11

Chapter 2

REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE AND STUDIES

This chapter will highlight the related literature and studies, synthesis of the state

of the art, gap to be bridged by the study, theoretical and conceptual frameworks and paradigm.

The definitions of terms are also included in this chapter.

Related Literature

With little or no direct instruction, almost all young children develop the ability to

understand spoken language. While most kindergarten children have mastered the complexities

of speech, they do not know that spoken language is made up of discrete words, which are made

up of syllables, which themselves are made up of the smallest units of sound, called "phonemes."

This awareness that spoken language is made up of discrete sounds appears to be a crucial factor

in children learning to read.

Adams,1 describes 5 levels of phonemic awareness in terms of abilities: to hear

rhymes and alliteration as measured by knowledge of nursery rhymes, to do oddity tasks

(comparing and contrasting the sounds of words for rhyme and alliteration), to blend and split

syllables, to perform phonemic segmentation (such as counting out the number of phonemes in a

word), to perform phoneme manipulation tasks (such as adding, deleting a particular phoneme

and regenerating a word from the remainder). Educators are always looking for valid and reliable

predictors of educational achievement. One reason why educators are so interested in phonemic

awareness is that research indicates that it is the best predictor of the ease of early reading

acquisition, better even than IQ, vocabulary, and listening comprehension.

Phonological awareness is not only correlated with learning to read, but research
 12

indicates a stronger statement is true: phonological awareness appears to play a causal role in

reading acquisition. Phonological awareness is a foundational ability underlying the learning of

spelling-sound correspondences.2 Although phonological awareness appears to be a necessary

condition for learning to read (children who do not develop phonological awareness do not go on

to learn how to read), it is not a sufficient condition.

Once beginning readers have some awareness of phonemes and their

corresponding graphic representations, research has indicated that further reading instruction

heightens their awareness of language, assisting then in developing the later stages of phonemic

awareness mentioned above. Phonemic awareness is both a prerequisite for and a consequence of

learning to read.3

Yopp4 presented a similarly brief assessment instrument and offers detailed

evidence for its validity and reliability. Phonological awareness and its role in beginning reading

has the potential to confound supporters at both extremes of the whole language vs. phonics

"debate" over reading instruction. Regardless of instructional technique, phonological awareness

is an essential element for reading progress.

In another study, Griffith et al.,5 found that children with high phonemic

awareness outperformed those with low phonemic awareness on all literacy measures, whether

they were taught using a whole language approach or traditional basal instruction. Whole

language advocates need to admit that not all children develop this necessary ability simply

through immersion in a print-rich environment and that some children will need direct

instruction in phonological awareness. "Phonics first" supporters (and perhaps even "phonics

only" supporters) need to admit that teaching students letter-sound correspondences is

meaningless if the students do not have a solid visual familiarity with the individual letters and if
 13

they do not understand that the sounds (which can be complex, shifting, and notoriously rule-

breaking) paired with those letters are what make up words .

What is needed, and what many practitioners probably already actually

implement, is a balanced approach to reading instruction--an approach that combines the

language- and literature-rich activities associated with whole language activities aimed at

enhancing meaning, understanding, and the love of language with explicit teaching of skills as

needed to develop fluency associated with proficient readers. Honig,6 offers a review of reading

research supporting such a balanced approach and presents detailed guidelines on how to

integrate whole language principles with the necessary foundation reading skills.

Research indicates that phonological awareness can be taught and that students

who increased their awareness of phonemes facilitated their subsequent reading acquisition.

Teachers need to be aware of instructional activities that can help their students become aware of

phonemes before they receive formal reading instruction, and they need to realize that phonemic

awareness will become more sophisticated as students' reading skills develop.

Spector,7 listed the following recommendations for instruction in phonemic

awareness: at the preschool level, engage children in activities that direct their attention to the

sounds in words, such as rhyming and alliteration games, teach students to segment and blend,

combine training in segmentation and blending with instruction in letter-sound relationships,

teach segmentation and blending as complementary processes, systematically sequence examples

when teaching segmentation and blending and teach for transfer to novel tasks and contexts.

Yopp,8 offers the following general recommendations for phonemic awareness

activities: keep a sense of playfulness and fun, avoid drill and rote memorization, use group

settings that encourage interaction among children, encourage children's curiosity about language
 14

and their experimentation with it, allow for and be prepared for individual differences, make sure

the tone of the activity is not evaluative but rather fun and informal.

Spending a few minutes daily engaging preschool, kindergarten, and first-grade children in oral

activities that emphasize the sounds of language may go a long way in helping them become

successful readers and learners.

