Año 22, N.º 45: enero - junio 2023
Pedagogical Mediation in the English Phonemic Awareness Class in First
through Third Grades of Costa Rican Public Education
Jonathan
Elizondo-Mejías *
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7559-5350
Maestría en la Enseñanza del Inglés como Lengua
Extranjera y Bachillerato en Ciencias de la Educación Primaria con
Concentración en Inglés, Universidad de Costa Rica, de Costa Rica. Bachillerato
en la Enseñanza del Inglés, Universidad Americana, de Costa Rica. Es profesor
capacitador en el Centro de Capacitación en Educación a Distancia (CECED), Universidad
Estatal a Distancia. Correo: jelizondom@uned.ac.cr
Roxy Calderón-Mora **
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2233-1209
Máster en la
Enseñanza del Inglés, Universidad Nacional, de Costa Rica. Máster en
Planificación Curricular, Universidad de Costa Rica. Profesora de la
Cátedra de enseñanza del inglés de la carrera Enseñanza del Inglés, de la
Universidad Estatal a Distancia, de Costa Rica. Asesora Nacional Especialidad Curriculum,
Consejo Nacional de Enseñanza Superior Universitaria Privada. Investigadora en
temas relacionados con la mediación pedagógica del Inglés. Correo: rcalderon@uned.ac.cr
Abstract
According to the Ministry of Public Education’s
(MEP) English teaching syllabus for elementary school (first cycle grades 1 to
3 and second cycle grades 4 to 6), the pedagogical approach that is prevalent
to achieve the national goal is the Action-Oriented Approach. In concordance to
MEP’s theoretical support, it is through the phonemic awareness development that English teachers must introduce the reading and writing skills. This study took
place in two
Educational Regions: San José Central and San José Norte. The researchers analyzed the effectiveness of the methodology used
by first through third grade (First Cycle) English teachers and designed three
workshops to enhance their pedagogical mediation of phonemic awareness. The
main finding was a gap
between the approach stated in the new English program in terms of the
phonological awareness and the development of best practices in the didactic
plan, «Task Cycle», to
scaffold young learners’ process of reading and writing.
Key Words: Foreign Language Instruction, Language
Development, Phonology, Professional Training, Teaching Methods.
Recibido: 3 de mayo
de 2022
Aceptado: 12 de
octubre de 2022
La mediación
pedagógica en la clase de conciencia fonética del inglés en los grados primero
a tercero de la educación pública costarricense
Resumen
Según el programa de estudios de inglés para primaria (I y II Ciclos), el enfoque pedagógico que prevalece es el «Action Oriented Approach». El Ministerio de Educación Pública (MEP) orienta la labor docente y fundamenta el desarrollo de las habilidades de lectura y escritura a través de la conciencia fonémica. Este estudio se llevó a cabo en dos Direcciones Regionales de Educación: San José Central y San José Norte. Se analizó la efectividad de la metodología utilizada por los docentes de inglés de primero a tercer grado (I Ciclo) y se diseñaron tres talleres para potenciar la mediación pedagógica de la conciencia fonémica. El principal hallazgo fue la brecha entre el enfoque planteado en el programa de estudios de inglés, en términos de conciencia fonémica y el desarrollo de actividades didácticas, «Task Cycle», para fortalecer los procesos de lectura y escritura en los primeros años de la educación formal.
Palabras clave: Desarrollo del lenguaje,
Enseñanza de una lengua extranjera, Fonología, Formación de profesionales,
Métodos de enseñanza.
La médiation pédagogique dans la classe de conscience phonétique
d’anglais dans les cours de CE1 à CM1 de l’éducation publique costaricienne
Résumé
D’après le programme d’études d’anglais pour
l’école primaire (Ier et IIème cycles), la Perspective actionnelle est
l’approche qui s’impose. Le Ministère de l’Éducation Publique (MEP) guide le
travail de l’enseignant et fournit comme base la conscience phonémique pour le
développement des habiletés de lecture. Cette recherche a été réalisé dans deux
Directions Régionales de l’Education: San José Central et San José Norte.
L’étude a analysé l’effectivité de la méthodologie employée par les enseignants
d’anglais de CE1 à CM1 (Ier cycle) et on a conçu trois ateliers pour renforcer
la médiation pédagogique de la conscience phonémique. La principale découverte
a été l’écart existant entre l’approche privilégiée dans le programme d’études,
en ce qui concerne la conscience phonémique, et le développement des activités
didactiques (le «cycle de la tâche») pour renforcer les processus de lecture et
d’écriture dans les premières années de l’enseignement formel.
