AGOGO PRESBYTERIAN WOMEN’S COLLEGE OF EDUCATION

DEPARTMENT OF LANGUAGES

USING PHONIC METHOD TO IMPROVE POOR READING ABILITY OF

PUPILS AT BOMPATA M/A BS. FIVE (5)

FOSU BENEDICTA

AGOGO PRESBYTERIAN COLLEGE OF EDUCATION

2022
 AGOGO PRESBYTERIAN WOMEN’S COLLEGE OF EDUCATION

DEPARTMENT OF LANGUAGES

USING PHONIC METHOD TO IMPROVE POOR READING ABILITY OF PUPILS AT

BOMPATA M/A BS. FIVE (5)

BY

FOSU BENEDICTA

AGOGO PRESBYTERIAN COLLEGE OF EDUCATION

APCE/ PRI/18/0088

A project work presented to the Institute of Education of the Faculty of Education,

University of Cape Coast, in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the award of a

Degree in Basic Education

OCTOBER, 2022
Parris, Gambrell, and Schleicher (2008),

Juel & Graves, 1998

Paris & Hamilton, 2009

Ministry of Basic Education, Sport, and Culture, "MBESC", 2004

Harris, 2000

Omaggio, 1993

Kucer, (1987).

Samuels and Kamil (1988)

Anderson 1994)

Smith,1994

Thermey and Pearson, 1994

Anderson (1994

Cerrell,1988

Bransford (1994)

MC Donough (1995),

Tierney and Pearson, 1994

Block (1992

Michigan (2012)

Ulrich (2007)

Clay and Moore, (2006)

Brutin (2013),

McCullough (1978)

Karl, (1975)
Alexander and Heathigton (1988)

Adams (1994),

Roskin and Podak, 2001). Cooper (2000)

Rubin (2002),

Mesmer and Griffith (2005

NRP (2000)

Sawyer (1999)

Blevins (1998)

Gunning, 2000

Gaskin, (2005)

Lipson & Wixson, 2003).

Hill, (1999),

Gunning, 2002)

Donnel & Wood, 1999):

Clarifield, & Storner, 2005).

Neisser (1987),

Quainoo and Bosuah, 2007

Ampomah, 2013
 DECLARATION

Candidate’s Declaration

I hereby declare that this project work is the result of my own original research and that no part

of it has been presented for another degree in this college or elsewhere.

Candidate‟s Signature: ............................................ Date: ..............................

Name: Fosua Benedicta

Supervisors’ Declaration

I hereby declare that the preparation and presentation of this project work was supervised in

accordance with the guidelines on supervision of project work laid down by the University of

Cape Coast.

Supervisor‟s Signature: .................................... Date: ..................................

Name: Mr. Joseph Atakora

 ABSTRACT

The main aim of the study was to use phonic techniques to help improve the reading ability of

class five (5) pupils of Bompata M/A. An action research design was used for this study. A

sample of 34 pupils was selected for the study. The main instruments used for the collection of

data were observation, interviews, and tests. The data was analyzed using percentages.

The results after post-interventions were positive and significant, indicating that in order to

enhance pupils' reading skills, one should adopt the phonic method and other related techniques

in teaching reading. The average percentage performance of the pupils in the post-test was 88%,

and this was far greater than the average percentage performance of the pupils on the pre-

intervention test, which was 12%. The performance difference in the post-test was 76%, which

shows that the pupils‟ performance after the intervention had improved.

It is also recommended that the class teachers should not rely on their personal experience but

also try and use supplementary books alongside the course books for teaching English in the

school.
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

This paper could not have been completed without the assistance of many people during various

stages. Mr. Joseph Atakora, my supervisor, deserves my gratitude for his guidance and support

from start to finish. Without his untiring encouragement during my project work, I am not sure I

would have completed this study.

I would also like to express my gratitude to my parents, Mr. James Fosu and Madam Yaa

Adwubi, as well as my sister, Gifty Fosu, for their financial support and encouragement, which

enabled me to complete this work and my entire education. God bless you.

Finally, I cannot go without expressing my profound gratitude to the staff and the pupils of

Bompata M/A Primary and also to my co-mentees and friends for their support in diverse ways,

which have equally helped me to complete this work. God bless you all.
 DEDICATION

To my mother, Madam Yaa Adwubi, and my extended father, Mr. Tweneboa Koduah,
 TABLE OF CONTENT

CONTENT PAGES

DECLARATION ii

ABSTRACT iii

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS iv

DEDICATION v

TABLE OF CONTENTS vii

LIST OF TABLES x

CHAPTER: ONE: INTRODUCTION 1

Background to the Study 1

Statement of the Problem 3

The Purpose of the Study 3

Research Questions 4

Significance of the Study 4

Delimitation of the Study 4

Limitations of the Study 5

Organization of the Study 5

TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW 6

Introduction 6

The Concept Reading 6

The purpose of Reading 8

Reading Comprehension 8

Constraints of Teaching Reading 9

The use of Syllabic Method to enhance Pupils‟ Pronunciation Skills 10

Phonics 11

Phonic instruction and decoding 13

Phonic instruction and poor readers 15

Summary of the review 18

THREE: METHODOLOGY 19

Introduction 19

Research Design 19

Research Population 19

Sample and Sampling Procedure 20

Research Instruments 20

Interventional process 21

Data Analysis Plan 25

FOUR: RESULTS AND DISCUSSION 26

Introduction 26

Research Question One 28

Research Question Three 31

FIVE: SUMMARY, CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS 33

Overview of the Study 33

Summary of the Major Findings 33

Conclusions 34

Recommendations 34

Suggestions for Further Study 35

REFERENCES 36

APPENDICES

A: Sample of Pre-Test Results 41

B: Sample of Post-Test Results 42

 LIST OF TABLES

CONTENT PAGES

1. Distribution of Respondents by Gender 26

2. Marks obtained by the Pupils in Reading (Pre-test) 27

3. Distribution of Pupils‟ Response on their Reading Ability 28

4. Distribution of parents interview on their word reading 30

5. Results of Post test 32

 CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

Introduction

This chapter comprises the background of the study, which gives an insight into the study; the

statement of the problem, highlighting the existing and newly found problems in the study; the

objectives of the study; the significance of the study, which identifies the people and

organizations that will benefit from the scope of the study; limitations of the study; the definition

of key terms used in this chapter; and how the study is organized. This chapter provided the

reader with an overview of the research.

