset, oddity, oral blending,
oral segmentation, and phonemic manipulation. The rhyme and onset task required
participants to discriminate rhyming-pairs or onset pairs. The oddity task assessed whether
participants were able to distinguish initial consonant difference and final consonant
difference. The oral blending task examined how participants put the sounds they heard
together to make words. After listening to separate phonemes of a word, they were required
to say the word as a whole. The oral segmentation task included phoneme counting, initial
and final sound detection and phoneme segmenting. A first sub-task was aimed at assessing
the participants’ abilities to count the numbers of syllables while a second sub-task assessed
whether participants could say the beginning and ending sound of a word they heard. A third
sub-task examined if participants were able to name the phonemes of the word they heard.
Finally, the fifth task of phonemic manipulation examined whether participants were able to
manipulate the sounds of a word they heard. The participants had to say a word without the
beginning sound first and then say a word by substituting the initial sound with a target sound
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44
provided by the researcher.
Decoding assessment
According to Nicholson (2005), learning to read is strongly associated with
understanding that spoken words are made of phonemes. To read the simplest words, it is
crucial to learn the sound for each letter first. This assessment examined whether participants
could apply grapheme-phoneme knowledge to sound words out. In order to eliminate
interference from sight-word knowledge, a nonsense word assessment was used. Nicholson
(2005) suggested that the ability to read pseudo-words was very important for learning to
read. Pseudo-word assessment is an excellent way to assess the decoding skills that a student
has or lacks. The test used was adapted from the Nonsense Word Test (Blevins, 1997) (See
Appendix E); participants were required to read out loud five pseudo-words containing a
short vowel and five containing a long vowel.
Encoding assessment
To encode or spell a word, a child must match a spelling to each sound heard within the
word (Blevins, 2006).This assessment examined whether participants were able to apply
grapheme-phoneme knowledge to spell words. To prevent interference from sight word
memory, the encoding assessment was adapted from Nicholson’s Nonsense Word Assessment
(2005). As a written dictation test, this encoding assessment included ten pseudo-word items:
five for short vowels and five for long vowels (See Appendix F).
Interview
After the web-based phonics instruction, the researcher interviewed the participants
individually to determine their opinions and attitudes regarding the English remedial program
(See Appendix G).
Data Collection
According to Goodwin & Goodwin (1996), multiple methods of data collection or
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45
triangulation allows better measurement of the phenomenon being studied. In this study, pre
and posttests, questionnaires, oral interview, field notes, videotapes, and students’ worksheets
were gathered.
Initial data came primarily from Questionnaire I and the pretest, both completed prior
to the period of instruction. Questionnaire I investigated English learning attitudes while the
pretest sought information on decoding and encoding ability.
The researcher videotaped the instruction sessions for researcher’s field notes. These
notes included description about the participants, the setting, the activities, interaction
between the participants and the researcher and self-reflection by the researcher. The field
notes serve as a tool for recording the researcher’s perceptions in the field (Rossman & Rallis,
2003).
At the end of the study, Questionnaire II and an oral interview were conducted to elicit
participants’ feelings and thoughts regarding the web-based phonics instruction. The oral
interview was videotaped and transcribed by the researcher. Findings from the interview
served as authentic feedback from the participants. In addition, a posttest was implemented to
evaluate learning outcomes related to decoding and encoding.
Data Analysis
In this case study, all data were reviewed regularly by the researcher with ethnographic
analytic techniques. The transcripts from the oral interview and field notes were coded and
categorized. Data from the pretest, posttest, and questionnaires were utilized to support
findings in this study. As shown in Table 2, the three research questions, data collection and
data analysis were aligned.
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Table 2.
Data collection and analysis
Research Question
1. What is the effect of
Data Collection
Questionnaires, pretest and
web-based phonics
posttest, interview, field
instruction on sixth grade
notes, video transcripts
Data Analysis
●
Re-examine the data from
pretest and posttest.
●
Categorize the questionnaires
EFL underachievers’
and triangulate with the results
decoding ability?
from the oral interview.
●
Field notes and video
transcripts were supplied to
strengthen the findings from
the overall data.
2. What is the effect of
Questionnaires, pretest and
web-based phonics
posttest, interview, field
instruction on sixth grade
notes, video transcripts
●
Re-examine the data from
pretest and posttest.
●
Re-examine the field notes and
EFL underachievers’
video transcripts to support the
encoding ability?
results from the questionnaires.
3.What is the effect of
Questionnaires, interview,
web-based phonics
field notes, video
questionnaires to get
instruction on sixth grade
transcripts
participants’ responses.
EFL underachievers’ attitude
to English instruction?
●
●
Summarize and interpret the
Classify the information
from the data and generate
categories from the data.