Moustafa,9 explained that phonemic awareness is not phonics. Phonemic

awareness is an understanding about spoken language. Children who are phonemically aware can

tell the teacher that bat is the word the teacher is representing by saying the three separate sounds

in the word. They can tell you all the sounds in the spoken word dog. They can tell you that, if

you take the last sound off cart you would have car. Phonics on the other hand, is knowing the

relation between specific, printed letters (including combinations of letters) and specific, spoken

sounds. You are asking children to show their phonics knowledge when you ask them which

letter make the first sound in bat or dog or the last sound in car or cart. The phonemic awareness

tasks that have predicted successful reading are tasks that demand that children attend to spoken

language, not tasks that simply ask students to name letters or tell which letters make which

sounds. Recent longitudinal studies of reading acquisition have demonstrated that the acquisition

of phonemic awareness is highly predictive of success in learning to read - in particular of

successful reading acquisition.

Research shows that all proficient readers rely on deep and ready knowledge of

spelling-sound correspondence while reading, whether this knowledge was specifically taught or

simply inferred by students. Conversely, failure to learn to use spelling/sound correspondences to

read and spell words is shown to be the most frequent and debilitating cause of reading

difficulty. Many children learn to read without any direct classroom instruction in phonics. But
 15

many children, especially children from homes that are not language rich, do need more

systematic instruction in word-attack strategies. Well-sequenced phonics instruction early in the

first grade has been shown to reduce the incidence of reading difficulty even as it accelerates the

growth of the class as a whole. Given this, it is probably better to start all children, most

especially in high-poverty areas, with explicit phonics instruction. Such an approach does require

continually monitoring children's progress both to allow those who are progressing quickly to

move ahead before they become bored and to ensure that those who are having difficulties get

the assistance they need.

Sulzby and Teale,10 noted that while phonological awareness has long been tied to

research and practice in the teaching of phonics and other decoding skills, it has been neglected

in emergent literacy due to the tendency to view phonological awareness research as traditional

and bottom-up theory.

One of the most important foundations of reading success is phonemic awareness.

Phonemes are the basic speech sounds that are represented by the letters of the alphabet, and

phonemic awareness is the understanding that words are sequences of phonemes. Phonemic

awareness is demonstrated by the ability to identify and manipulate sounds within spoken words.

Children can learn to assemble phonemes into words as well as break words into their phonemes

even before they are writing letters or words. Giving children experience with rhyming words in

the preschool years is an effective first step toward building phonemic awareness. Hearing

rhymes, and then producing rhymes for given words, requires children to focus on the sounds

inside words.

Rhyming activities initiate phonemic awareness. The reading and rereading of

books with clear, simple rhymes offer abundant and fun opportunities for direct instruction in
 16

rhyming and the beginnings of phonemic awareness.

Phonemic awareness is an insight about oral language. There is evidence to

suggest that the relation between phonemic awareness and learning to read is reciprocal:

phonemic awareness supports reading acquisition, and reading instruction and experiences with

print facilitate phonemic awareness development.

Related Studies

Educators found difficulty over discovery that pupils who did poorly in subjects

like Math and Science could still do very well in other subjects. But students who did poorly in

Reading almost always did the same in all their other courses. Not until they found in a study

conducted that all the subjects are practically based on reading. The researcher came across a

number of studies bearing semblance to the present research.

The study of Tongco11 identified the reading proficiency level of the Grade IV, V

and VI students of Bitano ES in the following reading comprehension skills: literal, inferential,

critical, creativeness and valuing and devised appropriate school reading programs based from

the findings. It made use of the different sets of reading passages of the Phil-IRI per grade level

as its main tool. The result of the oral reading test in word recognition and comprehension was

analyzed with the use of Phil-IRI reading level criteria. The findings showed that almost all

students fall under frustration level.

Tongco’s study has relevance to the present study because both aimed to

determine the reading level or skills of pupils using the Phil-IRI material as a research tool and

the criteria in determining the said reading level. However, they vary in that the former used the

sets of reading passages in the gathering of data from grade IV, V, and VI students of a certain
 17

school in Legazpi City while the present, will do documentary analysis of the Phil-IRI results of

the present school year of the grade I pupils of the chosen school, Homapon Elementary School.

A study conducted by Mendones12 determined what strategies for remediation is

effective to use, through analysis of errors to determine the level of reading proficiency of Grade

IV pupils in Tiwi Central Schools, Albay for SY 2003-04. It employed descriptive research using

a combination of assessment and non- experimental methodology. It made use of items in Phil-

IRI as the main tool. Strategies were developed to remedy the word recognition error and

comprehension deficiencies demonstrated by the pupils. The findings of the study showed that

the reading proficiency of the grade IV pupils was at the frustration level, both on word

recognition and comprehension. The common deficiencies in oral reading in rank order were:

mispronunciation, repetition and substitution, insertion, omission and punctuation errors. The

comprehension deficiencies were: making inferences, making judgment, thinking creatively and

drawing out values on the situation or story read. Thus, Mendones recommended that teachers

should give a pre- test in reading to determine the initial reading proficiency, analyze the result,

and adapt appropriate strategies to improve the reading proficiency level of the pupils; plan a

medium term strategies plan and a year- to- year operational plan for a school- wide reading

program involving all teachers in all subject areas, encourage participation of all teachers in

improving the reading proficiency of the pupils, and teachers should let the pupils as well as their

parents know the former’s reading weaknesses.