Background to the Study

The ability to read, according to Parris, Gambrell, and Schleicher (2008), is essential for one to

fully participate in society and the economy. But mastering the ability to read cheerfully is not an

easy task. Reading involves more than just being able to decode words and recognize letters. In

the end, reading is about deriving meaning from the written word (Juel & Graves, 1998). To

understand what is being read, in other words, is the goal of reading. The integration of meaning

across words, phrases, and passages is necessary for reading comprehension (Paris & Hamilton,

2009). Reading literacy is the capacity to comprehend and make use of those written language

forms that society and/or the individual value (Ministry of Basic Education, Sport, and Culture,

"MBESC", 2004). The fact that English is widely spoken in Ghana cannot be disputed.

Recently, there has been a drastic reduction in the performance of the English language at all

levels of education in Ghana. This has made the ministry of education, teachers, stakeholders,
and other concerned people anxious. Given these concerns, and in order to assist our future

leaders, we must pay close attention to the poor English reading ability at the basic school level.

During my teaching practice, it was realized that there is a problem with phonetic understanding

among Bompata M/A Basic five (5) pupils. The pupils' performance in the English language was

nothing to write home about in several evaluation tests conducted after a lesson taught by my

mentor.

Statement of the Problem

The students of BS. Five (5) struggle to read five- and six-letter words during English reading

courses, it was found during observation at Bompata M/A. The majority of the students were

found to be unable to speak simple words and recognise some alphabetic letters.

During my internship at Bompata M/A basic five (5), I was made to under study basic five

teacher in basic five classroom as my mentor and it was in that classroom where I observed that

about 90% of the pupils find it very difficult to read simple words during reading lessons. This

has affected their academic performance since most of the examination questions are written in

English and they have to read out before answering them. In view of this, I decided to carry out

this study to trace the remote causes of the pupils‟ inability to read simple words and implore

appropriate interventions to improve their reading skills. Again, this study seeks to use phonic

and syllabic methods as interventional tools to improve pupils‟ reading skills.

Purpose of the Study

The general purpose of the study was to help the basic five (5) pupils of Bompata M/A 2 Primary

School improve their reading skills using phonic (Word-attack) and syllabic methods. The aim of

the study was to

1. To improve the reading skills of basic five (5) pupils at Bompata Basic School.

2. To determine the extent to which the use of phonics and syllabic methods will help

improve the reading skills of class five pupils.

Research Questions

The following questions were set to guide the study;

1. What are the general causes of pupils‟ inability to read simple words?

2. How phonic and syllabic methods can be used to teach reading skills?

3. To what extent will the use of phonic and syllabic methods improve pupils‟ performance

in reading in general?

Significance of the Study

The significance of the study is to bring out the benefits pupils, teachers, and the community will

derive. The use of the phonetic method in teaching English reading at Bompata M/A BS. five (5)

pupils is to help them overcome their reading difficulties and sustain their interest in reading.

Pupils‟ interest in reading helps them to be more fluent.

The study will help teachers to use the appropriate methods and materials, which will help make

teaching the English language, especially reading, easy for them. Pupils‟ ability to read well is of

good benefit to the community at large.

Delimitation

The research study concentrated mainly on reading instead of any other aspect of the English

language. The study was carried out at Bompata M/A BS. 5. It should have covered the entire

BS. Five (5) students, but it was restricted to some students in the class who do not have the

ability to read in the subject of English language.

Limitation of the Study

Throughout the research, there were a lot of setbacks, which made the researcher's work a

difficult one.

One of the problems that limited this project is that much time was not at the disposal of the

researcher to carry out a comprehensive study on the problem since she had to combine teaching

practice with research work and also study manuals.

Throughout the research, there were a lot of setbacks, which made the researcher's work a

difficult one.

One of the problems that limited this project is that much time was not at the disposal of the

researcher to carry out a comprehensive study on the problem since she had to combine teaching

practice with research work and also study manuals.

Definitions of Terms

Reading – is the cognitive process of understanding a written linguistic message. It can also be

defined as a simple, passive process that involves reading words in a linear fashion and

internalizing their meaning one at a time (Harris, 2000).

Reading literacy: Refers to understanding, using, and reflecting on written texts in order to

achieve one‟s goals, to develop one‟s knowledge and potential, and to participate in society

(Programme for International Student Assessment, PISA, 2006).

Phonic: a method of teaching reading and spelling based upon the phonic interpretation of

ordinary spelling. It is related to speech sounds.

Syllable: one or more letters representing a unit of spoken language consisting of a single

uninterrupted sound.

Syllabic method: it is a method of breaking words into syllabus. For instance, individual- in-di-

vi-dual, etc.

Organization of the Study

The research is presented in five different chapters. Chapter one deals with the background of the

study; the statement of the problem; the purpose of the study; the research questions; the

significance of the study; limitations; delimitations; and the organization of the study. The

second chapter talks about literature reviews, which deal with the views of scholars and some

authors on the topic. The third chapter discusses methods and instruments used in gathering

information. Chapter four gives more details on the findings of the study and the analysis of the

data obtained. The final chapter of the project is chapter five, which deals with the

summarization of findings, the conclusion, recommendations, and suggestions for further study.
 CHAPTER TWO

REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE

Introduction

This chapter deals with the reviews of related Literature of the Study. It examines the theoretical

and empirical reviews of the study.

Theories of Reading

The traditional/bottom-up approach to reading was influenced by behaviorist psychology of the

1950s, which claimed learning was based upon "habit formation, brought about the repeated

association of a stimulus with a response" and Language learning was characterized as a

"response system that humans acquire through automatic conditioning processes", where "some

patterns of language are reinforced (rewarded) and other are not" and "only those patterns

reinforced by the community of language users will persist " (Omaggio, 1993). Behaviorism

became the basis of the audio-lingual method, which sought to form second language "habit"

through drilling, repetition and error correction.

