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Phonological Awareness in English Language Learners

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The effects of English Phonological awareness in the ESL/EFL reading abilities

Ximena Naranjo

Kansas State University

November , 2014

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Spanish Phonological and Morphological Awareness in English Language Learners

The effects of English Phonological awareness in the ESL/EFL reading abilities

Introduction and Rationale

The wide use of English as a means of communication has made it a dominant language

in most of the human areas like business, sports, politics, medicine, education, and traveling, etc.

Therefore, the increasing presence of English as a second or foreign language course (ESL-EFL)

in the curriculum of several countries around the world is notable as part of the process of

educating students to face the new challenges of the world.

One of the five domains that are stated in the Ecuadorian in-service English teachers´

standards requires the English instructors to improve understanding of the language as a system

of communication. Teachers need to apply different theories of language acquisition looking for

new ways of teaching to their students to help them meet the criteria defined in the Ecuadorian

ESL curriculum to achieve a “B1” which is that a student has competent proficiency and can

understand and respond to clear speech on familiar topics. “B1” level also allows students

express orally or written in simple connected text on a familiar topic at the end of high school,

according to the “Common European Framework (Jenny, 2012).

Therefore, a well oriented process of second language acquisition will enable students to

develop the language components (phonology, morphology, syntax, semantics, and pragmatics)

for clear communication, which is the ultimate goal for learning a language. The language

acquisition process goes through a series of stages where the person gathers, compares, and uses

the sounds and symbols that will be included in effective communication. However, this new

language experience is affected by the systemic differences of both languages when choosing

vocabulary, placing terms in different orders, or pronouncing words due to the in existence of

certain sounds unique in each language. Additionally, it is interesting to see how first language

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interferes in second language when asking questions, using irregular verbs, and inserting

prepositions in a context of meaningful communication, especially if the sounds´ systems of both

languages are different (Odlin, 1989) like the case of English and Spanish.

This is a common problem in students who are studying a second language in my country.

Hence, lack of fluency may be related to Spanish interference in the process of second language

learning. Several authors have indicated that not only the systemic differences of languages cause

interference, but other factors, like the literacy instruction, the level of individual´s education, and

the amount of exposure to the second language (Apeli & Ugwu, 2013; Andrea, 2003). Even

though these conclusions apply to the educational context with the limitations of the regional

differences, it is too broad to include all of these areas in this analysis.

The benefit of this study is that English language teachers will have a better understanding

of how Spanish phonological and morphological awareness help fluency while learning English

as second language. The observation and analysis of oral and written projects using authentic

assessments will be a good basis of data collection in this purpose. Speaking and writing

activities will provide English frame for the development of phonology, morphology, syntax,

semantics, and pragmatics. Students who are in the process of second language learning will

realize how phonological and morphological awareness of the first language affect English

fluency.

Research Question

In what ways does phonological awareness affect English language reading in ESL/EFL

students?

o What speaking and writing activities are most helpful for analyzing the language

phonological and morphological awareness in students?

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o What insights can be gained about L1 language interference in both phonemic and

morphological levels?

Literature Review

Universal language factors transfer between languages, either by learning the language

naturally or through instruction. Positive or negative transfer is what determines the level of

fluency and accuracy in the use of languages (Durgunoglu & Oney, 2000) .Incidentally, second

or foreign language theories have determined the required skills for students to develop if they

want to sound natural and fluent. Likewise, ESL/EFL teachers develop linguistic abilities in their

students; these are the necessary strengths that help second language learners avoid cross

language transfer. Moreover, Durgunoglu and Oney (2000) analyze the basic cognitive abilities

that, along with home environment, help learners decode sounds and symbols as a result of the

learners’ phonological, and morphological awareness (Durgunoglu & Oney, 2000). In sum,

phonological and morphological awareness help language learners acquire codes in a more

effective way.

Enhancing student’s literacy in the process of teaching English as a foreign language is a

crucial role. Developing the students ‘abilities to understand and produce texts, using the four

language skills will determine the students awareness among the linguistic dimension which are

communication, expression and comprehension in the sociocultural context of use meaning and

significance as Byrnes (1998) states, humanistic education is not complete if there is not

profound knowledge of more than one language ( Byrnes, 1998)

What is Language Interference?

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Language interference describes the process of applying the first linguistic system into the

second while the person is trying to communicate orally or in a written form. Rolla (2003), said

language interference is a cognitive ability that can facilitate a second language processing across

their systems. Incidentally, language inference can be positive when the structures of the

language help correct production as when speakers make use of cognates which are similar units

of the language. Consequently, the use of similar patterns can decrease the time of processing in

reading comprehension because the vocabulary from the native language can convey meaning in

the second language (Odlin, 1989).

Proponents of language interference are right to argue that it is the alteration and

alternation of first and second language either for lack of proficiency or similarities of the

systems (Skiba, 2000). This process of using language codes from first language into the second

can also be negative if users of the language transfer items and structures that are not similar in

both languages for instance sound, spelling, or word order as it happens as a result of the

systemic differences between English and Spanish (Odlin, 1989). However, Friesen and Jared

(2007) consider that the transfer effects are clear depending on the situation where it is formed to

integrate the text making the language context dependent.

Phonological Awareness

Researchers have long assumed that the precursor of learning to read is the degree of

development of phonological awareness, in fact, Gillon,( 2007) states that it is the “best single

predictor of reading performance” , which is the result of exposure and training (Cardenas-

Hagan, Carlson, & Pollard-Durodola, 2007). For instance, Rolla (2003) states that phonological

awareness is an abstract cognitive ability that can facilitate linguistic processing across a variety

of languages. Cardenas (2007) considers that it refers to the ability to identify and manipulate

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units of speech, example syllables, phonemes, onset rhymes, as well as the connection between

phonology and letter sound correspondence which also provides the initial foundation where

reading writing and spelling develop (Cardenas-Hagan et al., 2007).Like it is stated in their study

“The Cross-Linguistic Transfer of Early Literacy Skills: The role of Initial L1 and L2 Skills and

Language of Instruction” where Spanish speaking students from two large urban school districts

were investigated , which results suggested that Spanish-speaking students who showed high

Spanish level of letter name and sound recognition tend to have a higher level of English letter

name and sound knowledge.

