TABLE OF CONTENT
CHAPTER 1 .................................................................................................................................................... 2
INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................................................. 2
1.0 Background of the study ..................................................................................................................... 2
1.1 Statement of Research Problem ......................................................................................................... 4
1.2 Objective of the Study......................................................................................................................... 5
1.3 Research Questions ............................................................................................................................ 5
1.4 Significance of the Study ..................................................................................................................... 6
1.5 Limitation of the Study........................................................................................................................ 7
1.6 Definition of Terms ............................................................................................................................. 7
CHAPTER 2 .................................................................................................................................................... 9
LITERATURE REVIEW ..................................................................................................................................... 9
2.0 Introduction ........................................................................................................................................ 9
2.1 Approaches in Teaching Phonic .......................................................................................................... 9
2.2 Phonemic Awareness and Synthetic Phonic ..................................................................................... 12
2.3 Issues relating with Phonic ............................................................................................................... 12
2.4 Phonic in Malaysia Context ............................................................................................................... 14
2.5 Previous Research ............................................................................................................................. 15
2.6 Conclusion ......................................................................................................................................... 16
CHAPTER 3 .................................................................................................................................................. 17
RESEARCH AND METHODOLOGY ................................................................................................................ 17
3.0 INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................................. 17
3.1 RESEARCH DESIGN ............................................................................................................................ 17
3.2 SAMPLING ......................................................................................................................................... 17
3.3 INSTRUMENTATION .......................................................................................................................... 18
3.4 DATA COLLECTION METHOD ............................................................................................................ 20
3.5 DATA ANALYSIS ................................................................................................................................. 21
3.6 CONCLUSION ..................................................................................................................................... 22
REFERENCES ................................................................................................................................................ 23
APPENDIX .................................................................................................................................................... 24
1
CHAPTER 1
INTRODUCTION
1.0 Background of the study
There is no denying that reading involved a complex process. Readers need certain level of
literacy and proficiency in order to infer and synthesize information from the reading text. In
addition, readers also need a certain amount of critical analysis to organize or produce
information from the text. Reading has at all times and in all ages been a source of knowledge, of
happiness, of pleasure and even moral courage. In today's world with so much more to know and
to learn and also the need for a conscious effort to conquer the divisive forces, the importance of
reading has increased. Thus, early childhood literacy is important as a stepping stone to be an
effective reader.
English on the other hand had played its role as the lingua franca of international trade and
commerce. With the challenges posed by globalization, technological advancement and an
explosive growth of information, there is a critical need for the mastery of English language
among Malaysian citizens. The importance of English is further emphasized when Malaysia
declared the language as the nation’s second language (Berita Harian, 22nd of May, 2001). It had
brought a relatively new perspective in Malaysian education system. Presently, the Ministry of
Education had introduced the standardized English Language Curriculum for Primary Schools
(Kurikulum Standard Sekolah Rendah), which will be implemented phase by phase starting from
2011. The new curriculum emphasizes on holistic development of the students which
encompasses new elements such as grooming of creativity and innovation, entrepreneurship, and
2
integration of Information and Communication Technology (ICT). This new curriculum had
been implemented since 2011, with year 1 as the pioneer for this program.
The new curriculum for primary Schools (KSSR) had introduced a new approach in teaching
literacy and reading of English for the students, namely phonemic awareness. Students are
expected to be able to learn individual letters of the alphabet and their sounds, read aloud
consonants in initial positions and vowels in both initial and medial positions, and compare
words for similar sounds (Curriculum Development Centre, 2006, p.26). The program promotes
teachers to practice synthetic-based approach to the students to cater their literacy and reading
skill. With synthetic-based approach, before children are introduced to books, they are taught
letter sounds. After the first few of these have been taught they are shown how these sounds can
be blended together to build up words (Feitelson, 1988). The use of this approach had been
highly advocated by policy makers in the United Kingdom and accordingly been implemented
by the teachers (Purewall S., 2008). However, there is little evidence on this approach effectively
help second language learners and their overall literacy development.