Today, the main method associated with the bottom-up approach to reading is known as phonics,

which requires the learner to match letters with sounds in a defined sequence. According to this

view, reading is a linear process by which the reader decodes a text word by word, linking the

word into phrases and then sentence. Gray and Royers cited in Kucer, (1987). According to

Samuels and Kamil (1988), the emphasis on behaviorurism treated reading as a word -

recognition response to the stimuli of the printed word where " little attempt was made to explain

what went on within the recesses of the mind that allowed the human to make sense of the

printed page”. In other words, textual comprehension involves adding the meaning of words to
get the meaning of clues (Anderson 1994). These lower-level skills are connected with

recognizing and recalling.

Like the audio-visual teaching method, phonics emphasizes repetition and drills using the sounds

that make words. Information is received and processed, beginning with the smallest sound unit

and proceeding to letter blends, words, phrases, and sentences. Thus, novice readers acquire a set

of hierarchically ordered sub-skills that sequentially build toward comprehension ability. Having

mastered these skills, readers are viewed as experts who comprehend what they read. The

bottom-up model describes information flow as a series of stages that transform the input and

pass it to the next stage without any feedback or the possibility of later stages of the process

influencing earlier stages (Stanovich, 1980). In other words, language is viewed as a code and

the reader's main task is to identify graphemes and cover them into phonemes.

Consequently, readers are regarded as passive recipients of information in the text. Meaning

resides in the text and the reader has to reproduce it. The English as a second language (ESL)

and English as a first language (EFL) textbooks influenced by this perspective include exercises

that focus on literal comprehension and give little or no importance to the reader's knowledge or

experience with the subject matter, and the only interaction is with the basic building blocks of

sounds and words. Most activities are based on recognition and recall of lexical and grammatical

forms, with an emphasis on the perceptual and deciding dimension. This reading model has

almost always been criticized as insignificant and defective, owing to its reliance on formal

features of the language, primarily words and structure. Although it is possible to accept this

rejection because of the over-reliance on structure in this viewpoint, it must be admitted that

knowledge of linguistic features is also required for comprehension to occur. To counteract the

over-reliance on form in the traditional view of reading, the cognitive view was introduced.
Cognitive Theory (Top-Down processing)

In the 1960s a paradigm shift occurred in the cognitive sciences. Behaviorism became somewhat

discredited as the new cognitive theory represented the mind's innate capacity for tearing, which

gave new explanatory power to how humans acquired their first language, this also had a

tremendous impact on the field of ESL/EFL as Psycholinguists explained: "how such internal

representations of the foreign language development within the learners‟ mind" (Omaggio,

1993). Ausubel, (Cited in Omaggio, 1993,) made an important distinction between meaningful

learning and rote. An example of rote learning is simply memorizing lists of isolated words or

rules in a new language, where the information becomes temporary and subject to lose.

Meaningful learning on the other hand occurs when new information is presented in a relevant

context and is related to what the learner already knows so that it can be easily integrated into

one's existing cognitive structure. Learning that is not meaningful will not become permanent.

This emphasis on meaning eventually informed the top-down approach to L2 learning, and in the

1960s and 1970s, there was an explosion of teaching methods and activities that strongly

considered the experience and knowledge of the learner.

These new cognitive and top-down processing approaches revolutionized the conception of the

way students learn to read (Smith, 1994). In this view, reading is not just extracting meaning

from a text but a process of connecting information in the text with the knowledge the reader

brings to the act of reading. In this sense, reading is a dialogue between the reader and the text

which involves an active cognitive process in which the reader's background knowledge plays a

key role in the creation of meaning (Thermey and Pearson, 1994). Reading is not a passive

mechanical activity but purposeful and rational dependent on the prior knowledge and

expectation of the reader. It is not merely a matter of decoding print to sound but also a matter of
making sense of written language (Smith, 1994). In short, reading is a psycholinguistic guessing

game, a process in which readers sample the text, make hypotheses, confirm or reject them,

make new hypotheses, and so forth.

Schema Theory

Another closely related to top-down processing called Schema theory also had a major impact on

reading instruction. It describes in detail how background knowledge, plays a fundamental role

in one's trial to comprehend a text. Schema theory is based on the notion that past experience led

to the creation mental framework that helps a reader make sense of new experiences. Smith

(1994), calls schemas the "extensive representations of more general patterns or regularities that

occur in our experience". For instance, one's generic schema of an airplane he has not previously

flown with. This means that past experiences will be related to new experiences, which may

include the knowledge of procedures for retrieving, organizing and interpreting information"

(Kucer, 1987).

Anderson 1994,) presents research showing that recall of information in a text is affected by the

reader's schemata and explains that " a reader comprehends a message when he is able to bring to

mind a schema that gives an account of the object and events described in the message".

Comprehension is the process of "activating or contracting a schema that provides a coherent

explanation of object and events mentioned in a discourse" (Anderson, 1994). For Anderson and

Pearson (1999), Comprehension is the interaction between old and new information. They

emphasized. "To say that one has comprehended a text is to say that she has found a mental

'home' for the information in the text, or else that she has modified an existing mental home in

order to accommodate that new information". Therefore, a learner's Schemata will restructure
itself to accommodate that new information as that information is added to the system (Omaggio,

1993).

Content and Formal Schemata

Schema theories differentiate formal schemata (knowledge about the structure of a text) from

content schemata (knowledge about the subject matter of a text) and a reader's prior knowledge

of both schemata enables him to predict events and meaning as well as to understand meaning

from a wider context. Formal Schemata refers to the way that text differ from one another, for

example, a reading text could be a fictional work, a letter to the editor, or a scientific essay, and

each genre will have a different structural organization knowledge of these structures can aid

reading comprehension, as it gives readers a basis for predicting what a text will be like (Smith,

1994).