Sawyer and Fox (1991) define phonological awareness as a human ability to “reflect on and

manipulate the phonemic segments of speech” (p 2) it is suggested to be one of the four

types of metalinguistic abilities (Sawyer, Fox, 1991)

Cardenas (2007) also acknowledges that phonological awareness is a precursor for

learning to spell because as she said in her investigation, the student’s ability to read in their

second language may benefit from the development of student’s spelling skills in their first

language. The importance of phonological awareness for teachers is that it develops a deeper

understanding of the process of second language acquisition. Phonological awareness influence

the students’ literacy performance which helps to build up the basis upon which the students

ability to listen and read develop. Phonological awareness helps learners reflect upon and

manipulate sounds from different language development levels. In conclusion, it is an essential to

understand the relationship between written and spoken language; to pay attention to the relevant

units in spoken language, like words, syllables, on-set rimes and phonemes (Durgunoglu & Oney,

2000).

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Phonological awareness can be divided into levels: syllable awareness demonstrates that words

can be divided into syllables. Onset-rime awareness, which is to be conscious that the syllables

can be divided into the components. Phoneme awareness is or understand the phoneme level of a

syllable, it means the smallest part of that influences the meaning of words (Gillon, 2007).

These areas affect word recognition process

Morphological awareness

Feldman (1995) said that morphological awareness is the capacity to understand

recognize and manipulate morphemes. The awareness of morphology when developing a second

language helps learners to see word-forming elements and process changes according to their

need in communication. Teachers can apply inflection, compounding, and derivation morphology

into their classes as a means of showing how words transform. Inflection morphology refers to

the changing of words according to grammatical rules like play, plays, book, books, car cars will

help in the processing of structures. Compounding morphology is combining words to give a

different meaning, for example, classmate and suitcase. Derivational morphology refers to the

adding of prefixes or suffixes to the root of the words to modify their meanings (Ramirez, Chen,

& Pasquarella, 2013). It helps children identify the main part of the word which is important for

spelling

Phonological awareness “ includes phonemic awareness and additional skills of recognizing and

producing rhymes, breaking words into syllables and distinguishing parts of syllables” (Wolfe,

Nevills, 2004, p10)

Syntactic awareness

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Syntactic awareness is an ability to refer back on the internal grammatical structures of

the sentences. The importance of developing syntactic awareness is that it can affect listening

comprehension and decoding, which is also related to word reading and texts comprehension.

The relation between syntactic awareness and reading comprehension is mediated by vocabulary,

grammatical knowledge, and memory. Syntactic awareness as measured by morphological

knowledge predicts spelling performance (Durgunoglu & Oney, 2000).

Metalinguistic awareness

Metalinguistic awareness is the ability to reflect and manipulate graphemes and phonemes

as structural features of the language to understand how and why the language is used. Therefore,

language learners need to be familiar with the symbols, recognize characteristics of the spoken

language and the systematic relationship between sounds and letters. It follows, then that

understanding reading and listening include phonological, functional and syntactic awareness

(Durgunoglu & Oney, 2000).

Gillon, 2007 also defines metalinguistic awareness as the human ability to “think about

and reflect” upon language.

Functional awareness

Functional awareness is a metalinguistic ability related to knowing when and why to

apply the notions developed in the language. (Durgunoglu & Banu, 2000). To put it succinctly, it

is the purpose of the use of language, for instance, when apologizing, expressing a wish, or

asking for permission, students connect different words to fulfill the purpose of communication,

these are known as language functions ((Durgunoglu & Oney, 2000; Savignon, 1983). By using

this idea to structure teaching, the instructional focus becomes less about form and more about

the meaning of an utterance. In this way, students use the language in order to fulfill a specific

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purpose; therefore functional awareness makes student´s speech more meaningful at the time

when trying to achieve higher levels of proficiency.

In sum, the phonological processing abilities like storing phonological information,

retrieving phonological information are important for language development; however, the sub

levels of phonological awareness like syllable, onset-rime and phoneme awareness are directly

related to the metalinguistic awareness which is also the basis for semantic, syntactic, pragmatic,

and morphological awareness.

Developing awareness

The importance of teaching derivational morphological awareness is based on the concept

that it helps learners deduce meaning of new words by dividing words into their constituent

morphemes, which will therefore contribute to the understanding of new words in the readings. In

sum, teaching derivational morphological awareness can help students to build accuracy and

fluency of decoding texts while attaining vocabulary growth (Ramirez et al., 2013). It is

important to note that Spanish and English show similarities in their derivational morphology that

is positively associated with English vocabulary and reading comprehension. For instance,

Ramirez, et al., 2013 implied that the use of cognates (words with similar spelling, pronunciation

and meaning) in class could be a good strategy to increase the recognition of new words

involving lexical connections developed in Spanish Language

Ultimately, what is at stake here is that phonological and morphological awareness are

critical to effective literacy acquisition. Phonological awareness is highly correlated with

recognition and spelling (Durgunoglu & Oney, 2000), which can be applied to all of the areas of

the curriculum. In the same way, schooling and the quality of the literacy will also determine the

speed of processing of decoding, words recognition, and comprehension. Therefore, teachers,

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peers and parental involvement is needed in the practice of improving the degree of fluency

through making students more phonological and morphological aware (Durgunoglu & Oney,

2000).

