102722513 Lagisa Assignment 3- Essay Monday 7th February 2023

102722513

Lagisa Moana

EDU10006

Assignment 2: Essay

Monday 7th February 2023

1
102722513 Lagisa Assignment 3- Essay Monday 7th February 2023

In order to support children through phases of early reading and early writing development an

understanding of phonological awareness must be attained In saying this, the relationship between

oral language and literacy is reciprocal and is crucial to develop the phonlogical ability to establish

and develop this skill (Cooper, Roth, Speece, & Schatschneider, 2002). This essay will provide an

understanding of what phonological awareness is and outline key concepts of how phonological

awareness can be implemented in an experience for the 3-4 year old group to support learning and to

encourage and promote successful readers.

Phonological awareness is vital in children’s emergent and early reading and writing development. It

provides the opportunity for children to develop the skills to read and write from an early stage of life.

Phonological awareness is the sound structure that assists in the making of words. It develops an

understanding that speech can be broken down into words, and then words being broken down into

syllables, onset-rimes and phonemes. In using phonological awareness children acquire the ability to

manipulate sound in speech becoming aware of letter sounds and connecting meaning to a word or

sentence (Fellowes, Oakley, 2020).

Phonological awareness forms the foundation of a successful reader and writer. In writing and

spelling, children are required the skill to segment words into sounds to explore the phonemes.

Breaking down words into sound (Blachman,2000). When children read, it is recommended that they

acquire the skill to blend phonemes together in order to sound out and form a word or sentence to

make meaning. Lacking phonological awareness could prove difficulty later in life with the application

of the alphabetical code and its effect on children’s learning to read and write.

2
102722513 Lagisa Assignment 3- Essay Monday 7th February 2023
Phonological awareness in early years is extremely important as this builds the foundation for

children to become successful readers, but most importantly developing the knowledge in decoding

(Yopp, Yopp, 2009). To successfully assist children in becoming phonological aware, an experience

that could be implemented in the 3-4 year old’s could be introducing and singing along to the A,B,C

phonics song by Kidz TV123. Using songs that are captivating and display repetition assists children

on hearing different sound units. Children grasp a deeper learning connection when songs are

combined with visuals as this helps to process the learning of letters and their sounds in an effective

but entertaining way (Degé, & Schwarzer, 2011).

Once the teacher has introduced and demonstrated the song to the children, the teacher will then

replay the song encouraging children to sing along, assisting them as they sound out the letters

ensuring that they sound out the letters correctly. For example A is for apple a,a apple. In teaching

phonological awareness through this experience, the teacher will be able to go through with the

children breaking down the words into syllables. For example the word apple has two syllables. Then

moving on to identifying words that have three phonemes such as bat, and then extending that

learning to recognise and identify rhyming words such as the cat sat on the mat. (Gillon, 2017).

After the teacher and children have gone through the song, the teacher can then extend on this

learning experience futher through a short letter and sound game. In playing this game, the children

will reflect over the song as the teacher holds up a letter and the children can connect the sound to

the letters, clapping out the syllables and identify the phoneme that make up the word. As they

participate and engage, group support will also initiate the process as they learn from one another

when they hear their peers (Burt & Barbara 1999). For children with English as a second language, or

other learning abilities this experience may challenge their understanding and confuse their learning

abilities as their home language may have different sounds for different letters (Foy & Mann, 2006).

3
102722513 Lagisa Assignment 3- Essay Monday 7th February 2023
In saying this, the teacher can assist in spending one to one time to focus on the child’s learning

ability and provide different resources to assist, also incorporating the home language and

suggestions from their home to be implemented.

In many ways this experience links to the Early Years Learning Framework, but mainly Learning

Outcome 5 Children are effective communicators in particular the sub outcome Children engage with

a range of texts and gain meaning from these texts. (Department of Education and Training [DET].

2019).

Using the EYLF (DET. 2019) as a guidance, this experience is a great way to initiate and capture

children’s interest, and also to kick start children’s phonological awareness as they learn quickly

through music and visuals, especially now in the 21st century where technology is the leading hand to

assist in learning (KISS). Through this experience, it will allow children to develop awareness of

sounds in words, recognising that letters represent sounds and also the visual display of the letter

being used to scaffold the learning.