For example, if a reader knows that, the typical format of a research article consists of sections

subtitled introduction, theoretical basis, methods, results, discussion, and conclusion that

knowledge will facilitate their interaction with the article and boost comprehension. On the other

hand, if he is not familiar with this formal schema, teaching it to him could lead to improved

reading ability with lasting and beneficial effects. Content Schemata refers to the message of the

text one's familiarity with the content will make it more productive and efficient. As Anderson

(1994) explains, "A reader comprehends a message when he is able to bring to mind a schema

that given an account of the objects and events described in the message".

Activating and Building Schemata

Since the reader plays a fundamental role in the construction of meaning, his age gender,

experience, and culture are important considerations for teachers who want to select reading that
will motivate their students. Anderson (1994) notes that when readers cannot locate a schema

that fits a text, they may find it incomprehensible. In some cases, readers may not have a schema

that is significant to the text, or they may need help to activate the pertinent schema to be able to

comprehend the text. In such cases may not be possible for the reader to understand the text and

the teacher must be ready to engage in “building new background knowledge as well as

activating existing background knowledge" (Cerrell, 1988). In parallel with this, Bransford

(1994) points out that difficulties in comprehension may be caused by the lack of background

knowledge presumed by the text, and he sees the responsibility of integrating isolated "parcels"

of knowledge into a schema or building a new one.

If the texts to be read contain a cultural context that is different from the student‟s, the issues of

formal and content schemata become even more important. MC Donough (1995), explains that,

to a higher extent, this is the reason why ESL and EFL students find it difficult to read in a

second language of the target culture. They may lack the culture-specific background knowledge

necessary to process the text in a top-down manner. His reports on several studies demonstrate

how people outside a given culture may misunderstand events with unfamiliar cultural

connotations. (Students from different cultural backgrounds taking standardized tests which

assume common schemata will also face the same problem).

Applying Schema Theory to L2 Reading

Based on the aforementioned ideas, it is obvious that in order to teach reading effectively, the

teacher's role to activate and build Schemata is paramount. To achieve it, he should in advance,

select texts that are relevant to the student's needs, preferences, individual differences, and

cultures in order to provide meaningful texts so that the students understand the message which
entails activating existing schemata and helping build new schemata. Then, after selecting the

text, he needs to do the following three stages of activities to activate and build the students‟

schemata.

1. Pre-reading activities in which the teacher has students think, write and discuss everything

they know about the topic, employing techniques such as prediction, semantic mapping, and

reconciled reading. The objective is to make sure that students have the relevant schema for

understanding the text.

2. During reading activities in which the teacher guide and monitor the interaction between the

reader and the text. One important skill a teacher can impart at this stage is note-talking,

which allows students to compile new vocabulary and important information in detail and

summarize information and record their reactions and opinions.

3. post-reading activities facilitate the chance to evaluate student adequacy of interpretation

while bearing in mind that accuracy is relative and that "readership" must be respected as

long as the writer's intentions are addressed (Tierney and Pearson, 1994). Post-reading

activities focus on a wide range of questions that allow for different interpretations while

schema activation and building can occur in all three stages, the pre-reading stage deserves

special attention since it is here, during the student's initial contact with the text, where their

schemata will be activated.

The Metacognitive Theory

According to Block (1992), there is no more debate on "whether" reading is a bottom-up,

language-based process". It is also no more problematic to accept the influence of background

knowledge on readers research has gone even further to define the control executed by readers
on their trial to understand as mental cognition. In the context of reading, mental cognition

involves thinking about what one is doing while reading, strategic readers do not only sample the

text but also make hypotheses conform to or reject them and make new hypotheses while

reading. They also involve many activities along the process of reading, whose stages can be

divided into three, i.e., before reading, while reading, and after reading. The activities, the

readers involve before reading are to identify the purpose of the reading, identify the form or

type of the text in the second stage (while reading), they think about the general character and

features of the form or type of the text such as trying to locate a topic sentence and follow

supporting details toward a conclusion, project the author's purpose for writing the text, choose,

scan or read in details, make continuous predictions about what will occur next based on

information obtained earlier, prior knowledge and conclusions obtained within the previous

stages. Finally, in the last stage, they attempt to form a summary, conclude, or make inferences

about what was read.

Meaning of Reading

Reading can be seen as the process of understanding linguistic messages. In other words, it can

be explained as the process of retrieving and comprehending some form of stored information or

ideas. According to Asamoah (2008), "Reading is a process of identifying written words and

extracting meaning from them. Michigan (2012) also defines reading as "the process of

constructing meaning through existing knowledge, the information, suggested by the text and

context of the situation. Michigan continues to explain that reading involves the communication

of a message between another and a reader. The meaning constituted by the reader is dependent

to a large extent on the relationship between the author and the purpose for reading. For a reader
to understand the main idea of a text, it depends largely on the interactions among factors such as

the reader's familiarity with the words and the purpose of the reading, the context, and the

structure of the text. Ulrich (2007) wrote that "Reading is on externally guided thinker". He

further stated that reading involves sophistication and cognitive and linguistic skills.

From the view of the authors above, one could note that reading is an activity in which one

engages in order to get information or meaning from written text. One can attract to the fact that

for one to effectively get the meaning of a text read, he/she has to process certain skills and

qualities. According to Clay and Moore, (2006) the ability to read is based on recertifying words

and extracting information from a given passage. Reading is more than seeing words clearly,

more correctly, more understandably, and recognizing the meaning of isolated words it requires

you to think, feel and imagine what is been read. Hence, effective reading is purposeful. The use

of one's reading largely determines what he/she reads, why he/she reads, and how he/she reads.

Detail studies also show that there are at least four dimensions of the reading act namely, the

perception of words, which consists of both meaning and pronunciation, a clear grasp of the

sense of the meaning of a passage, and supplementary meaning that are implied but not started.

Also appreciated, imaginative reactions and the ideas required are included.

The implication of these explanations is that reading is a complex process of identification,

recognition, perception, mental integration, and application of a written language development

that plays an important role in the lives of every individual and must be encouraged. According

to Brutin (2013), dyslexia is a language based on learning disabilities. Dyslexia refers to a cluster

of symptoms that result in people having difficulties with specific language skills, particularly

reading. Students with dyslexia often experience difficulties with both oral and written other

language skills such as writing and pronouncing words.