Regardless that synthetic phonic is effective in teaching reading and help to improve
learners’ literacy level, the majority of the study had been conducted for L1 learners. Hence, one
major assumption is that the learning experiences of both L1 and L2 learners are the same, and
therefore, the same theoretical and methodological construct that have been design for L1
learners is applicable to L2 learners (Purewall S., 2008). It is obvious that there are difference
characteristic between L1 and L2 learners, as the learners of ESL had already have first language
and the process of learning second language are quite difference of L2 Learner. Thus, this study
will identify the effectiveness of synthetic phonic to the L2 learners. In addition, it will
investigate the factors whether or not the synthetic phonic help learners in literacy and reading.
3
This study will help to at least, provide an insight on effectiveness of synthetic phonic to the
Malaysia teachers. As this approach can be considered as a new approach in teaching literacy
and reading to the Malaysia learners, a study to provide sufficient ideas and evidence is of value
hoping that it will further been viewed and improvised along with the new curriculum program.
1.1 Statement of Research Problem
Malaysia has been dealing with the issues of the lack of English language mastery among its
citizen for a long time. The declaration on English as Malaysia’s second formal language
demands for a society in which English are mastered. In addition, reading is the essential key in
producing a generation that is able to be self-dependent in acquiring knowledge and information.
It helps greatly in improving students’ proficiency level as through reading learners would be
able to develop either with guidance or independently.
In Malaysia context, reading habit is still in dire rate, though we are progressing towards
information age. Prof. Ambigapathy Pandian from Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) has perhaps
studied the most on the reading habits of Malaysians. In an interesting paper by him in 2000, he
surveyed that 80.1% of university students are “reluctant” readers in English-language materials.
In other words, 80.1% university students read because they have to. Thus, it is important to
implement suitable approaches to promote reading from the grassroots, which is primary
schooling. Learners that have been equipped adequate skills of reading should logically, be able
to enjoy reading. As they venture through the years, the complexity of reading would gradually
increase with the requirement of the syllabus and education level. Thus, it is important to
inculcate an effective approach at the early stage, especially in teaching reading for English.
4
The new curriculum program (KSSR) is promoting phonemic awareness to learners. In the
beginning, pupils’ phonemic awareness will be developed by means of phonics. Phonemic
awareness is the ability to hear, identify, and manipulate the individual sounds in spoken words.
This ability to recognize letter sounds is an essential and useful early reading skill (Curriculum
Development Centre, 2010, p.10). Since it is a new program, a study on it is necessary to identify
and investigate the effectiveness of this program and what are the factors whether or not the
synthetic phonic help learners in literacy and reading.
1.2 Objective of the Study
The objectives of conducting this research are:
1. To investigate how synthetic phonics help children of ESL in literacy
2. To investigates the effectiveness of synthetic based approach in teaching reading and
literacy to the year 1 pupils of primary schooling
3. To determine factors whether or not the synthetic phonic help learners in literacy and
reading
1.3 Research Questions
1. Does synthetic phonics help children of ESL in literacy?
2. Does synthetic based approach effective in teaching reading and literacy to the year 1
pupils of primary schooling?
3. What are the factors whether or not the synthetic phonic help learners in literacy and
reading?
5
1.4 Significance of the Study
This study attempts to investigate the effectiveness of synthetic phonic for L2 learners. It will
give us better views since there is little evidence regarding the impact of synthetic phonic for L2
learners. Though there have been some assumptions that the ways of L1 and L2 learners are the
same in learning language, there are some consideration needs to be taken into consideration. L2
learners have acquired their first language, and it will somehow affect their ways of learning of
second language. Therefore, this study may provide a useful launching pad for further research in
this area of interest. The findings of this study could provide some form of empirical data for
future research in this area.
KSSR is a newly implemented curriculum implemented for the Malaysia primary school
schooling. In teaching English, it promotes phonemic awareness at the beginning stage to
enhance students’ literacy and reading skill. This study will provide an insight on effective ways
to implement this idea in the classroom. Synthetic phonic, is the preferable approach as many
study had been conducted and sufficient evidence had proved that L1 learners earn a lot of
benefits from phonetic-based approach. Thus, this study would greatly helps in providing at
least, some insight in Malaysia’s education world. By identifying factors contributing to the
effectiveness of synthetic phonic, it would give better understanding of this approach to the
teachers.