It is important for teachers to be aware of some of the points of interference Spanish

speakers have when learning English as a second language. For instance, the position of words,

the use of nouns and adjectives which agree in number and gender, and the correspondence

between sounds and symbols differ in both languages. In addition, teachers consider it important

to point out the differences related to verbs, comparatives and superlatives, pronouns among

others. In short, language teachers need to be aware of these types of interferences to teach

students according the learners´ problems and needs. See appendix 1

ESL/EFL teachers need to develop phonological and morphological awareness using

active techniques to help students detect rhyme and alliteration to differentiate and use similar

consonantal sounds. Teaching techniques to identify rhymes and words that end with the same

sounds, segmenting words into smaller units such as syllables and sounds by counting them could

be very helpful at the time of developing phonological awareness. Making students realize the

sounds they are pronouncing as well as being able to associate sounds and morphemes is

important for morphological awareness. Specifically, the use of cognates as a way to match the

language similarities can be very informative. Students find phonological and morphological

awareness as easy ways to gather the differences between phonemes and morphemes in the

second language process. (Friesen & Jared, 2007; Ramirez et al., 2013; Durgunoglu & Oney,

2000)

These and other strategies can be used to develop morphological and phonological

awareness as a way to help students be fluent users of English as a Second Language. If students

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develop their phonological awareness, they will be able to recognize common spelling units

within words an even correct their own speech production reducing reading disorders (Ramirez et

al., 2013). As Cardenas (2007) concludes in her study, phonological awareness is related to

English language proficiency; Spanish phonological awareness skills and Spanish language

proficiency contribute to the variance of English phonological awareness.

Children who learn English as a second language develop phonological awareness skills

in English after a short period of exposure to it. Additionally, exposure to formal reading

instruction helps to develop phneme awareness in students (Gillan.2007)

Spelling is very important in reading development, because it promotes the use of explicit

phonological processing knowledge (Gillan, 2007 )

Therefore, EFL/ESL teachers have to adapt the most convenient strategies to help

students succeed in the learning process. The exposure of print in one language can definitely

benefit in the second language, thesis that is supported by Friesen Jared as well (Cardenas-Hagan

et al., 2007; Friesen & Jared, 2007).Assessment strategies play an important role in the

development of phonological and morphological awareness. Teachers need to assess

morphological derivational awareness to identify weaknesses and strengths in the students’

literacy development. However, it is important to use the right instruments and strategies to

identify difficulties related to reading comprehension related to decoding skills (Ramirez et al.,

2013).

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Therefore this study will explore the extent to which phonological and morphological

awareness contribute to the development of English fluency in second language learners. The

theories I included in my literature review will help identify the most helpful speaking and

writing activities to develop phonological and morphological awareness in my students from

Ecuador.

Assessing awareness

Once teachers have identified students who struggle in the process of reading and writing

it is mandatory to plan an in depth assessment. A whole team should be involved from teachers,

reading specialists, language-pathologists, educational psychologists, parents and students. Paul

(2001) cited by Gillon (2007) considers that the team of experts should evaluate the language

domains of semantics, syntax, morphology, phonology, and pragmatics. Besides, the language

skills which are listening speaking, reading, and writing need to be well observed.

There are different procedures to assess phonological awareness. The standardized or

norm-referenced test which let the researcher analyze and compare larger groups. Criterion-

reference procedures used to find out if the student is at the right level of development.

Observational assessment that concentrate in one area. Teachers observe recording information in

record lists or check lists.

Principles for intervention

Phonological awareness enhances reading and writing performance, according to Gillon

(2007) the mediation process must be based books reading, alphabetic instruction, storytelling

combined with reading and writing activities.

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Letter sound knowledge training must be included in the process of phonological awareness

intervention linking speaking and writing. This hypothesis was first introduced by Hatcher (1994)

cited by Gillon (2007) it results in better skill transfer from phonological awareness to reading

and spelling performance. The manipulation of letter to form words is much more effective than

the use of tags for words.

School work should focus on phoneme level intervention. Syllable, word and sentence work

should be incorporated later n general classroom instruction. Therefore rhyming could be

beneficial during the process of phonological awareness intervention.

Instruction could be based on either the mastery approach or an integrated multiple skill approach

to develop phoneme level skills. The mastery approach develops phoneme level skills . The

multiple skills or integrated approach combines activities related to phonological awareness for

example onset-rime, phoneme detection, blending segmentation, and manipulation skills.

Finally, the intervention that phonological awareness can receive is effective after general

language instruction (Gillon, 2007).

The process of phonological awareness intervention is implemented in a five step structure:

assessment, planning, implementation, evaluation, monitoring.

The instructor gathers information from the children´s phonological awareness skills identifying

strengths and weaknesses. Samples of children´s spelling and reading errors should be collected

in instruments like the running records or SOLOM.

The planning stage is developed looking for instructional activities that help students achieve

different levels of success. The implementation stage is developed at the class level, the teacher

integrated phonological awareness activities into instruction during a period of time. The teacher

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can use for example: morning news, writing words on the class board, handwriting letters,

language theme, farm animals, rhyme generation, phoneme identity, relating print to speech,

phoneme blending, phoneme segmentation, among other activities that can help students develop

phonological awareness. Teachers should evaluate and monitoring the process doing diagnostic

evaluation as well as formative assessments to see how the students are progressing in the

language (Gillon, 2007).

Difficulties in learning to read

Reading is not a natural process. Compared to speaking that is natural from human beings,

learning to read needs to adapt neural mechanisms. The brain adapts its structures used for other

purposes. Therefore, “reading is the most complex of human functions” (Wolfe, Nevills, 2004)

Fluent readers master specific pre -reading skills.

There are instructional factors affecting the process of reading in students, for example if the

instructional factors is not appropriate or the teachers are not prepared to apply the most

convenient methodologies it would be impossible to achieve the reading success. There should a

tranning process to make students go from a consciuous process of reading go un unconscious

awareness.

Decoding and comprehension are the two man process of reading comprehension. Decoding

means connecting leters to the correspondi ng units of speech so that students make sense of the

printing texts. Comprehension is a higher order cognitive skill which is also linked to linguistc

reasoning (Wolfe, Nevills, 2004)

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Methodology

This investigation will focus on different phonological and morphological awareness

effects of ESL/EFL students who are in the process of acquiring a fluent communication. The use

of different tools will help the researcher determine the level of Spanish and English awareness of

the students, as well as the kind of interference between first and second language at the time of

developing linguistic skills.

