Importance of Phonological Awareness in Early Childhood Literacy Development

This article discusses the importance of phonological awareness in early childhood literacy development through studies on synthetic phonics programs and teaching movement and phonological awareness to preschool-aged students. The studies show that the right phonics programs and linking movement, sounds, and cognition can improve literacy and phonological awareness among school-going children. The article also highlights the need to narrow down the strategies for phonics programs based on the phonological awareness level of the students.

Running Head: EDUCATION 1
phonics, making words, emergent literacy
Author's Name
Institutional Affiliation
Introduction

EDUCATION 2
Callcott, D., Hammond, L., & Hill, S. (2015). The synergistic effect of teaching a combined
explicit movement and phonological awareness program to preschool aged students. Early
Childhood Education Journal, 43(3), 201–211
The article discusses the importance of teaching movement and motor skills as part of
literacy development in early childhood classrooms. The study investigates the synergistic effect
practicing precise movements through songs that can help raise phonological awareness. The
authors, Deborah Callcott, Lorraine Hammond and Susan Hill, are researchers from Edith
Cowan University (ECU) and Ph.D.’s in their field related to phonological awareness.
The main idea of the study is to show how linking movement, sounds, and cognition can
improve literacy and phonological awareness among school going children. The study comprised
of 400 preschool children in the age group of four and five from eight primary schools located in
Perth. The Test of Phonological Awareness (TOPA) was used to measure the two aspects of
phonological awareness, the sensitivity to rhyme and phoneme segmentation. Other standardized
tests included the Developmental Spelling Test (DST), The Movement ABC-2, Moving on with
Literacy and Let’s Decode. The results show that those students who were given the combined
intervention of movement with phonological awareness perform significantly better when
compared to the control groups with just the literacy program or the movement group.
The study is essential for the field of improving early literacy in the pre-primary aged
children. Those skills can lead to a synergistic benefit for the young child in his preschool years.
The strength of the article lies in the use of standardized tests and the presentation. The only
weakness is that the study avoids the schools in low socio-economic areas.
Shapiro, L. R., & Solity, J. (2016). Differing effects of two synthetic phonics programmes
on early reading development. British Journal of Educational Psychology, 86(2), 182–203.

EDUCATION 3
Laura R. Shapiro and Jonathan Solity are the authors of the article on synthetic phonics
programs. Shapiro is a senior lecturer in Psychology while Solity is a Ph.D. in instructional
psychology.
The article emphasizes Synthetic phonics and how the concept can be used to teach the
children to focus on the sound of the letters and how to merge these sounds to create a word. The
objective of the study was to compare two synthetic phonics programs in early reading for
children and measure the phonological awareness (PA). The two programs investigated include
Letters and Sounds, L&S and the Early Reading Research, ERR and their impact on
phonological difficulties among children who begin school. Both L&S or ERR programs were
found to be equally valid for children who carried good PA. However, children with poor PA
showed a minor advantage under the ERR program.
The results of the study are noteworthy as it points out the need to narrow down the
strategies for phonics programs based on the PA level of the students. The study offers a
direction to the regular classroom teachings and offers them a -effective way to improve literacy
outcomes with the use of right phonics programs. The limitations of the study include the use of
a quasi-experimental design and the reduced sample at the end of the third year. Nevertheless,
the results motivate the need for further experimental studies to improve phonological awareness
among children.
Phonological awareness is equally important for the children with visual impairments.
Speech-language specialists can help teachers and families to promote phonological awareness in
children with visual impairments during the preschool years in a fun way and by taking a
proactive approach (Hatton, Erickson, & Lee, 2010). A study investigating the impact of
phonological responsiveness training on Chinese reading among deaf children reflects that game-

EDUCATION 4
like activities motivate higher attention and awareness among children and they could benefit
from an increased phonological awareness (Yi-Hui Chen. (2014).
References

EDUCATION 5
Callcott, D., Hammond, L., & Hill, S. (2015). The synergistic effect of teaching a combined
explicit movement and phonological awareness program to preschool aged students.
Early Childhood Education Journal, 43(3), 201–211
Hatton, D. D., Erickson, K. A., & Lee, D. B. (2010). Phonological Awareness of Young Children
with Visual Impairments. Journal of Visual Impairment & Blindness, 104(12), 743–752.
Shapiro, L. R., & Solity, J. (2016). Differing effects of two synthetic phonics programmes on
early reading development. British Journal of Educational Psychology, 86(2), 182–203.
Yi-Hui Chen. (2014). Effects of Phonological Awareness Training on Early Chinese Reading of
Children Who Are Deaf and Hard of Hearing. Volta Review, 114(1), 85–100.