6
1.5 Limitation of the Study
There are a few possible limitation of this research. One of the limitations in doing this
research is concerned with the authenticity of teachers’ response towards the interview which
will be conducted to them. The interview will be conducted to determine the factors on either the
synthetic phonic are effective or not. The data collected from the interview could only be
assessed by assuming that every respondent responds authentically towards each question.
The small size of population and sample in this study is also another limitation. The study
would focuses on 160 students of year 1 in primary schooling may not be sufficient enough in
contributing towards the accuracy of data analysis conducted in this research. Thus,
generalization may not be in line with this research, though it might give some insights on
synthetic phonic.
Time constrain is another limitation for this study. The research would probably be
conducted shorter than the necessary timeline. Students learning style, cognitive level and
intelligence may differ individually and thus it may be affected the data. Further research is
necessary to obtain adequate data for this purpose.
1.6 Definition of Terms
Literacy
Based on Cambridge (2004), literacy means knowledge of a particular subject, or a particular
type of knowledge. It also means the ability to read and write. It is a lifelong and intellectual
process of gaining meaning from print. Key to all literacy is reading development, which
involves a progression of skills that begins with the ability to understand spoken words and
7
decode written words, and culminates in the deep understanding of text. In this study, literacy
would mainly focuses on English subject.
Synthetic Phonic
Synthetic phonic is an approach to teach literacy and reading skill. With this approach, before
children are introduced to books, they are taught letter sounds. After the first few of these have
been taught they are shown how these sounds can be blended together to build up words
(Feitelson, 1988).
Phonemic Awareness
Phonemic awareness is the ability to hear, identify, and manipulate individual sounds-phonemes-in spoken words. Before children learn to read print, they need to become more aware of how
the sounds in words work. They must understand that words are made up of speech sounds, or
phonemes (the smallest parts of sound in a spoken word that make a difference in a word's
meaning).
L1 Learner
It means the learner’s primary language. In this study, L1 learners’ language would refer to
English
L2 Learner
It means the learners’ secondary language. In this study, L2 learners’ language would refer to
English
8
CHAPTER 2
LITERATURE REVIEW
2.0 Introduction
This chapter presents the review of related literature on the effects of synthetic phonic. The
review were presented according to sub-topics such as the phonic approaches related in teaching
reading and literacy, issues relating with phonemic awareness and synthetic phonic including in
Malaysia context and also previous research that had been conducted relating to the topic.
2.1 Approaches in Teaching Phonic
There has been much debate in recent years about just how children should be taught to
read. The phonic approach, whereby children are shown that letter sounds are a guide to the
pronunciation of words, has a long history, starting to develop in the nineteenth century (Morris,
1984). In this approach, the sounds of the letters of the alphabet are taught, and children learn the
correspondences between letters and groups of letters and their pronunciations (Adams, 1990).
Analytic Phonic
In analytic phonic, letter sounds are taught after reading has already begun, children
initially learning to read some words by sight, often in the context of meaningful text. However,
there is evidence that the analytic phonics component of the reading program in Scotland was
generally taught in a separate lesson devoted to word study (Watson, 1998). The analytic
approach focuses to teach the letter sounds, in which the whole words sharing a common initial
letter sound are presented to children, such as the words ‘milk’, ‘man’, ‘mother’ (Harris and
Smith, 1976). Attention is drawn to the /m/ sound heard at the beginning of the words. When all
9
of the letter sounds have been taught in this way, attention is then drawn to letters at the ends of
the words, then in the middle, in consonant-vowel-consonant (CVC) words. Therefore children
learn about letter sounds in the context of the whole words. At this stage, which can be at the end
of the first year at school, children may also be taught to sound and blend CVC words, e.g. /c/ /a/
/t/ -> cat, but this is not a feature of all analytic phonics schemes, although it used to be in
Scotland (Johnston R. et al, 2005). After mastering consonant-vowel-consonant words, children
are taught about vowel and consonant digraphs and shown word families of similarly spelt
words, e.g. ‘cake’, ‘bake’, ‘make’, ‘lake’; ‘coat’, ‘boat’, ‘float’ etc. These spelling patterns used
to be learnt by rote, with children chanting the words in unison in class.