The study of Mendones is similar to the researcher’s study on the aspect of

determining the reading comprehension of the pupils with the reading passages in the Phil-IRI as

the testing tool of the study. The difference is primarily in that the former being a descriptive

research used a combination of assessment and non- experimental methodology. Pre- test and
 18

post-test were given to Grade IV classes with parallel passages after a three-week remediation

lesson. The present study is an assessment of the phonemic awareness and reading

comprehension of Grade I pupils where the researcher will use the descriptive method of

research.

Dayan13 of Ateneo de Naga, Naga City did a study, which dealt on the

comprehension skills and their implications to language instruction. She ventured to find out the

relationship of reading comprehension, study habits, attitudes, academic achievement and

reading materials available at home and read by fourth year students. Dayan employed the

descriptive and correlation design. The Stanford Diagnostic test Blue Level in reading was used;

a set of questionnaire and the latest academic grades of the respondents were utilized to draw the

needed data for student related factors. For a valid and objective treatment of the data, the Chi-

Square and Contingency Coefficient tests were used to determine the correlation.

The findings showed that there is no relationship that exists between Reading

Comprehension Skill, Study habits and Attitudes of Students. However there is a significant

relationship that exists between Reading Comprehension Skills and Academic Achievement of

students. The relationship, however, is weak as shown by the Contingency coefficient test result.

A positive correlation between Reading Comprehension and Reading Materials at Home was

observed. The following recommendations were given by Dayan: a)diagnostic test should be

administered at the beginning of the school year in all levels; b) The skills which the student

were found to be deficient should be given more attention and emphasis by teachers; c) The

school should have speech laboratory so that auditory acuity and oral skills of the students will

be improved; d) Teachers should still try to maintain and improve study habits and attitudes

among pupils because it is a basic prerequisite in effective learning; e)Students should be

 19

exposed to good reading materials at home or in school; f) Language reading teachers should

frequently and actively participate in in-service training and seminar- workshops in order to gain

new insights and upgrade their techniques, methodology and materials in teaching; g) Teachers

should be trained and encourage to conduct researchers in their field of specialization; and h)

Further researches should be conducted on the same subject matter using factors other than ones

used in her study.

This study of Dayan is similar to the present study because the present study will

also determine the level of reading comprehension skills. However Dayan’s study is more

focused on its implications to language instruction of secondary students while the present study

will deal on determining the phonemic awareness and reading comprehension of the elementary

grades specifically grade I.

A study conducted by Austero,14 attempted to measure the level of phonemic

awareness and reading skills of Grade I pupils of Malinao District. It determined their awareness

in eight (8) skills namely: phoneme isolation, phoneme identity, phoneme categorization,

phoneme blending, phoneme segmentation, phoneme deletion, phoneme addition, and phoneme

substitution. The study included the result of the Phil-IRI for the school year 2007-2008. The

study also proposed phonemic activities and reading comprehension tools to improve the skills

of the pupils. More specifically, it sought answers to the following sub-problems:

1. What is the level of phonemic awareness of Grade I pupils in Malinao

District along:

a. Phoneme Isolation

b. Phoneme Identity

c. Phoneme Categorization
 20

d. Phoneme Blending

e. Phoneme Segmentation

f. Phoneme Deletion

g. Phoneme Addition

h. Phoneme Substitution

2. What is the reading level of Grade I pupils in the Phil-IRI for 2007?

3. What activities on phonemic awareness, word recognition and reading

comprehension may be proposed?

A descriptive method of research was used with a test questionnaire made by the

researcher as the main source of gathering data. There were eighty (80) Grade I pupils involved

in this study from Malinao District. Twenty (20) pupils came from Malinao Central Elementary

School (Central School), twenty (20) pupils from Labnig Elementary School (under a

Principal), twenty (20) pupils from Baybay Elementary School (under a Head Teacher) and

twenty (20) from Sugcad Elementary School (under a Teacher- in- Charge). The respondents

were chosen through stratified random sampling. The instrument used in this study was the

phonemic awareness test made by the researcher, which was a forty (40)- item multiple choice

test which measured the pupil’s ability. Scores were categorized under Phil-IRI criteria which

were the independent, instructional and frustration level. The data were analyzed and interpreted

using statistical treatment percentage. The study likewise proposed reading enhancement

activities and comprehension tools.

The study of Austero is similar in the present study because the present study will

also attempt to measure the level of phonemic awareness and reading skills of grade I pupils

along: (a)Phoneme Isolation, (b) Phoneme Identity, (c) Phoneme Categorization, (d) Phoneme
 21

Blending, (e) Phoneme Segmentation, (f) Phoneme Deletion, (g) Phoneme Addition an (h)

Phoneme Substitution. This will also determine the reading level of Grade I pupils through the

use of Phil-IRI result for a certain school year. And furthermore, the present study also aims to

give some activities on phonemic awareness, word recognition and reading comprehension.