Mots-clés
Développement du langage, Enseignement des langues étrangères, Formation
des professionnelles, Méthodes
d’enseignement.
Introduction
English was
implemented in the Costa Rican national curriculum at an elementary school
level in July 1994. Consequently, the idea of becoming a
multilingual country has been one of the most important goals. As
pointed out by Quesada,
In Costa
Rica, English is learned as a foreign language. The environment that surrounds
the learner is not an English-speaking environment. Thus, students, when
learning English, can only experience it in classroom settings. When they leave
school, they spend most of their time using their native language (Spanish). In
order to accomplish the goals of the Ministry of Education, new and innovative
methodologies have to be implemented to facilitate the practice of English for
the growth and development of our country.[1]
In the last two
decades, there have been multiple attempts to help children achieve an
acceptable level of proficiency in the English language; proof of such
statement is reflected in the implementation of three different English curricula
over the years.
Based on the need
Costa Rica has of educating bilingual people, the Ministry of Public Education (MEP) developed
a new curriculum which was finally implemented in 2017. According to MEP,
this reform responds to four main concerns: first the need to communicate
in a range of contexts and to succeed in the information era as 21st century
learners. The second reason is the fact that learners receive six
years of English instruction at least two hours per week and are not reaching
the desired level of proficiency. Thirdly, MEP authorities
became aware that any educational program must help individuals achieve
competences that are required in the globalized world, and speaking a
foreign language (L2) is one of those key competences. As stated by James, «to succeed in this
environment, L2 users must demonstrate that they have the skills needed to
process information, reason from evidence, make decisions, solve problems,
self-regulate, collaborate, and learn –and they need to do this in their
L2»[2]. Finally,
there is the idea that «learners
must integrate proactively in a globalized world while strengthening their
national and global identity»[3].
The
national curriculum is based on the 21st century skills and
contextualized in the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages
(CEFR) by incorporating three big dimensions of the New Citizenship model:
global citizenship with local roots, digital citizenship, and sustainable
development. Besides, the whole program, from elementary school to high school,
is sequenced in a way that aims at students reaching the different levels of
language proficiency proposed by the CEFR. Furthermore, the implementation of
such program took place gradually; this means that in 2017, as the beginning
year, only students from first and seventh grades were exposed to the new
curriculum; this implementation continued in such a way that by 2022, every
grade from first to eleventh had started working with the new English curriculum.
As mentioned earlier, the levels proposed by
the CEFR are the ones aimed at the new reform. At this point, it is key to
mention that, as shown in Figure 1, students in primary school are intended to
reach from levels A1 to A2, while those in high school, will reach up to B1+.
Figure 1. Projection of proficiency levels
according to the National English Curriculum
Source: Researchers' design, 2022.
Context of the Study
According to MEP’s English
teaching syllabus, the Action-Oriented approach is the prevalent pedagogical
approach to achieve the national goal, which requires the design and
implementation of concrete, meaningful and relevant real-life situations for
students to demonstrate their English language abilities through tasks.
There is a special interest
to study the role of first, second and
third grade English teachers in the development of phonemic awareness in the
EFL classes. Since it has recognized by the American National Reading Panel
(2000) as one of the five essential components of reading instruction, it is through phonemic awareness development that English teachers must introduce reading and writing skills because it «is the
strongest independent predictor of early reading outcomes»[4].
Reading is a complex process that requires more than one ability to be
successfully accomplished; some of these abilities are related to the
identification of both written and oral symbols, also known as graphemes and
phonemes respectively. As pointed out by Kenner[5],
The National Early Literacy Panel (NELP) (...) identified six key
beginning reading precursors that were highly predictive of future literacy
outcomes: Alphabet Knowledge, Phonological Awareness, Rapid Automatic Naming
(RAN) of Letters or Digits, RAN of objects or colors, Writing or Name Writing,
and Phonological Memory.
Phonological awareness is
understanding that a language is formed by sounds, which put together form
syllables, words, utterances, sentences, and text. Semingson
points out that phonological awareness is the ability to use rhyming,
alliteration, chanting, and understanding that every word is formed by
syllables[6]. Even
though this skill has been implemented in the educational field for a long time
with the purpose of developing English as a first language around the world
(L1), in the Costa Rican public education system, it was not officially
incorporated until 2017.
From this
perspective, as part of the Costa Rican curricular reform, and with the
intention of helping students in the development of the four macro skills in an
integrated manner, some strategies for teaching the linguistic competences are
pointed out. At primary school, students
continue developing sound and word identification skills to progressively
decode phrases, sentences, and short readings.