As there are many resources that provide teachers with support to initiate and assist in the teaching

of phonological awareness, it is important that the resources implemented are suitable and inviting for

the 3-4 year old age bracket. Children grasp a deeper learning connection through experiecnes and

resources that interest them, that are engaging with intertaction from educators or peers and where

possible play based( Daniel, Quartz, & Oakes, 2019). Providing these experiences such as the

singing of songs or nursery rhymes will engage the children as they develop these skills to form

connections in the real world and also assist them to learn through play based environments but most

importantly in a fun and engaing manner (Cunningham, 2011).

4
102722513 Lagisa Assignment 3- Essay Monday 7th February 2023

Incorporating this experience into the classroom and extending it into the home, the children will be

able to display what they have learnt and how they are learning as they utilize these skills in the real

world. The experience presents the opportunity for children to practice the different units in sounds to

form a word, implicating syllables to break down words, use the skills of segmenting and blending to

form words to make sentences and add meaning. (Yopp, 2009)

In conclusion, phonological awareness plays a crucial role in literacy to enable, encourage and

promote children to become successful readers and furthermore to become a competent literate in

the 21st century. As established earlier in the essay, a lack of phonological awareness may affect the

children’s learning later in life as they begin to read, presenting difficulties in learning (Fellowes, &

Oakley, 2020).

Phonological awareness establishes the means for children to be able to develop an understanding

of the different unit in sounds and sounds structure in words. Children will also be able to sound out

words, make connections between sounds and letters, breakdown syllables and identify phonemes in

words. A combination of skill will then enable the children to segment letters to sound out the word or

blend letters and words to complete and make sentences that produce meaning. This will then

establish the foundation in which children will start to read words and write the words they hear

allowing them to become 21st century literates. For children to acquire this skill, an understanding of

phonological awareness must be present to establish and implement these skills in day-to-day tasks,

reading and writing.

5
102722513 Lagisa Assignment 3- Essay Monday 7th February 2023

Reference List:

Blachman, B. A. (2000). Phonological awareness.

Burt, Alison Holm, Barbara Dodd, L. (1999). Phonological awareness skills of 4-year-old British
children: An assessment and developmental data. International Journal of Language &
Communication Disorders, 34(3), 311-335.

Cooper, D. H., Roth, F. P., Speece, D. L., & Schatschneider, C. (2002). The contribution of oral
language skills to the development of phonological awareness. Applied
Psycholinguistics, 23(3), 399-416.

Cunningham, P. M. (2011). Best practices in teaching phonological awareness and phonics. Best
practices in literacy instruction, 4, 199-223.

Daniel, J., Quartz, K. H., & Oakes, J. (2019). Teaching in community schools: Creating conditions for
deeper learning. Review of Research in Education, 43(1), 453-480.

Degé, F., & Schwarzer, G. (2011). The effect of a music program on phonological awareness in
preschoolers. Frontiers in psychology, 2, 124.

Department of Education and Training [DET]. (2019). Belonging, Being and Becoming: The Early
Years Learning Framework for Australia. Retrieved from
https://docs.education.gov.au/node/2632

Fellowes, J. & Oakley, G. (2020). Language, literacy and early childhood education (3rd ed.).
Melbourne, VIC: Oxford University Press.

6
102722513 Lagisa Assignment 3- Essay Monday 7th February 2023
Foy, J. G., & Mann, V. (2006). Changes in letter sound knowledge are associated with development
of phonological awareness in pre‐school children. Journal of Research in Reading, 29(2), 143-
161.

Gillon, G. T. (2017). Phonological awareness: From research to practice. Guilford Publications.

KidsTV123. (2009, 22 September). Phonics Song 2 [video file]. Retrieved from

KISS, R. M. TECHNOLOGY BASED ASSESSMENT OF PHONOLOGICAL AWARENESS FOR CHILDREN AGED 5-8
YEARS.

Yopp, H. K., & Yopp, R. H. (2009). Phonological awareness is child’s play. Young Children, 64(1), 12-
21.