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Appendix A
（姓名）
Questionnaire I
Name:________
英語學習調查前問卷
這一份問卷主要想了解你對英語課的看法，答案沒有對錯，不會影響英語成績，也不會
讓其他人知道你的回答，請放心作答。
1.你喜歡上學校的英語課嗎？
□ 非常喜歡
□ 喜歡
□ 還好
□ 不喜歡
2.上學校的英語課給你什麼感覺？
□很有趣
□ 有趣
□ 還好
□ 無趣
3.你喜歡學校老師上英語的方式嗎？
□ 非常喜歡
□ 喜歡
□ 還好
□ 不喜歡
□ 非常不喜歡
4.你喜歡學校英語課本的內容嗎？
□ 非常喜歡
□ 喜歡
□ 還好
□ 不喜歡
□ 非常不喜歡
5.你喜歡使用英語嗎？
□ 非常喜歡
□ 喜歡
□ 不喜歡
□非常不喜歡
□ 還好
6.你認為自己有能力學好英語嗎？
□ 非常有把握
□ 有把握 □ 還好
7.你認為學英語對你有用嗎？
□ 很有用
□ 有用
□ 還好
□ 沒把握
□ 沒用
□ 非常不喜歡
□ 很無趣
□非常沒把握
□ 很沒用
8.你會期待下一堂的英語課內容嗎？
□ 非常期待
□ 期待
□ 還好
□ 不期待
□ 非常不期待
9.你了解英語的上課內容嗎？
□ 非常了解
□ 了解
□ 還好
□ 不了解
□ 非常不了解
10.你上課學到的英語可以應付學校考試嗎？
□ 非常同意
□ 同意
□ 還好
□ 不同意
□非常不同意
11.我是被強迫學英語的。
□ 非常同意
□ 同意
□非常不同意
□ 還好
□ 不同意
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12.我不想寫英語作業。
□ 非常同意
□ 同意
□ 還好
□ 不同意
□非常不同意
13.我會在課後自己複習英語。
□ 非常同意
□ 同意
□ 還好
□ 不同意
□非常不同意
14.我會想辦法解決英語學習上遇到的問題。
□ 非常同意
□ 同意
□ 還好
□ 不同意
□非常不同意
15.我想讓自己的英語更進步。
□ 非常同意
□ 同意
□ 還好
□非常不同意
16.老師上課敎單字時，你
□ 很快就會認、也會唸
□ 練習了很多次，還是不太會認和唸
17.老師上課唸句子時，你
□ 自己很快就找到老師唸的句子
□ 要別人幫忙，才找得到
□ 不同意
□ 自己要練習很多次，才會唸
□ 不想學，反正以後用不到
□ 自己找很久，才找得到
□ 就算別人幫忙找，也跟不上
18. 唸老師敎過的單字時，你
□ 可以用字母的聲音拼讀出來
□ 問同學怎麼念
19. 拼老師敎過的單字時，你
□ 可以用字母的聲音拼寫出來
□ 用注音符號標示英文發音
20. 拼讀、拼寫單字對你而言
□ 非常簡單
□ 簡單
□ 還好
□ 強記老師唸的聲音
□ 放棄，不知道該怎麼念
□ 一個字母、一個字母死記下來
□ 放棄，反正也記不起來
□ 困難
□ 非常困難
21.你覺得學英語最難的地方是什麼？（如唸單字、唸句子、認單字、認句子、拼
寫單字、寫句子、 記發音規則、造句、背課文、唸英文韻文、唱英文歌…）
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Appendix B
Questionnaire II
英語學習調查後問卷
（姓名）
Name:________
上完新課程後，你對英語的看法是否改變了呢？這一份問卷主要想了解你對英語課的看
法，答案沒有對錯，不會影響英語成績，也不會讓其他人知道你的回答，請放心作答。
1. 上完資訊融入字母拼讀法英語課，你喜歡英語嗎？
□ 喜歡 □不喜歡
2. 現在，你覺得學英語
□ 變容易
□變困難
□不想學
3. 現在，你會怎樣唸單字？
□ 用字母拼讀法
□強記老師唸的音
4. 現在，你會怎樣拼單字？
□ 用字母拼讀法 □死記下來
□放棄
□放棄
5. 現在，你喜歡唸英語單字嗎？
□ 喜歡 □不喜歡
6. 現在，你喜歡拼英語單字嗎？
□ 喜歡 □不喜歡
7. 現在唸英語單字，你對自己的拼音比較有信心了嗎？
□ 有 □沒有
8. 現在拼英語單字，你對自己的拼音比較有信心了嗎？
□ 有 □沒有
9. 上完這樣的英語課程後，你覺得對哪一方面的學習最有幫助？
□ 用拼音唸單字 □拼寫單字 □增加英語學習興趣 □增加英語學習信心
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Appendix C 字母和字音測驗
Letter Name and Sound Assessment
Upper case
Name
Sound
Lower case
B
r
A
o
I
n
S
l
C
m
D
y
F
t
E
v
P
k
T
p
L
z
M
i
R
a
Z
j
J
u
U
s
H
h
G
b
W
c
X
Q
g
w
K
d
V
f
Y
x
N
q
O
e
Score
/26
/26
Score
Name:___________
Name
Sound
/26
/26
V = correctly identified (打 V 代表能正確認讀)
Adapted from Nicholson’s Alphabet Names and Sounds Assessment (2005, p.10)
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Appendix D
音韻覺識測驗
Phonemic Awareness Assessment
Name:___________
Rhyme ＆ Onset
Oral Segmentation
A. Ask the child if the following word
pairs rhyme.