Reading and
prewriting are introduced first through the development of phonemic awareness,
There are specific strategies that
are presented in a sequential order from the simplest to the more complex to
develop phonemic awareness in children. These include phoneme isolation,
phoneme identity, rhyming, phoneme categorization, sentence segmentation,
phoneme blending, phoneme segmentation, phoneme deletion, phoneme addition,
[and] phoneme substitution.[7]
The new
MEP’s English syllabus aims to improve the students’ proficiency profile; to reach
this goal, teachers’ training is required. As stated by the University of
Cambridge, «The CEFR can provide a straightforward tool for
enhancing teaching and learning, but many teachers and other language
professionals find the document difficult to use without further guidance»[8]. Educators need to understand how to apply the different teaching
strategies proposed in the current syllabus, to take advantage of the forty
weekly minutes used to develop reading and writing skills through the
implementation of phonemic awareness.
With this context in
mind, the current research project aimed to analyze the pedagogical mediation
used by first, second and third grade English teachers for the development of
phonemic awareness of English as a Foreign Language (EFL) class in the
educational regions of San José Norte and San José Central. These regions are
representative of the urban and rural conditions and socio-economical contexts
of Costa Rican students. Also, in these regions there are small and big schools
where the number of English lessons per week varies depending on the schools’
facilities. For the study, only first cycle (first to third grade) is
considered because the English program in II cycle (fourth to sixth grade) had
not been fully implemented by the time the study was conducted.
Thus, this article
provides an overview of the pedagogical mediation implemented by first cycle
EFL teachers in the development of their phonemic awareness classes. Furthermore,
a glance of the methodology used in the implementation of the research project
carried out in 2020-2021 is provided together with the presentation of data
collected and analyzed from a quantitative perspective. Finally, a set of
conclusions and recommendations states elements for future improvement and
possible pathways for further research and professional training.
Methodology
The present
study was developed following a cross-sectional quantitative survey approach
which, according to Fraenkel, Wallen, and Hyun is a «type of research that obtains
data to determine specific characteristics of a group»[9]. The main purpose was to analyze the
pedagogical mediation in the phonemic awareness lessons by describing the context in which first, second and third grade English
teachers develop their classes at public Costa
Rican schools.
To achieve
its purpose, first the researchers identified teachers’ knowledge and perspectives
regarding the teaching of phonemic awareness in first cycle EFL classes; then,
they described the methodological practices implemented by first cycle English
teachers at MEP regarding phonemic awareness; and finally identified the areas
of improvement of English teachers at the methodological level in phonemic
awareness classes.
Concerning the
participants, they were chosen through purposive sampling. According to Gay et
al., researchers «use their
judgement to select a sample that they believe, based on prior information,
will provide the data they need»[10]. From this
perspective, the chosen participants were teachers who had the knowledge and
context that enabled researchers draw conclusions. The sampling incorporated 25
participants who besides being first-cycle teachers, were in-service English
teachers at MEP working in the Educational Regions of San José Central and San
José Norte. Furthermore, the selection guaranteed the continuity of the study
which besides collecting information in different teaching moments incorporated
the development of workshops to support the teachers training process as part
of the contribution to the population’s professional development. The selected
teachers had to be implementing the new English curriculum and teaching the
phonemic class at least once a week. The study guaranteed the participation of
both, men, and women.
As data
collection instruments, two questionnaires were applied; both included
open-ended and closed-ended questions. One questionnaire was administered to 25
English teachers and another one to the pedagogical advisors in charge of the
Educational Regions where the study took place.
Besides, the researchers implemented an instrument to analyze the unit plan of each of the participants to identify the stated
activities according to the linguistic goals of the grade.
The
findings of this study encountered some limitations, in terms of limited access
to data. Due to the pandemic emergency of COVID-19, researchers could not apply
observation checklists. As a strategy to minimize its impact, the researcher examined
the lesson plans; however, only 15 out of 25 participants shared them, besides
most of them were lesson plan templates provided by MEP, which might not fix
the context of every single class.
From the
applied instruments, the pedagogical mediation was analyzed and the areas for
improvement were determined which helped design three professional development
workshops to support the pedagogical mediation for the development of phonemic
awareness.
Finally, these
results are valid and suitable for teachers who share the main feature which is
teaching phonemic awareness in first cycle at MEP; as well as, for any English
teacher introducing reading and writing to enhance young learners’ language
competence. The study’s analysis uses
descriptive statistics through the Jamovi software
version 1.6[11].
