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    The effectiveness of a parent-implemented, phonological awareness programme on the phonological awareness skills of preschool children
    (Springer Nature, 2023-08-01) Bennett H; Denston A; Arrow A
    A child’s early literacy and language skills are the most reliable predictor of future academic achievement. Despite vast amounts of research supporting this link, many children start formal schooling with low early literacy skills. Without intervention or support, these children will likely continue to fall behind their peers. This exploratory study investigated the effectiveness of a parent-led phonological awareness programme (n = 3), implemented at home with their 4-year-old children (n = 4) in Christchurch, New Zealand. This study used an exploratory case study mixed methods design. The programme focused on improving children’s phonological awareness skills by providing parents with readily available activities which taught a range of phonological skills. Parents were supported throughout implementation by the researcher with coaching and modelling. Overall, the study found parents to be effective at implementing the phonological awareness programme and facilitating the development of their children’s emergent literacy skills. Children demonstrated increased phoneme identification, blending and segmenting skills and additional skills not explicitly taught, such as phoneme manipulation. Participation in the programme also positively affected children’s interest in literacy activities, such as reading and writing. Parent reports identified positive effects on children’s articulation, speech, engagement and overall confidence. Parents were positively affected by their participation in the programme, with reports of increased confidence in their English proficiencies and literacy skill development.
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    Predicting reading recovery selection and outcomes : is it possible? : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Education (Literacy) at Massey University, Manawatū, New Zealand
    (Massey University, 2017) London, Athena
    Purpose: Predictive early literacy assessments are useful to identify students who are at risk of reading difficulty. This study investigated the use of six early literacy assessments, administered when students first entered school (Time 1), and in the middle of their first year at school (Time 2), in order to predict which students would be selected for Reading Recovery and to identify the Reading Recovery (RR) outcomes for students who participated in the intervention. Method: Unpublished data from a longitudinal study (Early Literacy Project, Chapman, Arrow, Tunmer, & Braid, 2016) was analysed to find predictive links between assessment results and later reading outcomes, for a cohort of 300 5-year-old children in New Zealand primary schools. Results: It was not possible to predict which students would be selected for Reading Recovery due to the variations in RR selection processes. It was found that children who participated in RR were more likely to be referred on for further support the lower their phonological awareness scores were. It was also found that if a child scored 20 points or less, in a combination of Time 1 assessments (letter names, letter sounds and three measures of phonological awareness), they were likely to have a body of literacy abilities that meant they would be working at least a year below the National Standard by the end of their second year at school. Implications: The findings indicate that standardising the selection of students for RR may mean students with the lowest literacy attainment all get support. In addition, early literacy assessments, including measures of phonological awareness, should be administered early in a child’s schooling and those identified as being at risk of reading difficulty should receive literacy support without delay. Addressing students’ low levels of phonological awareness in the first year of schooling may lead to better outcomes for students who participate in RR. Keywords: phonological awareness, Reading Recovery, early literacy assessment, letter names, letter sounds, New Zealand, timing of assessment, vocabulary
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    Whole language and phonics : which instructional practices are most effective in teaching at-risk students to read? : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Educational Psychology at Massey University, Manawatu, New Zealand
    (Massey University, 2013) Senior, Tamara Ann
    A disproportionately large number of New Zealand students fail to learn to read. Results of recent international studies demonstrate that the gap between New Zealand’s highest- and lowest-achieving readers is wider than most other top-performing countries. Despite research showing the crucial role of explicit phonological-based instruction for children at risk of reading failure, the New Zealand education system continues to emphasise whole language teaching methods at the expense of explicit phonological instruction. Children from low socioeconomic backgrounds are at high risk of reading failure and are over-represented among New Zealand’s under-achieving readers. The current study investigated the extent to which teachers of beginning readers in low socioeconomic communities placed an emphasis on explicit phonological-based instruction. The relationship between teacher emphasis on phonological instruction and student progress in reading-related skills was also examined. Results demonstrated a significant relationship between teacher emphasis on phonological-based instruction and student progress in word reading whereby students receiving explicit phonological-based literacy instruction made superior progress in word reading skills over children receiving implicit phonological-based instruction. Moreover, analysis of standard deviation in class word reading scores over time demonstrated that a strong emphasis on explicit phonological instruction was associated with a reduction in class variation of word reading scores, while minimal emphasis on explicit phonological instruction was associated with increasing variability of class word reading scores. Correlation results indicated a relationship between word reading skills and phonological ability that strengthened over time. The study findings support previous research demonstrating that phonological awareness and decoding skills play a crucial role in the development of word reading ability and that explicit phonological-based instruction can attenuate differences in word reading development. Implications for teachers and policy makers are described.