The only difference of the former study to the present is study is that the present

study will choose Homapon Elementary School as a respondent school. Grade I pupils will also

be the respondents but only 50% of the total 150 population will be chosen. These 50%

respondents will come from four (4) sections of the grade I. The same method of gathering data

will be done.

Blandina Cuebillas15 emphasized in her study the importance of Phonics in the

teaching of reading for beginners. The descriptive study aimed to construct and evaluate

enrichment activities in Phonics for Grade I pupils. She made use of the revised Elementary

Learning Competencies for Grade I in Phonics in constructing the enrichment materials as her

bases. The study was based from the assumption that the constructed and evaluated enrichment

teaching materials are valid. Its importance lies in the contribution of teaching materials for the

improvement of the learner’s basic skills in reading.

The study has a bearing on the present study with respect to the construction of

teaching materials. Both studies used the Revised Elementary Learning Competencies as bases in

constructing the proposed activities. The past study was meant for enrichment purposes, while

the present study will be directed towards preparing the pupils and assisting them learn to read

and develop comprehension.

16
Teresita M. Mirandilla conducted a study on the Language Learning Styles of

Grade I pupils as basis for developmental reading activities. The findings revealed that hand-
 22

dominance which was used, as one of its variables did not have significant relationship with the

language learning style of the pupils; the rest of the variables were found to be significantly

related. The study was able to come up with a set of reading activities for Grade I pupils

The study of Mirandilla has a bearing on the present study in terms of assessment

of problems in reading and results were made bases for the construction of materials in reading.

The past study is the same with the present study that will use Grade I pupils as respondents.

The study that was conducted by Almenoff 17 assessed the predictive efficiency of

certain standardized readiness test to determine how well they forecast second grade reading

achievement test. The respondents of the study were second grade pupils on whom complete

kindergarten testing data were available. One of the best known kindergarten predictors of

second- grade reading achievement was found to b the vocabulary sub-test of the same

kindergarten achievement test.

The study of Almenoff 17 is similar to the present study. Both are concerned with

the readiness of the pupils in reading. But the difference lies on the group of respondents. The

respondents of the past study were second- grade pupils who completed their kindergarten, while

the respondents of the present study will be Grade I pupils.

18
The study that was conducted by Joyce R. Loma determined the decoding

problems of Grade III pupils of Matacon Elementary School for the school year 1999- 2000. This

research investigation used the descriptive correlation design. This design provided for the

descriptive information of the demographic nature of the pupils used as subject of the study and

their decoding difficulties in reading. The socio- demographic characteristics of the pupils in

terms of sex, metropolitan exposure, media exposure, occupation of the parents and attendance in

preschool were correlated with the decoding difficulties in reading. Based on the results, a set of
 23

teaching materials in Reading was prepared geared toward the development of pupil’s decoding

skills.

The study of Loma is similar to the present study. The past study dealt on the

preparation of teaching materials in reading geared toward the development of pupil’s decoding

skills while the present study will propose activities on phonemic awareness and reading

comprehension of the pupils. The past study was intended for Grade III pupils while the present

is for Grade I.
19
Richek tested kindergarten children on seven reading readiness tasks and two-

word learning tasks. The word- learning tasks were similar to a sight- word and a sound- symbol

method of initial reading instruction. Richek found that a large portion of the children scored

higher on the sight word than on the word- symbol- word- learning task.

The study of Richek is similar to the present study. Both are concerned on the

beginning reading instruction. It only differs on the kind of task being given to the respondents.

The past study devised seven reading readiness tasks and two-word learning task, while the

present will construct test on phonemic awareness on eight (8) specific skills.
20
In the study done by D. Durkin it was found that some of the children who

know how to read before their entry into the first grade and before receiving any formal

instruction. Thus, the researcher conducted that early reading was not necessarily a function of

socio- economic status, ethnicity or intelligence, and that early readers achieved higher reading

scores during the entire elementary years.

The study of Durkin has a bearing on the present study. Both studies dealt on the

characteristic of beginning reading. However, the present study will focus on the phonemic

awareness skills and reading comprehension of the pupils as a means to develop early reading
 24

which is different from the past study. The past study also focused on the children who did enter

early schooling while the present will focus on the grade I pupils. It was conducted in New York

and in Auckland California while the present study will be conducted in Homapon Elementary

School.

Synthesis of the State-of-the-Art

The compendium of literatures on phonemic awareness indicates that there are

specific skills within phonological and phonemic awareness that contribute significantly to the

development of reading. Researchers indicate that phonemic awareness is the best predictor of

the ease of early reading acquisition, better even than IQ, vocabulary and listening

comprehension. Through the training of students in phonological awareness tasks involving

rhymes, syllables and onsets and rimes as well as phonemic awareness tasks, particularly

phoneme blending, phoneme segmentation and phoneme manipulation, we can influence later

reading and spelling development.