Analytic phonics fell into disfavor because it was often implemented in a rote manner,
and because it was usually carried out without reference to the reading of meaningful text. As
part of the emphasis on children learning for themselves and carrying out meaningful activities,
the whole language approach to reading developed which promotes self discovery. It was felt
that it was of paramount importance that children read meaningful material; it was thought that
they could learn for themselves the relationship between letters and sounds. Unfamiliar words
were to be identified by using context, rather than the ‘bottom up’ approach of looking at
individual words and applying phonic knowledge to decode the words. Added to this was the
view that as some words in the English language are irregularly spelt, the phonic approach is
ineffective and leads to inaccurate pronunciation, the word ‘yacht’ being an extreme example of
a word not amenable to being read by a such an approach.
10
Synthetic Phonic
Synthetic phonic, on the other hand, does not begin by establishing an initial sight
vocabulary. With this approach, before children are introduced to books, they are taught letter
sound. After the first few of these have been taught they are shown how these sounds can be
blended together to build up words (Feitelson, 1988). For example, when taught the letter sounds
/t/ /p/ /a/ and /s/ the children can build up the words ‘tap’, ‘pat’, ‘pats’, ‘taps’, ‘a tap’ etc. The
children are not told the pronunciation of the new word by the teacher either before it is
constructed with magnetic letters or indeed afterwards; the children sound each letter in turn and
then synthesize the sounds together in order to generate the pronunciation of the word. Thus the
children construct the pronunciation for themselves. Most of the letter sound correspondences,
including the consonant and vowel digraphs, can be taught in the space of a few months at the
start of their first year at school. This means that the children can read many of the unfamiliar
words they meet in text for themselves, without the assistance of the teacher.
By contrast in analytic phonics, whole words are presented and pronounced by the
teacher, and the children’s attention is only subsequently drawn to the information given by letter
sound correspondences. Typically in Scotland with the analytic phonics approach, it would not
be until the third term of the first year at school that children would be made aware of the
importance of letter sound correspondences in all positions of words, whereas in synthetic
phonics this is done at the start of the year (Johnston, 2005). The full analytic phonics scheme is
usually not completed until the end of the third year at school.
11
2.2 Phonemic Awareness and Synthetic Phonic
Phonemic awareness is the ability to hear, identify, and manipulate individual soundsphonemes--in spoken words. Before children learn to read print, they need to become more
aware of how the sounds in words work. They must understand that words are made up of speech
sounds, or phonemes (the smallest parts of sound in a spoken word that make a difference in a
word's meaning). This is the definition of phonemic awareness on reference with the Malaysia
Curriculum Centre (2010, p.10). It basically initiates learners’ ability in learning literacy and
reading skill. By understanding how the sounds in words work, learners should be able to read
and at the same time, develop their comprehension of the reading text.
On the hand, synthetic phonic is an approach in teaching phonic. With this approach,
before children are introduced to books, they are taught letter sounds. After the first few of these
have been taught they are shown how these sounds can be blended together to build up words
(Feitelson, 1988). Thus, it is important to notice that phonemic awareness should come first, and
then, in line with it is the teaching of phonic. Learner should start by using their hearing to
identify, differentiate individual sounds of words. This creates awareness later on, in producing
sounds from words into sentences.
2.3 Issues relating with Phonic
There have been some issues relating with phonic. In a synthetic program, the processes
of blending (What word do these sounds make when we put them together mmm-aaa-nnn?"), and
segmenting ("Sound out this word for me") are taught. It is of little value knowing what the
building blocks of our language’s structure are, if one does not know how to put those blocks
together appropriately to allow written communication, or to separate them to enable decoding of
a letter grouping. After letter-sound correspondence has been taught, phonograms (such as: er, ir,
12
ur, wor, ear, sh, ee, th) are introduced, and more complex words can be introduced into reading
activities. In conjunction with this approach "controlled vocabulary" stories may be used - books
using only words decodable using the students' current knowledge base. Thus, it is important for
the teachers to identify the students’ ability and develop phonemic awareness before inserting
this program in their lesson.