Causes of Poor Reading Skills

Poor reading skills among pupils are a general problem in schools and the country as a whole.

McCullough (1978) said, "Poor reading skills is a strange paradox in a country where reputation

is one of leadership and industry". Karl, (1975) classified the causes of reading failures under

three factors.

Physical factors: Vision and hearing difficulties especially among pupils in schools,

farsightedness, and eye imbalance might also interrupt the child's ability to read. Defects in

hearing activity may lead to the improper association of spoken words and written symbols.

Unless children are suffering from severe vision and hearing loss, it would seem that they could

not be a significant relationship between spoken sounds and the ability to recognize words.

Children who can recognize initial and final consonant rhyming words and separate sounds in

spoken words have less trouble learning to identify words than children who are weak in those

abilities.

General Health

While no direct relationship may be said to exist between disabilities and physical health, it is

obvious that poor health can and does interfere with learning. Since learning to read is a difficult

undertaking for children, any condition that adds to the difficulty should be examined. Children

who suffer from malnutrition, frequent colds, and any other serious conditions are not free to

give the necessary attention it requires. Attention and restlessness in class, combined with

frequent absence due to illness are known to create hardship that can have a direct bearing on the

progress that children make in reading.

Brain Damage

Children who have suffered actual brain damage at birth from diseases or from accidents often

show an inability to perceive word symbols. In these cases, there is a confusion of figures and

ground that affects children's perception of letters and results, in interference with word

recognition. The ability to remember sequences of letters and words could be a factor in learning

to read. Weakness in this ability might be related to an inability to perceive details for reasons

either innate or external.

Social-cultural factors: Children from high social-economic classes are far better readers than

children who do not share the same background.

School factors: Some School administrators have contributed to the reading problem by failing

to give teachers the support they need. They burden teachers with duties that have no relationship

with instruction tasks; they allow classes to become unreasonably large so that teachers lose

confidence in their ability to provide teaching resources, in-service assistance, and leadership.

Effects of Poor Reading Abilities

According to researchers at Wake Forest University, Baptist Medical Centre in Salem, (2006)

gave out the following as effects of poor reading abilities.

1. Children with reading difficulties are more likely to drop out of school as compared to

their colleagues who are able to read.

2. Poor reading ability affect pupils‟ performance in other subject areas.

3. Pupils‟ fluency skills are reduced tremendously as reading calls for communication.

4. Finally, pupils‟ communication skills such as listening and speaking are also retarded

since it creates low performance in other subject areas.

Phonics

Researchers interpret “phonics” in various ways. Alexander and Heathigton (1988) indicate that

phonics the is “association of specific sounds with specific symbols”. According to Adams

(1994), phonics is a system of teaching correspondences between letters or groups of letters and

their pronunciation. Harris and Hodges (1995) define phonics as “a way of teaching, reading and

spelling those stresses symbol-sound relationships (as cited in Roskin and Podak, 2001). Cooper

(2000) specifies phonics as “the study of the relationships between the speech sounds

(phonemes) and the letters (graphemes) that represent them”. For Rubin (2002), phonics is “an

important pronunciation strategy”, because it teaches pupils how to sound out printed words.

Minskoff (2005) states that phonics “helps solve the mystery of the relationships between written

letters and sounds they make”. Mesmer and Griffith (2005) refer “phonics” to teaching learners

the relationships between letters and the sounds” and how to use this system to recognize

words”. The importance of phonics cannot be downplayed. The NRP (2000) includes phonics as

one of the five essential elements that help pupils become readers step by step.

Essential Elements in Reading

The five essential elements are phonemic awareness, phonics, vocabulary, fluency, and

comprehension. NRP (2000) restates the importance of phonics by indicating that pupils who

learn phonics rules can become better readers than those who do not. With an emphasis on the

knowledge of the letter-sound relationship, phonics can facilitate pupils reading performance,

especially in decoding and spelling skills relationships. Phonics instruction plays an essential

part in early literacy development. As Sawyer (1999) indicates, phonics instruction is “a

traditional method of teaching reading”. Additionally, the NRP (2000) finds that phonics
instruction programs have been used in the early stages of reading instruction as well as in the

remedial programs. Blevins (1998) also advocates that phonics instruction can help young pupils

learn to read and it is especially useful for pupils who are having reading problems. With phonics

knowledge, pupils are able to decode words whose spellings mostly follow letter-sound

relationships. The NRP (2000) adds that „the focus of phonics instruction is on improving pupils‟

ability to read and spell words”. In the process of reading pupils need to decode words into

spoken language because “reading is primarily phonological (Gunning, 2000).

Phonics Instruction and Poor Readers

Failing to master phonics is usually the primary reason to cause reading problems (Alexander &

Heathington 1988; Gunning, 2002). Blevins, (1998) points out that “most poor readers have

weak phonics skills and strategy imbalance. According to Gaskin, (2005) with little phonics

knowledge, poor readers see strings of alphabet letters and meaningless symbols. For poor

readers, a passage may become a string of codes (Adams, 1994). It needs to be noted that most

poor readers may not gain any progress in reading performance if they don‟t receive any

intervention programs on time (Blevins, 1998).

Gunning (2000) notes that without timely and proper intervention, these poor readers may

remain poor readers throughout their lifetime. Poor readers cannot become fluent readers or

writers as they don‟t know how to apply phonics rules appropriately Adams, (1994) and they

usually perform weekly decoding and spelling (Lipson & Wixson, 2003). An intervention

program to reinforce their knowledge of letter-sound relationships is necessary (Blevins, 1998;

Gunning, 2002) and phonics instruction is the solution. Cooper (2000) suggests that “effective

readers should be explicitly taught letter-sound associations (phonics) as a significant part of

their beginning reading program”. Adams, (1994) point out that phonics instruction indeed

results in significant successes for lower achieving readers. Gaskin, (2005), Hill, (1999), and the

NRP (2000) review a number of related studies and conclude that phonics instruction is applied

in most successful reading intervention programs. In addition, they find that most successful

intervention programs for poor readers usually adopt explicit and systematic phonics instruction.