Adams describes 5 levels of phonemic awareness in terms of abilities: to hear

rhymes and alliteration as measured by knowledge of nursery rhymes, to do oddity tasks, to

blend and split syllables, to perform phonemic segmentation, to perform phoneme manipulation

tasks. Spector presents some recommendations for instruction in phonemic awareness while

Yopp offers general recommendations for phonemic awareness activities: keep a sense of

playfulness and fun, avoid drill and rote memorization, use group settings that encourage

interaction among children, encourage children's curiosity about language and their

experimentation with it, allow for and be prepared for individual differences, make sure the tone
 25

of the activity is not evaluative but rather fun and informal .Moustafa explained that phonemic

awareness is not phonics. Phonemic awareness is an understanding about spoken language.

The local studies reviewed in this undertaking unveiled the need for phonemic

awareness of the pupils at the beginning stage is necessary. The study of Tongco identified the

reading proficiency level of the Grade IV, V and VI students of Bitano ES in the following

reading comprehension skills: literal, inferential, critical, creativeness. It made use of the

different sets of reading passages of the Phil-IRI per grade level. Mendones on the other hand,

determined which strategies for remediation is best or effective to use through analysis of errors

to determine the level of reading proficiency of Grade IV pupils in Tiwi Central School. Dayan

on her study dealt on the reading comprehension skills and their implications to language

instruction. She ventured to find out the relationship of reading comprehension, study habits,

attitudes, academic achievement and reading material available at home and read skills of fourth

year students. The study of Austero attempted to measure the level of phonemic awareness and

reading skills of grade I pupils along: (a)Phoneme Isolation, (b) Phoneme Identity, (c) Phoneme

Categorization, (d) Phoneme Blending, (e) Phoneme Segmentation, (f) Phoneme Deletion, (g)

Phoneme Addition an (h) Phoneme Substitution. This also determined the reading level of Grade

I pupils through the use of Phil-IRI result for a certain school year. Cuebillas on the other side

looked into the evaluation of enrichment teaching materials in phonics. Mirandilla conducted a

study on the Language Learning Styles of Grade I pupils. The study of Almenoff revealed that

the best kindergarten predictor of reading achievement was vocabulary. Loma’s study

determined the decoding problems of Grade III pupils of Matacon Elementary School. Richek

tested kindergarten children on seven reading readiness tasks and two- word learning tasks. The
 26

study of Durkin showed that intelligence, socio economic status or ethnicity does not really

affect the skills of the pupils in reading.

The studies and literature reviewed will contribute much in the construction and

validation of the instrument, in sampling method and the statistical tools to be used.

Gap to be Bridged by the Study

The related literature and studies kindled the passion of the researcher to develop

the pre- reading skills among the pupils through phonemic awareness. Developing the phonemic

awareness skills must, indeed, begin in the elementary level since it is the foundation of

education. The foundation must be strong and firm enough for the pupils to be able to tackle

future uncertainties and challenges which surely lay ahead of these promising elementary pupils.

More learning lessons must be prepared to improve the pupil’s reading comprehension in the

elementary level because the task of preparation of instructional materials cannot be placed

solely on the teacher’s shoulders. Time must be devoted to the preparation of instructional

materials which will help develop the reading comprehension skills of Grade I pupils.

This is the gap that the study will bridge and hopefully, will succeed. Through the

phonemic awareness instruction, the reading comprehension skills of the pupils will be

enhanced. When the comprehension skills of the elementary pupils from grade one are well

developed, high school and college work would just be a stride for them in their pursuit of higher

and more advanced learning; thus, producing individuals who will be agents of change and

movers towards development.

 27

Theoretical Framework of the Study

This study will anchor on the theory of Beginning Reading of Eric Digest21.

According to him, learning to read is anything but natural. In fact, it doesn’t develop

incidentally; it requires human intervention and context. The act of reading is complex and

intentional; it requires bringing together a number of complex actions involving the eyes, the

brain, and the psychology of the mind (e.g. motivation, interest, past experience) that do not

occur naturally.

The two processes described here, phonological awareness and word recognition,

are essential to teaching beginning reading to children with diverse learning and curricular needs,

such as pupils with learning disabilities. For these children, as for many children, learning to read

is neither natural nor easy. Also, research has made it clear that, those pupils who fall behind in

reading; opportunities to advance or catch up diminish overtime. Therefore the teaching of

beginning reading is of supreme importance and must be purposeful, strategic and grounded in

the methods proven by effective research.

The unnatural act of reading requires a beginning reader to make sense of

symbols on a page. In the case of English, these symbols are actually sequences of letters that

represents an alphabetic language, but more important, the printed letters can also be translated

into sounds.

Phonological awareness activities build on and enhance children’s experiences

with written language (e.g. print awareness) and spoken language (e.g. playing with words).

These activities also develop children’s readiness and foundation of reading, especially the

reading of words. Children who have been immersed in a literacy environment in which words,

word games, rhyming and story reading are plentiful and more likely to understand what reading
 28

is all about than those who have experienced and impoverished literacy environment. Figure 2

shows the paradigm of this study.