Reading involves a complex process for the reader to successfully enjoy and fully obtain
the benefits of it. Through phonic, learner would be able to decode word by word, from the
reading text. However, little evidence shows that phonic promotes understanding or meaningmaking process. Thus, an issue arises as what is more value, decoding or comprehending the
text.
“…..decoding is also of central importance in reading, for without it, linguistic comprehension is
of no use. Thus, a second central claim of the simple view is that both decoding and linguistic
comprehension are necessary for reading success, neither being sufficient by itself” (Hoover &
Gough, 1990, p.128).
From this perspective, decoding and comprehension are both equally important for
successful reading. Thus, promoting phonic in lesson does have its benefit and serve its purpose
in teaching reading and literacy to the learner. However, there are some factors that would
influence a successful reading such as learner’s background knowledge and social status.
13
2.4 Phonic in Malaysia Context
Malaysia had introduced a new program namely Kurikulum Standard Sekolah Rendah
(KSSR), emphasizes on holistic development of the students which encompasses new elements
such as grooming of creativity and innovation, entrepreneurship, and integration of Information
and Communication Technology (ICT). As in English subject, it also promotes the use of phonic
as a new approach to be implemented in English lesson. It brings new perspective to the teachers
in conducting a lesson by implementing phonic to teach literacy and reading.
There is by far few researches been conducted regarding phonic in Malaysia context.
Generally, researches that have been conducted focuses on L1 learners thus it provides little
information about its impact towards L2 learners. The effectiveness of synthetic phonic, however
had evidently proves that it is effective compare to other phonic based approach. Thus, educators
of Malaysia need to bring this view into perspective considering its impact to the learners.
Based on the Curriculum Standard Document for Primary Schooling created by Malaysia
Ministry of Education, the main emphasis in teaching reading for year 1 and year 2 is phonemic
awareness and phonic. The guideline provided promotes the use of synthetic phonic for the
teachers to implement it in their lesson. Teacher will teach learners on the processes of blending
and segmenting of the words. Though it have been two years the program been introduced to the
education system, there is little evidence on the effectiveness of this approach to the learners.
14
2.5 Previous Research
Johnston R. and Watson J had conducted a research entitle The Effect of Synthetic
Phonics Teaching on Reading and Spelling Attainment. It is a seven year longitudinal study that
presents the findings of a 7 year study in which examined the effects of teaching synthetic
phonics on literacy attainment with reference of International Survey of 35 countries about
reading comprehension among girls and boys. In an earlier study they had found that 5 year old
children getting a supplementary synthetic phonics program had better word reading, spelling
and phonemic awareness skills than children getting a supplementary analytic phonics program
(Johnston and Watson, 2004). It is evident that the children in this study have achieved well
above what would be expected for their chronological age according to standardized tests. The
actual gains may be much larger than this comparison indicates, as this study focuses on the
children that came from homes experiencing economic deprivation, and receptive vocabulary
knowledge scores for the whole sample were somewhat below average.
Overall, the study conclude that a synthetic phonics program, as a part of the reading
curriculum, has a major and long lasting effect on children’s reading and spelling attainment.
Indeed, these skills were found to be increasing many years after the end of the program. It is
evident that the children have learnt a technique that they can use for themselves, that they have
learnt a self teaching technique. Furthermore, although in a recent international study boys were
found to have significantly lower levels of reading comprehension than girls in all 35 countries
surveyed, the boys in this study comprehended text as well as the girls’. In fact they were slightly
ahead, and if this trend continues in the future, it may become statistically significant. Further
work will be needed, however, to establish just how great the gains are in comparison with other
approaches to teaching reading.
15
2.6 Conclusion
To conclude, the literature regarding this study provides an insight about synthetic phonic
that would be helpful in conducting the study. There is evidence that this approach is effective,
though most of the sample is L1 learners. A study on this approach in Malaysia context is
necessary to measure the impact of this approach in the education system.
