Significance of introducing early English literacy instruction into elementary school Foreign Language Activities

2015 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 24520703
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: Foreign language education
• Research Institution: Aichi Prefectural University
• Principal Investigator: IKEDA Chika 愛知県立大学, 外国語学部, 准教授 (50305497)
• Project Period (FY): 2012-04-01 – 2016-03-31
• Keywords: 小学校英語教育 / 音韻認識 / 初期読み技能

Outline of Final Research Achievements

This study discusses the significance of enhancing children’s phonological awareness prior to English literacy instruction in elementary school “Foreign Language Activities.” Phonological awareness is sensitivity to the internal structure of speech and considered to be a precursor to the literacy acquisition in English as L1. The results of the phonological awareness tests administered to children in Grades 3 to 6 demonstrate that their manipulation of English speech was affected by the characteristics of Japanese phonological structure. Moreover, as the grapheme-phoneme correspondence in English is more complex than in Japanese, it is necessary to develop awareness of smaller phonological units in order to learn to read in English. Thus, it is claimed that it is important to develop children’s phonological awareness as readiness for English literacy development.

Free Research Field

英語教育学（小学校英語教育、リーディング技能習得、リテラシー習得）