This investigation will be a case study action research. It will involve a process of

investigation through active participation. This research will be based on the premise that

phonological awareness is a precursor to read (Durgunoglu & Oney, 2000). Therefore, this

research is intended to improve the practices of the English teacher of this case study towards

cultivating the phonological and morphological awareness of the students.

Setting

This research will be performed at a public institution in the Sierra region in Ecuador. The

high school is divided into three sections: morning shift, afternoon shift, and night school. About

4,000 students attend class in two buildings; the downtown building for middle school, and hill

building for high school. The ages of the students vary from 15 to 18 years old. Additionally, it is

important to say that they come from a middle class status, which means they had, or are having,

additional help in the development of learning English.

The infrastructure lets students have enough room to move between the different areas of

the school without much problem. Students can either ride the school shuttle or arrive on foot.

Though technology is available to be used, the number of teachers which is approximately 200 in

the three sections makes it difficult to have full availability of it. Likewise, cooperative work

between the teachers from the two campuses is challenging and takes additional time and

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planning. 20 English teachers from the language department are in charge of about 100 classes in

the high school. The class size varies from 35 to 40 students per room. This study will be one of

the six groups assigned to this teacher as a school year responsibility.

The English education system started a process of changes in 1994. Great Britain

sponsored implementation of new materials based on the Communicative approach with the book

“CRADLE: Curriculum Reform Aiming for the Development of English”. Since then, this book

had been modified without good results. Fluent effective communication had not been achieved

after six years of studying English despite attending five hours of this class per week.

A second reform of the Ecuadorian English Curriculum was developed in 2012. This

process of teaching English in Ecuador replaced the old one with the support of PEARSON and

the book “Postcards”, which was also based on the Communicative approach. This text book,

along with other implemented teaching materials containing English and Spanish cognates, will

be used to develop phonological and morphological awareness of the students in the process of

reaching a fluent communication.

Participants

This case study will be conducted with a class group of 35-40 students attending second

year of baccalaureate. Students are between 15-16 years old males and females (sophomores).

Their level of English varies from low to pre- intermediate, as they come from a process of

attending 5 hours of English class since their early education.

The sample will be chosen from the groups of students’ assigned to the researcher this

year. The sampling selection will be based on the fact that most of the groups have almost the

same characteristics; very few students stand out among the others with a high English level.

Their interest in learning English or their previous background contributes to the language

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development. This fact determines the need of using purposive sampling as a strategy to select

the participants who will represent best this population (Gay, Mills, Airasian, 2012).

Indeed, a strategy that could complement the sampling decision would be the Spanish

language teachers’ perception of certain groups of students. The rationale and expertise of

Spanish teachers can add to the fact that phonological awareness of Spanish helps to develop the

phonological awareness in the second language is helpful for this investigation. The overview

provided could lead the researcher to a better decision.

Legal permissions from authorities and parents will be obtained as the educational system

as well as students are protected by the “CODIGO DE LA NIÑEZ Y ADOLESCENCIA” (Quito

Patent No. 100.737, 2003). This part of the law requires signed permissions from parents or legal

guardians if the students will be part of any project outside normal school planning. Parents will

be required to attend a formal parents´ teacher meeting where they will be informed about the

research and procedures. Therefore, they will be invited to cooperate with this research. The

result of the meeting will be a letter of permission, which parent will be asked to sign.

Role of the Researcher

The researcher will be a participant observer, as this role will let the investigator gather

information as well as perform the research discovering the nature of the social reality by

understanding the students´ perceptions and interpretation of the natural world (Gay, Mills,

Airasian, 2012). At the same time, the researcher will contribute to the development of the four

language skills, moving the students towards a more fluent communication. The implementation

of strategies based on the use of cognates will facilitate the processing of both languages.

The Intervention, Event, Teaching Moment

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The use of varied strategies involving cognates will help the development of the

phonological and morphological awareness of the participant group. Although, it is true that the

effects of ESL/EFL students who are in the process of acquiring fluent communication will relate

to the students ability to think about the sounds in words rather than on isolated words. This

intervention process will be determinant for students at the time of reading and writing in the

second language. Cognates help Spanish beginners feel more comfortable with the new language

process establishing links between English and Spanish. Therefore, the students could be aware

of the common origin of words, which will allow students to explore the language far beyond

from school’s objectives.

Activities like looking for cognates in the textbook, or reading texts, magazines and

newspapers in order to find cognates will aid students develop their morphological and

phonological awareness. Moreover, understanding the main idea of a paragraph by identifying

cognates through inferring their meaning by the context can help students differentiate the type of

cognate they are in front of. Research shows there is a strong relationship between knowledge of

vocabulary and ability to comprehend a text. Besides, explicit vocabulary instruction has been

associated with improved comprehension (Ramirez et al., 2013).

Additionally, these students will develop sound –letter knowledge effectively both in

English and Spanish through the use of cognates in a varied of activities. For example, students

will be asked to fill up the cognate table every class (see appendix 2 ). This chart will help

students build up their own cognate list using the associations they can gather through listening

and speaking activities. Students will have puzzles, word-forming and word- search activities to

practice their new word to later insert them in speaking and writing activities to develop

meaningful learning (see appendix 3.a, b ) These and other activities will benefit the students

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learning process which, will therefore increase the student’s English fluency (WETA, 2011 ;

Ramirez et al., 2013).

Data collection

Observation field notes will describe information seen or heard on-site. The researcher

will also include reflective information relating the researcher´s personal reactions to the

observation. (Gay, Mills, Airasian, 2012).The sessions will be carried out two times a week, one

by the teacher and the other by the research assistant in a total of 12 observations(see appendix

4).

A questionnaire of six questions will be directed at 5 students who will describe their

thoughts and ideas about receiving English instruction. This data will show significant results at

the time of making teaching decisions. The idea of getting students involved in the process will

be beneficial for the goals planned for this investigation. One student out of every five will be

chosen to participate in the interview during the third week of this research (see appendix 5)

Running records will be used for gathering data related to morphological awareness.