16
CHAPTER 3
RESEARCH AND METHODOLOGY
3.0 INTRODUCTION
This chapter presents the research design used by the researcher in this study. It is
presented in terms of the population, the sample and the sample selection, data gathering
instrument, administration of the instrument and the data analysis process. This brief explanation
provides a better understanding of the tabulated data that will be discussed in the next chapter.
3.1 RESEARCH DESIGN
This research would be of descriptive research since it describes a given state of affairs.
The research would mainly focus in identifying the effect of synthetic phonic in Malaysia
context. This study will use quantitative method, which will be designed to analyze the
effectiveness of synthetic phonic to the year 1 of primary schooling.
The researcher will use both achievement test and observation to monitor participants’
achievement in literacy and reading skill. The achievement test comprises of two set, with the
purpose to test learners’ literacy and reading skill. On the other hand, observation will be
conducted to view occurrences and evidence of the effect in using synthetic phonic in the lesson.
3.2 SAMPLING
The target population of this study is the students of L2 from primary schooling of Sabak
Bernam district, Selangor. The district comprises of 32 schools ranging from rural to urban area.
The district has poor performance in English, based on the 2011’s UPSR results. However, as
KSSR is a new curriculum, it does not provide any adequate data about the district’s rank under
17
the new program. It is important to take notice that most of the students in this district come from
rural area. Thus, it is believed that by implementing the new curriculum, it could show sufficient
evidence on the effectiveness of synthetic phonic since there is less variables involve.
The researcher will randomly select 8 schools to conduct the achievement test. Each
school will present 20 pupils to go through the achievement test. The sample of respondents for
this study will be selected by using stratified random sampling by class. Stratified sampling is a
procedure used to obtain a greater degree of representativeness while decreasing probable
sampling error. Stratified sample method is chosen to ensure an adequate number of subjects will
be selected from each school. In observation, a set of checklist will be given to the teachers from
each school that would be completed upon administrating the test. Since synthetic phonic is
already been introduced in the curriculum, researcher should be able to obtain necessary data
regarding the study.
3.3 INSTRUMENTATION
The instruments that will be used in this research are achievement test and achievement
checklist. Both are of value since it will provide adequate data for the research. The achievement
test will be conducted on March, as it is believed that the necessary knowledge had been given to
the learners. The test will be conducted by the teachers from each school. The students’ personal
detail will remain anonymous throughout the research. Two set of achievement test will be
distributed, one with the aim to identify learners’ literacy level, and the other to identify learners’
phonemic awareness as the synthetic phonic approach had been apply to them.
Yopp-Singer Test of Phoneme Segmentation
18
This test has proven to be a reliable measure of a student's phonemic awareness ability. It
is designed to be used with English speaking kindergartners; this 22 item test is individually
administered and requires about 5 - 10 minutes for each student. This test is designed to measure
a students' ability to orally segment the phonemes in a word in their correct order. Immediately
prior to the administration of the test, a student is trained with three practice items. Feedback is
provided to the child in the form of praise, or in the case of an error, the correct answer is
modeled. A correct response is one in which each phoneme in the target word is correctly
articulated.
Students who obtain a perfect or nearly perfect score are those who are phonemically
aware. Students who respond correctly to some of the items may be thought of as having
emerging phonemic awareness skills. Low performing students are most likely to experience
difficulty with reading and spelling unless immediate, intensive intervention is provided.
Analysis of the Yopp-Singer Test of Phoneme Segmentation indicates that it is a valid
measure of phonemic awareness. This tool serves as a powerful predictor of possible reading and
spelling difficulties. If used correctly and in a timely fashion, the information gained from this
test can be used to identify students and plan intervention programs for "at-risk" readers and
spellers.
The Yopp-Singer Test of Phoneme Segmentation was published in The Reading Teacher
49 (1), p. 22 (September, 1995). The author, Hallie K. Yopp of the California State University at
Fullerton, has granted her permission for this test to be reproduced.