Furthermore, to offer confidentiality to the sample population the researchers
used specific alphanumerical codes to refer to the participants of the study
and the type of instrument being analyzed (Table 1).
Table 1. Distribution of the indicators according to the
dimensions
|
Variable |
Dimension |
Indicators |
||
|
Teachers’ Questionnaire |
Advisors’ Questionnaire |
Lesson Plan Checklist |
||
|
Pedagogical
Mediation |
Phonemic awareness |
1, 2, 6 |
1,2, 3 |
1 |
|
Language acquisition |
3, 4, 9, |
- |
4 |
|
|
Methodology |
5, 7, 8, 10,
11, 12 |
4, 5, 6 |
2, 3, 5, 6 |
|
Source: Ministry of Public Education, 2016.[12]
Findings and Discussion
The
researchers based the investigation on pedagogical mediation as the main
variable of analysis. It refers to the teaching methodology and the
implementing of the phonemic awareness in the EFL language
classroom to enhance the acquisition of the reading and writing processes in first
cycle students. This variable analyzed the effectiveness of
the role of the English teacher through three dimensions which gave the detailed aspects the researchers
considered to elaborate the data collection instruments. The first
dimension studied the common phonemic awareness sub-skills developed in young
EFL learners: phoneme identification, phoneme isolation, phoneme blending,
and phoneme manipulation. A second dimension is language acquisition that
focuses on the exposition of the language and its patterns to contribute to the
development of the sub-skills. Finally, the third dimension was methodology
which enables the learners to carry out the task, it implies the
operationalization of the teaching activities and the resources employed by the
teacher to present and practice sounds and words to achieve the linguistic
objectives.
Phonemic Awareness
Phonemic awareness focuses
on the learners’ awareness of string of sounds, which is developed in young EFL
learners: phoneme identification, phoneme isolation, phoneme
blending, and phoneme manipulation. From this perspective, Armbruster and
Osborn (2001) state, «Phonemic awareness refers to the ability of children to
hear, identify, think about, and manipulate sounds (phonemes) in spoken
language»[13].
Participants defined
phonemic awareness using key words such as «an ability to hear and identify
sounds» and «understanding of words». Most of the answers provided relate the
concept to the smallest unit of sound (phonemes). Nevertheless, there were six
definitions out of the 16 provided that referred to phonics: word-formation and
relation between letters and sounds. As stated by The College of Education from
University of Oregon, phonics involves the relation between sounds to printed
symbols; hence, phonics is the ability to relate a sound to a grapheme or its
written representation[14].
Participants definitions were a possible indicator of a misconception of the
concepts of phonemic awareness and phonics.
Even though literature
shows a difference between both terms, and MEP’s English Program clearly states
that teachers must focus on phonemic awareness, it is a fact that in the
process of literacy development both processes are combined. Through a personal communication, an English
National Advisor from the I and II Cycle Department at MEP, recognized that in
the praxis teachers are advised not to work phonemic awareness in isolation;
they are rather encouraged to combine it with phonics, keeping an emphasis on
phonemic awareness in the beginning levels[15].
When requesting information
about the invested time per week to develop the phonemic awareness
skills in first, second and third grade, eight teachers reported teaching
phonemic awareness once a week. This result was coherent with MEP’s proposal
that «Teachers can take one lesson (40 minutes) per week for phonemic awareness
development when it is possible»[16].
There are still three teachers who reported teaching phonemic awareness twice a
week, and two participants indicated they develop these lessons once every two
weeks.
To support the teachers’
responses, 15 monthly lesson plans were collected, and the phonemic awareness
sections were analyzed. These lesson plans showed that half of the teachers had
not specified the time planned and the others stated 40 minutes which, at MEP,
means one lesson a week. It is essential to point out that even though some
teachers did not specify the time in their lesson plan, there was evidence of
activities related to the development of phonemic awareness weekly.
Teachers in elementary
school implement classroom activities to develop children’s capacity to
manipulate the smaller units of sound through phoneme isolation, phoneme
segmentation and phoneme manipulation. Teachers were asked to mark the school grade
in which they consider sub-skills should be developed according to the program
(Table 2).
Table 2. Teachers’ opinion on the development
of sub-skills
|
|
I grade |
II grade |
III grade |
|
Phoneme Isolation |
10 |
7 |
5 |
|
Phoneme Segmentation |
4 |
5 |
4 |
|
Phoneme Blending |
2 |
6 |
6 |
|
Phoneme Manipulation |
0 |
4 |
8 |
Source: Researchers’ design, 2022.