 29

(Beginning Reading Theory)

Processes Essential to Beginning

Reading

Phonological Awareness Word Recognition

Reading Comprehension

Figure 2. Theoretical Paradigm

 30

Conceptual Framework of the Study

The researcher will conceptualize that the phonemic awareness skills of the pupils

may be developed if they are exposed to a lot of activities focusing on the sound of letters in a

word. Developing these skills may help them to develop their pre- reading skills. It is pre-

requisite to other learning areas such as spelling vocabulary, listening comprehension, reading

and writing.

The researcher believes that the test on these skills can determine the mastered

and non- mastered phonemic skills and a thorough analysis o the results can direct in t5he

teaching- learning activities in the classroom. The reading teacher can give necessary remedial

activities to the slow learners and enrichment activities to the fast learners. All these efforts will

lead to improved reading skills of the pupils.

As shown in the conceptual paradigm the researcher determines first the

phonemic awareness skills that are acquired by the pupil together with the word recognition and

reading comprehension on the Phil-IRI. Identifying all the phonemic awareness skills of the

pupils, the researcher can be guided to propose activities that would improve the said skill. These

activities will also give the teachers additional information in teaching phonemic awareness

skills. It will also help the teacher to identify the different skills of the grade I pupils. All these

efforts will lead to improved reading skills of the pupils. The analysis and interpretation of the

test results could give a picture of the level of phonemic awareness and reading skills of Grade I

pupils in Homapon Elementary School for the School Year 2011-1012. Figure 3 shows the

conceptual paradigm of the study.

 31

Level of Phonemic
Awareness Skills
1. Phoneme Isolation Level of Word
2. Phoneme Identity Recognition and
3. Phoneme Categorization Reading
4. Phoneme Blending Comprehension
5. Phoneme Segmentation
per Phil- IRI
6. Phoneme Deletion
7. Phoneme Addition
8. Phoneme Substitution

Proposed Phonemic
Awareness Skills and
Reading Comprehension
Activities for Grade I
Pupils

Figure 3. The Conceptual Paradigm

 32

Definition of Terms

For better understanding of the study, the following terms are defined

conceptually and operationally.

Alphabetic Understanding. This is the understanding that words are composed

of individual letters and that these letters correspond to sounds. This is “mapping of print” that

establish a clear link between letters and a sound.

Blending. This is an oral activity in which the children must be able to say the

sound of each letter in a word and then blend those sounds together such as /c/ + /at/ = cat. In this

study, blending is used as the skill of the pupils to combine sounds together to produce new

word.

Grapheme. This is the smallest part of written language that represents a

phoneme in the spelling of a word. A grapheme may be just one letter, such as b, d, f, p, s; or

several letters such as ch, sh, th, -ck, ea, -igh.

Onset and Rime. These are parts of spoken language that are smaller than

syllables but larger than phonemes. An onset is initial consonant (s) sound of a syllable (the

onset of bag is –b; swim, sw-). A rime is a part of syllable that contains the vowel and all that

follows it.

Phil- IRI. Is a n acronym given by Department of Education to the Philippine

Informal Reading Inventory 22.This is an oral reading test composed of word lists taken from the

passage to be read; passage constructed with parallel reading lessons in every grade level. Its

purpose is to diagnose word recognition error and comprehension difficulties for placement of

reading levels of pupils. It could also serve as basis for remedial instruction, clinical and
 33

instruction activities in reading. In the study, it is used as a reading tool to know the reading level

of the Grade I pupils.

Phoneme. It is the smallest part of spoken language that makes a difference in the

meaning of words. English has about 41 phonemes. A few word such as a or oh, have only one

phoneme. Most words, however, have more than one phoneme. The word if has two phonemes

(/i/ /f/) ; check has three phonemes (/c/ /e/ /k/), and stop has four phonemes (/s/ /t/ /o/ /p/).

Sometimes one phoneme is represented by more than one letter.

Phonemic Awareness. Is the ability to notice, think about, and work with the

individual sounds in spoken words. It is the understanding that the spoken words are made up of

sounds. In this study, phonemic awareness is used as skill of pupils to determine sounds of

letters.

Phonics. This is the understanding that there is a predictable relationship between

phonemes (the sound of spoken language) and graphemes (the letters and spellings that represent

those sounds in written language).

Phoneme Isolation. Refers to children’s ability to recognize individual sounds in

a word. In this study, sound isolation is used as skill of the pupils to determine every single

sound in a word.

Phoneme Identity. Refers to children’s ability to recognize the same sounds inn

different words. In this study, it is used as the skill of the pupils to distinguish or tell if two words

have the same sounds.

Phoneme Categorization. The children recognize the word in a set of three or

four words that has the “odd” sound. In this study, it is used as a skill of the pupils to determine a

word that is different from each other.

 34

Phoneme Blending. When children listen to a sequence of separately spoken

phonemes, and then combine the phonemes to form a word. Then they write and read the word.

Phoneme Segmentation. This is when children break a word into its separate

sounds, saying each sound as they tap out or count it. Then they write and read the word. In this

study, it is used as the skill of the pupils to segment words into its sounds.