These instruments can show the students ‘reading development. In addition, they are based on the

children´s behavior at the time of reading a text which could be new, or a reading material that

the students are familiar with. This process of collecting information will be done two times on

all of the students during this research at the beginning and at the end of the process to all of the

students of this research case (Clay, 2002). (See appendix 6)

Student Oral Language Observation Matrix (SOLOM) will be used to collect results of

the phonological awareness. This matrix is a rating scale that teachers can use to assess their

students' command of oral language on the basis of what instructors observe on a continual scale,

according to classroom settings. The teacher has to match the students´ language performance in

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listening, comprehension, vocabulary, fluency, grammar, and pronunciation to adapted

descriptions on a five -point scale for each one.

This observation process will be developed for six weeks while the intervention is being done as

well as to see students’ reactions. Questions like the ones provided in the appendix section will

guide the speaking activities. (See appendix 7).

The SOLOM will be applied to the students during the second and fifth week of class to

check oral comprehension (listening and speaking). It will be based on the criteria detailed in the

Student Oral Language Observation Matrix (Gotlieb, 1993) (see appendix 8)

Documents like lesson plans and unit plans will support this research. These teaching instruments

will provide explanatory information of how instruction will occur.

A survey for the 35 students will be developed at the beginning of the research, as it is important

to gather information from the students’ perspective. The answers to 8 questions will back up the

need of applying different strategies for improving phonological and morphological awareness in

the teaching process. This data will help to orient this research in the look for improving the

student´s fluency. (see appendix 9)

Data Analysis

Surveys and Interviews

The coding of students interviews will be done after a careful transcript is processed. The

researcher will identify themes and main ideas that can contribute to the understanding of the

phenomenon under investigation. Graphs will be processed to give a better understanding of the

variables. So too, surveys will be analyzed and interpreted drawing different codes to represent

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the ideas stated by the participants. Graphs will be projected with the results of the students’

surveys.

Running Records

The process of running records for gathering data will be developed using the symbols

and marking conventions designed for the purpose. Errors (E) will be tallied during the reading

whenever a child does any of the following: Substitutes another word for a word in the text, omits

a word, or inserts a word. Self-correction (SC) happens when a child realizes his or her error and

corrects it. When a child makes a self-correction, the previous substitution is not scored as an

error. Meaning (M) is part of the prompting system in which the child takes his or her cue to

make sense of text by thinking about the story background, information from pictures, or the

meaning of a sentence. These cues assist the child in the reading of a word or phrase. Structure

(S) refers to the structure of language and is often referred to as syntax. Visual (V) information is

related to the look of the letter in a word and the word itself. A reader uses visual information

when he or she studies the beginning sound, word length, familiar word chunks. To mark M, S,

and V on a Running Records the researcher has to write down the source of information, for

example in a text or the narrative that was planned for the process. The researcher has to make a

mark on the second of the running record form. The letters M, S, and V will be placed in to the

right of the sentence in that column. Then circle M, S, and/or V, depending on the source(s) of

information the child used. (Clay, 2002) (see appendix 6)

Running records will be quantified using a conversion table. The researcher has to count

the words in the text, sum the errors, and enter the error ratio. This can be a good way to find the

accuracy rate of the students’ abilities. Moreover, the teacher has to follow the progress of the

children during the time of intervention. After all, records of text levels will be presented in a

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Gradient of Text Difficulty to have a visual representation of the morphological progress. (see

appendix 11: Gradient Text Difficulty – Teacher devised)

SOLOM

Once the students have been observed, the researcher has to indicate with an "X" across

the category which best describes the student's abilities considering the criteria and the level of

achievement. The teacher will consider all the situations in which the students are immersed. The

informal, social, formal and instructional settings where students develop can be good

opportunities to gather information observing the youth emerging their abilities.

The SOLOM is based on a five point scale. The teachers have to assign a quantity

according to the numbered rubric to rate the students around the level of ability to speak and

communicate. Students scoring at level "1" in all categories can be considered not proficient in

the language, whereas the opposite will show that students can communicate effectively. The

scores for individual domains could be measured, or they can be combined into a total score with

a range of 5 through 25, where approximately 19 or 20 can be a proficient level. The scores

obtained through this matrix represent whether a student can participate in oral language tasks

typically expected in the classroom at their students´ grade level. (Gottlieb, 1997)

Timeline

The provided time line is subject to change depending on unexpected conditions.

ACTIVITY JANUARY FEBRUARY MARCH APRIL MAY JUNE

Permissions X

Sample selection X

Survey XX

23


Interview XX XX

Intervention

observation XX XXXX XXXX

Running Records XX XX XX

SOLOM XX XXXX XXXX

Data analysis and

interpretation XXXX XXXX XXXX XX

Reporting data XX

Writing conclusions XXXX

24


Establishing Reliability/Validity OR Trustworthiness

This qualitative case study arises from the need to improve fluency through developing

phonological and morphological awareness in ESL students in Ecuador, therefore the guide of

practical questions determine the need of finding out answers for this problem. This research

process will be participatory in nature, as authorities, area members, parents, and students will be

active supporters of this research. To establish trustworthiness multiple measures of data

collection will be used, therefore, triangulation of this data will be possible. Prolonged

engagement and persistent observation will be utilized to assure the researcher that she is

capturing the true picture of what is occurring in the classroom setting (Gay, Mills, Airasian,

2012).

Peer debriefing will occur throughout the study with assistance provided by English

faculty. The credibility of this research will be assured and strengthened through the participation

of the area´ teachers will add validity to this research by checking the researcher´s conclusions.

Moreover, bias could be minimized at the time of collecting information with the participation of

a coworker as research assistant. Along the same line, negative case analysis will help to look for

confirming and dis confirming special cases that might challenge the interpretation of the

researcher. (Gay, Mills, Airasian, 2012)

The SOLOM scores obtained before and after the process of intervention will be analyzed,

compared, and interpreted. This will demonstrate the consistency of the instruments assuring

reliability to the research. Besides, this instrument has external validity as it has been applicable

and measured in other studies with good results. (Herrera, Morales & Murry, 2013; Clay. 2002;

Campbell, & Ruptic, 1994). SOLOM will help to demonstrate if there was student progress in

25


terms of phonological awareness. The results will be diagramed in bar graphs to have a clear

representation to the readers.