The
15 teachers participating in the study, consider that the skill of manipulation
should not be taught in first grade, a considerable number of teachers pointed
out that isolation needs to be implemented in the three grades; and phoneme blending
and manipulation are believed to be mostly developed in second and third grades.
These
results are coherent with MEP´s proposal. From the analysis, the researchers
were able to determine that students in first grade begin by learning sounds in
initial position which represent isolation and segmentation; in second grade,
students learn sounds, especially those of short vowels, in middle and final
position combining isolation, segmentation, and blending; finally, in third
grade students learn word families and see the rhyming of the language through
blending and manipulation[17].
The
responses on the development of
sub-skills were triangulated with the activities
proposed in the monthly lesson plans provided by the teachers; these lesson
plans, were mostly the so called «teachers’ guides» provided by the National
Advisory department at MEP. From the lesson plans analyzed, only two of the
sub-skills were addressed: phoneme isolation and phoneme blending. Furthermore,
there were multiple activities related to the development of phonics (the
relation between sounds and printed symbols) which, in theory, is not part of
the phonemic awareness skill (Table 3).
Table
3. Activities addressing skills in the monthly lesson plans
|
Level |
Total of Activities |
Isolation / identification |
Blending |
Phonics |
|
First |
144 |
98 |
0 |
46 |
|
Second |
144 |
69 |
1 |
74 |
|
Third |
18 |
4 |
8 |
6 |
Source:
Researchers’
design, 2022.
The
planning of activities used to teach phonics instead of phonemic awareness,
might be resulting from teachers using the goals stated in the English program;
for instance, unit 1 for first grade indicates that students should be able to «identify
sounds of letters /m/ /e/ /s/ /a/ /t/ /l/ of the alphabet in
order with a concrete item or picture representing the sound»[18] (bold letters are not from
the original text).
When
analyzed by grade and skill, the mean of activities found regarding phoneme
identification and isolation in first grade is 12 and nearly six activities in
average corresponded to phonics. However, in second grade, more than half of
the activities present in the phonemic awareness lessons corresponded to the
development of phonics instead of the development of phoneme identification,
and isolation in mid and final position. Even though the lesson plans analyzed
in third grade were only two, evidence shows that more than half of the
activities planned corresponded to the development of phonemic awareness.
Language
Acquisition
Language
acquisition, as a dimension of analysis in the study, refers to exposition of
the language and its patterns to contribute to the development of the language
sub-skills. Teachers were asked whether they had noticed any improvement in the
students’ acquisition of vocabulary and its use in context as a result to the
implementation of the phonemic awareness class. Ten out of 13 teachers expressed that the
implementation of phonemic awareness enhances the acquisition of
vocabulary. In terms of language
proficiency, most teachers expressed that the teaching of phonemic awareness
allows students to improve the production of new words, pronunciation, and
prediction of sounds. TQ-9 mentioned, «When there is a new word using the
sounds, we have already studied [sic] they [students] predict how the new word
is pronounced». Additionally, TQ-5 added, «I have seen that students identify
the sounds in new words, so they are able to read and pronounce the new words
by blending sounds». Finally, it seems
that students feel comfortable, as TQ-6 expressed, «Most of students feel
motivated to say a new word in English even if they don't know it».
The
questionnaire also referred to the incorporation of reading and writing in the
English class since first, second and third grades. Most teachers referred to
the improvement of the macro skills as well as the micro skills, mainly
vocabulary. TQ-1 stated, «Students improve vocabulary, reading and writing
skills». Also, TQ-2 considered that students «can link the oral words we study
with the written ones, so they know how a word is spelled and pronounced». For
some teachers, the practice of reading aloud influences positively on the
listening skills; TQ-10 pointed out, «Students develop the way to pronounce correctly,
and they can hear themselves».
Teaching
Methodology
The
third dimension refers to methodology which enables the learners to achieve the
tasks. This implies the implementation of didactic activities and the use of
resources to develop language competence through the acquisition of sounds and
words.
From
the theoretical support of the Action Oriented Approach each lesson must be
developed following the task cycle (Figure 2); it implies a pre-task, task
rehearsal, task completion, and task assessment[19]. Teachers were asked whether
they were able to complete the task cycle during the implementation of a
phonemic awareness class.
Figure
2. Teachers’ Report on Task Cycle Completion
Source:
Researchers’ design, 2022.
When
asked about the accomplishment of the task cycle, only two teachers from DRE
San José Central answered positively. Likewise, TQ-5 pointed out, «To complete
what I planned with videos, worksheets, games and practices, I need 2 lessons
to complete the cycle». Figure 2 illustrates that most teachers report being
unable to complete the cycle.