Phoneme Deletion. The ability of children to recognize the word that remains

when a phoneme is removed from another word. In this study, it is used as the skill of the pupils

to determine the remaining word when single sound is removed or deleted.

Phoneme Addition. The children make a new word by adding a phoneme to an

existing word.

Phoneme Substitution. The children substitute one phoneme for another to make

a new word.

Phonological Awareness. Ability when the printed letters can also be translated

into sounds. To translate letters into sounds, a beginning reader should enter school with a

conscious awareness of the sound structure of words and the ability to manipulate sounds in

words.

Reading Comprehension. This is a skill which is knowledge base just like all the

elements that support it, and as such, it can and should be taught explicitly. The teacher can help

the students develop an appreciation for the different types of reading comprehension (literal,

inferential, evaluative, etc.) and the different types of text (expository, narrative, formal,

informal, etc.) and can introduce the child to different literary genres. The child can be

encouraged to move from a mastery of oral reading to mastery of more efficient and mature
 35

silent reading, and along with the teaching explicit strategies to improve comprehension; the

teacher can help the child to monitor his own comprehension in reading .23

Frustration Level. This is the lowest reading level. The pupil shows withdrawal

from reading situations by crying or refusing to read. The pupil commits errors in reading such

as reversal, repetition, substitution, insertion, mispronunciation and inability to interpret

punctuation. The pupil scores below in word recognition or 58% and below in comprehension.

Instruction Level. It is the level which the pupil can profit from instruction. The

pupil’s oral reading in rhythmical with conversational tone and correct interpretation. The pupil

scores 90-96% in word recognition and 59-79% in comprehension.

Independent Level. It is the highest level at which a pupil can read independently

and with ease without the help or guidance of the teacher. The pupil is free from tension, finger

pointing or lip movement. The pupil reads with rhythm and with conversational tone and

interprets punctuation correctly. The pupil scores 97- 100% in word recognition and 80- 100%in

comprehension.

Listening Capacity Level. It is an informal measure of ability to comprehend

spoken language. It is the highest level at which students can understand materials that is read to

them with 75% comprehension.

Syllable. It is a word that contains a vowel or, in spoken language, a vowel sound

(e- vent; news-pa-per; ve-ry).

 36

NOTES
1
Adams, Marilyn Jager (1990). Beginning to Read: Thinking and Learning about Print.
Cambridge, MA: Bolt, Beranek, and Newman, Inc. ED 317 950.
2
Harris, Theodore L., and Richard E. Hodges (1995). The Literacy Dictionary: The Vocabulary
of Reading and Writing. Newark, DE: International Reading Association. ED 385 820.
3
Stanovich, Keith E. (1993-94). "Romance and Reality (Distinguished Educator Series)."
Reading Teacher, 47(4), 280-91. EJ 477 302.
4
Yopp, Hallie Kay (1992). "Developing Phonemic Awareness in Young Children." Reading
Teacher.
5
Griffith, Priscilla, and Mary W. Olson (1992). "Phonemic Awareness Helps Beginning Readers
Break the Code." Reading Teacher, 45(7), 516-23. EJ 439 120.
6
Honig, Bill (1996). Teaching Our Children to Read: The Role of Skills in a Comprehensive
Reading Program. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press. CS 012 479.
7
Spector, Janet E. (1995) "Phonemic Awareness Training: Application of Principles of Direct
Instruction." Reading and Writing Quarterly: Overcoming Learning Difficulties, 11(1),
37-52. EJ 496 026.
8
Yopp, ibid.

9
Moustafa, 1996).

10
Sulzby and Teale (1991).
11
Marites Basquiñas- Tongco, “A Reading Program for Grades IV-VI Pupils in Bitano
Elementary School” (Unpublished Master’s Thesis, Bicol University Graduate School,
Legazpi City, 2005).
12
Godilla C. Mendones, “Reading Proficiency of Grade IV Pupils: Error Analysis and
Strategies for Remediation” (Unpublished Master’s Thesis, Bicol University Graduate
School, Legazpi City, 2004).
13
Bernadette E. Dayan, “Reading Comprehension Skills of Fourth Year High School Students
of the Ateneo de Naga, School year 1994-1995. It’s Implication to Language Instruction
(Unpublished Master’s Thesis, Bicol University Graduate School, Legazpi City, 1995).
 37

14
Hazel P. Austero, ”Level of Phonemic Awareness and reading Skills of Grade I Pupils of
Malinao District (Unpublished Master’s Thesis, Bicol University Graduate School,
Legazpi City, 2006).
15
Blandina D. Cuebillas, “Enrichment Teaching Materials in Phonics for Grade I Pupils
(Unpublished Master’s Thesis, Bicol University Graduate School, Legazpi City, 1999).
16
Teresita M. Mirandilla, “The Language Learning Styles of Grade VI Pupils; Basis for a
Proposed Development Reading Activities (Unpublished Master’s Thesis, Bicol
University Graduate School, Legazpi City, 1998).
17
ibid p. 96
18
Joyce R. Loma, “ The Decoding Difficulties of Grade III Pupils of Matacon Elementary
School (Unpublished Master’s Thesis, Bicol University Graduate School, Legazpi City,
2000).
19
ibid. p. 133
20
D. Durkin. “Pre- Test Grade Starts Reading: Where do we Start?”Education Leadership 36 p.
174- 177 as cited by Dianne Lapp and James Flood. Teaching Reading to Every
Childhood.p.96