The process of this research as well as the six weeks - observation intervention process will

provide plenty of data for a detailed description assuring the transferability of this investigation.

The procedures stated in this chapter will help the researcher develop the necessary

processes to gather data effectively, analyze the information accurately, and work the required

steps towards developing phonological and morphological awareness in the group of second

language learners aiming for a fluent communication.

26


Challenges and Sharing Findings

I guess there might be some challenges that I will have to fight in the process of my

research. I think that having the members of my area divided into two buildings could make it

difficult to socialize the main idea of the project; therefore, I will ask the director of Human

Resources to provide English teachers with the facilities in time to meet the faculty members.

Additionally, the number of students in one class could make it difficult to observe and track

them while the process of intervention is being developed; however videotaping could be helpful

at the time of writing the reflections of the intervention process.

It might also be challenging to get another teacher to support the project and observe the

classes, as everybody has too much work to do in their schedule, but I think that my ability at the

time of socializing the project in the area will be a good determinant for their decision. The use of

cognates for improving the way we teach our students to develop their English fluency can be a

good strategy to develop phonological and morphological awareness. However, I could feel

limited at some point if I am not able to find differences between English and Spanish sounds as I

am not I native speaker.

I think the first and the most important place where I could share the benefits of this

project is my high school. I believe that a progressive process could help me identify the gaps of

this investigation. Then, a second stage could be developed with the public high school teachers

from my town. A clear explanation of the project will motivate this group of teachers to

participate in this changing process.

Additionally, I might look for opportunities to present my findings at events planned by the

“Ecuadorian Professional Organization for English Teachers” FENAPIUPE. This organization

usually hosts national English conferences at different cities. It will be a good opportunity to

27


present my research and contribute to the development of the English teaching system in

Ecuador. Lastly, the Ecuadorian Institute for Intellectual Property could be a good place to

register this research, as they have a bank of information that everyone can reach as a reference

for future outcomes in Ecuador.

28


Appendixes

Appendix 1

POINTS OF INTERFERENCE IN LEARNING ENGLISH AS A SECOND LANGUAGE

POINT OF

INTERFERENCE

ENGLISH

SPANISH

TONE Four tone levels Thee lower pitch tones

STRESS Stressed on the first or second syllable On the last or next to the

last syllables

VOWELS 19 vowel sounds

Short vowel sounds

Short monothongs

Long monothongs

Diphthongs / Weak vowels

Five vowel sounds

CONSONANTS English words start with S

Confusion between sounds

/v/ and /b/.

The sound /s h/

Spanish words never start

with S

New sound /c h /

WORD ENDINGS Words end in :

( m, p k, c, b, d, f, g, l, y, v )

Words en in any of the 5

vowels (a, e, I, o, u) or in

these consonants:

( l, d, r, z, j, y, n, s)

WORD ORDER Strict word order

Adjectives follow nouns

Nouns agree in gender and number

Adverbs follow the direct object

Flexible- morphological

change.

Adjectives follow nouns

Nouns agree in gender and

number.

Adverbs follow the verb

PRONOUNS I, you, he, she, it, we, you, they Yo, tu, el, ella, nosotros,

29


vosotros, ellos

SPELLING False analogies

Words from Latin origin

English use doubled or combined

consonants like: /bb, dd, ff, gg, mm,

pp, ss, th, zz, gh, ph, hn/

Words from Latin origin.

Spanish spelling does not

use doubled or combined

consonants except : rr ll

Table1.

English and Spanish differ in some significant ways, yet they also share some similarities.

Teachers and students who are in the process of learning English have to develop awareness of

the similarities and differences to understand the process and avoid second language interference.

30


Appendix 2

Cognates

Unscramble each of the clue words.

Copy the letters in the numbered cells to other cells with the same number.

Name:................................................................

Date:.....................................................................

Title of book:........................................................

Page Number English word Spanish word

31


Appendix 3.a

Unscramble the cognates

T A P Y L K P I V E Y A P S S

I J U A I A D O T V C V E Y K

A C N R C G T N V C R N Z B O

C A R D Z O E N I N P M Y R C

R A T U T D M D E O G D D D I

O E K G I C E P T D U H C W T

B H L C S N X O A O I N Z X Á

A M C L T H S E L Ñ V C O R B

T A C C O M P A N Y A I C H O

I Y N O Q I N K T K I R T A R

C A A N H M A S Q A V C G C C

C A Q N Q M E L S V K B J W A

O Z P I Z M U X E M G M X Z Y

E V I T C A V R T W B M B Y X

T B A X L Y J X S V Z S L I U

ACCIDENT ACCIDENTAL ACCIDENTE

ACCOMPANY ACOMPAÑAR ACROBATIC

ACROBÁTICO ACTIVE ACTIVO

(Discovery Education, 2014)

32


Appendix 3.b

Unscramble the words to find the new phrase

Cognates

(Discovery Education, 2014)

33


Appendix 4

OBSERVATION PROTOCOL

Observation Protocol

Setting:

Individual Observed:

Observation #:

Observer involvement:

Date/time:

Place:

Duration or Observation (indicate start/end times):

Descriptive Notes:

Table2

(Gay et al., 2012, p. 385)

34


Appendix 5

INTERVIEW PROTOCOL

QUESTIONNAIRE FOR INTERVIEWING STUDENTS

QUESTIONS INTERVIEWER NOTES

1. How do you describe your reading

abilities in Spanish?

1. What writing problems do you face

when you write in Spanish?

2. What problems do you have when

doing reading activities?

3. What problems do you have when

doing listening exercises?

4. What do you feel is the main reason

learning a second language is difficult?

5. What teaching strategies have you

found helpful in your learning process?

35


Appendix 6

Running Records

(Reading A-Z, n.d.)