The
11 teachers who reported being unable to finish the cycle coincided on the fact
that time is not enough to accomplish it. However, it is MEP’s policy to
develop phonemic awareness classes in just a 40-minute lesson per week. On the
same line of thought, TQ-7 stated, «No, I don’t. Because of the time we have
per lesson. However, I always try to do more than two tasks». The completion of
a whole cycle in task-based learning provides the scaffold students require to
go from a teacher-controlled task to a task that students develop in a freer
manner to demonstrate the mastery of the target sounds. TQ-9 indicated, «The
steps of the cycle get a little messy or maybe the students get the idea before
the teacher finishes the activity». It seems that teachers do not achieve the
cycle because of the lack of practice and theoretical knowledge.
Teachers
were also asked how they could complete a task cycle in a phonemic awareness
lesson in first, second, or third grade; all of them agreed that it is a matter
of selecting the appropriate activities according to the available time.
However, not all teachers followed the process as it is indicated in the MEP’s
English program. TQ-5 pointed out that «If I only have 1 lesson of 40 minutes,
I usually have to plan a unique video, a little practice and maybe, no games at
all». As well, TQ-12 referred to the steps to accomplish the cycle by stating, «First,
I call their attention by a physical activity, then singing a song when they
are about to get messy».
As
part of the methodology dimension, teachers were asked to rank six of the most
implemented didactic resources to develop phonemic awareness from one to six;
one being the least used and six the one they use the most. As shown in Table
4, teachers ranked videos as the most implemented resource in their phonemic
awareness class with a mean of almost five, which was obtained by using the
Analysis of Variance (ANOVA), followed by worksheets and flashcards
respectively. The least used didactic resources are realia and board. These
data are concise with the analysis of the lesson plans, which shed light on the
number of resources planned to be used in a month of phonemic awareness
classes. Even though teachers reported using worksheets as number two didactic
resource (Table 4), this is number three in the lesson plans preceded by
flashcards. It is relevant to point out that both the teachers’ perspective and
data from the lesson plans analyzed show that the board is rarely used for the
phonemic awareness classes. This might be since phonemic awareness is a skill
more related to oral comprehension and oral production.
Table
4. Teachers implemented didactic resources
|
Resources |
Mean |
Median |
|
Videos |
4,69 |
5 |
|
Worksheets |
4,23 |
5 |
|
Flashcards |
3,85 |
4 |
|
Software |
2,85 |
3 |
|
Realia |
2,77 |
2 |
|
Board |
2,62 |
2 |
Source:
Researchers’ design, 2022.
The
lesson plans were analyzed in terms of the type of activities teachers included
for the phonemic awareness classes (Table 5), the numbers obtained were
consistent with teachers’ response in the questionnaire since the most frequent
activities are maintained with only a change of order between sound
identification and repetition; singing is still located in third place. There
is an inconsistency in the activity of writing, teachers placed this activity
at last, but it ranked in fourth place when it came to the analyzed lesson
plans.
Table 5. Type of Activities Identified in the Lesson
Plan
|
|
singing |
spelling |
writing |
forming
words |
sound
identification |
choral
reading |
repetition |
tracing |
|
Mean |
4.40 |
0.267 |
1.40 |
0.267 |
6.40 |
1.33 |
5.00 |
1.33 |
|
Sum |
66 |
4 |
21 |
4 |
96 |
20 |
75 |
20 |
|
Standard
deviation |
3.44 |
0.458 |
1.84 |
1.03 |
4.17 |
0.900 |
4.21 |
1.84 |
Source: Researchers’
design, 2022.
Table 5 shows the activities identified in the 15
lesson plans analyzed. While the sum represents the total times an activity was
planned, the mean represents the average of times that activity was planned by
each teacher.
From the activities identified in the monthly
lesson plans (Table 5), it is relevant to point out the three more frequent
activities aimed to develop the skill of phonemic awareness. Even though, the
four activities that ranked lower are not frequently used in the development of
phonemic awareness, they are still present a considerable number of times in
the lesson plans. It is essential to highlight that in the questionnaire the
activity forming words was not identified as an oral or a written
activity, which would make a difference on the skill enhanced.
Monthly lesson plans were also analyzed in
terms of the presence of scaffolding or progression from controlled to freer
practice in the tasks proposed. It was clear, that the activities proposed by
teachers followed a sequence that moved from some being more controlled by
teachers to the ones in which students were more independent by carrying them
out on their own. Whereas three lesson plans did not have the process, it is
also important to point out that the lesson plans that did not show the
appropriate scaffolding did not follow the template provided by MEP’s
authorities.