21 Theories on Beginning Reading by Eric Digest

http://www.ericdigest.org/1998-3/reading.htm/ Feb.18, 2008.
22
Nelie D. Cope, “ Readiness of Grade I Pupils for Beginning Reading in English in Tiwi
District , S.Y. 1995-1996. (Unpublished Master’s Thesis D. B. Pena Memorial College
Foundation, Tabaco City).
 38

CHAPTER 3

RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODOLOGY

This chapter presents the research design, methodology, instrumentation and

procedure used in the conduct of the study. It also includes the sources of data, respondents and

statistical treatment applied in the data analysis and interpretation.

Research Design

The study will make use of the descriptive research. Here, the researcher will

determine the skills of the pupil’s phonemic awareness through a researcher-made test. The

researcher will consider this method suitable to the present study because descriptive research,

according to Best1 describes and interprets “what is”. It considers a condition that exists, that is

the level of phonemic awareness and reading skills of Grade I pupils of Homapon Elementary

School.

Sources of Data

The major source of data will be the Grade I pupils enrolled in the chosen school

of the study. The result of the researcher-made test will serve as the source of data on the level of

phonemic awareness on the eight specific skills. In addition, the Phil-IRI result will serve as the

source of data for the reading level of the Grade I pupils in terms of word recognition and

reading comprehension.
 39

Respondents

The respondents of the study will be the Grade I pupils which will be selected

from the different sections of Grade I in Homapon Elementary School. In choosing the pupils to

be included in the study, they will be chosen by single random sampling. One hundred fifty

pupils will be chosen from Grade I. Homapon Elementary School will be purposively selected.

Instruments

The instrument to be used in this study will be the teacher-made test on phonemic

awareness and the Phil-IRI result. It will be a 40-item multiple choice type of test which will be

composed of (8) eight parts corresponding to the eight phonemic skills. There will be five (5)

items in every skill. The direction is to encircle the correct answer from the four (4) choices. The

test will be encoded with a font size of 16 for bigger letters and pictures.

The test will serve as the measuring instrument to determine the extent of mastery

of Grade I pupils in phonemic awareness skills. The phonemic awareness test which will be

made by the researcher is not a standardized test because it is not developed over many years and

is not used by various populations, in which the results will be normed. It is considered as a

teacher-made test because it will be made solely by the researcher to evaluate progress made

based on reading activities, and this will measure the achievements, progress, and weakness of

defects of individual.

Procedure

Before undertaking the research, the researcher will ask permission from the

Principal of the chosen school for the conduct of the study. After gathering the approval, copies
 40

of the list of all Grade I pupils will be secured from the four advisers. This will be followed by a

conference with the class advisers. Initial version of the test will be made after consultation with

them, and then it will be presented to the panel of jurors for evaluation. After revising the test

following the instructions and suggestions of the three jurors, there will be a dry run among the

Grade I pupils of Albay Central School.

The test on phonemic awareness will be administered on the first week of

January. The randomly selected pupil- respondents will be taken to a vacant room in the school.

If the respondents are properly seated, the researcher will explain the procedure in taking the test.

Each respondent will be given a test paper to be answered. They will be the ones who will read

the questions in the test paper. However, the researcher will welcome questions that will be

raised by the respondents during the test. The test will be administered in the morning after

recess which will be at 10:00 a.m.

The researcher will carefully select the skills to be included in the proposed

enrichment material/ activities in phonemic awareness for Grade I by thoroughly going over the

Revised Learning Competencies for Grade I. The skills to be listed will focus on sound

discrimination which includes auditory discrimination, discriminating speech sound and rhyming

words.

Statistical Treatment

The researcher will score the test papers and evaluate the result. To interpret and

analyze the data, statistical computations will be used. To determine the skills acquired by the

pupils, the procedure in the analysis and interpretation of data will be based on mastery learning

evaluation. The percentage will be computed to show the number of respondents who have
 41

acquired the said phonemic awareness. The raw score of each part of the test will be transmitted

to percentage scores using the formula.3

F
PS= __________ x 100

Where

PS= percentage score

F= frequency of correct response

N= total number of items

The frequency count the answers of the individual pupil will be made so that the

skills of the pupils in phonemic awareness will be identified. The percentage will be computed to

emphasize the number of respondents who have acquired the skills.

For the category of the performance level in Reading, the following scale will be

used.

86%- 100%- Excellent / Independent Level

76%- 85% - Very Satisfactory

51%- 75% - Satisfactory / Instructional Level

25%- 50% - Improvement Needed

24% below- Poor / Frustration Level