Appendix 7

36


Examples of SOLOM Interview Questions in English and Spanish

ENGLISH SPANISH

1 What is your name?

How many people are there in your family?

How are you feeling today?

¿Cómo te llamas?

¿Cuántas personas hay en tu familia?

¿Cómo te sientes hoy?

2 What day is today?

Where do you live?

What are your friends’ names?

Who do you live with?

¿Cuál día es hoy?

Dime tu número de teléfono.

¿Cómo se llaman tus amigos?

Con quien vives?

3 Where were you born?

Tell me something about your family?

Tell me something about your Country?

What do you like best about your country?

¿Dónde naciste?

Dime algo acerca de tu familia.

Dime algo acerca de tu país?

Que es lo que más te gusta de tu país?

4 What do you like about your job?

What do you dislike about your job?

How do you get to your job?

(....walking, by car, by bus?)

¿Qué te gusta de tu empleo?

¿Qué no te gusta de tu empleo?

¿Cómo llegas a tu empleo? (... ¿caminando, en carro, en autobús?)

5 What is your favorite thing to do when you have free time?

Why?

What is the name of your favorite sport? Why?

Who is your favorite famous person? Why?

¿Qué más te gusta hacer cuando tienes tiempo libre? ¿Por qué?

¿Cuál es el deporte que te gusta más? ¿Por qué?

¿Quiénes de las personas famosas te gustan más?

¿Porqué?

6 What happened to you that was an important event in your life?

What goals do you have for the future?

What would you do or be if you could do or be anyone?

Platícame acerca de un evento importante en tu vida.

¿Cuáles metas tienes para el futuro?

¿Qué harías o qué personas serías si pudieras?

7 What is your favorite game or hobby?

What do you do after work?

¿Cuál es tu juego o pasatiempo favorito?

¿Qué haces después de trabajar?

8 What is your favorite store?

Tell me about the store.

Why do you especially like that store?

¿Cuál es la tienda que te gusta más?

Dime algo acerca de la tienda

¿Por qué te gusta esta tienda?

9 Tell me a story, fairy tale, riddle, or joke. Dime un cuento, cuento folklórico, adivinanza, o chiste.

37


10 What is your favorite food?

How do you make it?

¿Cuál es tu comida favorita?

Dime cómo se prepara esta comida.

Adapted from Language Proficiency Handbook

Appendix 8

SOLOM

38


The SOLOM is a rating scale that teachers can use to assess their students' command of oral

language on the basis of what they observe on a continual basis in a variety of situations (class

discussions, interactions before and after class, and every day). The teacher matches a student's

language performance in listening comprehension, vocabulary, fluency, grammar, and

pronunciation to descriptions on a five - point scale for each. The scores for individual domains

can be considered, or they can be combined into a total score with a range of five through 25,

where approximately 19 or 20 can be considered proficient. SOLOM scores represent whether a

student can participate in oral language tasks typically expected in the classroom at his or her

grade level.

STUDENT ORAL LANGUAGE OBSERVATION MATRIX

Student Name__________________________________________________________

Date_________________

Language Observed _______________Observer Signature_______________

Directions: Based on your observation of the student, indicate with an “X” in each category the

level that best describes the student’s abilities.

1 2 3 4 5 SCORE

Comprehension

Cannot be

said to

understand

even simple

conversation

Has great

difficulty

Following what

is said. Can

comprehend

only “social

conversation”

spoken

slowly and

with frequent

Understands most

of

what is said at

slower

than

normal speed with

Repetitions.

Understands

nearly

everything at

normal

speech,

although

Occasional

repetition

may be

necessary.

Understands

everyday

conversation

and normal

classroom

discussions

without

difficulty

39


Repetitions.

Fluency Speech is so

halting and

fragmentary

as to make

conversation

virtually

Impossible.

Usually

hesitant: Often

forced into

silence by

Language

limitations.

Speech in

everyday

conversation and

class

room discussion

frequently

disrupted by the

student’s

search for the

correct

Manner of

expression.

Speech in

everyday

conversation

and

classroom

discussions

generally

fluent, with

occasionally

lapses while

the student

searches for

the correct

manner of

Expression.

Speech in

everyday

conversation

and

classroom

discussions

fluent and

effort

less,

approximat

ing that of a

Native

speaker.

Vocabulary Vocabulary

limitations so

extreme as to

make

conversation

virtually

Impossible.

Misuses words

and very

limited

vocabulary;

comprehensive

quite

Difficult.

Student frequently

uses

the wrong words;

conversation

somewhat limited

because of

inadequate

Vocabulary.

Student

occasionally

uses

inappropriate

terms

and/or must

rephrase

ideas

because of

lexical

inadequacies

Use of

vocabulary

and

idioms

approximate

that of

A native

speaker.

Pronuncia

tion

Pronunciation

problems

so severe as to

make

speech

virtually

unintelligible

Very hard to

understand

because of

pronunciation

Problems.

Must

frequently

repeat in order

Pronunciation

problems

necessitate

concentration

on the part of the

listener

and occasionally

lead to

Always

intelligible,

though one

is conscious

of

a definite

accent and

occasional

Pronunciation

and

intonation

approximate

that

of a native

speaker

40


to make

He/she

understood.

Misunderstanding.

inappropriate

Intonation

patterns.

Grammar

Errors in

grammar and

word order so

severe as to

make speech

virtually

Unintelligible.

Grammar and

word

order errors

make

Comprehension

difficult.

Must often

rephrase and/or

restrict

him/herself to

basic

Patterns.

Makes frequent

errors of

grammar and

word

order

which

occasionally

obscure

Meaning.

Occasionally

makes

grammatical

and/or word

order errors

which do not

Obscure

meaning.

Grammatical

usage and

word order

approximate

That of a

native

speaker.

Language Proficiency Handbook. P. 17

Appendix 8

41


SURVEY FOR IDENTIFYING STUDENT PERCEPTIONS

The purpose of this survey is to find out solid information to research on new teaching

strategies to improve the teaching learning process based on phonological and morphological

awareness of the students in the educational system in Ecuador.

