Teaching Phonological Awareness to the English Language Learner

Research Teaching Phonological Awareness to English Language Learners Evidence suggests that, like many skills and abilities, phonological awareness transfers from one language to another (Yopp and Stapleton 2008) . Children who have developed phonological awareness in their native language bring that insight to additional languages . (However, the child likely will have new sounds to learn .) Thus, it is advantageous for children to become phonologically aware in their native languages . Some ways to support phonological awareness in the native language are listed below . Similarly, sensitive attention must be given to supporting phonological awareness in the additional language . General guidelines for fostering phonological awareness in English are also provided below . To support phonological awareness development in the native language, consider the following: ■ Identify songs, books, rhymes, chants, and games that play with sounds in the native language . Families will be a great resource . Teach them to children, emphasising the sound play, as suggested in many of the activities in this book . ■ Share activities with families, and encourage them to playfully engage the children with them at home . ■ Carefully select activities from this book that are suitable for translation . However, keep in mind that simple translations are rarely appropriate . For example, a one-syllable word in English may not have a one-syllable translation or may not begin with the targeted sound . Think about the intention and spirit of each activity, and develop a parallel activity in the native language, if possible . To support phonological awareness development in English, consider the following: ■ Draw upon children’s names (if appropriate) and English words that are familiar to the children, such as familiar classroom items . Begin with what children know while also providing robust oral language instruction . ■ Repeat the activities frequently because repetition and routines are helpful to those who are new to a language . ■ Value children’s native language responses . For example, if you show a picture of a cat as part of a rhyming activity and a child says the word for cat in a language other than English, affirm the response before sharing the English word and continuing the activity . ■ Be especially thoughtful about how activities are introduced and shared . Be explicit with directions, model the activities, guide children, and provide clear feedback . ■ Learn about the child’s native language . Sounds that exist in English but do not exist in the native language will need particular attention . For example, the /ă/ sound in man does not exist in Spanish and /st/ does not occur at the beginning of words . Be sensitive to phonology differences across languages . Capitalise on similarities . Phonological Awareness Development (cont.) sample 24