G. Say each word. Ask the child to clap
the number of segments he/she hears.
1. cat/hat
○
2. pig/wig
3. can/man
4. box/lip
5. let/pen
6. sun/run
B. Ask the child if the following words
are onset pairs.
1. pig, pin ○
2. rack, sack
3. bake, base
4. goat, coat
5. wide, wipe
6. wing, king
Oddity Tasks
C. Display picture-card set. Ask
the child to find the pictures whose
names begin with the same sound .
1. sun, sock, fish
2. mop, sun, man
3. pig, leaf, log
4.pig, pan, dog
5. dog, ten, top
6.fan, leaf, fish
D. Display picture-card set. Ask the child
to find the pictures whose names end
with the same sound.
1. bat, rock, nut
2. cup, top, pen
3. pig, leaf, log
4.bus, glass, bat
5. sock, cup, rake
6. log, leg, leaf
1. pencil
2
2. map
3. tomato
4. bookmark
5. elephant
6. rock
H. Say each word. Have the child say the
first sound he/she hears in each word.
1. sun
2. mop
3.leaf
/s/
4.top
5. candle
6. yellow
I. Say each word. Have the child say the
the last sound he/she hears.
1. bat
2. hop
3. red
/t/
4.take
5. glass
6. leaf
J. Say each word. Have the child say
each word sound by sound.
1. see /s//e`/
2. my
3. lake
4.rain
5. tub
6. rocks
Oral Blending
Phonemic Manipulation
E. Say the first sound of a word and then
the rest of the word, Have the child say
the word as a whole.
K. Say each word. Have the child say
the word without the first
sound.
1. /s/…at
sat
2. /m/…op
3. /f/…ish
4. /l/…ock
5. /t/…ape
6. /b/…ox
F. Say each word sound by sound. Ask the
child to say the word as a whole.
1. /m/ /e`/ /t/
2. /s/ /a`/
3. /f/ / e`/ /t/
meet
4. /s/ /u/ /n/
5. /m/ / a`/ /k/
6. /l/ /a`/ /z/ /e`/
1. sun
2. mat
3. leaf
un
4.ship
5. bike
6.stop
L. Say each word. Have the child
replace the first sound in the word
with /s/.
1. mad
2. run
3.cat
sad
4.pick
5. hand
6.chip
Adapted from Blevins’ Phonemic Awareness Assessment (2006, pp.43)
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Appendix E
（姓名）
Decoding Assessment
朗讀測驗測驗
Name:___________
A. Short vowels
gac
yeg
dit
cos
buf
/5
nepe
bime
yode
fute
/5
B. Long Vowels
cabe
Subtotal
Adapted from Blevins’ Nonsense Word Test (2006, p. 197)
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Appendix F
（姓名）
Encoding Assessment
拼字測驗
Name:___________
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
Answer key:
A. Short vowels
1. san
2. lek
3. mig
4. pof
5. nuv
/5
7. rees
8. nite
9. hote
10.fupe
/5
B. Long Vowels
6. pade
Subtotal
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Appendix G
Interview
這次的訪談主要是了解你對使用英語學習網站來學習英語的看法和感想。 這不是考
試，答案沒有對錯，不會影響英語成績，也不會讓其他人知道你的回答，請放心作答。
1.你喜歡用英語學習網站上英語課嗎？為什麼？
2.用英語學習網站上英語課，比以前只上課本有趣嗎？為什麼？
3.用英語學習網站上英語課，是否讓你上課更專心呢？為什麼？
4.用英語學習網站上英語課，是否讓你更了解上課內容呢？為什麼？
5.英語學習網站的活動中，你最喜歡哪一種學習活動呢？
6.用英語學習網站上英語課，對你的英語學習有幫助嗎？（若有，是哪方面）
7.用英語學習網站上英語課，是否提升你英語學習興趣呢？
8.用英語學習網站上英語課，你覺得最大的收穫是什麼？
9.你想繼續用英語學習網站上英語課嗎？為什麼？
10.如果沒有老師的要求，你會主動用英語學習網站學習英語嗎？為什麼？
（不用擔心沒有電腦設備）
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