Instruction:

Select the answer that best matches your reality.

1. How do you define your ability to differentiate English sounds?

Low Medium High

2. Do you think that English and Spanish have similar morphological systems?

Yes No

3. How do you define your ability to spell English words?

Low Medium High

4. Do you think your ability to read and write in Spanish help you in the process

of learning English?

Yes No

5. Does your Spanish writing skill help you in your English writing?

Yes No

6. Do Spanish grammar patterns interfere negatively in your English writing?

Yes No

7. How difficult is to convey thoughts into fluent speaking communication?

Easy fairly difficult very difficult

8. Do you think that learning English is difficult?

Yes No

Why?...............................................................................................................

Appendix 10

Gradient of Text Difficult (Teacher Devised)

42


Book ……………………Text……………………….

Student´s name.

7

6

5

4

3

2

1

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

Clay, 2002 p.75

References

43


(Gillon, 2007)

(Byrnes, 1998)

(Wolfe, 2004)

(Sawyer, 1991)

Andrea, R. (2003). Cross-language interference in the phonological awareness of Spanish English

bilingual children. ERIC, 1-36.

Apeli, C., & Ugwu, E. (2013). Phonological interference in the spoken English performance of

the Izon speaker in Nigeria: A product of systemic and interlanguage factors. Afrrev

Laligens, 2(2), 173-189.

Cardenas-Hagan, E., Carlson, C., & Pollard-Durodola, S. (2007). The cross-linguistic transfer or

early literacy skills: The role of initial L1 and L2 skills and language of instruction.

Language, Speech, and Hearing Services in Schools. 249-259.

Friesen, D., & Jared, D. (2007). Cross-language message - and word-level transfer effects in

bilingual text processing. Memory and Cognition, 35(7), 1542-1555.

National English curriculum guidelines, Ministerio de Educacion (2012).

Odlin, T. (1989). Language transfer. Cross- linguistic influence in language learning. 1-210.

Ramirez, G., Chen, X., & Pasquarella, A. (2013). Cross- linguistic transfer of morphological

awareness in Spanish- speaking English language learners: The facilitating effect of cognate

knowledge. Top Language Disorders, 33(1), 73-92.

44


Rolla, A. (2003). Cross-language interference in the phonological awareness of<br />Spanish-

English bilingual children. ERIC, 1-36.

Skiba, R.Code switching as a countenance of language interference. The Internet TESL Journal,

Durgunoglu, A. & Oney, B. (2000). Literacy development in two languages: Cognitive and

sociocultural dimensions of cross-language transfer. A Research Symposium on High Standards

in Reading for Students from Diverse Language Groups: Research, Practice & Policy, 78-99.

Gay, L. M. (2012). Educational Research Competencies for analysis and Applications (10th

ed.). Boston, United States: Pearson.

Science, S. o. (s.f.). Seeds of Science Roots of Reading. Retrieved from

http://www.scienceandliteracy.org/sites/scienceandliteracy.org/files/strategyguides/12688

13_SG_Walk%20in%20the%20woods.pdf

WETA. (2011). Colorin Colorado. Retrieved from http://www.colorincolorado.org/article/c40/

(Education, 2014)

Education, D. (2014). Retrieved from http:// www.discoveryeducation.com/free-puzzlemaker/

45


ADDITIONAL APPENDIX

Letter directed to parents explaining how the year is planned as well as to let them know about

the law that protects the education system.

Carta para Padres Inicio de Año Lectivo 2012-2013

Ambato, 5 de Septiembre del 2012

Estimados Padres de Familia y Estudiantes:

Al iniciar un nuevo año escolar, con todas las expectativas y compromisos que eso implica

quienes hacemos el INSTITUTO TECNOLÓGICO SUPERIOR BOLÍVAR seguimos

avanzando y preocupándonos para que los estudiantes de la institución se formen integralmente y

reciban una educación de calidad

Siendo este proceso una tarea conjunta, en la que debemos poner todo nuestro esfuerzo y los

medios que tenemos al alcance para ayudarlos a ser cada vez mejores, sentando bases sólidas y

firmes para que ellos puedan desarrollarse con empeño y responsabilidad.

Como profesora de Inglés de la Institución y de su hijo me permito informarles que el Ministerio

de Educación publicó el Reglamento General a la Ley Orgánica de Educación Intercultural en el

mes de julio 2012. y cumpliendo lo que se determina en el mismo tengo a bien comunicarles

algunos cambios académicos, disciplinarios y también en el calendario general de actividades. El

nuevo Reglamento entra en vigencia a inicio del año lectivo 2012 y terminará con su completa

aplicación a fines del año lectivo 2016.

46


El nuevo Reglamento General a la Ley Orgánica de Educación se encuentra publicado en la

página Web del Ministerio de Educación, para aquellas personas que deseen

consultarlo: http://www.educacion.gob.ec/legislacion-educativa/reglamento.html

Aprovecho esta oportunidad para desearles lo mejor para este año escolar que empieza y

agradecerles por su colaboración y confianza. Espero que tengan la oportunidad de visitar la

institución y poder así trabajar en equipo.

Atentamente,

Ximena Naranjo L.

Profesora de Inglés I.T.S.B.

Adjunto:

Artículos referentes a evaluación y refuerzo académico y del comportamiento

Leaflet for inviting parents to parent – teacher conference

INSTITUTO BOLIVAR

ÁREA DE INGLÉS

Señor /ra……………………………… representante del estudiante……………………

del …………………….. año de Bachillerato ………….Paralelo, sírvase concurrir a la

institución el día ……………………………a las ………..…………… para tratar asuntos

relacionados con el rendimiento de su hijo.

Gracias por su cooperación.

………………….., de …………………… del 2011.

……………………………………………………………………………….

Profesora de Inglés

http://www.educacion.gob.ec/legislacion-educativa/reglamento.html

47


Cognates

List of cognates

SEEDS OF SCIENCE, ROOTS OF READING

List of ENGLISH – SPANISH cognates