19
Letter Knowledge
This test was based on Johnston (2005) that was designed to investigate students’ literacy
level. It is believed that the sound of letters is the foundation in literacy and reading skill. In this
test, pupils were shown a sheet with all 26 letters of the alphabet (not in alphabetical order) in
lower case print. Each child was asked to give the name and the sound for each letter. Percentage
correct performance in producing (i) names and (ii) sounds was calculated for each child.
Achievement Checklist
A checklist is provided to the teachers involved in the study. It was based on the JollyPhonics that had been developed specifically for synthetic phonic approach. The checklist is an
end of year checklist, thus will be distributed to the teachers at the early year, which is on
February to assess pupils that had gone through the initial stage of learning phonic in their
previous year. The checklist comprises of the assessment of the 42 sounds, which includes the
blending process to create the sound of the words. However, the researcher will simplify the
checklist as the new curriculum in Malaysia limits the full use of this checklist.
3.4 DATA COLLECTION METHOD
The researcher will request cooperation from the selected 5 schools to conduct the
achievement test and checklist for the school to complete. For the achievement test, the test for
the literacy purposes will be distributed first at February which should be completed at the end of
the month. The researcher will ask the cooperation from each English teachers of each school in
conducting the test to the respondents, and collecting the completed from them. The teachers will
be requested to conduct the test for high achiever class since Malaysia practices streaming class
to differentiate students’ achievement level. The purpose to do this is lower achiever class
20
usually consist of students with learning difficulties, with the social background would mainly
the main factor of negligence from the parents to seek for special remedial class.
For the Yopp-Singer test of phoneme segmentation, it will be conducted at March as
teachers are expected to cover the necessary requirement for the pupils to take the test. This test
is hopefully could also help teachers to identify at-risk students and planning any remedial class
for them.
As for the checklist, the teachers will participate as the respondents. English teachers
from the selected schools will complete the checklist that would help to identify the effectiveness
of using synthetic phonic in teaching literacy and reading skill. Furthermore, each test will be
attached with instructions that clearly explain the purposes of the study and how to return the
tests. The researcher will inform the teachers that the confidentiality of their responses and that
the data would only be utilized for the purpose of this study. In collecting the data, the researcher
will meet up with every teacher of selected schools to collect the completed tests and checklist.
3.5 DATA ANALYSIS
From the completed tests and checklists, researcher will analyze the collected data by
forming tables, graphs and charts. From the tables, charts and graphs, the effectiveness of
synthetic phonic in literacy and reading will be determined. The findings of this study will be
further discussed in Chapter 4.
21
3.6 CONCLUSION
This chapter described the research design used in this study. It explains on the
population, sample and sample selection, data gathering instrument, data collection method as
well as the data analysis process. It is hoped that this chapter has provided a clear picture on the
tabulated data.
22
REFERENCES
Davis A. (2012) A monstrous regimen of synthetic phonics: fantasies of research-based teaching
'methods' versus real teaching, Philosophy of Education Society of Great Britain, Annual Conference
Dominic Wyse D and Styles M. (2007) Synthetic phonics and the teaching of reading: the debate
surrounding England’s ‘Rose Report’, Vol 41, No 1
Hempenstall K. (2001) Some Issues in Phonics Instruction Implicit and explicit phonics
instruction, available online: http://www.educationnews.org
Johnston R and Watson J. (2005) The effects of synthetic phonics teaching on reading and
spelling attainment: a seven year longitudinal study
Johnston R and Watson J. (1997) What sort of phonics? Systematic Phonics: the latest research,
available online: http://jollylearning.co.uk
Purewall S. (2008) Synthetic Phonics and the literacy development of Second Language young
learners, A literature review of Ideologies, Policies and Research
Malaysia Ministry of Education (2010) English Language Curriculum for Primary Schools (KSSR)
Year 1 and 2, available online: http://www.moe.gov.my
Scott C. (2010) Phonics: lost in translation, Synthetic phonics saw spectacular results in Scotland,
but questions are now being asked about its use in England: are some children missing out?, available
online: http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2010/jan/19/phonics-child-literacy
23
APPENDIX
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