Effectiveness of Phonics Training to the Performance of Kindergarten Learners in Phonemic Awareness

AUTHOR(S)

LOUELA C. SALDUA

ABSTRACT

—— Phonemic awareness is one of the pre-requisite skills in learning to read. Teachers must give attention in teaching the skill to achieve mastery of the letter names and sounds for reading words starts from this. Integrating differentiated teaching approaches and strategies like the use of phonics instruction in teaching phonemic awareness is essential. Thus, this study was formulated to evaluate the effectiveness of phonics instruction in teaching phonemic awareness to the performance of kindergarten learners. Utilizing the Early Grade Reading Assessment (EGRA) tool to determine the performance of kindergarten learners before and after the integration of phonics instruction and employing quasi-experimental research design while simple percentage and t-test of mean difference were the statistical tools used to interpret the result of the study. The study revealed a significant difference in the performances of kindergarten learners in phonemic awareness before and after the integration of phonics training in teaching. The result of the study implies that integrating phonics instruction in teaching phonemic awareness is effective. The dedication, patience and resourcefulness of the kindergarten teachers and the interactive materials and activities provided to the kindergarten learners had motivated and inspired them to learn phonemic awareness with very good performance. Keywords — Effectiveness, Phonics Training, Performance, Kindergarten Learners, Phonemic Awareness