To determine the frequency in which phonemic
awareness was addressed in each lesson plan, researchers added up the number of
activities that were identified as aiming at the development of phonemic
awareness and the ones that focused on phonics. Researchers decided beforehand
the criteria to determine the percentage of the activities and the frequencies:
always, often, sometimes, and rarely (Table 6).
Table 6. Frequency of Presence of Phonemic Awareness
|
Frequency |
DRE San
José Central |
DRE San
José Norte |
|
N/A |
2 |
1 |
|
Often (75%-99%) |
0 |
1 |
|
Sometimes (41%-74%) |
6 |
4 |
|
Rarely (1%-40% |
0 |
1 |
Source: Researchers’ design, 2022.
As presented in Table 6, most of the lesson plans
analyzed disclosed that the planned activities which addressed the skill of
phonemic awareness were within the section of sometimes which means that only
between 41% and 74% of the planned activities fully aimed at developing such
skill. Three of the plans analyzed did not incorporate phonemic awareness
classes, and in one of the lesson plans, activities to foster phonemic
awareness were rarely identified.
Regarding the amount of time in which the
skill of phonemic awareness should be developed, MEP suggests teachers to
devote a 40-minute lesson weekly[20]. In the analysis of the lesson plans, all the stages of the task cycle
were present, which could be inferred as one lesson; however, only six out of
the 15 lesson plans analyzed explicitly stated the intended time for phonemic
awareness development.
Since phonemic awareness has proven to
enhance the development of reading and writing, regional advisors were asked
about the biggest challenge teachers experience when incorporating phonemic
awareness as a pedagogical strategy. They agreed that there are many students
in a room, so time becomes an important constraint. Besides, one advisor stated
that many teachers «do not understand the importance of PA [phonemic
awareness]. And third, we still have teachers who do not know how to work with
phonemes. It is kind of confusing for many of them» (AQ-02).
Training plays a key role to improve
teachers’ pedagogical mediation. Advisors were asked about the type of training
that they considered teachers require to improve their pedagogical mediation
while developing phonemic awareness in first, second and third grades. Both
agreed on the importance of a deep understanding of the phonemic awareness
theory and the mediation in terms of teaching and learning strategies. AQ-01
pointed out, «They need to reinforce their background knowledge on phonology.
Some do not know the right sound of phonemes. Then, effective strategies on how
to teach PA». In the same way AQ-02 expressed, «Teachers need training on how
to create and develop varied activities when developing phonemic awareness. A
review of principles and technical concepts is required».
When teachers were asked the same question,
they agreed that they need to know about the color chart approach and the subskills
as well as the activities and strategies to develop the phonemic awareness
lessons. TQ-03 reported that she «would love to learn about phonemic tasks and
the way to use them. (Dictation/ addition/ deletion/ blending etc.)». This
thought is consistent with TQ-12 who stated, «Training on phonemes specifically
on sub-skills and also tools to improve my work». TQ-13 when referring to
training to improve the pedagogical mediation pointed out «Activities, learn
better the distribution of task cycle». These ideas match the recommendations provided by the regional advisors.
Hence, as a way of improving the pedagogical mediation of phonemic awareness,
attending to professional development workshops play an important role for
teachers. Hanushek supported the importance of Professional Development
Programs by stating that students tend to learn three times faster with high
performance teachers[21].
Conclusions
In the
Costa Rican education system, the teaching of English as a Foreign Language
(EFL) is part of the national curriculum. It aims at providing students with
tools to become globalized citizens who are both socially and linguistically
competent. Gutiérrez and Prieto (2004), cited in Delgado[22]
and León[23],
argue that teachers who want to carry out the most effective pedagogical
mediation should not focus on products, but processes, where students learning
speeds and styles are highly considered by the teacher. This will allow
students to gain deeper understanding of the culture and the target language,
as well as the implications that learning a foreign language has in their
lives.
The current
English pedagogical approach is the Action-Oriented; as an integral part of its
pedagogical mediation, teachers are encouraged to introduce reading and writing
by enhancing phonemic awareness and phonics. The study revealed that most
teachers agreed on the role of phonemic awareness in terms of language proficiency. They stated that it
enhances the acquisition of vocabulary and allows students to improve the
production of new words, pronunciation, and prediction of sounds.