The NRP (2000) states that explicit and systematic phonics instruction helps poor readers with

their decoding and spelling skills. Explicit phonics instruction teaches pupils to map letters onto

sounds directly and in isolation (Blevins, 1998). Pupils first learn to recognize letters and know

their corresponding sounds blend sounds to make words and later read connected text.

Systematic phonics instruction follows a logical order and usually starts from the easier to the

more complex rules (Blevins. 1998; Gunning, 2000; Hill, (1999). Teachers usually begin with

short vowel sounds before long vowel sounds. They may combine „cvc‟ word for pupils to

practice at early stages. There are also stages at which poor readers encounter learning

difficulties (Blevins, 1998; Gamberell, & Grantt, 1981). The NRP (2000) finds that systematic

phonics instruction can exert the most effects on improving pupils decoding skills of regularly

spelled words and nonsense words. Some researchers suggest several principles for teachers in

designing phonics-based intervention programs (Blevins, 1998; Gunning, 2002; Hill, (1999);

Donnel & Wood, 1999):

1. Phonics instruction should be given when students need it most and have to be tailored to

meet individual needs (Blevins, 1998; Gunning, 2002)

2. Phonics instruction is advisable to teach one sound at a time when teaching sounds to

students with poor reading performance (Hill, 1999).

3. Phonics instruction needs to develop pupils‟ concept of the alphabetic principle (letter-

sound relationships) and be delivered based on the knowledge of alphabetic principles

and phonemic awareness (Blevins, 1998; Hill, 1999; Donnel & Wood, 1999).

4. During the intervention period, constant assessments must be conducted in order to

understand pupils learning progress, including their decoding and spelling skills (Blevins,

1998; Gunning, 2002; Hill, (1999).; Donnel & Wood, 1999).

5. Learning phonics rules cannot be the whole part of the intervention program: phonics

instruction should be integrated into a whole reading program. That is, phonics rules are

taught to facilitate pupils‟ decoding and spelling skills and understanding of texts. Pupils

cannot be simply forced to memorize these rules (Blevins, 1998; Gunning, 2002; Hill,

(1999).

6. Teachers teaching methods need to be consistent because different methods may easily

confuse poor readers (Blevins, 1998).

7. Similar to other reading intervention programs, effective phonics instruction may provide

poor readers with successful experiences (Clarifield, & Storner, 2005).

8. Effective phonics instruction delivered in an intervention program needs to be different

from a program where a child has failed and it should be interesting and motivational

(Blevins, 1998).
 Chapter Summary

Neisser (1987) said 'literate societies reward readers more with a higher social status and gender

economic benefits than those who are illiterate'. This simply means poor readers are hardly

respected or accorded the needed respect due to them. Again, from the point raised by Neisser

(1987), it can also be affirmed that people with reading difficulties find it difficult to even get a

job. This may stem from the fact that their inability to read will deny them the opportunity of

getting to know the availability of job opportunities in the first place.

 CHAPTER THREE

RESEARCH METHODS

Introduction

This chapter of the research clearly focused on the design of the study. These are research

design, population and sample, sampling techniques, research instrument, intervention, data

collection procedure, and data analysis plan.

Research Design

The design used in this study is action research. Action research is a research activity in which

the researcher works hand in hand with other people to solve perceived problems. It is an

approach that aims at improving a problem related to a situation through change (Quainoo and

Bosuah, 2007). It can also be described as an inquiry conducted into a particular issue of current

concern usually undertaken by those directly involved with the aim of implementing a change in

a specific situation. Action research was used because it is used to solve problems in the

educational system usually within a short period. It also encourages teachers to be aware of their

own practices and to be critical and prepared to change.

Every research design has its own strengths and weaknesses and action research is no exception.

Below are some of the strengths and weaknesses of action research. According to (Ampomah,

2013), action research helps teachers to understand what actually goes on in teaching and

learning situations. It also enhances teachers‟ professional status and also promotes teachers‟

personal development and the improvement of their practices. It serves as an effective tool for

teachers to evaluate their teaching effectively. It also equips teachers with the various approaches

that suit the children they teach and findings from action research provide teachers with the
opportunity of acquiring a better understanding of all aspects of their practices in relation to

subject content, the curriculum, and the teaching methods appropriate to the level of the pupils in

the class. Despite the above-mentioned strengths of action research, there are weaknesses

associated with it. One of them is that it is only confirmed to problems that hinder classroom

teaching and learning. The finding of action research cannot be applied to a number of areas

because it is only concerned with finding solutions to specific problems which are identified.

Population

The target population is basic five (5) pupils of Bampata M/A Basic School in the Asante Akim

South District who have difficulties in reading.

Sample and Sampling Procedure

The sample size was thirty-four (34), comprising fourteen (15) males and ten (19) females. The

purposive sampling technique was used to select all thirty-four (34) pupils of basic five (5) for

the study. The reason for using the whole class was that virtually all the pupils were unable to

read fluently.

Research Instruments

Various instruments were used to collect data for the study. These include; Observation,

Interview, and Test.

Observation

The diagnosis of the problem began with the use of observation of the pupils in the class. The

class teacher or the mentor and the pupils were observed. Pupils‟ were observed during their

reading lessons for some time and this has made it possible for me to gather accurate data on the

pupils‟ strengths and weaknesses in reading in general.

Interview

The next technique employed to collect information about the subject under study was an

interview. Using this technique, verbal questions for data collection were adopted. The

technique was used in a direct attempt or face–to–face to obtain reliable information. I

conducted a face–to–face interview with the pupils. This medium was used to collect data to

answer research question one.

Test

The last technique employed to gather information about the subject under study was the test. A

test is a series of activities given to pupils to judge the wealth of teaching methods and the

understanding rate of learners. It is used to indicate how much pupils have learned about things

that had been taught. Here, the test was used to find out the extent of the problem and how an

effective intervention was designed addresses the identified problem. This technique was used

first to find out the extent to which pupils were unable to read and pronounce some words and

also to answer research question three.

Data Collection Procedure

Pre-intervention process

To diagnose further, a passage from the pupils‟ textbook was given to them to read one after the

other to find out how well they could read accurately. Just as with the other tools pre-test was

conducted on the pupils to know the general problem of reading prior to the interventions. The

outcome of their performances shows that genuinely their pupils reading skills were very low

hence the need to implore This made the aforementioned strategies “Phonic (Word-Attack) and

Syllabic Approaches” to teaching reading.

Intervention

I used the syllabic method of teaching pronunciation to enhance pupils‟ pronunciation abilities.

This is a method that allows pupils to break long and difficult words into syllables for easy

pronunciation. I used the first week to teach sounds of the letters of the alphabet and some simple

words.

Week One and two

Phonic Method

In the first week, pupils were taught about the various sounds of the letters, and some selected

words were written boldly on the chalkboard. This was first done with four and five-letter

words. Below words that were used;

 beat …………………… /bi:t/

 abide ………………….. /∂‟baid/

 Core …………………… / k‫כ‬: and k‫כ‬:r/

  dream ………………….. /dri:m/

 exact ……………………/Ig‟zækt/

 fame ………………… /feim/

 gate …………………. /geit/

 halve ………………… /ha:v and hæv/

 knead ………………... /ni:d/

 knee ………………… /ni:/

After taking pupils through several times, the majority of them were able to pronounce some

words correctly. The next method used was the sentence technique. This was selected to help the

pupils read short sentences guided by pictures. This method shows fast progress, and within a

short time, pupils learned to read many short sentences that they will need to speak in everyday

life situations. The sentences were copied from the pupils‟ English textbook "The Gateway",

with the sentences under the pictures, making it very easy to read. For example,

 „This is a dog‟ (under the picture of a dog)

 „Priscilla is eating‟ (under the picture denoting the activity)

 „These are birds‟ (under the picture of birds)

 „Osaa and Aboagye are laughing‟ (under the picture denoting the activity)

 „She is cooking‟ (under the picture denoting the activity‟

 „They are reading‟ (under the picture denoting the activity)

 „The book is on the table (under the picture of a book on a table)

Again, letter cards were used to help the pupils pronounce words using the sounds of the letters.

Pieces of cardboard paper were cut into square shapes with individual letters of the alphabet

written on each boldly. I pick a letter card and pronounce the sound of the letter on it for pupils
to repeat. A group of letters was assembled to form a word and pronounced aloud to the students,

who imitated by repeating the words on the cards. For example:

C R E A M

B E A T

A B I D E

T O R C H

A C K N O W L E D G E

Week three and four

Syllabic Method

The syllabic method is another method used to help pupils read letters put together to make

syllables. The words were selected from passages in the Easy Learning English Language

textbook for basic five (5) pupils. Some of the words are husband, helpless, identified, strange,

etc. After teaching the syllables, some words were selected, and pupils were asked to break them

into various syllables. This was done through my guidance. For example:

 Husband …………………………. Hus – band

 Helpless ………………………….. Help – less

 Identify ………………………….. I – den – ti – fy

 Strange …………………………... Stran – ge

 Return …………………………… Re – turn

 Children …………………………. Chil – dren

 Illness ……………………………. Ill – ness

  Clouded …………………………. Clou – ded

 Everything ………………………. E – very – thing

 Intense …………………………… In – tense

The last method was a reading test, which was a device used during the diagnostic stage of the

intervention. The reading test was done to determine the extent of progress. The pupils were

asked to read a given test and answer some questions based on it. This was conducted in order to

test the pupils' reading and comprehension skills, as well as to check the effectiveness of the

pupils‟ reading ability and how they understood the questions on it. Some of the activities

conducted were on the comprehension topic "Weep Not Child".

After a careful explanation of the teaching and learning materials, the pupils were able to answer

the questions given. Pupils were advised to read any material they might come across and also

ask their friends who are good to help them whenever they are in difficulty.

Post-Intervention

Post-intervention is the stage where all strategies planned have been implemented. The outcome

can either be an improvement or not. After putting the strategies outlined in the work into

practice, the pupils were re-assessed to find out whether some improvements had been made.

This was done through the reading of a passage and the decoding of its meaning by the pupils.

Again, they were made to spell words and verbally pronounce them to the hearing of the whole

class. The post-test results are presented in chapter four.

Data analysis plan

Basic descriptive statistics comprising frequency distribution and percentages were used to

analyze the data collected.

 CHAPTER FOUR

RESULTS, FINDINGS, AND DISCUSSION

Introduction

This chapter presents the results of the analysis of data obtained from the respondents (pupils) on

their reading ability. It presents first the bio-data and the results of the pre-test, and secondly, the

results with respect to the research questions.

Table 1: Distribution of Respondents by Gender

Gender No. %

Female 19 59

Male 15 41

Total 34 100

Source: Field Data, 2022

Table 1 shows that majority of the respondents who participated in the study were

females.

Table 2: Pre–Test Scores of pupils

Marks No. of pupils Percentage (%)

0–2 9 26

3–4 21 62

5–7 4 12

8 – 10 0 00

Total 34 100

Source: Field Data, 2022

Table 2 shows the marks obtained by students prior to the interventions (pre-test), which were

administered in the form of sentence dictation to 34 students who made up the sample size and

the entire class of five (5). Out of 34 pupils, 9 pupils representing (26%) scored marks ranging

from 0 to 2, 21 pupils representing (62%) obtained marks ranging from 3 to 4, and 4 pupils

representing (12%) obtained marks ranging from 5 to 7. None of them obtained marks between 8

and 10. It is clear from table 2 that pupils‟ performances prior to the intervention were very poor,

and it shows enough evidence that the pupils in the class really have a problem with reading

simple words from their English textbooks. After the interventions, pupils were once again tested

in the form of a post-test to find out the effect of using phonic (Word-Attack) and syllabic

approaches, and the results have been presented in table 5.

Responses to research question one

What are the general causes of a pupil’s inability to reading simple words?