Teachers
wondered which way they ought to go before they enter a classroom, the study displayed
that most participants plan their daily lesson following the teachers’ guide or
template provided by MEP, it is a best practice because it provides the
necessary steps for the required scaffolding; however, it seems that teachers
are not contextualizing the teachers’ guide which might not be beneficial for
the students’ individual needs. As an example, three of the analyzed lesson
plans neither followed the template provided by MEP’s authorities nor had the
complete task cycle which may affect the scaffolding learning process to introduce
the reading and writing skills accomplishing the following stages that guide
students to demonstrate their performance.
Teachers
are incorporating the use of technology in their phonemic awareness classes;
they are moving away from traditional resources such as board to more
technological ones such as the use of videos and audios to support the
pedagogical mediation. Certainly, the use of technological tools enables
students to become active learners. This innovation responds to the dimension
of ways of integrating to the world from the curricular transformation; which
is evident when teachers selected videos, worksheets, and flashcards as the
didactic resources to support the pedagogical mediation.
According to MEP’s approach, phonemic awareness is an
ability taught in four main categories: isolation, segmentation, blending, and
manipulation. To enhance it, English teachers must plan activities to
accomplish each category and subskill through each school level. From the
lesson plans analyzed, only two of the sub-skills were addressed: phoneme
isolation and phoneme blending. On the other hand, there were multiple
activities related to the development of phonics (the relation between sounds
and printed symbols) which is not part of the phonemic awareness skill. The
research pointed out that teachers are implementing activities that integrate
both, phonemic awareness, and phonics, which according to experts could be
beneficial in terms of language acquisition[24],
considering that students whose ages range between 7 and 10 are expected to
read and write in both their native and foreign language.
Finally,
teachers require professional development to implement the best practices that
require a scaffolding process which begins with the understanding of the
theoretical framework and principles to develop the skill, in this case,
phonemic awareness. Teachers must clearly understand the teaching and learning
principles and main concepts involved in the process to implement phonemic
awareness in the language classroom; they need clarification in terms of the
activities and the level to develop the four main categories: isolation,
segmentation, blending, and manipulation. Furthermore, teachers need
clarification concerning the strategies to successfully complete the entire
task-cycle within the expected time.
Recommendations
The
analysis of the data collected and the design of the professional development workshops,
shed light on a series of recommendations aimed at MEP’s authorities, English
advisors, and English teachers.
First,
MEP’s authorities should communicate to English teachers their position
referring literacy development. It implies a conceptual clarification of the
approach in terms of the phonological awareness. Encouraging teachers to
understand the theories and principles behind their teaching strategies is a tool
to guarantee students’ language competence. This research shows that there is a
gap between the theory stated in MEP’s English programs and the teachers’
guides provided by MEP. It is essential for elementary school teachers to be
clear about the distinction between the concepts of phonological awareness,
phonemic awareness, and phonics[25]
because they are interrelated, but different from one another.
Since the current
English Program was implemented six years ago, MEP’s authorities ought to supervise
the effective implementation of the AOA; subsequently, teachers should be
engaged in training programs oriented to the understanding and accomplishment
of the phonological awareness approach stated in the new English program. To
contribute, with first, second and third grade English teachers’ professional
development, the researchers designed and developed a set of workshops based on
the findings obtained through a systematic process.
Thirdly,
regional English advisors should monitor and encourage English teachers to
incorporate phonemic awareness in their lesson plans to enhance the reading and
writing process in young learners. Those weekly lessons must follow the
teaching task cycle to provide students with the scaffolding process to achieve
the language goals. In fact, to
accomplish language objectives, teachers’ lesson plans must consider MEP’s
templates and teaching guides stating the task cycle keeping in mind the
students’ background and previous knowledge.
Finally,
further research is required in the field of teaching phonemic awareness. Some
studies might include a qualitative study to describe students’ perceptions on
their phonemic awareness classes; also, a study that includes class
observations with the intention of analyzing teachers’ mediation and students’
attitudes towards the target skill. Finally, a longitudinal study will be a
suitable option to measure the benefits of the implementation of a timely
developed and scaffolded task cycle in the development of reading and writing
in the English language.
Formato de citación según APA
Elizondo-Mejías J., Calderón-Mora R. (2023). Pedagogical Mediation in the English Phonemic Awareness Class in First through Third Grades of Costa Rican Public Education. Revista Espiga, 22 (45).
Formato de citación según Chicago-Deusto
Elizondo-Mejías, Jonathan, Calderón-Mora, Roxy. «Pedagogical
Mediation in the English Phonemic Awareness Class in First through Third Grades
of Costa Rican Public Education». Revista Espiga 22, n.º
45 (enero-junio, 2023).
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