This question sought to find out the factors that may contribute to the pupils‟ inability to read

words and sentences in more phonetically acceptable ways. At times, one may pronounce a word

with R and the sound may appear to be L, and this may distort the meaning of the word. In

communication, one could understand the meaning of the word based on the sound of the word,

so if the meaning is distorted phonetically, it makes it difficult for the one at the recipient end to

understand the meaning of the message. The responses of the few interviewed pupils have been

presented in table 3.
Table 3: Distribution of pupils Responses on their reading ability

Items Responses

N= 34 Yes n (%) No n (%)

Do you have interest in reading? 27 (79) 7 (21)

Are you able to read all the words

in your English language textbook? 13 (38) 21 (62)

Do your teachers guide and encourage

you to read? 15 (42) 19 (58)

Do you get access to reading books from

school library 9 (26) 25 (74)

Have you ever been punished for not speaking

English on campus by your teacher before 14 (41) 20 (59)

Source: Field Data, 2022

On the measure of the factors that may impede pupils‟ ability to read fluently, results from Table

3 show that 27 respondents (79%) agreed that they have an interest in reading at their leisure,

while only 7 respondents (21%) responded that they do not read at their leisure time. Concerning

the question on their ability to read all the words in their textbooks, 21 representing (61%) of the

respondents said no. Only 13 representing (39%) of the respondents agreed with the statement.

Nineteen (19) pupils representing (58%) reported that they have ever been encouraged by their

teachers to read. Only a hand full of 15 pupils representing (42%) said that they have never been

encouraged by their teachers to read. On the question on access to reading materials in the

school, 25 pupils (79%) said that they rarely go to the school library to read due to a lack of
reading materials in the school library, but 9 pupils (21%) said yes to the statement. Regarding

the punishment for not speaking English on campus, 20 respondents (59%) admitted that they

were ever punished by their teacher for not speaking English on campus. The responses show

that the majority of the pupils were not encouraged by the school authorities to speak the

language on campus, there are inadequate reading materials in the school library, and also a lack

of punishment to encourage the pupils to speak the language. Thus, the problems were identified

to be the failure on the part of the teachers to encourage pupils to speak English on campus.

To what extent will the use of phonic and syllabic methods improve pupils’ performance in

reading in general? After applying the appropriate interventions, pupils were once more tested to

verify the effectiveness of the interventions. Pupils were read aloud in the classroom to

determine the extent to which pupils improved their pronunciation and reading skills. This

reading-aloud exercise took the form of a post-test to determine the number of pupils who could

perform above the average mark of five. The results of the test are presented in Table 5.

Table 5: Post–Test Scores of pupils

Marks No. of Pupils Percentage (%)

0–2 0 0

3–4 4 12

5–7 16 47

8 – 10 14 41

Total 34 100

Source: Field Data, 2022

Table 5 shows pupils‟ performance and marks obtained in a class test after the intervention,

„Phonic (Word-Attack) and Syllabic Approaches', to resolve pupils‟ problems in reading skills.

A test (post-test) was conducted, and it took the form of a read-aloud. Out of 34 pupils, no one

scored between 0 to 2, 4 pupils representing (12%) scored between 3 to 4, 16 pupils representing

(47%) scored between 5 and 7, and finally, 4 pupils representing (41%) scored between 8 to 10.

The average score for both the pre-test and post-test was 5, and the number of students who

performed above average at the pre-test was 4, representing 12%, while 30 students, representing

88%, performed above average at the post-test. It was clear that pupils' performance in reading

after using phonic (Word-Attack) and syllabic approaches had improved with a difference of

76%; this, by implication, means that the use of phonic (Word-Attack) and syllabic approaches

in teaching reading skills could help the pupils to have an interest in reading and also be more

proficient in reading.
 CHAPTER FIVE

SUMMARY, CONCLUSIONS, AND RECOMMENDATIONS

Overview of the Study

The purpose of the study was to help class five (5) pupils of Bompata M/A Basic School

improve their reading skills. The study was mainly action research. Twenty-four pupils were

selected for the study. Purposive sampling was used to select five (5) pupils for the study. The

instruments used in collecting data were interviews and tests. The data was analyzed using

frequencies and percentages.

Summary of the Main Findings

The main findings of the study are as follows.

1. The outcome of the pre-test revealed that as many as 20 (83%) of the pupils in the class

were suffering from an inability to read fluently and also pronounce some words due to

the error in the sound of the words (phonetics) when speaking in the class and school at

large.

2. The study also revealed that the teachers in the schools rarely teach their pupils phonetics

as part of their lesson delivery. The few interviews granted to the pupils revealed that

teachers were not taking notice of the sounds of the words being used by the pupils when

communicating in order to assist them in correcting their mistakes.

3. It was also revealed that most of the pupils were not provided with the needed reading

materials such as English textbooks and supplementary books, and this perhaps accounts

for their inability to read fluently.

4. It was also found that about 20 (83%) performed above the average marks of 5 after the

interventions. Thus, the use of phonics in English lessons should be encouraged as a

means of helping pupils to learn the sound system, which is an important element in

reading coherently.
 CONCLUSIONS

The findings from the study indicate that in order to improve one‟s reading skills by making

reading more attractive to the basic pupils, one has to adopt the use of phonic (word-attack) and

syllabic methods in teaching the subject English language in general and reading in particular.
 RECOMMENDATIONS

Based on the findings of the study the following recommendations were made.

1. The Ghana Education Service should organise periodic in-service training for teachers in

basic schools concerning how to use appropriate methods in teaching the English language

in general and reading in particular.

2. It is also recommended that the class teachers should not rely on their personal experience

but also try and use supplementary books alongside the course books for teaching English

in the school.

3. Parents should do their best to provide their wards with relevant reading materials to

enhance their pronunciation and reading skills.

4. Finally, teachers need to be supervised by the appropriate stakeholders in education to

make sure that they teach everything prescribed by the syllabus to avoid the assumption

that pupils can learn certain things on their own.

Suggestions for future study

The following are recommended for future study

1. The study should be replicated in other classes as a means to help the pupils

improve their reading skills.

2. It is also suggested that future researchers should investigate the effect of using

phonic (word-attack) and syllabic methods in teaching parts of speech.

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